Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa04796; 11 Nov 93 5:45 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA13973 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Wed, 10 Nov 1993 21:15:51 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA28862 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 10 Nov 1993 21:15:17 -0600 Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 21:15:17 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311110315.AA28862@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #751 TELECOM Digest Wed, 10 Nov 93 21:15:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 751 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson URGENT: Article Correction Required (Andy Behrens) Billing Insert Regarding 900 Charges (Carl Moore) Feature Interaction (Tony Harminc) DCS6000 Dancall (Edzard Kolks) Macintosh Software for NIST (Eli S. Bingham) POTS -> Digital (PCM) Cards (Grant Brydon) TCI/Bell Atlantic Merger - International Ramifications? (William R. Hester) Minneapolis is no Picnic, Either (vs. Chicago) (Roy M. Silvernail) Problems With Michigan Bell (Steven M. Palm) Help: Need to Query V&H Database (Nathan Banks) Crummy Service in NY (Carl Oppedahl) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: andyb@janus.coat.com (Andy Behrens) Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 19:29:35 -0500 Organization: Burlington Coat Factory Reply-To: Andy.Behrens@coat.com Subject: URGENT: Article Correction Required Pat, Can you publish the following correction AS SOON AS POSSIBLE... The phone number that I gave in the original article was wrong, and some poor woman is being flooded with calls from eager Telecom subscribers. I've cancelled the Usenet posting of the article also, but many people may have read it already. Thanks! Andy ========================= CORRECTED ARTICLE ========================= Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1993 18:13:03 GMT From: Andy.Behrens@coat.com Subject: Re: Analog Telephone Interfaces For Computers *** THE TELEPHONE NUMBER POSTED YESTERDAY FOR "COMPUTER TELEPHONY" *** *** MAGAZINE WAS INCORRECT -- THE AREA CODE WAS WRONG. THE NUMBER *** *** APPEARING BELOW IS THE RIGHT ONE. *** picone@copland.csc.ti.com (Joe Picone) writes: > Can somebody suggest a good state-of-the-art telephone interface that > can be computer controlled? Anyone who is interested in this sort of thing should read Computer Telephony ("The magazine for Computer and Telephone Integration"). Lots of useful ads too. It's free to qualified subscribers, $38/year for others. Ask them to send you a subscription card. You can reach them by: Mail: Computer Telephony, 12 West 21 St., New York, NY 10010 Phone: 215-355-2886 E-mail: <1015032@mcimail.com>, <70600.2451@compuserve.com> Andy Behrens Burlington Coat Factory, Schoolhouse Rd., Etna, N.H. 03750 (603) 643-2800 [Moderator's Note: Others also wrote to report the error in the phone number and I thank you for your correction. To the poor woman being flooded with calls, sorry lady. :( PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 16:23:09 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Billing Insert Regarding 900 Charges My newest bill from Diamond State Telephone arrived today. It includes the following (and I am not sure what "telephone billed purchases" would be): THE TELEPHONE DISCLOSURE AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION ACT This federal law gives you the following rights regarding 900 calls and telephone billed purchases: - You do no have to pay for 900 calls that do not follow federal rules and regulations. - Neither your local nor long distance service will be disconnected if you do not pay these charges; however, the 900 service company may attempt to collect these charges from you and you may be reported to a credit or collection agency. Also, if you do not pay legitimate charges, you ability to make 900 calls from your line may be blocked. - You can call your local telephone company to have 900 calls blocked from your line. - If you have a question about 900 calls or telephone billed purchases on your bill, call the number shown at the end of your 900 charges. Your call starts a review of these charges. During this review you do not have to pay for the charges in question, but you do have to pay the other charges on your bill. Upon completion of the review, your account will be credited for the amount of the charges in question or you will receive a letter explaining why no credit will be allowed and when the payment for the disputed charges is due. if you do not pay the amount for these charges by the due date, you may be reported to a credit or collection agency. [Moderator's Note: Ameritech (Illinois Bell) has the same notice almost word for word going out in November bills here. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 17:08:02 EST From: Tony Harminc Subject: Feature Interaction An unending topic, I know. There is even a feature interaction conference that's been mentioned here. Each time I think I've thought through all the possibilities I am surprised yet again. I have Call Return on my line. I called a friend, it was busy, so I keyed *66 and the friendly voice told me I would be called back when the line was free. I went and did other things, including one period of about five minutes when I made a fair amount of noise. After about an hour, I wondered at my friend's line still being busy (he has a modem line, so it wasn't that). I dialed *66 again, mainly out of curiosity to see if the system would give me the same friendly message, or would tell me that I had already made the same request. To my surprise, the line was not busy, and my friend answered on the second ring. He immediately asked me why I had called almost an hour ago and had hung up (he has Call Display). After a bit of discussion, we concluded that perhaps Call Return was misbehaving and had called me back, received no answer from me (because I had missed the ringback because of the noise I was making), yet had allowed his line to ring. To test this, we repeated the procedure, agreeing that I would not pick up on the special ringback (short-short-long). So I let it ring ... and on the fourth ring heard my answering machine pick up the call in the other room. So what had happened was that my machine had picked up on the ringback and started its outgoing message, the switch had rung my friend's line, his machine had picked up on the second ring just in time for my machine to have started recording the "incoming" call. Eventually both machines VOXs shut them off. So yet another explanation for strange "but I didn't call you!" messages captured on the machine. Presumably this wouldn't happen with a voicemail type service, i.e. the switch would be bright enough to distinguish the *66 ringback from a normal inbound call, and not forward it. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: rcbaek@tue.nl (Edzard Kolks) Subject: DCS6000 Dancall Date: 10 Nov 1993 22:49:37 GMT Organization: Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands Hello there, I would like to get some info about the wireless telephone DCS6000 from Dancall. It's a firm from Denmark, I think ... it could be that it's been taken over by Amstrad. If someone know's out there what's happend to the DCS5000 it would interest me too! Thanks in advance, With kind regards, Edzard Kolks ------------------------------ From: ebingha@eis.calstate.edu (Eli S Bingham) Subject: Macintosh Software for NIST Organization: Calif State Univ/Electronic Information Services Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 20:15:29 GMT The October 1993 issue of BYTE Magazine mentions that you can access the NIST atomic clock through the Internet at address 132.163.135.130 (time_a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov). However, our computer center is Macintosh oriented and I cannot find software to set the Mac's clock through this address (or, for that matter, through the more accurate telephone connection). Can someone suggest MacTCP compatible software for this? Or am I going to have to write it myself? Eli Bingham ebingha@ctp.org ebingham@nyx.cs.du.edu RIMENet Node #5272 Try Electric Magazine BBS at 707-961-0735 [Moderator's Note: Would someone like to summarize a bit more from the article and explain how the clock is accessed through that address? Is there a certain special login one would use, or would one telnet to a given socket on that machine, or? Thanks. PAT] ------------------------------ From: brydon@mprgate.mpr.ca (Grant Brydon) Subject: POTS -> Digital (PCM) Cards Organization: MPR Teltech Ltd., Burnaby, B.C., Canada Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 17:24:41 GMT I'm looking for a pair of cards for conversion of the analog subscriber loop signals into a digital stream. I know of many cards, and simple ICs, to correctly sample and code (u-law/a-law) the voice channel but have not come across a set of cards which will include the signalling information (ring, off hook, etc.) in the PCM stream for use at the receive end. The battery, ring, and other power will be supplied (if necessary) for the card to feed into the analog subscriber loop. I am aware of the T1 cards and systems, but need only a single channel system with a lower bit rate than a T1. My goal is to keep the bit rate to less than 128 kbit/s. Diagram: Card A Card B |-----| |------| | | | | POTS<-->| |<-----Single PCM Stream--->| |<-->POTS | | <128kbit/s | | |-----| |------| ^ ^ | | Battery/Ring Battery/Ringi Thanks, GRANT BRYDON (brydon@mpr.ca) MPR TELTECH 8999 Nelson Way, Burnaby BC, Canada, V5A 4B5 Phone (604)294-1471 FAX (604)293-5787 ------------------------------ From: whester@nyx.cs.du.edu (William R. Hester) Subject: TCI/Bell Atlantic Merger - International Ramifications? Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept. Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 17:52:32 GMT Does anyone have any insights or ideas about the international ramifications of the TCI/Bell Atlantic merger? I have found out that TCI has some interests in a Mexican cable operation, and that Bell Atlantic has purchased interest in a cellular telephone system in Mexico. How can NAFTA affect the telecommunications and cable business in Mexico? Any other countries involved in this merger? Thanks, Bill Hester, Ham Radio N0LAJ, Denver CO., USA - N0LAJ@W0LJF.#NECO.CO.USA.NOAM Please route replies to: whester@nyx.cs.du.edu or uunet!nyx!whester Public Access Unix @ University of Denver, Denver Colorado USA (no official affiliation with the above university) ------------------------------ From: roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org (Roy M. Silvernail) Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 22:37:48 CST Subject: Minneapolis is No Picnic, Either (vs. Chicago) My apartment was robbed last week. Gone are my stereo, all my CDs, a ring and ... my Sprint Foncard. You may recall that when I first received the Foncard, I called Sprint and specifically asked for a card with no PIN on it. The rep told me it wasn't possible, and recommended that I memorize my PIN and leave the card at home for security. I guess we can see how well THAT works. :-( On the bright side, my rep was very helpful in cancelling my card and told me I'd have a new one in seven to ten days. The card hadn't been used! (I guess I got some luck out of this encounter, after all.) Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org [Moderator's Note: I'm sorry to hear this grim news. I hope for your sake you did not violate any of the civil rights of the burglar; the court may come down pretty hard on you if you did. :( You understand of course that if the guy is caught, you still don't automatically get your stuff back. You have to prove you own it rather than the burglar. An interesting and increasingly common incident occurred here recently. A home invader had broken into a house about five years ago. He simply kicked the door in and entered. He went down into the base- ment area to prowl around, but unknown to him, the residents there were doing some remodeling in the basement and they had stacks of lumber and paneling laying around; some had nails in it or nasty slivers of wood and metal, etc. Without turning on the light switch, the home invader stepped on some plank down there and started a chain-reaction causing another piece of wood to flip up in the air. It had some nails in it which hit him in the face. He was caught, but he sued the people who lived there -- the people whose place he had violated -- and about three months ago was awarded two hundred thousand dollars in damages due to the scars he received on his face; his hospital bill, etc. The people filed bankruptcy at that point, but the court ruled the judgment could not be dismissed in bankruptcy, so I guess they will be working a long time to pay off this guy. Let that be a lesson to you. Keep your homes neat, clean and free of dangers. If someone breaks in while you are gone (or some have the nerve to do it while you are there!), you don't want them to injure themselves. PAT] ------------------------------ From: smp@agape.sol.net (Steven M. Palm) Subject: Problems With Michigan Bell Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 10:25:52 CST Greetings! I recived a letter a few months ago from a collection agency in Michigan. They explained that I had a past-due account with Michigan Bell/Ameritech. Since I reside in Wisconsin and have not had service with Michigan Bell, I asked them what the address for the account was. They stated that they did not have that information, so I explained that I would contact Michigan Bell. It is my understanding that even if I *did* owe money to MI Bell, I would only have to deal with MI Bell, not the collection agency. I may be wrong, but that is another issue. I contacted Michigan Bell, and the address the provided was in Grand Rapids. I explained that I lived in Wisconsin and could not have had service there. They asked that I send proof of residence for that period of time to them, which I did. Several weeks later, they contacted me and stated that they had traced the account to my brother. Since it was a family member, they stated that it was their policy to hold me liable for the charges. I fail to understand how I can be legally responsible for the debts of my brother. I do not know how he obtained my social security number to initiate the service, but I did not authorize it in any way shape or form. Michigan Bell refused to budge, so I contacted the consumer protection agency in Wisconsin. They referred me to the Wisconsin Banking commission. The gentleman I spoke with there asked me to detail all of this in a letter to him, which I did. He then proceeded to contact the collection agency and Michigan Bell with the details, and asked for an explanation of why they felt I was liable. He recieved only a terse note back stating that Michigan Bell's position has not changed. My brother has not contacted my family for quite some time, and my brother-in-law had co-signed a car loan for him that he has defaulted on. My brother-in-law has had to make the last five payments, and he doesn't even have the car. But he is legally bound to be responsible; I do not feel that I am. I feel that Michigan Bell should pursue my brother for the debt, and for charges of fraud for illegally using my Social Security number. But they said that they do not get involved with inner-family affairs. I fail to see where they come from. I don't think it's my responsiblity to pay the debt and to pursue my brother legally for the charges as Michigan Bell suggested. For that matter, it's somewhat dubious as to where my brother even IS. My question is, WHAT CAN I DO? I do not wish to have this left hanging out in space, perhaps damaging my credit record, but on the other hand I have absolutely no intention of paying Michigan Bell for a debt I did not incur. ANY suggestions would be MOST appreciated. Thank you for your consideration. FYI: The collection agency: Midwestern Audit Services P.O. Box 1707 Troy, MI 48099-1707 Michigan Bell FINAL ACCOUNTS MRS DAK 112 Grand River Room 100 Port Huron, MI 48060 Steven M. Palm smp@agape.sol.net Milwaukee, WI FidoNet: 1:154/600 Linux! :) smp@solaria.mil.wi.us [Moderator's Note: The first thing you do is send a letter to the agency with a copy to telco saying "You are requested to cease further contact with me in any form effective at this time. You are to make no further telephone calls or mail contact with me or members of my immediate family residing at
and telephone number ." Period. End of letter, but of course you include indentifying inform- ation regards your account, the collection agency file number, the Michigan Bell telephone number, etc. The agency is required by federal law (the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) to cease contact with you on receipt of this request. Upon receipt, the agency will cease making contact, but will at the same time mostly likely go back to their client and recommend suit. Please note the FDCPA only applies to coll- ection agencies, *not* to creditors and only partly to the creditor's attorney; MBTel can continue to make contact if they choose. They may or may not accept the advice of the collection agency and allow the agency to file suit. Then you send a letter to the corporate attorney for Michigan Bell (no copy to the agency is needed or desirable; the attorney's name will be easily located in various public records -- that's one of the services my 'Digital Detective' operation performs). In that letter, do *not* tell him your life story, and more important, do *not* practice law; do *not* attempt to quote the law. In that letter you state that his client MBT alleges that an adult member of your family who does not reside in your household and whose whereabouts are not known to you owes to them the sum of for services identified with . State further that in an attempt to collect the money alleged owing, his client has engaged in numerous tactics including placing the account with an agency; writing letters and making phone calls in which they claim a legal basis for collection of alleged indebtedness from yourself; and to the best of your knowledge, corresponding with credit bureaus regards the alleged indebtedness and yourself. Specifically state that you have no obligation for the debts of your brother. Ask the attorney if in his opinion he agrees with you that 'the actions of MBT in this matter are unlawful and constitute harassment and/or retaliation.' And if he does reach the same conclusion as yourself, you'd appreciate the kind intervention of his office in bringing the matter to a conclusion without the need for you to file suit; and of course in the event his client does choose to sue frivilously, your response will be a countersuit. Believe me, when his office gets your letter, someone will call MBT and ask what its about. The file will get pulled from Mrs. Dak. MBT's corporate attorney may contact you, or you may get a letter instead from the Chairman's Office at MBT from one of the highly placed flunkies authorized to respond in the Chairman's name. They *know* they cannot force you to pay; they're just trying to bluff. You call their bluff in return. PAT] ------------------------------ From: neptune!banks@iex.iex.com (Nathan Banks) Subject: Help: Need to Query V&H Database Organization: iex Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 19:40:51 GMT Howdy, Here in Texas, the state Senate recently passed legislation (SB 632) allowing rural communities to petition the PUC to extend their respective local calling scopes to "communities of interest" of up to 22 miles. I am currently researching my community's locality of interest by looking at county maps and interviewing members of the community to ascertain their civic and business needs outside of our current 2-3 mile local calling scope. I was wondering if someone could suggest how I might access a "V&H" coordinate database to query the following information. List the npa-nxx of all exchanges which are less than 23 miles from npa-nxx = "903 776". I would also like to do this at 25, 30 and 32 miles. Any suggestions are welcome. Nathan Banks IEX Corporation Voice: 214.301.1206 2425 North Central Expressway, Suite 350 Fax: 214.301.1200 Richardson, Texas 75080 Email: banks@iex.com ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Crummy Service in NY Date: 10 Nov 1993 17:22:51 -0500 Organization: Oppedahl & Larson Here I am in Manhattan, the telecommunications center of the world, where radio jingles say "We're All Connected, New York Telephone". Warm images of grandma talking to the beloved grandchildren ... high-powered financial traders moving millions of dollars while barking into speakerphones. The White Pages urge us to sign up for Pathways (r) and Digipath (r) and Superpath (r) and Flexpath (r) and Infopath (r) and Switchway (r) and Intellipath (r), all high-powered, modern, digital, cutting-edge wave-of-the-future kinds of things. You just pick up the phone and the breeze makes your hair flutter behind you ... Recently countless advertisements have told us of *69, which will call back the person who just called. "Available from most telephone numbers" the full-page {New York Times} advertisement says. Other ads, on television (I wonder what they cost?), urge us to sign up for Caller-ID. Still other ads tout a service that will try a busy number repeatedly until it goes through. This sounds great ... until you actually try to sign up for these things, or use them. I tried *69 to call someone back. It did not work. Instead, an unintelligible recording comes on, which I assume was meant to tell me I misdialed my call. I called the telephone company business office. There's a reason that I can't use *69, namely that my telephone exchange is too old. Likewise I cannot sign up for Caller ID. And I cannot use the automatic redial. Kind of suprising I have even been able to use touch-tone phones all these years. Oh, and I cannot get ISDN, either. My service comes from the "Second Avenue" central office in Manhattan. It contains twenty-five exchanges, or a theoretical quarter of a million telephone lines. Of those exchanges, my business office tells me, only fifteen can support *69 or caller ID or the automatic redial feature. So perhaps two-fifths of the customers in my part of Manhattan are in the same boat -- no modern telephone features available. And only two of the twenty-five support ISDN. That's actually better than many other central offices in Manhattan and elsewhere in the state where zero of the exchanges support ISDN. Just means that all but a handful of the quarter of a million customers would have to get a different telephone number to get ISDN. (Of course, if more than 20,000 of them asked at once, the ISDN lines would be exhausted.) Oh, and there is no scheduled date for upgrading my telephone exchange to more modern equipment, according to the business office. No wonder businesses move to New Jersey! Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #751 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa04949; 11 Nov 93 5:49 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA27128 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Thu, 11 Nov 1993 03:08:29 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31044 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 11 Nov 1993 03:07:55 -0600 Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 03:07:55 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311110907.AA31044@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #752 TELECOM Digest Thu, 11 Nov 93 03:06:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 752 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "A Manager's Guide to Multivendor Networks" (Rob Slade) _Naissance d'un virus_ Soon to be Published :-) (Jean-Bernard Condat) Re: Received My Free Sprint Modem Today (Gregory Youngblood) My Sprint Modem Arrived (Roy M. Silvernail) Wanted: AT&T Merlin Cordless (Mark Strow) Answering After Busy Signal (Clive Dawson) Seeking Net Connection in 417 Area (SW Missouri) (Bill Pfeiffer) Caller ID Between Area Codes 516 and 718 (Dave Niebuhr) Cellular FAQ Wanted (Chris Kalisiak) Re: ATM Newsgroup: is There Any? (Rudolf Meyer) Strange Ringback (Jeff Bamford) Re: Landline Telegraph Service (Gabe M. Wiener) Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Steven King) Re: Looking For Software Distribution and/or File Transfer Pgms (F da Cruz) Re: Brought to You by the Letter Q (Al Stangenberger) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 10 Nov 93 11:47 -0600 From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "A Manager's Guide to Multivendor Networks" by Enck BKAMGTMN.RVW 931011 CBM Books 101 Witmer Road PO Box 446 Horsham, PA 19044 215-957-4265 215-957-4287 Fax: 215-957-1050 76702.1565@compuserve.com books@propress.com "A manager's guide to multivendor networks", Enck, 1991, U$35.00 In this case, the title really does say it all. The author's description, in the preface, of the difficulties encountered in working with multi-vendor systems will strike a responsive chord with just about every network manager or administrator. Only the most fortunate of systems operators these days exist in an ivory tower with support from a single vendor. In the divided world of "beards" and "suits," the term "manager" tends to indicate a lack of technical background. That is basically the case here, although the material is technically sound. There are some interestingly detailed inclusions, going so far as a layout of the frame structure of an Internet Protocol packet, but these are well explained and should not present any trouble to the intelligent reader who is nonetheless a technical novice. On the contrary, this is an excellent introduction to the basics of data communications technology at certain points. The work is quite practical at the managerial level. Four major vendors; DEC, IBM, HP and Sun; are examined in depth and in parallel. Standards, LANs and WANs, services, TCP/IP and network management are discussed. This gives a good start to managers who have to be able to evaluate competing claims (particularly from competing vendors). The book is not without faults and even technical errors. Although the author is obviously thoroughly researched and comfortable with the background of the whole network situation, certain parts that were up to the minute in 1991 sound oddly archaic now. Nevertheless, this is an excellent background and starting point for anyone who either has, or will have, charge of a modern business network. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKAMGTMN.RVW 931011 Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of the TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ From: cccf@altern.com (cccf) Subject: _Naissance d'un virus_ Soon to be Published Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 11:15:51 EST By the general secretary of the Chaos Computer Club France (CCCF), the French translation of "The Little Black Book of Computer Viruses" will soon be published by Addison-Wesley France (fax: +33 1 48 87 97 99). Naassance d'un Virus (dec 1993, 237 pages, circa 98 FF). Jean-Bernard Condat, PO Box 155, 93404 St-Ouen Cedex, France Phone: +33 1 47874083, fax: +33 1 47874919, email: cccf@altern.com [Moderator's Note: How about a review of the book for us? Tell us more about it, and how it might be purchased here in the USA. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Received My Free Sprint Modem Today From: zeta@tcscs.com (Gregory Youngblood) Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 00:22:09 PST Organization: TCS Computer Systems rosellab@hawaii.edu (Rosella Bartonico) writes: > It finally came today, after eight weeks (I switched to Sprint for the > free modem about September 10). > It is indeed an internal 1/4 card (half size, half heigth) PC modem. > Not an external. > The Smart One Fax Modem from Best Data Products, Inc. > 9600/4800 bps send/receive fax > 2400/1200/300 bps data modem > with V.42bis and MNP error correction and data compression Interesting: This modem could indeed be represented as a 9600 data/fax modem. 9600 bps send fax and 9600 throughput max with v.42bis. That is how these modems are represented by several modem manufacturers. That is indeed interesting. As to the external vs. internal promise I can't answer. I am not a person knowledgable in law, but it would seem that Sprint could use this in court to say they were delivering what they promised. After all, why should Sprint be penalized for what modem companies advertise their products as, and unfortunately, they advertise a 2400 modem with v.42bis as 9600 data. Greg The Complete Solution BBS Allfiles List: Anonymous UUCP Calls Accepted 707-459-9058 (24hrs, v.32) ~/tcsbbs.lst Login: nuucp Password: nuucp Telemate Distribution Site zeta@tcscs.com Cellular Telephony Groups ------------------------------ From: roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org (Roy M. Silvernail) Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 22:33:43 CST Subject: My Sprint Modem Arrived Strangely enough, although I was told I had a choice of DOS _or_ windows software, I received a disk with both. It does v.42bis and/or MNP5 with a software driver (that I haven't tested extensively). It gets a LAPM connect with my Connection 96+. I'll check out the v.42bis soon. It's CUTE! One chip, three glue logic chips and a couple of little amps, with a discrete hybrid. I just wish it did interrupts besides 3 & 4. (but what the heck, it's a freebie) Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org [Moderator's Note: I am very excited waiting for mine to arrive also. UPS left a note at my old address saying they tried to deliver it there and 'found no one home when they called'. I notified them of my new address and it is supposed to be delivered Thursday or Friday. PAT] ------------------------------ From: strow@world.std.com (Mark Strow) Subject: Wanted: AT&T Merlin Cordless Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 16:23:43 GMT Please reply to strow@world.std.com. Thanks, M. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 10:21:22 CST From: Clive Dawson Subject: Answering After Busy Signal I placed a long distance call to 415-965-xxxx the other day, and received a busy signal. I guess I hesitated a little longer than usual and listened to about four or five "tones" worth of busy signal. Then, just as I was about to hang up, the person I was calling answered! Has anybody else experienced this? Did I encounter some sort of race condition, or a bug in a certain type of switching equipment? Any explanations would be welcome. BTW, the number I called was a private home number (i.e. not a PBX, etc.) Thanks, Clive Dawson MCC Austin, Texas ------------------------------ From: rrb@deja-vu.aiss.uiuc.edu (Bill Pfeiffer) Subject: Seeking Net Connection in 417 Area (SW Missouri) Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 02:20:59 CST A friend of mine who lives between Springfield and Branson, Missouri seeks a net-connected BBS or Public-Access Unix host in that vicinity. He currently connects long distance to Chicago for news/mail. He needs a closer place, preferably in the 417 area. Email replies are apprecaited, to save Pat the hassle, I will summarize if I get anything useful. Or you can write to him direct at conn@gagme.chi.il.us (Paul D Williams). He will soon ba administering a mailing list and the toll charges will kill him. Thanks, William Pfeiffer - Moderator rec.radio.broadcasting - Airwaves Radio Journal For info on rrb and Airwaves, email rrb@deja-vu.aiss.uiuc.edu Subject: HELP ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 10:02:58 EST From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Caller ID Between Area Codes 516 and 718 I received a telephone call from 718-XXX-YYYY (NYC minus Manhattan and I live in area code 516 (Long Island) which says to me that Caller ID is available between these two area codes so long as all of the intermediate COs and switches are capable of passing the information. What I suspect is that the caller made a mistake on my number since there two digits the same in the number and the wrong one was dialed twice by accident. This happened quite a few times when I first received the number. There are still some exchanges that don't pass the ID but they mostly serve big customers, but even those are slowly switching. One thing, though, is that my employer is on one exchange for normal telephone service in its offices and buildings (voice, data, fax, etc.) and another one for the on-site housing plus telephone callback. These numbers are listed as being on a third exchange which does pass CID with no trouble. The first two go in as 516-282-XXXX or 516-341-XXXX but come out as 516-924-9XXX and 516-924-8XXX. The rationalization is: I call home from my job and the number shows as 9XXX but if I dial in to work via a modem and go into 282-XXXX it is routed to 341-XXXX for call back and shows up as 8XXX. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 [Moderator's Note: What happens if you dial the 924 version either from home or office or elsewhere? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 19:02:28 EST From: kalisiak@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Chris Kalisiak) Subject: Cellular FAQ Wanted I am a newbie to cellular phones, and am currently researching into the different brands of phones. I have determine that the three watt models hard-mounted in the car are probably what I am looking for. Possibly 'luggable', but definitely not the small hand-held models. Is there a FAQ of some sort which might include descriptions of pros and cons of different cellular phones currently on the market? Thanks a lot, Chris Kalisiak kalisiak@cs.buffalo.edu Tel/Fax:(716)692-5128/695-8481 I'm a student; I don't speak for UB. ------------------------------ From: nmeyer@hasler.ascom.ch (Rudolf Meyer) Subject: Re: ATM Newsgroup: is There Any? Organization: Ascom Business Systems Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 21:15:14 GMT In article kees@cv.ruu.nl (Kees de Graaf) writes: > I'm new to the comp.dcom.* newsgroups. I was wondering whether there > is a group dedicated to the ATM standard/protocol (?) and its > applications. Otherwise, what would be the group to read anything > about ATM? Hi Kees! Have a look on: comp.dcom.cell-relay Cheers, Rudolf Meyer Ascom Business Communications Switzerland [Moderator's Note: Thanks also to Ben Cox whose answer was identical. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jeffb@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford) Subject: Strange Ringback Organization: Audio Research Group, University of Waterloo Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 14:35:27 GMT I had a rather bizarre experience with the phone last night and thought that someone here may be able to shed some light on the subject. For starters the phone line has four features on it : Call Display, Call Answer, Call Waiting and Three-Way Calling (Aside: Good ole Bell Canada they may charge $30 to move your phone line but they gave three features for free for eight weeks!). I dialed up someone and left a message via Call Answer to myself. That is I called my own number to leave a message. Since the calls forward to the Call Answer number when the line is busy I immediately got my message. I then left a message for someone else in the household and hung up the phone. The phone then rang back (which sometimes happens when you "hang up" on someone with Call Waiting). The display showed no number was calling, in fact the Call Display said nothing which I found curious. I picked up the phone but there was no one there so I hung up thinking that somehow the Call Waiting got confused because I called myself. I then tried the same thing again (i.e. leave myself a message by phoning my number). I left another message and then hung up. This time the phone also rang back with no display for the number. I let the phone ring more than four times which should forward it to the answering service but this did not work. It just kept ringing. I picked it up and was rather surprised to hear people talking on the other end. Not really knowing quite what to do I hung up. I tried to duplicate the experiment but I could not get the phone to ring back. Perhaps I'll try again today. Has this happened to anyone else? Jeff Bamford jeffb@audiolab.uwaterloo.ca -- NeXT Mail welcome jeffb@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca / jeffb@physics.uwaterloo.ca ------------------------------ From: gmw1@merhaba.cc.columbia.edu (Gabe M Wiener) Subject: Re: Landline Telegraph Service Date: 10 Nov 1993 14:12:54 GMT Organization: Columbia University In article , Gabe M Wiener wrote: > Over the years we have seen many articles and had many discussions on > the operation of cordboard service ... trunking, signalling, etc. But > I'm curious if anyone knows the specifics of how the landline > telegraph service operated. [my original query deleted] > [Moderator's Note: The first TWX machine I recall seeing sometime in > the 1950's was not a dial unit. [Pat's excellend description of TWX operation deleted] Pat, thanks for the info. I was referring more to the telegraph service of the 19th century ... keys and sounders ... more than to teletypewriter service however. Know anything about how switching was accomplished then? Gabe Wiener -- gmw1@columbia.edu -- N2GPZ -- PGP on request Sound engineering, recording, and digital mastering for classical music "I am terrified at the thought that so much hideous and bad music will be put on records forever." --Sir Arthur Sullivan [Moderator's Note: Well for a long time in the 19th century -- maybe all of it, I really don't know -- there were certain 'hub cities' where some rudimentary switching took place, with every telegraph agent served out of that hub on a single line in series with all the others. That is, Chicago was one such hub and St. Louis was another. Every agent between Chicago and St. Louis who started banging his key was heard by all the other agents in between and both ends of the circuit as well. There were no secrets transmitted. :) I think if Chicago wanted to send a message to Kansas City, it was passed to St. Louis and the agent there immediatly re-transmitted it to Kansas City. There were numerous telegraph companies between towns which were bought up by a consortium and merged into Western Union during that time period, just in the same way AT&T hustled and extorted many small independent telcos into selling out to 'The Bell' early in this century. In Chicago and other big cities in the 19th century, many business houses and prominent citizens had their own 'keys'. The Chicago Board of Trade had two, I believe, one for receiving and one for sending. These terminated at the wire room downtown and there were relays of some sort which would flip a little magnetized piece of metal down like a 'flag' over the key which was active at the moment. The agent could plug these into one another in such a way that the keys could send back and forth to each other. Obviously, we are not talking about heavy volumes of traffic. A message here, a message there, etc. Western Union owned the facilities in the larger cities, but smaller towns and rural areas were serviced by independent agents who worked on commission only based on what traffic they generated or received. No one could earn a living as a telegraph agent alone; if they could, Western Union would own the facility and make the money. So most of the small town agents were also agents for other services accomodating the public 24 hours per day. A long-deceased relative of mine who lived in Independence, Kansas about 1890 was the telegraph agent for the town; her 'key' was set up behind the counter of her other business: she also owned the local 'bus station' and was an independent commission agent for the stage-coach company which was the ancestor to what is known today as Greyhound Bus. Very experienced in the code, I am told she could be writing up a bus (stage-coach) ticket (they were all handwritten in those days) while telling the people around her what 'the key' was talking about -- even if it was a transmission between two other agents that did not concern her at all. If you wanted to tell your friends in Chicago you were on the way to visit, first you told her what to say and she would put it on the key to wherever she relayed or gatewayed through; after paying her for that, then she'd write up your stage-coach ticket to Chicago and get your money for that also. At night when she was asleep, someone else was there to sell tickets and send/receive telegraph messages. A story goes that one day two agents were involved in a transmission and going quite fast. They were each able to keep up with it, and normally she would have kept up with them at that speed, but she was trying to write up a ticket or something that took some of her attention and she lost track of what 'the key' was talking about. She actually put down her other work, went over and tapped out something to the effect, 'you guys slow down a little please.' The message tapped out to her in return: 'slow down? what for? so a snoopy old bit*h like you can stick her nose into it?' :). After that she never would admit that she listened to messages not intended for her site, but all the agents did the same thing and knew everyone else's business. There were no secrets. PAT] ------------------------------ From: king@rtsg.mot.com (Steven King) Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Date: 9 Nov 1993 15:22:30 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group Reply-To: king@rtsg.mot.com U19250@uicvm.uic.edu publicly declared: > A friend of mine, without net access, has received some information on > a product called "Cellmate Model B" It supposedly allows you to dial > in a cellular phone number, and listen to both sides of the call. How > does this work? Is it reliable? Has anyone ever heard of any other > products like this that are cheaper (this is ~$6000)? I've never heard of this product, but it wouldn't be difficult to make one that functions as you describe. First, enter a mobile-ID. This is the phone number of the phone you're interested in monitoring. The monitor device listens to the signalling channel in the current cell waiting for the system to page that mobile, or for that mobile to originate a call. Since the mobile-ID is sent in the clear on the signalling channel it's quite simple for a monitor device to pick it off. Once the target mobile acknowledges the page, the system directs it to tune to a voice channel. Again, this information is sent in the clear and it would be easy for the monitor to tune to the same channel. The monitor can follow handoffs as well, as the commands to hand off are sent by muting audio and sending a burst of data on the voice channel. The target phone understands this to mean "switch to another channel". No reason why the monitor device can't do the same. Repeat until the target phone is too far away for its signal to be received. I came up with this scheme in two minutes, given your description of what was needed. Obviously refinements could be made, but this is a good basis for a cellular "wiretap" device. The main limitation is that the tapper can only lock onto the beginning of a conversation; he can't tap into a call-in-progress for a specific mobile-ID. There may be ways around this limitation. As I said, I've only given it two minutes worth of thought! The moral of the story? The airwaves ain't private, folks. And yes, I too would like to see the cellular industry adopt an encryption scheme. Unfortunately, that's not my end of the business. (I do switching software.) Steven King -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group ------------------------------ From: fdc@fdc.cc.columbia.edu (Frank da Cruz) Subject: Re: Looking For Software Distribution and/or File Transfer Programs Date: 10 Nov 1993 02:42:11 GMT Organization: Columbia University In article terryh@engin.umich.edu (Terry Hull) writes: > I am looking for some automatic unattended file transfer programs > running on Sun SparcStations. But first let me describe what my > company has right now. There are 40 branch offices across USA. > ... Now, we are seeking a similar > product, but it should run on SparcStations, and should support both > modem dial-up and also IP-based transport mechanisam. I was told that > a company call CMI has a similar product. CMI ... Could that be ColuMbia universIty? Kermit software should be just what you need -- it runs on both serial connections and TCP/IP connections, it transfers files, it has a script programming language to let you totally automate your nightly information transfers. It's available for UNIX (including SunOS), VMS, DOS, Windows, OS/2, and hundreds of other environments, too. Try it out. Anonymous ftp to kermit.columbia.edu, directory kermit. Follow the pointers. Frank ------------------------------ From: forags@smokey.berkeley.edu (Al Stangenberger) Subject: Re: Brought to You by the Letter Q Date: 10 Nov 1993 04:15:33 GMT Organization: U.C. Forestry & Resource Mgt. Reply-To: forags@smokey.Berkeley.EDU In article , Bill Leeke wrote: > Why is there no digital equivilent for the letter Q or Z on my phone? > [Moderator's Note: ... Some very old telephones do have the letter > Z where the Operator spot on the dial is located, but I can't think of > a single instance where it was ever used. I've always wondered whether the reason "ZEnith" was chosen for some toll-free numbers (before WATS service) was that if somebody tried to dial a ZE- number they would automatically dial the Operator. Before 911 became universal, the emergency number for the CA Highway Patrol was ZE-1-2000. It made a certain amount of sense to route such calls thru the operator, I guess. I think that was about the only ZEnith number in the SF Bay Area; all the other toll-free numbers I remember were ENterprise numbers. Al Stangenberger Dept. of Env. Sci., Policy, & Mgt. forags@nature.berkeley.edu 145 Mulford Hall - Univ. of Calif. uucp: ucbvax!ucbnature!forags Berkeley, CA 94720 BITNET: FORAGS AT UCBNATUR (510) 642-4424 FAX: (510) 643-5438 [Moderator's Note: I've never heard your theory before, nor can I recall ever seeing Zenith numbers in the form ZE-1-xxxx. If anything, it would be printed Zenith 12000. Very interesting. I think the only difference between Zenith and Enterprise was the sponsoring telco. Some used one name, the rest used the other. And I don't think a subscriber in a telco using Enterprise as their toll free keyword could call a Zenith number or vice versa. I think Zenith was largely the independent telcos where Enterprise was mostly for the Bell System companies. I remember reviewing phone books during the 1960's and the Zenith numbers (it seems to me) were mostly on the west coast. I saw several listed in the State of Washington and thought it peculiar at the time. All I ever recall seeing in this area was Enterprise, but a couple writers here have said just the opposite about their towns in those long ago times. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #752 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa12651; 12 Nov 93 5:39 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16100 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Fri, 12 Nov 1993 02:18:37 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30855 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 12 Nov 1993 02:18:03 -0600 Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 02:18:03 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311120818.AA30855@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #753 TELECOM Digest Fri, 12 Nov 93 02:18:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 753 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telcom Legislation (James Love) TAP Comments on PCS Auction (James Love) Microsoft Telephony API/SPI (Joe Armstrong) Accessing NIST via Macintosh (Bill Pfeiffer) Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? (Kevin Ian Cooke) Re: 800 Phone Sex, ANI, and Call Blocking Through PSN (Randal Hayes) Mixture of ATM and SONET/SDH (Jean Raymond) Need to Buy E1 to T1 Converter (Ken Adler) NPA 456 Assigned to "Inbound International" Services (David Leibold) Re: Repeat of the Vote Now Underway (Earle Robinson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 11 Nov 93 19:43:30 EST Reply-To: love@essential.org From: James Love Subject: Telcom Legislation from TAP-INFO Internet Distribution List Taxpayer Assets Project Information Policy Note November 10, 1993 Representative Markey is expected to soon introduce legislation dealing with telco entry into cable, and cable entry into telco markets. The attached letter expresses our interest in common carrier regulation to protect competition in "content" markets. jamie love -------------------------------------- Taxpayer Assets Project P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 November 10, 1993 Representative Edward Markey Chair, House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance Committee on Energy and Commerce U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Re: Telecommunications legislation Dear Representative Markey: We are writing to urge you to use your influence as chair of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance to protect competition in markets for information content and value added information services. As you know, the Congressional debate over the new National Information Infrastructure (NII) has become largely a discussion over what type of competition will be allowed between telecommunications carriers. Thus, we hear plenty about whether or not telcos will be allowed to provide video programming to compete against cable franchises, if cable franchises will be allowed to provide switched voice and data services in competition with telcos, if RBOCs will be allowed to enter long lines markets, or who will be allowed to own PCS licenses. Much of this debate assumes a much greater role for vertically integrated services, with telephone, cable, and wireless carriers being allowed to own significant amounts of the programming content which travels over their facilities. We believe that such vertical integration raises grave problems, as firms will use their control over carrier markets to exercise monopoly power in content markets. The most relevant example of this is the long and well documented history of anticompetitive problems in cable television markets, where large cable franchise companies have used their control over carrier facilities to benefit programming services in which they are investors, at the expense of rival services. This has reduced competition in content markets, and raised important questions about who controls the availability of information services. It is simply outrageous, for example, that TCI and Time-Warner were able to prevent General Electric from offering CNBC as a news format channel, because they were investors in CNN, the dominate incumbent source of cable news. If carriers can push around a firm as large as GE, they can crush much smaller enterprises with ease. Vertical integration also raises profoundly difficult problems for the regulation of carrier rates. In cable, much of the revenues are derived from pay-for-view services or advertising. Because cable operators are allowed to own or control programming services and sell advertising, it has become extremely difficult for regulators to determine if consumers are paying excessive fees for the carrier services. Competition among carriers can be an important mechanisms to benefit consumers, but even more important are the goals of promoting competition in content markets, and providing a regulatory structure that makes it possible to protect consumers from excessive rates for carrier services. These goals can best be achieved by no-nonsense common carrier regulation in carrier markets, combined with rules that bar vertical integration into programming services. At a minimum, Congress must require that telephone, cable, and wireless telecommunications carriers act as common carriers, giving all content providers equal opportunities to compete against each other. However, it is important to note that in the absence of rules against vertical integration, regulators will be faced with the arduous task of reviewing tariff classes, encryption mechanisms, promotional efforts, and endless contractual terms to guard against anticompetitive behavior, and it will be extremely difficult to regulate carrier rates to consumers when much of the company's revenues are "off the books" for purposes of determining company revenue requirements. Any legislation that Congress considers this year should provide the strongest possible common carrier protections, and promote the most open systems of telecommunications. Companies should not have the incentives or power to extend their control over carrier markets to control over content markets. Access to information and the ability to provide information services over the telecommunications infrastructure are the key issues in the development of the new NII. Congress needs to shift its attention from competition among large carriers to the more important and critical problems of making the NII promote a new era of freedom in the exchange of information. Sincerely, James Love Director TAP-INFO is an Internet Distribution List provided by the Taxpayer Assets Project (TAP). TAP was founded by Ralph Nader to monitor the management of government property, including information systems and data, government funded R&D, spectrum allocation and other government assets. TAP-INFO reports on TAP activities relating to federal information policy. tap-info is archived at ftp.cpsr.org; gopher.cpsr.org and wais.cpsr.org Subscription requests to tap-info to listserver@essential.org with the message: subscribe tap-info your name Taxpayer Assets Project; P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176; internet: tap@essential.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Nov 93 17:02:41 EST Reply-To: love@essential.org From: James Love Subject: TAP Comments on PCS Auction from TAP-INFO Internet Distribution List Taxpayer Assets Project Information Policy Note November 10, 1993 TAP Comments to FCC on PCS spectrum allocation - FCC asked to bar incumbent telephone, cable and cellular companies from obtaining wireless PCS licenses in their own service areas - FCC asked to withhold permission to aggregate licenses together until it determines that the benefits of aggregation (larger spectrum blocks) outweigh the disadvantages (fewer licenses) of less competition and diversity - FCC asked to award some licenses on the basis of royalty or profit sharing agreements, rather than upfront cash payments The attached letter is the Taxpayer Assets Project comments on the FCC's proposed rules for auction of spectrum for Personal Communications Services (PCS). ------------ James Love, Taxpayer Assets Project P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 November 10, 1993 Mr. William Caton Acting Secretary Federal Communications Commission 1919 M Street, NW, 2nd Floor Washington, DC 20554 Re: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on spectrum auction, FCC 93-455. Dear Mr Caton: The Taxpayer Assets Project is pleased to offer comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on spectrum auctions, FCC 93-455. We will address three points. 1. Competition and diversity will be enhanced through restrictions on cross ownership. Telephone, cable and cellular companies should not be able to acquire PCS licenses in their own service areas. The FCC can best promote competition in telecommunications markets by adopting rules which prohibit incumbent telephone, cable and cellular companies from obtaining licenses to operate PCS services in their own service areas. The FCC's proposal to allow existing cellular license holders to acquire an additional 10 MHz of spectrum, and to allow telephone and cable companies to acquire up to 40 megahertz of spectrum, could result in cases where the four incumbent telecommunications carriers in a given market obtain 100 megahertz of the available 120 MHz of new PCS spectrum. Federal policy makers, including Congress and the Executive branch, claim that competition will protect consumers from excessive carrier rates. The new PCS wireless services are supposed to be an important element of a new competitive carrier market. Competition can hardly be enhanced if incumbent telephone, cable and cellular companies can "own" most of the new PCS spectrum. The recent decision by PACTEL to divest its cellular licenses in order to allow the company to acquire a full 40 MHz of PCS spectrum is a case in point. In markets served by PACTEL, incumbent telephone, cable and cellular companies will be allowed to acquire 100 MHz of the 120 MHz of PCS spectrum which is to be auctioned. Under what economic theory can this possibility promote "competition?" Clearly there would be more competition if all PCS license holders were new entrants in the service area. In our judgement, the issue of cross-ownership restrictions and competition is so obvious, the only mystery is why will the FCC allow cross ownership. What possible rationale can the FCC offer other than the fact that telecommunications carriers appear to wield more political influence than do consumers? 2. Aggregation of PCS licenses into larger blocks should only be allowed after a finding by the FCC that such aggregation is in the public interest. The FCC is proposing to issue seven PCS licenses per market, but also to allow bidders to aggregate licenses together into larger blocks. The only restrictions on the aggregation are the proposed limit of 40 MHz of licenses per firm. In our previous comments on this issue we urged the FCC to auction off PCS spectrum in the smallest possible blocks, and then allow aggregation, contingent upon an FCC finding that the aggregation was in the public interest. The potential benefits of aggregation, which may include the ability to provide some broadband services which cannot be offered via smaller blocks, must be weighted against the costs of aggregation, which will include less competition and less diversity. The FCC doesn't yet know if the smaller PCS blocks can adequately serve PCS users, and it would be wise to allow a certain amount of experimentation before it concludes that the smaller PCS blocks can be aggregated into larger, but fewer licenses. 3. The FCC should allow some bidders on PCS spectrum to offer royalties or profit shares as an alternative to upfront cash payments. Upfront cash payments for PCS spectrum offer a number of appealing advantages, including the simplicity of the auction mechanism, and the fact that the lump sum cost of the licenses will not involve marginal costs per unit of service offered, arguably leading to more efficient consumer prices. On the other hand, upfront cash payments crate entry barriers, and will lead to less competition in the auction, and we believe, a lower present value to the public for license fees, due to the differences between the bidders discount rates (the costs of obtaining capital) and the government's discount rate (the government's costs of obtaining revenue through the issuance of government bonds). At a minimum, the FCC should require that one Block C and one Block D license in each market be auctioned on the basis of the highest royalty or profit share. To accomplish this, we suggest that the FCC offer these blocks after the initial licenses are auctioned, and that the license holders be required to pay upfront fees which are equal to one third or one half the winning bids of the licenses sold for cash. That is, the second round of licenses should be awarded to the firms which agree to pay a fixed upfront fee, while "bidding" on the government's contingent share of the PCS revenues. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on this issue. Sincerely, James Love TAP-INFO is an Internet Distribution List provided by the Taxpayer Assets Project (TAP). TAP was founded by Ralph Nader to monitor the management of government property, including information systems and data, government funded R&D, spectrum allocation and other government assets. TAP-INFO reports on TAP activities relating to federal information policy. tap-info is archived at ftp.cpsr.org; gopher.cpsr.org and wais.cpsr.org Subscription requests to tap-info to listserver@essential.org with the message: subscribe tap-info your name Taxpayer Assets Project; P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176; internet: tap@essential.org ------------------------------ From: joe@erix.ericsson.se (Joe Armstrong) Subject: Microsoft Telephony API/SPI Organization: Ellemtel Telecom Systems Labs, Stockholm, Sweden Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 16:11:39 GMT Does anybody have any information available about products which use the recently published Microsoft Telephony API/SPI? Do you think the Microsoft Telephony API will catch on? Up to now the CCITT has been the principle organisation responsible for telephony standards. The microsoft API seems to represent a radical departure from this. Is this the future? Joe ------------------------------ From: rrb@deja-vu.aiss.uiuc.edu (Bill Pfeiffer) Subject: Accessing NIST via Macintosh Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 13:42:08 CST > The October 1993 issue of BYTE Magazine mentions that you can access > the NIST atomic clock through the Internet at address 132.163.135.130 > (time_a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov). However, our computer center is > Macintosh oriented and I cannot find software to set the Mac's clock > through this address (or, for that matter, through the more accurate > telephone connection). Can someone suggest MacTCP compatible software > for this? Or am I going to have to write it myself? mac.archive.umich.edu has several programs for permitting your Mac to call in and get it's clock cleaned (grin) or at least set, via the NIST (and other) timeservers. Not having a Mac, I am not aware of exactly what it is called, but it does exist and several of my mac friends are using it quite successfully. Bill Pfeiffer Moderator rec.radio.broadcasting/AIRWAVES email digest. To Subscribe, send email to - subscribe@airwaves.chi.il.us - ------------------------------ From: kcooke@uclink.berkeley.edu (Kevin Ian Cooke) Subject: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? Date: 12 Nov 1993 03:01:50 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley In light of the recent discussions about scanning cellular frequencies, I would like your help with the following: I am interested in writing a story about people who, from time to time, like to listen to their nieghbors' cellular phone conversations. I know you're out there, especially folks in the *.dcom.telecom worlds, since (as I'm sure most of you know) it only takes slight alterations to cell phones and FM scanners to get them to hear the cellular frequencies. I know that the above is illegal, and I know that anyone engaged in such activity could be prosecuted. That is why I'm posting here. You may reply anonymously, if you must, but I would like some general information about you, as much as you're comfortable providing. Have you heard any good stories? Do you feel that what you're doing is wrong? Did you see _Sliver_? :) Flame if you must, but please realize that this medium is ideal for the kind of research that I would like to pursue. Thanks in advance. Kevin Cooke kcooke@ocf.berkeley.edu OR UCB Grad School of Journalism kcooke@uclink.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ From: Date: 12 Nov 93 18:53 CST Subject: Re: 800 Phone Sex, ANI, and Call Blocking through PSN > The FCC recently ruled that this kind of billing back to the ANI > from an 800 number is illegal *unless* the caller establishes a > customer relationship with the company ... Unfortunately, some of these businesses have found what they believe to be a loophole in this ruling. We dealt with a situation in which the caller dials an 800 number, and the company asks if this person wants the service. With an affirmative response, the company immediately sets-up a "calling card" for the caller with their company, using the ANI number (one of our trunk numbers) and a 4-digit PIN number. The caller can then call their other 800 number at any time, giving this "calling card" number for billing purposes. The company ignores the fact that the caller has no connection to the ANI number that, as a DID trunk, is being paid for by us. They believe this set-up constitutes establishment of a "customer relationship" with them, and their opinion is they can then charge-back to this number. We resolved this incident with the company by calling the service company number (who must get really tired of these sleazy schemes, except for the $$$ rolling in), who removed the charges from our bill, and placed the billing number they receive via ANI for our trunks in a restricted status with their company. Of course, who will reimburse us for the time required to clean up this mess and deal with this garbage? Unfortunately, we simply do not have the time or staff to pursue the matter and hopefully drive this service into the ground, so it keeps going, and going, and going ... Thoughts and opinions which are strictly my own from -- randal-hayes@uiowa.edu ------------------------------ From: rayj@ctss07.hydro.qc.ca (Jean Raymond) Subject: Mixture of ATM and SONET/SDH Reply-To: rayj@ctss07.hydro.qc.ca Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc. Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 13:19:32 GMT Hi, Does anybody have solutions on the possibility to mix ATM inside a SONET ADM rings? SONET rings can't support the add/drop of cells from an STS-1 because SONET can't provide traffic protection to the level of cells. And everybody knows cell is the key element of ATM. I read a very few lines on sheath ring and I'd appreciate if someone could suggest me any articles on that topic or any other solution. Thank you, Jean Raymond, eng., Ph.D. Hydro-Quebec Telecommunications Control Centre Complexe Desjardins, East Tower, Floor B1, C.P. 10000 Montreal, Canada, H5B 1H7 tel: 514-289-5305 fax: 514-289-3306 email: jraymond@cct.hydro.qc.ca ------------------------------ From: ken@pluto.dss.com (Ken Adler) Subject: Need to Buy E1 to T1 Converter Organization: Datability, Carlstadt, NJ Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 17:52:51 GMT Does anyone know of any companies that make a box that takes in one or more E1 trunks and convert it to multiple T1 trunks? I urgently need contact info for companies that have such a product. Please email to ken@dss.com. Thanks, Ken ------------------------------ From: djcl@grin.io.org Date: Thu, 11 Nov 93 21:43 EST Subject: NPA 456 Assigned to "Inbound International" Services I recently had contact with Bellcore, and got word of an assignment of NPA 456 for "inbound international" services. This is not planned for use within World Zone 1 (North American Numbering Plan) but rather the intent is that 456 will be used from points in other nations to allow special numbers that are assigned to carriers within the NANP (such as AT&T, Teleglobe, MCI, Sprint, etc). Currently, calling from overseas will not allow a choice of destination U.S. or Canadian carrier, even though a few countries will allow a choice of which domestic carrier will initiate the call. I forgot to find out when 456 would take effect, though it seems likely to wait for the 1 January 1995 implementation of "interchangeable" area codes such as the 334 area already announced to split Alabama NPA 205. Bellcore did admit to two other new NPA assignments, but details on these will not be released until the phone companies involved make their announcement first. Candidates for new splits include 813 Florida, 206 Washington state and perhaps others. David Leibold ------------------------------ Date: 11 Nov 93 19:43:18 EST From: Earle Robinson <76004.1762@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: Repeat of the Vote Now Underway This is becoming ridiculous. I refuse to participate in yet another vote. We've already voted. Why yet another time? er [Moderator's Note: We are voting again because the first vote did not turn out the way certain people wanted it to turn out. I assume if the vote fails again, they will hold it a third time. Either that, or just go ahead and install the group anyway, which was given a lot of con- sideration prior to the second vote. Coincidental to the first vote failing to pass, IMHO, I made some comments giving my own personal opinion in the matter here, and when the vote failed, my having talked about it here was just the hook or ammunition needed by the group's proponents to cry foul. Also, there were a small number of voters who don't otherwise have net access who participated, and this may or may not have affected the outcome in a statistically significant way. So, a handful of voters whose votes were of questionable validity depending on how you feel about list members participating in Usenet votes, and my comments caused some people to get one of their appendeges caught in the wringer as the saying goes. So amid the uproar -- and it appeared to me to be a terrible stink, although I don't follow Usenet enough to be a judge of how nasty a place it can be -- David Lawrence suggested to me perhaps an 'unmoderated' mailing by the proponents of the new group and a revote would end some of the flaming. I agreed -- in essence said be my guest, run a revote now, don't wait for the six month moratorium. So they did. Asbestos Dippold put out his summary and now the vote is underway again. Let's see how it turns out this time with no 'undue influence' (god, that one is a gas!) from me. If you have not voted this time around, please do so, and list readers should not vote unless they otherwise read Usenet News straight from a newsfeed somewhere. Most Compuserve/MCI Mail people would be ineligible to vote under the guidelines. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #753 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa21476; 13 Nov 93 15:12 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22776 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sat, 13 Nov 1993 12:02:36 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24140 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 13 Nov 1993 12:02:01 -0600 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 12:02:01 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311131802.AA24140@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #754 TELECOM Digest Sat, 13 Nov 93 12:02:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 754 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson The Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act (John R. Levine) Questionable Use of 900 Call Detail (Mike Bray) International Advanced Fax (Deborah LoPrinzi) NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Jamie Mason) Book Review: "Open Systems Networking" by Piscitello/Chapin (Rob Slade) What is ANI? (Christian Taube) Motorola Cellular Tech Manual Wanted (Bob Longo) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 09:38 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: The Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act Organization: I.E.C.C. This is PL 102-556, enacted October 28, 1992, sponsored by Rep. Markey. It was apparently quite uncontroversial, since it whizzed through the congress in two days. In the following summary, you'll note that it explicitly outlaws schemes where you call an 800 number and they charge you, either directly or via collect callback. Summary (from Library of Congress LOCIS): Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act - Title I: Carrier Obligations and Consumer Rights Concerning Pay-Per-Call Transactions - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a system for the oversight and regulation of pay-per-call services. Requires the FCC's final rules to: (1) include measures that provide a consumer of pay-per-call services with adequate and clear descriptions of the rights of the caller; (2) define the obligations of common carriers with respect to the provision of such services; (3) include requirements on such carriers to protect against abusive practices by service providers; (4) identify procedures by which common carriers and providers may take affirmative steps to protect against nonpayment of legitimate charges; and (5) include requirements that such services be offered only through the use of certain telephone number prefixes and area codes. Directs common carriers that contract with a provider of pay-per-call services to make available on request: (1) a list of telephone numbers, a description, and a statement of fees for each service it carries; and (2) other information the FCC considers necessary. Requires common carriers contracting with providers to terminate services if the service is not in compliance with this Act. Prohibits common carriers from disconnecting or interrupting a subscriber's local or long distance service because of nonpayment for any pay-per-call service. Authorizes common carriers that provide local exchange service to offer subscribers the option of blocking access to pay-per-call service. Permits the cost of blocking to be recovered by contract or tariff but bars recovery of costs from local or long distance ratepayers. Directs common carriers to prohibit by tariff or contract the use of any toll-free number in a manner that would result in the calling party being: (1) assessed a charge for the call; (2) connected to a pay-per-call service; (3) charged for information conveyed during the call unless the party has a preexisting agreement to be charged for the information; or (4) called back collect for the provision of audio information services or simultaneous voice conservation services. Requires common carriers that contract with, and offer billing and collection services to, providers of pay-per-call services to: (1) ensure that a subscriber is not billed for services that are provided in violation of regulations issued pursuant to title II of this Act or under circumstances necessary to protect subscribers from abusive practices; (2) provide information on subscribers' and carriers' rights regarding pay-per-call services; and (3) include certain information in billing for pay-per-call services. Exempts a common carrier from civil or criminal liability under this Act solely because it provided transmission or billing and collection services for a pay-per-call service unless the carrier knew that such services violated this Act or other Federal law. Bars causes of action in courts or administrative agencies against common carriers on account of acts to terminate pay-per-call services to comply with this Act or other Federal law. Requires regulations to ensure that carriers and other parties providing billing and collection services with respect to pay-per-call services provide refunds to subscribers who have been billed for services violating this Act or other Federal law. Permits recovery of costs from providers, but bars recovery from local or long distance ratepayers. Directs the FCC to submit recommendations to the Congress with respect to the extension of such regulations to persons that provide, for a per-call charge, data services that are not pay-per-call services. Specifies that nothing in this Act shall affect provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 concerning obscene or harassing phone calls. Title II: Regulations of Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices in Connection with Pay-Per-Call Services - Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe rules to prohibit unfair and deceptive acts and practices in any advertisement for pay-per-call services. Provides that such rules shall require persons offering such services to: (1) disclose in any advertising the cost of the use of the telephone number; (2) disclose the odds of receiving a prize in the case of an advertisement which offers a prize; (3) disclose that a service is unauthorized by a Federal agency in the case of an advertisement that promotes a service that is not operated by a Federal agency but provides information on a Federal program; (4) not direct an advertisement at children under the age of 12; (5) state that an individual must have the consent of a parent or legal guardian in the case of an advertisement directed primarily to individuals under 18; (6) not use advertisements that emit electronic tones which automatically dial a pay-per-call number; (7) ensure that whenever the number is shown in television and print media advertisements that the charges for the call are clearly displayed; (8) specify the total cost in delivering any telephone message soliciting calls to a pay-per-call service; and (9) not advertise any toll-free number from which callers are connected to an access number for a pay-per-call service. Directs the FTC to prescribe rules requiring each provider of pay-per-call services to: (1) include a specified introductory disclosure message in each pay-per-call message; (2) enable the caller to hang up at or before the end of the introductory message without incurring any charge; (3) not direct such services at children under 12 unless the service is an educational service; (4) stop the assessment of time-based charges immediately upon disconnection by the caller; (5) disable any bypass mechanism which allows frequent callers to avoid listening to the disclosure message after the institution of any price increase; (6) be prohibited from providing services through a toll-free number; (7) be prohibited from billing consumers in excess of the amounts described in the introductory message; (8) meet specified requirements for billing statements; (9) be liable for refunds to consumers for services provided in violation of Federal law; and (10) comply with additional standards to prevent abusive practices. Directs the FTC to require a common carrier that provides telephone service to a pay-per-call service provider to make available to the FTC any records and financial information relating to the arrangements (other than for the provision of local exchange service) between the carrier and the provider. Authorizes States to bring civil actions to enjoin practices violating FTC rules and obtain damages or other relief on behalf of their residents whenever there is reason to believe that State residents are adversely affected by such practices. Bars States from instituting such actions during the pendency of a civil action by the FTC. Provides for principal enforcement of this title by the FTC under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Title III: Billing and Collection - Directs the FTC to promulgate rules to establish procedures for the correction of billing errors with respect to telephone-billed purchases and that impose requirements similar to requirements imposed with respect to the resolution of credit disputes under the Truth in Lending and Fair Credit Billing Acts. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) resolving inconsistencies between State laws concerning telephone billing practices and this title; (2) regulatory exemptions from this title which may be granted by the FTC for transactions in a State offering substantially similar or greater protection to the consumer; and (3) enforcement of this title. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Conservation and Renewable Energy to submit to the Congress a proposal for demonstrating the ability of innovative communications equipment and services to further the national goals of conserving energy and protecting health and safety. Requires the Secretary of Energy to consider requesting the authority to use radio frequencies from the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to carry out demonstration projects designed to demonstrate the energy conservation potential of communications technologies. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to exempt from restrictions on the use of automated telephone equipment calls to a telephone number assigned to a cellular telephone service that are not charged to the called party subject to conditions in the interest of privacy rights. Directs the FCC to prescribe regulations denying equipment authorization under any part of the FCC's regulations for any scanning receiver that is capable of: (1) receiving transmissions in the frequencies allocated to the domestic cellular radio telecommunications service; (2) readily being altered by the user to receive transmissions in such frequencies; or (3) being equipped with decoders that convert digital cellular transmissions to analog voice audit. Bans the manufacture or importation of any scanning receiver having such capabilities. Directs the FCC to report to the Congress on available security features for analog and digital radio signals. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 04:33:47 EDT From: mike@camphq.fidonet.org (Mike Bray) Subject: Questionable Use of 900 Call Detail A while back, there were some notes posted here about how long distance companies can get your mailing address for billing purposes. It's reasonable for these folks to have a way to directly bill you for their services, and it's also reasonable for IPs to have access to the same information for their billing purposes. But this address information should be used only for billing purposes. With the potential of abuse of mailing address information in mind, I present a portion of a recent article from DM News ... >From the October 25th issue of Direct Marketing News, page 67: National Psychic Network Posts 900-Number Callers Hightstown, NJ - has been appointed to manage The National Psychic Network file. It is made up of 30,000-name last-three-month and 10,000- name monthly hotline callers selections. The National Psychic Network is a live call-in hotline for people wishing to speak to their own personal psychic advisor. They call for answers to questions about love, money, careers and other decisions they are currently facing. <3 additional paragraphs with contact information and non- relevant details deleted> What do you (all) think? Do you (also) suspect there might be some abuse of the mailing address information happening here? Mike Bray mike@camphq.fidonet.org (or) ...!apple!camphq!mike ------------------------------ From: dloprinzi@attmail.com (Deborah LoPrinzi) Date: 13 Nov 93 14:56:18 GMT Subject: International Advanced Fax Contact: Albert Chu (201) 644-1714 (Office) (201) 328-4112 (Home) David Bikle (201) 644-7052 (Office) (201) 871-0104 (Home) AT&T EXPANDS INTERNATIONAL ADVANCED FAX SERVICE TO HONG KONG, JAPAN Basking Ridge, N.J. -- AT&T today announced the expansion of its premier international fax service to Hong Kong and Japan. Effective immediately, businesses using the AT&T International Advanced FAX Service for faxing to Hong Kong and Japan can look forward to improvement in quality, reliability and speed of service. The service has been available between the U.S. and the Philippines since June. "One out of every three international business long distance calls is a fax call," said Richard Bush, a marketing director of AT&T's Business Communications Services unit, "and the fax traffic between the United States and such economic centers as Japan and Hong Kong has been heavy and growing fast." "Introduction of the AT&T International Advanced FAX Service has raised the bar for quality and reliability in international faxing, " said Bush. "Businesses lose time and opportunities when fax messages are cut off before completion, are illegible, or are not received for any reason. Our new offering represents a new class of service for international faxes." AT&T International Advanced FAX Service uses specially- designated digital international circuits for transmission, supported by a high-tech computerized tool called the FAXALYZER System. Designed by AT&T Bell Laboratories, this system monitors the quality of the fax network to detect any developing problems and locates the source of problems when they occur. AT&T also established a specialized Fax Service Center in June 1993 to help resolve customers' fax problems more quickly and accurately. Current U.S. customers of many of AT&T's business services, including CustomNet(sm) Service, PRO(R) WATS Service, MEGACOM Service, UniPlan and Global Software Defined Network Service, can use the new fax service by simply inserting a "0" (zero) after the country code when dialing the Philippines, Hong Kong or Japan from their fax machines. No special phone lines are required. Until January 1, 1994, charges for International Advanced FAX Service will be the same as the customer's existing service. New rates will apply beginning January 1. AT&T said demand for the premium fax service has been heavy, and that the service will be rolled out to additional countries as soon as service agreements can be negotiated with other carriers. AT&T was the first carrier to introduce a series of fax-specific pricing options which offer lower rates for short international fax calls. Named the AT&T FAX Family Options, the series includes CustomNet(sm) FAX Option, PRO(R) FAX Option, and FAXLine Service. The American Facsimile Association voted the AT&T FAX Family Options the "Best Affordable Fax Transmission Offering of the Year" (1992). For information on the AT&T International Advanced FAX Service or any other AT&T fax service, businesses can call toll-free 1-800-222-0900. For fax trouble reporting, businesses can call 1-800-FAX-INTL (1-800-329-4685). # # # ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE AT&T FAXALYZER(TM) SYSTEM The FAXALYZER System is a package of proprietary, software-controlled monitoring and diagnostic tools designed to work only in AT&T's Worldwide Intelligent Network. The system non-intrusively monitors the performance of the group of lines reserved for International Advanced FAX Service to ensure that they consistently function at a high-quality level. As a result, many network conditions that may affect fax quality can be dealt with before they can cause service problems. The system is also used to trouble-shoot. AT&T's Fax Service Center is equipped to take appropriate steps to help resolve most faxing problems in much less time than is required by today's process. Customers who use AT&T's international business services and experience any faxing problem can report the trouble to the Fax Service Center at any time. Specially-trained technicians there can use the FAXALYZER System to quickly identify the location and nature of the problem, whether it be in the network or at the customer's location. ------------------------------ From: Jamie Mason Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 11:58:06 -0500 Subject: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Organization: University of Toronto Computing Disciplines Facility Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 16:58:00 GMT Seen in _The Toronto Star_, November 12, 1993: --------- 905 area code isn't ringing bell in U.S. Bell Canada says its new 905 area code isn't getting enough respect south of the border. The United States has literally hundreds of phone companies that need to know about last month's change for parts of the 416 area code -- but some are still telling callers that the number doesn't exist. --------- Now, correct me if I am wrong here, but is it not the case that NPAs for North America are assigned by Bellcore? Presumably the split of the old 416 into 416 and 905 was authorized by Bellcore. I was under the impression that Bellcore publishes, on a regular basis, its list of NPA assignments ... and I would assume that any LEC or IXC with enough chutzpah to call themselves a "phone company" would go to the trouble of reading these lists, and programming their computers with them. This seems, then, like an odd situation. How is it possible that there exist "phone companies" that don't notice an area code split? I suppose the "new style" NPAs (with the middle digit other than 0 or 1) will confuse these carriers no end. Jamie ------------------------------ Date: 13 Nov 93 10:11 -0600 From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Open Systems networking" by Piscitello/Chapin BKOPSYNT.RVW 931013 Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. P.O. Box 520 26 Prince Andrew Place Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 or Tiffany Moore, Publicity 72203.642@compuserve.com John Wait, Editor, Corporate and Professional Publishing johnw@aw.com 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867-9984 800-527-5210 617-944-3700 5851 Guion Road Indianapolis, IN 46254 800-447-2226 "Open Systems Networking", Piscitello/Chapin, 1993 lyman@bbn.com dave@mail.bellcore.com Open systems and networking are two of the current "big issues" in computing and information systems planning, even if few can tell you what they actually are. Every proprietary system is "open," and every company making even the most peripheral component is committed to "networking". OSI and TCP/IP are recognizably two of the major "players' in this game, although their positions may not be clear. This state of affairs is not made any better by the many rumours and myths: TCP/IP is an academic toy; TCP/IP is an *example* of OSI; buying OSI compliant products will guarantee inter-operability; TCP/IP now has the commercial "high ground" and it is now *OSI* that is the academic toy. This book is both a conceptual introduction to open systems networking, and a detailed comparison of the structures of TCP/IP and OSI. That said, it is still easier, as with Usenet, to define what it is not, than what it is. This is not a technical manual. Technical detail there is, and competent, too. This is not, however, a reprinting of the standards, although it is a good guide to and through them. While the work gives a good background for programming and implementation, one suspects it is more for the manager than the programmer. When one is examining technical books, the mere sight of a "series" cover sets off alarms. Series books tend to be textbooks, or boring, or both. This book is not boring. The writing style is lively, with the best (or most outrageous) parts set off by ".AHA." boxes and italic text. The anecdotes and background will be of interest to anyone in the communications or networking field. The preface is decidedly odd, and chapter one seems to be the preface. Chapter two is a quick overview of both the OSI and Internet structures. Part two, chapters three to five, is entitled, "Open Network Architecture": it covers the concepts and vocabulary of open systems, and compares the terms of the two structures. Part three deals with the way the "upper layers" and common applications are handled, while part four covers the lower layers. Finally, part five makes, in a number of different ways, the point that the choice does not have to be TCP/IP or OSI -- the two systems can be complementary. The references section contains many valuable listings. An annotated bibliography would have been helpful. In a sense there is one -- distributed throughout the book. It would have been handy to have collected some of this into a single section. This work provides a unique perspective, and some very important information. It belongs on every MIS shelf. It also belongs in every college and university library where any type of data communications and networking courses are taught. It should also come in very handy for every development project where there is a question as to why TCP is being used rather than OSI ... or vice versa ... copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKOPSYNT.RVW 931013 Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of the TELECOM Digest and associated mailing lists/newsgroups. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ From: taube@xsoft.de (Christian Taube) Subject: What is ANI? Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 19:39:16 MET Hello Folks, This is a movie-related question -- yes, I know that this is quite late, but we don't get most american movies that fast over here, you know :-) Last week, I finally saw "In the Line of Fire" (with Clint Eastwood) and was fascinated (again) by the role that telecommunication (especially voice) can play in a good thriller. What would thrillers in the nineties be without ISDN, answering machines, and all of that? :-) Anyway, here's the technical question: What is ANI? As a telecom layman, I have a hard enough time understanding how tracing a phone call works at all, so I didn't really understand how the Malkovich character (Carney?) went about laying a track that would have the Secret Service people go off in the wrong direction. From what I remember, he manipulated a something called "ANI" to do that. Can somebody of you knowledgable poeple explain to me (in simple terms :-) what that is, and what Malkovich does? Christian taube@xsoft.de/postmaster@xsoft.de [Moderator's Note: ANI = Automatic Number Identification. It is similar to but not identical to Caller-ID. I did not see the movie in question, so can't comment on the specifics of how it was done there, but the use of ANI is a common method of tracing calls. It is sent automatically between telephone companies to identify the calling party to the called party in the case of 800 service among other things. PAT] ------------------------------ From: longo@sfpp.com (Bob Longo) Subject: Motorola Cellular Tech Manual Wanted Date: 13 Nov 93 11:55:07 PDT Organization: Santa Fe Pacific Pipelines I read something here a few months ago in which someone mentioned a "blue tech manual" on the Motorola flip-phones. Apparently this manual costs about $40. Can someone please tell me where and how to order this manual? Thanks, Bob Longo (longo@sfpp.com) Santa Fe Pacific Pipelines Los Angeles, CA ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #754 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa22309; 13 Nov 93 17:46 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15267 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sat, 13 Nov 1993 14:09:25 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04488 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 13 Nov 1993 14:09:02 -0600 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 14:09:02 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311132009.AA04488@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #755 TELECOM Digest Sat, 13 Nov 93 14:09:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 755 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson FBI Operation "Root Canal" (Dave Banisar) "Escort" Cordless Phone (Dick Rhoads) Replace KXT616 KSU With ??? (Robert Jesse) Check From MCI; What to Do? (Henry Mensch) Corning Fiber Optic Cable (James D. Gillmore) Need Statistics on Lost Crypto Sales (SPA via Mark Boolootian) Information Wanted on Lincompex (Andre van Heerden) Switch Comparison Information Requested (David Foster) Long Distance Company Offers 800 Internet Access (Klaus Dimmler) Information Wanted on Cell Phone ROMs (Nathaniel Polish) Need List of Country Codes (Malcolm Dunnett) Information About Iridium Wanted (Ravi Prakash) Display Phone With Swedish CID (Claes Gussing) Specialized Mobile Radio (Jon Anhold) Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? (William H. Sohl) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Organization: CPSR Washington Office From: Dave Banisar Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 9:17:03 EST Subject: FBI Operation "Root Canal" FBI Operation "Root Canal" Docs From the CPSR Alert 2.05 (Nov. 12, 1993) FBI's Operation "Root Canal" Documents Disclosed In response to a CPSR Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the FBI this week released 185 pages of documents concerning the Bureau's Digital Telephony Initiative, code-named Operation "Root Canal." The newly disclosed material raises serious doubts as to the accuracy of the FBI's claim that advances in telecommunications technology have hampered law enforcement efforts to execute court-authorized wiretaps. The FBI documents reveal that the Bureau initiated a well-orchestrated public relations campaign in support of "proposed legislation to compel telecommunications industry cooperation in assuring our digital telephony intercept requirements are met." A May 26, 1992, memorandum from the Director of the FBI to the Attorney General lays out a "strategy ... for gaining support for the bill once it reaches Congress," including the following: "Each FBI Special Agent in Charge's contacting key law enforcement and prosecutorial officials in his/her territory to stress the urgency of Congress's being sensitized to this critical issue; Field Office media representatives educating their contacts by explaining and documenting, in both local and national dimensions, the crisis facing law enforcement and the need for legislation; and Gaining the support of the professional associations representing law enforcement and prosecutors." However, despite efforts to obtain documentation from the field in support of Bureau claims of a "crisis facing law enforcement," the response from FBI Field Offices was that they experienced *no* difficulty in conducting electronic surveillance. For example, a December 3, 1992, memorandum from Newark reported the following: The Newark office of the Drug Enforcement Administration "advised that as of this date, the DEA has not had any technical problems with advanced telephone technology." The New Jersey Attorney General's Office "has not experienced any problems with the telephone company since the last contact." An agent from the Newark office of the Internal Revenue Service "advised that since the last time he was contacted, his unit has not had any problems with advanced telephony matters." An official of the New Jersey State Police "advised that as of this date he has had no problems with the present technology hindering his investigations." Likewise, a memorandum from the Philadelphia Field Office reported that the local offices of the IRS, Customs Service and the Secret Service were contacted and "experienced no difficulties with new technologies." Indeed, the newly-released documents contain no reports of *any* technical problems in the field. The documents also reveal the FBI's critical role in the development of the Digital Signature Standard (DSS), a cryptographic means of authenticating electronic communications that the National Institute of Standards and Technology was expected to develop. The DSS was proposed in August 1991 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST later acknowledged that the National Security Agency developed the standard. The newly disclosed documents appear to confirm speculation that the FBI and the NSA worked to undermine the legal authority of the NIST to develop standards for the nation's communications infrastructure. CPSR intends to pursue further FOIA litigation to establish the extent of the FBI involvement in the development of the DSS and also to obtain a "cost-benefit" study discussed in one of the FBI Director's memos and other documents the Bureau continues to withhold. ------------------ To subscribe to the Alert, send the message: "subscribe cpsr " (without quotes or brackets) to listserv@gwuvm.gwu.edu. Back issues of the Alert are available at the CPSR Internet Library FTP/WAIS/Gopher cpsr.org /cpsr/alert ------------------------------ From: dsr@atl.hp.com (Dick Rhoads) Subject: "Escort" Cordless Phone Information Wanted Date: 13 Nov 1993 14:33:59 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard NARC Atlanta I saw an ad in {USA Today} this week for an "Escort" 900 MHz cordless phone manufactured by Cincinnati Microwave (they make the Escort automotive radar detectors). Has anyone tried one of these yet? Do you have any comments on its' range, quality, etc ...? Dick Rhoads Hewlett-Packard Company Phone : 404-850-2310 Atlanta Technology Center FAX : 404-850-2598 2015 South Park Place HPDesk : Dick Rhoads/HPATC Atlanta, Georgia 30339 USA Internet: dick_rhoads@hpatc.hp.com X.400 : C=US; AD=ATTMAIL; PD=HP; ORG=HP; OU1=HPATC; SN=RHOADS; FN=DICK ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 11:16:54 -0800 From: Robert Jesse Subject: Replace KXT616 KSU With ??? Reply-To: rnj%lila@us.oracle.com I have a Panasonic KXT61610 KSU that I'd like to replace. Eight display telephones and eight POTS ports will be plenty of extension capacity. The main reason for upgrading is to get more CO lines (eight would be ok, ten or more plenty) and DISA, and for this the Panasonic KXT123211 would do nicely. However there are some features I'd like to have in a new system that Panasonic doesn't support (at least that I know of on the analog systems). Since I have a buyer for both the old KSU and the telephones, I have the option of starting from scratch with an entirely different system. Do you know of anything that supports the following? - pass CPC from CO lines to analog POTS extensions (so answering machines can detect hangup cleanly); - decode caller ID from CO lines and send to display telephones; - single button on-hook speed dialing (not having to push the speakerphone button to go off-hook before pressing the speed dial button). Particularly if you recommend a digital system, it would be helpful if you'd comment on the sound quality -- some that I've heard are pretty noisy. Thanks! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 21:42:48 -0800 From: hcm@netcom.com (Henry Mensch) Subject: Check From MCI; What to Do? For my residential long distance I currently use AT&T ... I got a check in the mail from MCI last week (not a very big one, as they say; only $20) which I get to cash if I let them switch me to MCI (and friends and informants, or whatever it is this week). Now, I remember reading in this space that some folks were able to redeem these checks with their current LD carrier without having to switch carriers ... has anyone done this lately ... with AT&T? If so, how ...? # henry mensch / / pob 14592; sf, ca 94114-0592; usa ------------------------------ From: gillmore@acad.csv.kutztown.edu (James D. Gillmore) Subject: Corning Fiber Optic Cable Date: 13 Nov 1993 06:29:40 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway We are considering wiring to the desk top with fiber. On of the vendors suggested that we spec Corning fiber only. Is there a reason to do this other than giving some vendors a better chance at responding to our RFP? I would appreciate it if you would write back directly as we don't support UUCP news services at this time. We will in a few weeks though.. :) Jim Gillmore E-mail gillmore@acad.csv.kutztown.edu Manager Network Services VOICE 215.683.4199 Kutztown University of PA FAX 215.683.4634 LMS Annex Room 105 HOME 717.865.5820 Holidays & Weekends 717.567.3931 ------------------------------ From: booloo@framsparc.ocf.llnl.gov (Mark Boolootian) Subject: Need Statistics on Lost Crypto Sales Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 08:32:06 PST [Moderator's Note: Passed along FYI to us by Mark. PAT] NEED STATISTICS ON LOST CRYPTO SALES The Software Publishers Association (SPA) has been working to bring about the liberalization of export controls on mass market software with encryption capabilities. SPA's much-publicized study of the foreign availability of cryptographic products has clearly demonstrated the widespread and easy availability of encryption that is stronger than what U. S. firms have been able to export. However, NSA claims that software companies have not demonstrated sufficiently the economic harm they have suffered from export controls. Congress has told us that without better economic harm statistics, our chances of liberalizing the export laws are slim. Therefore, WE NEED YOUR HELP. If you or your firm has lost business because you have not been able to export your encryption product, please let us know. Be as specific as possible. It is the cumulative effect of this information that will be most compelling. Please pass this on to those in your firm who might know about these matters or might also be able to respond. Please send replies to i.rosenthal@applelink.apple.com or to Ilene Rosenthal, General Counsel Software Publishers Association 1730 M St. NW, Suite 700 Washington DC 20036 (202) 452-1600 ext. 318 or to Douglas Miller (same address) (202) 452-1600 ext. 342 ------------------------------ From: Andre van Heerden Organization: Rand Afrikaans University Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 12:23:05 GMT Subject: Information Wanted on Lincompex Reply-To: avh@ing1.rau.ac.za I would like information on Lincompex (Linked Compressor and Expansion). Especially the digital implementation of the lincomplex. E-mail me directly. Thank you, Andre van Heerden Tel: +27-11-489-2107 Cybernetics Laboratory Fax: +27-11-489-2357 Rand Afrikaans University Email: avh@ing1.rau.ac.za P O Box 524 Aucklandpark 2006 SOUTH AFRICA ------------------------------ From: dfoster@mdd.comm.mot.com (David Foster) Subject: Switch Comparison Information Requested Date: 12 Nov 1993 21:14:45 GMT Organization: Motorola - Wireless Data Group; Richmond, BC Has anyone information on, or can direct me to articles/sources on the following: 1. Telco, Celluar, Mobile data, Message or similar switches. 2. Basic functionality. 3. Basic list prices. 4. Price/performance aspects. 5. Technology/delpoyment platform/appliactions. 6. Comparative studies. This request for information is relatively urgent (as usual!!) Thanks, Dave Foster ------------------------------ From: klaus@cscns.com (Klaus Dimmler) Subject: Long Distance Company Offers 800 Internet Access Organization: Community_News_Service Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 15:20:35 GMT Telephone Express, a regional long distance carrier in the Western States, is offering national 800 Internet access for less than the cost of a long distance phone call! For only 13 cents per minute, access to a T1-Internet connected host is available from anywhere in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Alaka! The host is connected directly to the ANS backbone. For information on this, please call 800-748-1200 (voice), or write to service@cscns.com. Klaus Dimmler klaus@cscns.com CNS, Inc 1155 Kelly Johnson Blvd, Suite 400 Colorado Springs, CO 80920 719-592-1240 [Moderator's Note: Are you using it? How well does it work and what else can you tell us about it? How is billing done, etc? PAT] ------------------------------ From: polish@cs.columbia.edu (Nathaniel Polish) Subject: Information Wanted on Cell Phone ROMs Date: 13 Nov 1993 11:02:43 -0500 Organization: Columbia University Department of Computer Science A friend of mine posed an interesting problem to me the other day. He has several cell phones. He wants to be able to use one from his boat. He wants the phone on the boat to look like the one in his car. To this end he would like to be able to reprogram the ROM in the phone to match the one in his car. Is there a repository of ROM formats for various phones anywhere? Obviously an unscrupulus individual could use this information to steal phone service from others. I presume that this goes on all the time just like credit card fraud. Anyway, is this information available? Thanks, Nathaniel Polish polish@cs.columbia.edu [Moderator's Note: Interesting you mention it, as this discussion goes on here frequently and we just finished a thread on the topic. He is not supposed to do what he wants. His cellular carrier will probably tell him it is against their rules and in violation of his contract. But yes, there are books around which explain how to do it and companies which offer to clone one cellular phone so it looks like another, etc. I imagine one of the people reading this who is in the discussion here almost every time it comes up will send you email with sources. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Malcolm Dunnett Subject: Need List of Country Codes Organization: Malaspina College I'm looking for a list of all the "Country Codes"; either an FTP site or someone to post/mail me a copy. Any help? Thanks in advance. Malcolm Dunnett Malaspina University-College Email: dunnett@mala.bc.ca Computer Services Nanaimo, B.C. CANADA V9R 5S5 Tel: (604)755-8738 [Moderator's Note: We have a comprehensive list in the Telecom Archives. To use the archives with anonymous ftp, connect with lcs.mit.edu then 'cd telecom-archives' and check out the /country.codes sub-directory. While you are there, Carl Moore tells me the /areacodes sub-directory is being updated this weekend with some revisions. If you do not have ftp access at your site, then use the Telecom Archives Email Information Service. Send email to 'tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu' and in the text of your letter (the subject does not matter) issue these commands: REPLY yourname@site NOTE: This *must* be the first command. GET country.codes END NOTE: Please add this as the final command. If you are not familiar with the Email Information Service or need to get a complete index of topics and help in using it, then add these commands in your request: INFO HELP INDEX NOTE: This index is updated three times daily. Stay current with the Archives by fetching a copy often. ... and you will get a few more files to brouse through. You can also get single back issues of the Digest, or large files of fifty back issues at a time. To the several hundred people who use the service on a regular basis, thanks for making it a big success. PAT] ------------------------------ From: prakash@cis.ohio-state.edu (ravi prakash) Subject: Information About Iridium Wanted Date: 13 Nov 1993 08:01:04 -0500 Organization: The Ohio State University Dept. of Computer and Info. Science I would like to get information about the following: - Iridium : a low earth orbit mobile satellite system that Motorola Satellite Communications, Inc. is planning to implement. They had submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C., in 1990. Is there any way I can get a copy of that application? Besides, if anobody could provide me with an e-mail/snail-mail address of someone to contact at Motorola about this, it would be of great help. Thanks, Ravi Prakash Office : Bolz Hall, #319b prakash@cis.ohio-state.edu Phone : (614)292-5236 - Off. Department of Computer & Information Science, Fax : (614)292-2911 The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 [Moderator's Note: And you also might want to check out the Telecom Archives. You'll find some stuff in the special reports and technical sub-directories on Iridium. We had a special issue on it a while back. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ebcguss@ebc.ericsson.se (Claes Gussing) Subject: Display Phone With Swedish CID Reply-To: ebcguss@ebc.ericsson.se Organization: Ericsson Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 13:04:50 GMT Anybody out there know of a cheap Display phone that applies to the Swedish standard for Caller ID, Distinctive Ring, etc? The major Swedish telephony supplier, I hear, is planning to release these services next year, and I'm looking for a supplier to become Swedish agent for. Regards, Claes Gussing ebcguss@ebc.ericsson.se The opinions are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer. ------------------------------ From: jga+@osu.edu (Jon Anhold) Subject: Specialized Mobile Radio Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 06:50:21 Does anyone have any information on Specialized Mobile Radio? Specifically, types of radios, what bands they are on, and common uses for SMR? Thanks, Jon Anhold N8USK jga+@osu.edu 1008 Steeb Hall AX.25->n8usk@n8lwg.#neoh.oh.usa.noam 70 W.11th Ave Riker/Picard '96 Columbus, Ohio 43210 Dreamland Network Systems #include std/disclaimer.h ------------------------------ From: whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) Subject: Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 16:09:43 GMT In article kcooke@uclink.berkeley.edu (Kevin Ian Cooke) writes: > In light of the recent discussions about scanning cellular frequencies, I > would like your help with the following: > I am interested in writing a story about people who, from time to > time, like to listen to their nieghbors' cellular phone conversations. > I know you're out there, especially folks in the *.dcom.telecom > worlds, since (as I'm sure most of you know) it only takes slight > alterations to cell phones and FM scanners to get them to hear the > cellular frequencies. > I know that the above is illegal, and I know that anyone engaged in > such activity could be prosecuted. In the above, the ONLY illegal activity is actually listening to cellular calls (by virtue of the ECPA). Modifying scanners to be able to receive cellular calls is not now, nor will it be in the future illegal. Indeed, one can still manufacture and import scanners that receive cellular without needing an modification (e.g. the ICOM R100 receiver). Such importation and manufacture will not be illegal until after April 1994. Even after that date, the law prohibiting importation or manufacture of cellular capable scanners does NOT prohibit any of the following: (1) Modification of a scanner, (2) Continued sales of cellular capable scanners that were imported or manufactured before April 26, 1994. (i.e. stores can continue to sell existing stocks of those cellualr capable scanners), (3) Sales of used cellular capable scanners, and (4) ownership of any cellular capable scanner. As to anyone being prosecuted under the existing ECPA (the law that forbids listening to cellular), it is interesting to note that despite the occasional revelation in the press that "this or that was learned by listening to cellular calls." the level of any prosecution seems to be all but non-existent. Indeed, even folks in this newsgroup (some, not all) seem to be willing to allow the police to be above the law when listening to cellular calls results in the arrest of a criminal. That's a true double standard in my not so humble opinion. As to my personal opinion, the ECPA is a joke and only provides a false sense of security to cellular users who buy into sales statements that because it is illegal to listen to cellular, then the security of cellular converstations is assured. In fact, the ability to PROVE a violation of the ECPA occurred is all but impossible unless the violator publicly admits they have listened to cellular. Bottom line is that the ECPA is essentially an unenfoceable law that ranks in the same catagory as the old sodomy laws. Even the new law which will forbid manufacture and importation of cellular capable scanners does little to thwart anyone who really wants to eavesdrop from doing so. After April 1994, any potential eavesdropper can simply -- (1) buy a used cellular capable scanner; (2) buy a non-cellular capable scanner and build a frequency downverter (a trivially simple piece of electronics for which construction articles have already been published ... Feb/Mar 93 {Radio Electronics} Magazine) or (3) buy a double conversion non-cellular scanner and listen to the cellular frequencies by tunbing to the "image" (two times the IF or intermediate frequency). Do I own a cellular scanner ... nope and I have no interest in doing so, BUT I think laws that attempt to regulate what types of electronic equipment individuals may buy (or own) are just a step away from the totalitarian mindset that would regulate ownership of all types of reception equipment. 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 [Moderator's Note: That's really something, to equate the laws pertaining to privacy in communications with the old (but still in force in about half the states in the USA) laws on sodomy. The latter are considered by many people to be an invasion of individual privacy, while the former are considered by many people to promote and protect individual privacy. In any event, they are all a bunch of worthless, unenforceable laws, eh? So what else is new in these United States? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #755 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa22611; 13 Nov 93 18:15 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32224 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sat, 13 Nov 1993 15:37:06 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA20635 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 13 Nov 1993 15:36:31 -0600 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 15:36:31 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311132136.AA20635@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #756 TELECOM Digest Sat, 13 Nov 93 15:36:30 CST Volume 13 : Issue 756 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Macintosh Software for NIST (Linc Madison) Re: Macintosh Software for NIST (John Pescatore) Re: Macintosh Software for NIST (Charlie Mingo) Re: Macintosh Software for NIST (John R. Bruni) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (William Bauserman) Re: Crummy Service in NY (Timothy H. O'Hara) Re: Crummy Service in NY (Brendan M. O'connor) Re: Crummy Service in NY (Dave Niebuhr) Re: Crummy Service in NY (Nathaniel Polish) Re: What is Transpac? (Philippe Devaux) Re: What is Transpac? (Neil R. Henry) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Nathan Lane) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Andrew Klossner) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Lukas Zahas) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (David A. Kaye) Re: Earthquake Preparedness (Steve Forrette) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Re: Macintosh Software for NIST Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 12:55:33 GMT Eli S Bingham (ebingha@eis.calstate.edu) wrote: > The October 1993 issue of BYTE Magazine mentions that you can access > the NIST atomic clock through the Internet at address 132.163.135.130 > (time_a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov). However, our computer center is > Macintosh oriented and I cannot find software to set the Mac's clock > through this address (or, for that matter, through the more accurate > telephone connection). Can someone suggest MacTCP compatible software > for this? Or am I going to have to write it myself? I have no information on doing this by MacTCP on an Internet connection, but there is a very good freeware application for setting the Macintosh clock over a dial-up connection to NIST or other time source. It's called "Set Clock" by Jim Leitch (Leitch Video Int'l), and it's available by anonymous FTP from sumex-aim.stanford.edu in the file info-mac/util/set-clock-33.hqx. The program makes a modem connection for about ten seconds (at 300 or 1200 bps) to your choice of atomic clocks in Toronto, Washington, or Boulder. It even has built-in support for modem strings to allow high-speed modems to connect at 300 bps. Linc Madison * Oakland, California * LincMad@{Netcom | AOL}.com ------------------------------ From: pescatore_jt@ncsd.gte.com (John Pescatore) Subject: Re: Macintosh Software for NIST Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 07:58:24 -0500 Organization: Rockville, MD In article , ebingha@eis.calstate.edu (Eli S Bingham) wrote: > The October 1993 issue of BYTE Magazine mentions that you can access > the NIST atomic clock through the Internet at address 132.163.135.130 > (time_a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov). However, our computer center is > Macintosh oriented and I cannot find software to set the Mac's clock > through this address (or, for that matter, through the more accurate > telephone connection). Can someone suggest MacTCP compatible software > for this? Or am I going to have to write it myself? > [Moderator's Note: Would someone like to summarize a bit more from the > article and explain how the clock is accessed through that address? > Is there a certain special login one would use, or would one telnet > to a given socket on that machine, or? Thanks. PAT] I am using NetworkTime 2.0 by Pete Resnick. It works great on our network, where we have a Sun with one of those WWV time receivers attached. I tried it using the NIST address and it works even better! I have no idea how it works from a telnet point of view, NetworkTime is a control panel device for the Mac. I also have no more info on NetworkTime, it was installed on a Mac that I inherited at work. Doing a Get Info doesn't get me any more info. John Pescatore WB2EKK GTE Government Systems Rockville, MD pescatore_jt@ncsd.gte.com [Moderator's Note: I'd like to know if one can get the time signal sent over the telnet connection in the same way one gets the time signal when calling the phone number for the service. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mingo@panix.com (Charlie Mingo) Subject: Re: Macintosh Software for NIST Date: 13 Nov 1993 04:11:55 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC I haven't read the article, but I think I know what is being described. There is an Internet protocol known as NTP (for Network Time Protocol). An NTP client program (running on your Mac) telnets into a special port on an NTP time server to obtain an accurate fix. There are lots of NTP servers on the Internet other than this NIST one. For a complete listing, ftp to louie.udel.edu and look in the /pub/ntp/docs folder for clock.txt. You can probably find a site that is closer to you than time_a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov (the closer the site, the more quickly the NTP server responds, and the more accurate your time fix is). You will need an NTP client for your Macs as well. There are two clients freely-distributed: network-time-201.hqx and macntp-10.hqx, both of which can be found on sumex-aim.stanford.edu in info-mac/ comm/net (and on sumex mirror sites). If you have a modem on your Mac, and would prefer to use a telephone connection, then I strongly recommend AutoClock 1.4. It will not only call in to either the NIST or USNO machines in Boulder or Washington, DC, but will also calculate the rate of drift of your Mac clock, so that you are never more than about a second off. The most recent version also handles Daylight Savings Time for all countries in the world. AutoClock can be found on mac.archive.umich.edu:/mac/util/comm as autoclock1.4.cpt.hqx. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 09:34:40 PST From: John R. Bruni Subject: Re: Macintosh Software for NIST VersaTerm has a handy utility called "Time Client" that works great for Macs. It's a control panel that runs through MacTCP & can be run automatically (or manually if you so chose.) All you have to do is enter the address of the time server you want to use. No further action is necessary. The program does the rest. Incidentally, there is a new version of MacTCP...v. 2.0.4 from Apple ... it's supposedly still in test but I have had no problems with it. It can be FTP'd from sumex-aim.stanford.edu. jbruni@sfe.com a.k.a.: "Cowboy Buddha" "Rocky" San Francisco Engineering, Inc. Non-disclaimer: As a matter of fact I _do_ speak for the company! [Moderator's Note: Are you one of the California Cowboys? :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 13 Nov 93 13:01:06 -0800 From: Bauserman, William Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk john.eichler@grapevine.lrk.ar.us (John Eichler) wrote: > Apparently this is not only a problem in New York but elsewhere as > well. I guess the telephone companies are just sitting back waiting > for the cable companies to be the first ones to bring high speed > two-way digital communications technology into small businesses and > homes. > It's almost a 'catch-22' proposition. The phone companies are slow to > implement ISDN because there is little demand for it and the demand is > waiting for the service to become available. This is just another > example of the difficult time we will have installing a nationwide > 'information highway'. I guess the only way to move the telephone > companies is for tens of thousands of us little guys to keep asking > them for ISDN until they wake up and realize that they are losing big > bucks in not providing this vital service. Well, here is my two cents worth: Don't forget that telco's are still regulated. I know of one "Consumer Protection" group that claims the only reason a telco puts in fiber is to position itself for delivering video to the home. This group would actually complain to the PUC everytime it saw a fiber job going in. Granted, this is an idiotic extreme, but, the point is that as along as network equipment is placed in the rate base, the telco should not indiscriminately go out and spend loads of money on a service that won't sell. Notice I said "should not". If you want it -- ask for it, just remember that you can't always get what you want ... but, you just might find, you get what you need :^) Bill Bauserman william.d.bauserman@gte.sprint.com ------------------------------ From: v125pemm@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Timothy H O'Hara) Subject: Re: Crummy Service in NY Organization: University at Buffalo Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 03:03:00 GMT New York Tel. is always doing stupid stuff like this. For example, when they rolled out CallerID/Call return in my CO (rural community, Newfane NY (716) 778-####) they made a big deal about it. They never really mentioned that we were one of the first exchanges in the area to get the service -- and that both numbers needed to have the service available. Anybody I would want to use Repeat Dial (read girlfriend) to call wouldn't do me any good anyway! I'm glad my telephone dollars pay for all this slick Madison Avenue advertising. Tim O'Hara V125PEMM@UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU SUNY Buffalo [Moderator's Note: Please note, both *central offices* have to be equipped for these services, but it is not necessary for both *subscribers* to be equipped. If any one subscriber in an upgraded CO is equipped to use the new features, s/he can use them in calls to others in an upgraded CO regardless of the other person's personal status. PAT] ------------------------------ From: boconnor@sales.stern.nyu.edu (Brendan M O'connor) Subject: Re: Crummy Service in NY Date: 12 Nov 93 22:30:40 GMT Organization: NYU Stern School of Business In article oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > My service comes from the "Second Avenue" central office in Manhattan. Second Ave. has three switches: a small 5ESS (23,000+ lines), a large DMS-100 (62,000+ lines) and a large 1AESS (67,000+ lines). (Local rumor has it that this is the largest WIRED 1AESS in the U.S.) You are obviously supported by the 1AESS. > And only two of the twenty-five support ISDN. That's actually better > than many other central offices in Manhattan and elsewhere in the ISDN is available to you if you are willing to change your number. If not (and I can understand why you don't want to), you will have to wait until your 1AESS is retired. Sad, but true. > Oh, and there is no scheduled date for upgrading my telephone exchange > to more modern equipment, according to the business office. My Second Ave. engineer has just started work on the 1AESS retirement. I'm not at liberty to announce its retirement date, but I assure you, you will have access to all the services you are looking for. I apologize for the fact that the business rep you contacted was not aware of the upgrade plans. boc. These are my opinions. NYNEX and New York Telephone may have other opinions. [Moderator's Note: No doubt everyone noticed that Brendan O'Connor's initials also could be taken to mean 'Bell Operating Company'. Actually Brendan, how do *we* know you are a real person and not just a figment of the imagination of someone at NY Tel whose job it is to spread propoganda around Usenet? I'm a tool of AT&T you know; just yesterday in email I got a note from some crackpot outlining everything I had said in AT&T's favor over the last several years. His missive went on for over 100,000 K of text, all manually typed in I think. I ought to post the whole diatribe from him in news.groups with cross-postings to several dozen other Usenet groups. That's how they get off, and who am I to dictate if people should read or post to Usenet in the privacy of their own homes. :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 07:05:45 EST From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: Crummy Service in NY In TELECOM Digest V13 #751 oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) wrote: > Here I am in Manhattan, the telecommunications center of the world, > where radio jingles say "We're All Connected, New York Telephone". > Warm images of grandma talking to the beloved grandchildren ... > high-powered financial traders moving millions of dollars while > barking into speakerphones. The White Pages urge us to sign up for > Pathways (r) and Digipath (r) and Superpath (r) and Flexpath (r) and > Infopath (r) and Switchway (r) and Intellipath (r), all high-powered, > modern, digital, cutting-edge wave-of-the-future kinds of things. You > just pick up the phone and the breeze makes your hair flutter behind > you ... We're still getting those ditties on Long Island also since we receive NY City radion and TV stations. > Likewise I cannot sign up for Caller ID. And I cannot use the automatic > redial. That happened on Long Island also (area code 516) last year. > Kind of suprising I have even been able to use touch-tone phones all > these years. Remember though, that the original tone dialing was converted in the CO to rotary/pulse via relays. However, true touch tone has been around for years and its capabilities should be exploited faster than it has been. > Oh, and I cannot get ISDN, either. Same for Long Island. > My service comes from the "Second Avenue" central office in Manhattan. > It contains twenty-five exchanges, or a theoretical quarter of a > million telephone lines. My feeling is that NYTel should upgrade all switches at the same time that are in the same CO unless there is a compelling need not to and I don't think that other than certain agencies (police, shelters, etc.) have a compelling need. Carl mentioned, and I unfortunately deleted, a statement about businesses moving to New Jersey. I apologize. Going further, it is not only the telcos, it is the electric/gas companies and the horrendous taxes in the NY City Metropolitan Area in those areas that are in NY State. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ From: polish@cs.columbia.edu (Nathaniel Polish) Subject: Re: Crummy Service in NY Date: 13 Nov 1993 11:11:58 -0500 Organization: Columbia University Department of Computer Science Bitch, bitch, bitch. It took me years to get to the point where I could get a phone line from my apartment on 111th street to Columbia on 116th street that would support a modem connection for more than five minutes. For most of that time the phone company's position was that "voice grade" did not mean free from pops and clicks. I am now very very grateful that I can support a 14.4kbs channel for hours with no errors almost all of the time. It does, however, seem rather stupid for NYTel to spend a fortune advertising services that will not be available for years. I would just bet that it will be so disruptive when they update the switch that I will look back on the low-tech days as being days of simple reliablility. ------------------------------ From: phd@well.sf.ca.us (Philippe Devaux) Subject: Re: What is Transpac? Organization: The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 22:53:33 GMT Philip Green (phil@concave.cs.wits.ac.za) wrote: > Can anyone tell me what Transpac is? A public network in France > perhaps? Thanks. Transpac is a packet switching value added network (VAN) operated by France Telecom, the French PTT organization. ------------------------------ From: nhenry@netcom.com (Neil R. Henry) Subject: Re: What is Transpac? Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 07:40:29 GMT Tranpac operates a public X.25 network in France. In the last three years they have been very aggressive in the UK market as well. My recollection is that they are (partially?) owned by France Telecom. My UK contact is: Orion House, 5 Upper St. Martin's Lane London WC2H 9EA In town telephone numbers have changed but I list 44 71 379 4700 for the main number and 44 71 379 1404 for the FAX. Philip Green (MSc student) phil@concave.cs.wits.ac.za Department of Computer Science, University of the Witwatersrand 2050 Wits, South Africa ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1993 16:43:39 -0800 From: nathan@seldon.foundation.tricon.com Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications > After the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, the phone system in the Bay Area > was approximately useless due to the extremely high load on the > system. It took minutes to get a dial tone, and so many calls came > from out of the area that the LD carriers had to shut off incoming > calls. This is definitely true. All of my relatives from all over the country tried to call in. Stupid, I would say, in a natural disaster. It took about 90 seconds to get a dial tone in Alameda, near Oakland, with gradually reduced time until about six hours after the earthquake when dialtones were normal again (at least in Alameda). In Daly City, just south of San Francisco, dialtones took about two minutes. In the City itself, where power was out in most areas for at least two days, it took several minutes. Local calls were also subject to "all circuits busy". What I decided to do was make ONE LD call to a single relative out of state. Give that relative all the phone numbers of other relatives (also out of state) and asked that that person relay the "we're all okay" information, rather than having them clog up the phone system. I will congratulate the phone company for keeping communications up. It was an odd site from a hill in Daly City to see the ENTIRE city of San Francisco dark, except for a very few lights on the tops of buildings. From a possibly unreliable source, I heard that in downtown San Francisco, the phone exchanges actually have JET engines running turbines to provide power during emergencies. (Locally, the phone company uses diesels, but I do not know the capacity). Nathan Lane Triicon Systems, Inc., Lompoc, CA ------------------------------ From: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com (Andrew Klossner) Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications Date: 12 Nov 1993 00:28:24 GMT Organization: Tektronix Color Printers, Wilsonville, Oregon Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com > "In approximately 1969 there was a serious earthquake in Santa > Barbara, Calif., which damaged several telephone company central > offices." Do tell? I lived in Santa Barbara throughout 1969, and noticed no earthquake, serious or otherwise. The Sylmar quake of 1971 was the first significant quake to hit Santa Barbara in several years. Andrew Klossner (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com) ------------------------------ From: lzahas@acs3.bu.edu (Lukas Zahas) Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications Date: 13 Nov 1993 05:00:19 GMT Organization: Boston University, Boston, MA, USA Reply-To: lzahas@acs3.bu.edu (Lukas Zahas) In article elm@cs.berkeley.edu writes: > It may have been the only one to affect the phone system physically > (destruction of telecom facilities), but most earthquakes (and other > natural disasters) bring the system to its knees with the overload of > phone calls. After the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, the phone system in > the Bay Area was approximately useless due to the extremely high load > on the system. It took minutes to get a dial tone, and so many calls > came from out of the area that the LD carriers had to shut off > incoming calls. I've been told that after an earthquake, if you can't get a call through, try using a payphone. Supposedly, the phone company will arbitrarily put some calls through and not others when the load is too high, but payphone calls will always go through. After the Loma Prieta quake, we tried calling a high school teacher while reporting for the school paper. No one previously had been able to reach her (calling SF from Oakland), but we did from a payphone, so it apparently works. Lukas Zahas lzahas@bu.edu [Moderator's Note: Or else that particular payphone at that particular time was one of the arbitrarily chosen phones to get a line out. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications Date: 13 Nov 1993 11:50:34 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] ethan miller (elm@cs.berkeley.edu) wrote: > phone calls. After the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, the phone system in > the Bay Area was approximately useless due to the extremely high load > on the system. It took minutes to get a dial tone, and so many calls > came from out of the area that the LD carriers had to shut off > incoming calls. However, the phone system STAYED UP! I was managing a voicemail company at the time and we did not lose anything. Our DID lines were remoted via another central office and thus they provided battery to our system. The battery didn't even go down. Sure, it took awhile to get a dialtone, but our pager dialout kept working and eventually got through. I understand, though that the power to some switching offices was so long in coming back that some of Pacific Bell's were actually draining battery from AT&T. ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Earthquake Preparedness Date: 13 Nov 1993 01:46:44 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In , sharpe_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (russell sharpe) writes: > In New Zealand, because of our geographical nature, on the border of > the Pacific, and Austrailasion Plates, we are pretty conscious of > earthquakes, and volcanoes. > Here are some of the precautions we take. > - All switches are strongly bonded to the building with steel seismic > braces, so no equipment will have the tendency to fall over. This reminds me of a story I heard a few years ago during a CO tour. My guide related an earthquake story that happened at Pacific Bell. They had installed some sort of adjunct processor to a DMS-100. It was a rackmounted unit, in a standalone cabinet about 8 feet high. It was placed in a temporary location, a few feet away from the older unit that it was replacing. This was a temporary location for it -- they needed to have the new unit in service before the old one could be removed, and they were planning to do a "hot slide": that is, slide the new one into position while it was running after the old one had been removed. As such, it was not bolted down to the ground, and there were a few feet of extra length coiled in the ceiling wiring tracks for all power and signalling cables. With the equipment in this state, and earthquake occurred, and the new unit fell over since it was not bolted down. The thing is, since all of the cables had enough extra slack that had uncoiled when it fell over, nothing broke, and it was indeed still functioning perfectly and in service. Pacific Bell placed a call to Northern Telecom to enquire as to what the recommended procedure was to upright the cabinet while it was in service. This reportedly took NT quite by surprise, as they had never encountered or even thought of such a situation. They finally got back to them with instructions to lift it back to the regular position by hand while leaving it in service, and to bolt it down this time. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #756 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa23030; 13 Nov 93 20:13 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31045 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sat, 13 Nov 1993 17:30:15 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29976 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 13 Nov 1993 17:29:39 -0600 Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 17:29:39 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311132329.AA29976@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #757 TELECOM Digest Sat, 13 Nov 93 17:27:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 757 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Wanted: AT&T Merlin Cordless (Steve Cogorno) Re: Wanted: AT&T Merlin Cordless (Mark Strow) Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? (Tony Pelliccio) Re: Need to Buy E1 to T1 Converter (William T. Sykes) Re: Preparing My Case Against Sprint (Alan Frisbie) Re: Preparing My Case Against Sprint (Chris Ambler) Re: Novell Networking Question (D.R. Hilton) Re: Novell Networking Question (Gary Breuckman) Re: "Fake Switch" Box or Tester (Paul Cook) Re: "Fake Switch" Box or Tester (Alan Boritz) Re: Microsoft Telephony API/SPI (Dan J. Declerck) Re: Sat Pagers = Modems? (John Gilbert) Re: Remote Call Forwarding (Paul Barnett) Re: Telephone Query System Questions (Robert Virzi) Re: East-West or North-South? (R. Kevin Oberman) Re: East-West or North-South? (David A. Cantor) Re: PC Pursuit No Longer Accepting New Users (Bill Bradford) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: Wanted: AT&T Merlin Cordless Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 12:17:17 PST Said by: Mark Strow > Please reply to strow@world.std.com. Well, we can't give you Merlin programming codes (or star codes for that matter) unless you tell us what kind of Merlin you have (also what release it is) and the features you are looking for. Steve cogorno@netcom.com #608 Merrill * 200 McLaughlin Drive * Santa Cruz, CA 95064-1015 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 10:36:49 -0500 From: strow@world.std.com (Mark Strow) Subject: Re: Wanted: AT&T Merlin Cordless Thanks for the reply to my post regarding the AT&T Merlin Cordless. I'm sorry if my post wasn't clear. I'm not looking for programming instructions, rather I am looking for an AT&T Merlin Cordless to *purchase*. I have a "Classic" Merlin 410 in my home, and have always wanted the Cordless to go along with it, but can't quite justify th $400+ AT&T wants for a new one. Do you happen to know anyone who might sell one second-hand? Thanks again, M. ------------------------------ From: Anthony_Pelliccio@brown.edu (Tony Pelliccio) Subject: Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? Date: 13 Nov 1993 18:48:18 GMT Organization: Brown University Alumni & Development Office In article , kcooke@uclink.berkeley.edu (Kevin Ian Cooke) wrote: > In light of the recent discussions about scanning cellular frequencies, I > would like your help with the following: > I am interested in writing a story about people who, from time to > time, like to listen to their nieghbors' cellular phone conversations. > I know you're out there, especially folks in the *.dcom.telecom > worlds, since (as I'm sure most of you know) it only takes slight > alterations to cell phones and FM scanners to get them to hear the > cellular frequencies. This is true. Matter of fact a friend of mine is so close to a cell site that his scanner, when it's on the 70cm ham band, picks up cellular calls with ease. It's made for some rather amusing listening. > I know that the above is illegal, and I know that anyone engaged in > such activity could be prosecuted. That is why I'm posting here. You > may reply anonymously, if you must, but I would like some general > information about you, as much as you're comfortable providing. Have > you heard any good stories? Do you feel that what you're doing is > wrong? Did you see _Sliver_? :) From what I've been told, it's not so much illegal to listen to it, as it is to use the information you gather. I've listened to quite a few calls in the past and you'd be AMAZED by how stupid some people are. Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR Anthony_Pelliccio@Brown.edu Brown University Alumni & Development Computing Services Box 1908 Providence, RI 02912 (401) 863-1880 [Moderator's Note: No, I am not amazed by how stupid some people are. Are you amazed by it? Many people are a lot stupider than you give them credit for being. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wts1@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (wts1) Subject: Re: Need to Buy E1 to T1 Converter Organization: AT&T Federal Systems Advanced Technologies - Greensboro, NC Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 15:07:55 GMT In article ken@pluto.dss.com (Ken Adler) writes: > Does anyone know of any companies that make a box that takes in one or > more E1 trunks and convert it to multiple T1 trunks? > I urgently need contact info for companies that have such a product. Tellabs makes a T1 to CEPT (E1) PCM standards converter. Tellabs International Inc. 4951 Indiana Avenue Lisle, IL 60532 PH: (708) 969-8800 FAX: (708) 969-2884 We have used this converter, along with AT&T Network Systems International. One caveat -- this device is not BABT approved for use on customer premise applications in the UK. I think this device used to be referred to as the Delta converter, so named for the Irish firm that Tellabs bought out that makes the converter. Also, methinks that Dowty also makes an E1/T1 converter. DSC may, but I think they require a multiplexer to do the conversion. A Newbridge Networks MainStreet 3600 Multiplexer can be configured to perform this conversion, and is BABT approved, but is quite pricey compared to the Tellabs converter. William T. Sykes AT&T FSAT-Engineering att!gcuxb!gcwts ------------------------------ From: Alan Frisbie Subject: Re: Preparing My Case Against Sprint Date: 13 Nov 93 10:04:55 PDT Organization: Flying Disk Systems, Inc. In article , pribik@rpi.edu (Chris Labatt-Simon) writes: > In most states, you can't take a corporation to small claims court. > Actually, I think that's a Federal statute. You have to hire a > professional lawyer (or an unprofessional lawyer -- it's up to you) to > follow standard legal procedures. > [Moderator's Note: You certainly can take a corporation into Small > Claims Court. I've done it with First National Bank of Chicago and > a few other times. That's the rule in Illinois at least. PAT] You can also sue a corporation in small claims court in California. I just checked the "Small Claims Manual of Procedures" published by the Association of Municipal Court Clerks of California, Inc. There are several references that describe the procedures used when either the plaintiff or the defendant is a corporation. For example, they reference California Commercial Code section 416.10 to determine who the "service" must be made to when the suit is against a corporation. 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) [Moderator's Note: When suing a corporation, service has to be made upon the registered agent for the corporation who will frequently also be the corporate attorney, but this is not required. Registered agents for corporations, along with the names, addresses and other details of the officers of corporations are public records. Often times officers of corportions try to hide and/or pretend they are not personally liable for corporate affairs. Maybe so, maybe not. In the years I worked with the attornies in Chicago, I don't know how many times I'd talk to the president of a defunct corporation only to have him tell me he wasn't liable for bills the company racked up. But I'd go find a copy of the personal guarantee he had given our client, or a copy of the NSF check the company had written which he had not explicitly signed in his corporate capacity and then of course, he'd start dodging my phone calls at his office. But that's okay. Usually the (former) corporate attorney would also be the (former) corporate officer's personal attorney. I'd just look up his name, call him and tell him I was fixing to sue his client, and why. The attorney would take care of explaining things to his client for me, and I'd get a call back the next day from the guy asking to make arrangments to get the bill paid. Usually I would then dodge *his* calls for a couple days just to let him sweat and show him others can play the game. PAT] ------------------------------ From: cambler@cymbal.aix.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler - Fubar) Subject: Re: Preparing My Case Against Sprint Organization: The Phishtank Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 15:18:48 GMT > [Moderator's Note: You certainly can take a corporation into Small > Claims Court. I've done it with First National Bank of Chicago and > a few other times. That's the rule in Illinois at least. PAT] Indeed, I have been advised that I serve their California Agent. I'm not going to turn this into a legal discussion and take it off topic, but I've been advised by a lawyer that there was a valid contract, and that it's pretty much an open and shut case. We shall see, and I will keep you all up to date. Christopher(); // cambler@cymbal.calpoly.edu, home of the .plan of Doom! Christopher J. Ambler, Author, FSUUCP 1.41, FSVMP 1.0, chris@toys.fubarsys.com [Moderator's Note: There is nothing complicated or dramatic about serving an attorney with legal process. Usually it amounts to handing it to his secretary who timestamps it and tosses it in the 'in-box'. And remember at all times (unless you *are* an attorney) NEVER practice law. NEVER quote the law. Some of those birds are waiting for you to engage in the practice of law without a license so they can complain. Keep your correspondence short and sweet. Use phrases like 'attornies have said to me that, etc ....'. NEVER use phrases like 'the law in California says, etc ...'. Its okay if 'an attorney told me xyz', or 'attornies have reminded me that xyz' ... it is *not* okay for you claim what the law says based on your own understanding of it. That amounts to the illegal practice of law without a license (in other words, membership in the old-boy's club). One of the functions of my Digital Detective service is locating the names of agents and officers of corporations all over the USA, and explaining to people how to sue them. PAT] ------------------------------ From: drhilton@kaiwan.com (Doc) Subject: Re: Novell Networking Question Organization: KAIWAN Internet Access Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 05:05:32 GMT I'm doing this with a client right now. We have just one network with two file servers. Each day we copy the entire data base from one to the other. If one dies, the users just log into the other and go back to work. E-Mail me if you have specific questions or want more details. Best, drhilton@kaiwan.com - "Doc" ------------------------------ From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: Novell Networking Question Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 19:45:51 GMT In article simkus@cs.odu.edu (Tony Simkus) writes: > Does anyone know the anser to this question? If I have two NOVELL > networks, two separate file server serving each network, what should I > do if one network goes down? Can I use the other file server to > service the other network? If so, what addressing information and > software must I use to approach this problem. I am looking for a > networking scheme that will that will still be usable if one server > goes down. The workstations on the server that go down must know where > to access the new programs. The easiest way to do this, that I can think of, is to make this one network with all the users and both file servers. The NETX command can include a parameter to specify the default server, so you can still divide up the clients to their own server. You can also specify in the logon which server you want login: serv1/name and once logged in you can log into the other server with 'session' or be logged into both, or be logged into one and map a directory to someplace on the other server, or use printer services on the other server, the combinations are endless. If you don't want one network all the time, you could still make provisions to interconnect them when you have a problem. For 10Base-T that could be just a single cable between the two hubs, that is connected when needed. It's a bit harder with thinnet since you would need to connect one end of each network (where the terminators are) together. The only other problem is authorizing accounts on both servers, and keeping duplicate files where needed. puma@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 14:05 EST From: Proctor & Associates <0003991080@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: "Fake Switch" Box or Tester karl@ttank.ttank.com (Karl Bunch) writes: > I'm looking for a circuit or "magic box" that would allow me to > basicly plug to phones back-to-back. Given Phone A & B if phone A > were picked up Phone B would ring, and when phone B is picked up they > could converse as normal until one of them hangs-up. The same could > be true in the reverse (Phone B would ring A if it's on-hook etc.) > I want to hook up a phone to a voice-mail board and allow the board to > ring the phone or the phone to "call into" the board without using up > phone lines etc. Use a ringdown circuit. Proctor & Associates makes one that provides normal telephone loop current and ringing voltage. Go off hook on a phone or device connected to one jack, and it rings through to the other one. Contact Proctor via one of the phone, fax or email numbers below, and ask for info on the 46220 Ringdown Circuit. If you want line simulator that provides dialtone and won't just ring as soon as you go off hook, but requires a number to be dialed, check out one of the telephone demonstrators that Proctor makes. There is even one now that emulates CENTREX and Caller ID. 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: "Fake Switch" Box or Tester From: drharry!aboritz@uunet.UU.NET (Alan Boritz) Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 06:34:44 EST Organization: Harry's Place BBS - Mahwah NJ - +1 201 934 0861 karl@ttank.ttank.com (Karl Bunch) writes: > I'm looking for a circuit or "magic box" that would allow me to > basicly plug to phones back-to-back. Given Phone A & B if phone A > were picked up Phone B would ring, and when phone B is picked up they > could converse as normal until one of them hangs-up. The same could > be true in the reverse (Phone B would ring A if it's on-hook etc.) What you want is a simple ring-down-tie-line module. They've become somewhat rare since dc pairs upon which to operate them became very expensive. It's been a while since I've used them, but you should be able to find modules that will emulate the original tie line function, as well as one that emulates it over a dialup circuit. Alltel or Graybar might be one place to start. North Supply might be too, if they decide you buy enough from them in a year to be worth talking to. ;) aboritz%drharry@uunet.uu.net or uunet!drharry!aboritz Harry's Place BBS (drharry.UUCP) - Mahwah NJ USA - +1-201-934-0861 ------------------------------ From: declrckd@rtsg.mot.com (Dan J. Declerck) Subject: Re: Microsoft Telephony API/SPI Date: 13 Nov 1993 15:08:15 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group In article , Joe Armstrong wrote: > Does anybody have any information available about products which use > the recently published Microsoft Telephony API/SPI? > Do you think the Microsoft Telephony API will catch on? Up to now the > CCITT has been the principle organisation responsible for telephony > standards. The microsoft API seems to represent a radical departure > from this. Is this the future? After reading it, it appears to be an X-lib like specification for telephony. It seems to have some of the "old" ways of thinking about telephones in it (like flashing lights, etc). Given, that this spec is supported, and written by a joint venture of two companies with little or no communications experience (Intel and Micro$oft), it seems to have little promise of being adopted as a standard. This may change, if a major PBX or switch vendor buys into it. Dan DeClerck EMAIL: declrckd@rtsg.mot.com Motorola Cellular APD Phone: (708) 632-4596 ------------------------------ From: johng@ecs.comm.mot.com (John Gilbert) Subject: Re: Sat Pagers = Modems? Organization: Motorola, LMPS Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 12:11:39 GMT In article , aa377@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Ken Kopin) wrote: > Ok, please correct my ignorance if I get any of my facts wrong. > 1. Are there such things as pagers that receive signals from Satellites? The current so called "satellite" pagers are not receiving their signals directly from a satellite. The signals are distributed to terrestrial transmitters via a satellite link from the paging terminal. There has been talk about doing paging directly from a satellite in the future. The problem is that reception of satellite signals is great outdoors, but doesn't work so well in buildings where most people use their pagers. Modems would also have this problem. You would pretty much need to be right in front of a window with a Southern exposure for it to work directly from the satellite. I believe many people think that the system works directly from the satellite. The advertising you often see in business and airline in-flight magazines is very misleading. John Gilbert johng@ecs.comm.mot.com ------------------------------ From: barnett@convex.com (Paul Barnett) Subject: Re: Remote Call Forwarding Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 19:21:49 GMT Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA In garym@alsys.com (Gary Morris @ignite) writes: > Yes, sort of, use a handheld cellular phone to set your forwarding. > At a recent PacTel sale I picked up a GE (CT-100) handheld cell phone > for $99. My total monthly cost is $20 for the cellular service. I > can forward the cellular number to another phone. There are no > airtime or per minute charges for the forwarded calls (unless the > number is a long distance call, of course) or to change the > forwarding. Forwarding changes take effect right away, I just dial > *72nnn-nnnn on the cell phone and it's set. Plus calls to the cell > number are toll free over a much wider area than regular landline > calls, callers don't pay toll charges and I don't pay airtime for > forwarded calls. [remainder deleted] This is the same solution that I use. However, I would like to point out that not ALL cellular providers will forward your calls free. According to my third-party compilation of roaming agreements and standard service policies, some charge air-time even when a call is simply routed through their switch and forwarded to another number. If my cellular provider were to change their policy and do this, I would switch to their competitor the next day. Paul Barnett MPP OS Development (214)-497-4846 Convex Computer Corp. Richardson, TX ------------------------------ From: rv01@harvey.gte.com (Robert Virzi) Subject: Re: Telephone Query System Questions Date: 13 Nov 93 15:20:45 GMT Organization: GTE Laboratories In article ktsuji@uhunix3.uhcc.Hawaii. Edu (Kevin Tsuji) writes: > I'm a Computer Specialist who primarily work with the Macintosh. I'm > in charge of setting up a telephone query system. Something very > similar to the systems set up by banks and other financial > institutions to handle balance and payment queries for credit cards. > Anyone here know a vendor(s) specializing in telephony products > for Macintosh? > I don't mind working with the IBM PC -- it's what I grew up with, so > if you have set up a system in this environment, please do send me > your vendor and your experiences. Kevin, I know of two Mac products for doing Interactive Voice Response (IVR). They are PhonePro (Cypress Research) and TFLX (Magnum Software). Both solutions are currently single line, so I doubt they will meet your needs. I think Magnum will be coming out with a multi-line solution soon, so check with them. (Basically, I think they may be using a Mac and there software to control a PC with dialogic boards, but could be mistaken.) Both of these systems use iconic programming languages to create the telephony applications. We use them extensively here for prototyping. Very easy to learn, but somewhat inflexible. If you go with a Dialogic board in a PC, you will have to do most of the programming in C. Very flexible but somewhat harder to get working. A word of caution. The user interface to your product can make or break it. Consider getting some human factors input regarding the design of the service so that it is usable. Audio interfaces are very different than screen based applications. If you don't get a HF consultant, make sure you do lots of user testing. You'll learn a lot about what works and what doesn't. Another suggestion is to listen to and play with lots of existing systems. Pay attention to how they work. In your case, I think you will find lots of universities already have IVR course registration. Find out about them. I'd be interested in hearing what other people are using to prototype or build IVR applications. Particualrly, which ones are flexible and easy to modify. Bob Virzi rvirzi@gte.com +1 (617) 466-2881 ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Re: East-West or North-South? Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 19:49:42 GMT Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory In article Carl Moore writes: > There are other cases where a compass direction associated with a > route number is quite different from the actual direction the road is > pointed in right there. In the San Francisco area you can be on I-80 East and I-580 West at the same time. For what little it's worth, you will be going north at the time. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: koberman@llnl.gov (510) 422-6955 [Moderator's Note: As you yourself have pointed out from time to time, it's not easy keeping up your reputation as a smart-aleck is it? :) Next time you come to Chicago, ask the cab driver to take you to the corner of Broadway and Sheridan and let him think about that for awhile. (Those two streets intersect at *four* geographically separate and distinct locations here.) Or tell him you want to go to the 1100 block on Sheridan and let him insist all he wants that Sheridan does not begin until 2800 North. Have him take you to the campus of Loyola University then point out to him the two block stretch of Sheridan which runs east and west at that point, and uses east/west street numbers just to kink things up a little. In other words, the building at 63xx Sheridan sits next to a building known as 11xx Sheridan because it is around the bend in the road. PAT] ------------------------------ From: David A. Cantor Subject: Re: East-West or North-South? Organization: MV Communications, Inc. Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 04:14:13 GMT In article , Carl Moore wrote: > Just a tiny spinoff from a comment about the Pacific Coast Highway at > Malibu: It was said in the Digest that it runs east-west. Things can get even more confusing. In Massachusetts, there is a section of road which runs west to east and is signed I-93 NORTH and (state) Rt. 128 SOUTH. The opposite side of the road (running east to west, of course) is signed I-93 SOUTH and Rt. 128 NORTH! In some parts of the country, the compass point designations indicate the actual direction of the road at that point (well, rounded to the nearest primary compass point, I assume), but in other parts of the country the words 'north', 'south', etc. really mean 'northbound', 'southbound', etc. David A. Cantor +1 203-444-7268 (203-444-RANT) 453 Bayonet St., #16 Foxwoods blackjack dealer New London, CT 06320 Relocated from Nashua, NH to New London, CT ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 14:01:49 CST From: Bill Bradford Subject: Re: PC Pursuit No Longer Accepting New Users Another thought about the PCP new-user-shutoff: It may be LACK of users that is causing the shutoff. The recent price wars on 9600 baud and higher modems (Best Buy in OKC has internal 14.4s for $129, externals for $159) may have effectively eliminated their user base. Instead of paying $30 a month for 30 hours of use, people may now be getting high-speed modems and getting cheaper service by dialing direct. PC Pursuit never had outdial nodes that ran faster than 2400. IMHO, it was a great service when 2400 was the fastest you could go. I met our esteemed Moderator on the PC Pursuit Net Exchange support BBS, back when I was a member. Through our online friendship, I was able to meet Pat in person a number of times, the most memorable being the "REAL Chicago tour" shortly after the downtown flood of '92. I was in the Windy City for a week, and those two or three hours are what I still remember most. Thanks, Pat, and keep up the good work! Bill Bradford * stubradfowc@mercur.usao.edu * U. of Science & Arts of OK My opinions and views do not reflect those of the University [Moderator's Note: So you remember our stop at the infamous, known around the world Dunkin Donuts on Clark and Belmont, eh? ... Or was it Belmont and Sheffield that got you all in a dither? I quite agree its not on any tourist maps; very little is other than right along the lakefront from McCormick Place to somewhere on the near north side. I had forgotten, but yes, you were here right after the 'flood' when everywhere you walked downtown had those noisy generators sitting at the curb with fire hoses snaking out of the basements of all the buildings pumping water out into the street sewers. I'm glad to be gone from Chicago, at least technically on paper. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #757 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28302; 14 Nov 93 17:17 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16227 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sun, 14 Nov 1993 14:43:51 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00396 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 14 Nov 1993 14:43:15 -0600 Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 14:43:15 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311142043.AA00396@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #758 TELECOM Digest Sun, 14 Nov 93 14:43:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 758 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson CA Tax Regulations for LD Providers (Pat Myrto) Strange T1 Behavior (Tom Lowe) Network Timing (Steven L. Spak) Call Waiting 14.4 Modems (Thomas Neudecker) Billing Insert: Regulation of 900 Charges (Susan J. Bahr) Radio Shack Video Home Security Thing (H. Shrikumar) Calling Card Question (Danny Burstein) Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? (William H. Sohl) Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? (Kevin Martinez) Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Gregg Siegfried) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (David Leibold) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Allen Mcintosh) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Danny Burstein) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (David A. Kaye) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ole!rwing!pat@nwnexus.wa.com (Pat Myrto) Subject: CA Tax Regulations for LD Providers Date: 14 Nov 93 03:15:39 GMT Perhaps someone in the group -- or the Moderator -- can help me get some information. Does anybody know the regulations and rates for determining if tax is applicable, and what taxes, a LD provider located OUTSIDE of California for long distance calls originating within (and if applicable) outside of California? Telccom outfits in CA are quite evasive on the subject (read: no useful information), and there has been not very much luck in getting meaningful information from authorities. This has been going on for awhile. Ideally the formula for computing applicable taxes, and when they apply, or a table of the rates if its derived from a table would be the ticket. A file containing this info available for ftp would be great. I did a search using archie looking for anything with 'tax' and all I got was a lot of 'syntax' matches. :-( Response by e-mail would be preferable, but I will be keeping an eye on the group to see what happens. This is for a friend who is the book keeper for a small LD provider who purchses wholesale time from the larger providers who have their own infrastructure. I can receive email at the uucp host this originated from, or from another account at pat@hebron.connected.com. Thank you, pat@rwing.uucp [Without prejudice UCC 1-207] (Pat Myrto) Seattle, WA If all else fails, try: ...!uunet!pilchuck!rwing!pat [Moderator's Note: No, no, you do not want to get involved in utility tax accounting and procedures. Repeat after me, "I do not want to know about utility tax accounting procedures ...". Say it a few more times. Rooms and rooms full of people at desk after desk sit all day long day after day with pens, calculators, computer printouts, giant books full of spiral-bound notebook-like pages of tiny print listing the proper percentages to the fifth decimal point of taxes to be paid, how they apply, when and where they apply, how each telephone company acting as collection agent for all other telephone companies is to go about paying the taxes due to the *thousands* of government entities for which they collect including every state in the union, the federal government, every town in the USA which has a tax on telephone service and whether or not the tax is only on interstate, intrastate or local calls or all three categories. When that 25 cent coin is put in the box on the payphone, how many ways do you suppose it gets divided? A penny for the local government; two pennies for the state; another penny or two for the federal government; a few cents to the telco whose equipment terminated the call; if the customer put the call on his calling card then a few pennies to the telephone company which issued the card in exchange for their collection and billing services in getting the customer to pay the 25 cents when his bill comes out, etc. Telco accounting back-offices in general are not nice places to work unless you have a very good mind for detail and enjoy very detailed work with numbers, percentages, forms to be filled out in quintuplicate and similar. The *tax accounting* people get all the above times three or four. I don't know of any single source where you could look at a 'table' and see how much tax is paid on a given piece of telco traffic. It all is relative to where the call originates and terminates, and the number of taxing agencies which sit on either end or in the middle. You could go to two different people in telco tax accounting and give them the same data and get two different answers, just like at the federal Internal Revenue Service; that's how complex and obscure the rules are. But you'd never get to those people anyway, since telco does not like customers speaking to anyone except the Business Office reps. And just about the time telco tax-accounting droids think they have it all figured out, the government says the rules are different and maybe even retroactive. Go to the state department of revenue or taxes; whatever they call it. Ask them for printed information on telephone taxes. They probably have some brochure with basic details. If you somehow find someone who is willing to add you to a 'mailing list' dealing with changes in tax rates, procedures and changes therein, you'd probably fill up a room with file cabinets very quickly. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tomlowe@netcom.com (Tom Lowe) Subject: Strange T1 Behavior Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 16:34:05 PST I have a client with several T1s from Sprint. A strange thing happens when I place a 14.4 modem call to one of the channels and a voice call to an ADJACENT channel (using 800 numbers). A static type of noise becomes present on the voice call when the far end is talking. It is especially noticable when listening to ringback or busy signal. If I disconnect the modem call, the static goes away. If there is one or more channels between the calls, there is no problem. The T1 is using D4 and AMI formats. I am not getting any timing slips. Has anyone experienced such behavior or have any ideas? Thanks! Tom Lowe tomlowe@netcom.com 609-698-7044 X201 ------------------------------ From: sspak@seas.gwu.edu (Steven L. Spak) Subject: Network Timing Date: 14 Nov 1993 00:44:24 GMT Organization: George Washington University I attended the Federal Radionavagation User's Conference last week at the FAA headquarters in DC to add a voice to those making policy for such systems as Loran-C, GPS, and other important references. A US Coast Guard commander indicated that those users depending upon these systems (I use Loran-C to time a vast communications network) need to respond in writing. There has been considerable pressure to minimize the number of radionav systems. People are exaggerating the usefulness of GPS, especially as a dependable and precise time reference. If you don't want Uncle Sam to shut down Loran, please respond to the following address: Navagation Working Group DOT/RSPA/DRT-20 Washington DC 20590 Deadline for comments for their plan is February 11, 1994. It seems that these feds go through this process every two years! Steven Spak sspak@seas.gwu.edu Transmission Engineer Tel: (202) 392-1611 Fax: (202) 392-1261 ------------------------------ From: Thomas Neudecker Subject: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 23:04:22 -0500 Organization: Sponsored account, Drama, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA I recently upgraded my modem to LineLink 14.4 modem. I now use a SLIP connection to connect to the network. On the other modems I have had Call Waiting would break the connection. I know about the *70 tone signal to deactivate call waiting. My problem is that the error correction on the modem doesn't accept the call waiting tones until after eight to twelve rings and people I need to talk to can't get through. Bell of PA said they hadn't seen this use of call waiting before and that the 5ESS switch at my CO is has a very short off hook time for the tone to be sent. Does anyone know of a modem init string to let call waiting and the modem work as I wish? Tom Neudecker TN07+@Andrew.cmu.edu Voice: 412 828-7621 Local Data System: 412 828-8011 ------------------------------ Date: 13 Nov 93 22:10:23 EST From: Susan J. Bahr <72642.1263@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Billing Insert: Regulation of 900 Charges The FCC and FTC both are regulating the provision of 900-type services. The FCC generally refers to the services it is regulating as "pay-per-call" services, and the FTC refers to the ones that were to be discussed in notices sent to customers as "telephone-billed- purchases." Repeating their definitions of these services may not be much more illuminating. The one thing to keep in mind: if you ever get billed incorrectly for a service you received via a 900-number, there are now more rules that may apply to resolving your billing dispute for that specific service, and these are rules which you and the other parties involved should follow in resolving the billing dispute. ------------------------------ From: shri@cs.umass.edu (H. Shrikumar) Subject: Radio Shack Video Home Security Thing Date: 14 Nov 1993 17:34:43 GMT Organization: UMass, Amherst MA + Temporal Systems Bombay India Hi, I saw in a recent Radio Shack catalog a mention of a Home Security Video thingummy they have introduced. So I looked it over when I dropped by to pick up batteries for my smoke alarm (that time of the year :-) The door unit is maybe 5x3x1 inch, and has speakerphone and video camera functionality. It has two two-terminal tie posts ... one sends a twisted pair to the base unit, and the other a pair to your door opener relay. I presume that the twisted pair between the base unit and the door unit carries power as well as data which multiplexes the video, audio and control. I assume it is data ... just guessing. The base unit looks like a integrated phone + answering machine ... only there is a LCD display and a contrast control that you need to be a little clever to set right. You can have it all for $2XX ... where the XX I am sure is 99 :) Q: Does anyone have any technical info on this? What runs on that line between the units? What compression, etc? Any "alternate uses" ... or cute ideas for it? Q: Does not seem to integrate with the POTS, nor does it seem to have a one door unit + multiple base unit version for use with door buzzers in apartment blocks. Radio Shack oversight in product design and positioning? shrikumar (shri@cs.umass.edu, shri@shakti.ncst.ernet.in) ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Calling Card Question Date: 14 Nov 1993 04:06:48 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In yet another display of my ignorance, I ask the following question: Can a calling card be acquired from either the LEC or an IXC with the following restriction: that it can -only- get billed by the Local Carrier (where appropriate) or by the disgnated IXC? This would do a good job of reducing the tele-zleaze surcharges. Thanks, dannyb@panix.com dannyb@panix.com adds: all the usual disclaimers regarding liability, intelligence, accuracy apply. spelling disclaimer is doubled. ------------------------------ From: whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) Subject: Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 04:45:32 GMT In article whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore. com (sohl,william h) writes: > As to my personal opinion, the ECPA is a joke and only provides a > false sense of security to cellular users who buy into sales > statements that because it is illegal to listen to cellular, then the > security of cellular converstations is assured. In fact, the ability > to PROVE a violation of the ECPA occurred is all but impossible unless > the violator publicly admits they have listened to cellular. Bottom > line is that the ECPA is essentially an unenfoceable law that ranks in > the same catagory as the old sodomy laws. > [Moderator's Note: That's really something, to equate the laws > pertaining to privacy in communications with the old (but still in > force in about half the states in the USA) laws on sodomy. The latter > are considered by many people to be an invasion of individual privacy, > while the former are considered by many people to promote and protect > individual privacy. In any event, they are all a bunch of worthless, > unenforceable laws, eh? So what else is new in these United States? PAT] Pat, when a law is unenforceable, it is both useless, and a waste of time to even enact. Can you truly say that the ECPA has improved the privacy of cellular? I doubt it. The ECPA is a "feel good" law with no true impact. The politicos who passed can say ... "boy we feel good about striking a blow for privacy" even though the blow has the impact of a feather against a brick wall. Since listening to cellular isn't something done in public (anymore than sodomy is) just how do you see the ECPA helping communications privacy? 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 ------------------------------ From: lps@rahul.net (Kevin Martinez) Subject: Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? Organization: a2i network Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 03:46:48 GMT In Anthony_Pelliccio@brown.edu (Tony Pelliccio) writes: > In article , kcooke@uclink.berkeley.edu > (Kevin Ian Cooke) wrote: >> In light of the recent discussions about scanning cellular frequencies, I >> would like your help with the following: >> I am interested in writing a story about people who, from time to >> time, like to listen to their nieghbors' cellular phone conversations. >> I know you're out there, especially folks in the *.dcom.telecom >> worlds, since (as I'm sure most of you know) it only takes slight >> alterations to cell phones and FM scanners to get them to hear the >> cellular frequencies. > This is true. Matter of fact a friend of mine is so close to a cell > site that his scanner, when it's on the 70cm ham band, picks up > cellular calls with ease. It's made for some rather amusing listening. In regard to the above, I live right under a cell site antenna tower and *every* radio and TV I own picks up these annoying conversations on occasion. Even my telephone (noncordless) picks them up sometimes. I keep thinking of the Gilligan's Island episode where his filling becomes a rectifier and detects broadcast band radio. Does the ECPA make it illegal to live in my neighborhood or only to possess a receiving device (or a filling)? Would these cold evenings be even colder without the comforting rays of this antenna? Perhaps this is the cause for retries on zmodem transfers .... Kevin Martinez lps@rahul.net ------------------------------ From: mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Date: 14 Nov 1993 03:02:59 -0500 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA The only thing I would add is that making a device like this and *using* it would violate the federal wiretapping laws, which is a felony. It may be true that cellular phone use isn't really private, because anyone could be listening, but it's no more legal for them to listen than it is for them to bug your bedroom or boardroom. Under federal law, any conversation going through a cellular switch is considered a telephone conversation subject to the wiretap laws (the technical term is "wire communication". A cellular phone is just as private as a landline phone, because people have the same legal right not to be "scanned" as they do not to have someone tapping in on a craft set. Michael D. Sullivan | mds@access.digex.net avogadro@well.sf.ca.us Washington, D.C. | 74160.1134@compuserve.com mikesullivan@bix.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 19:08 PST From: grs@claircom.com (Gregg Siegfried) Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Organization: Claircom Communications, L.P. In article Steven King writes: > U19250@uicvm.uic.edu publicly declared: >> A friend of mine, without net access, has received some information on >> a product called "Cellmate Model B" It supposedly allows you to dial >> in a cellular phone number, and listen to both sides of the call. How >> does this work? Is it reliable? Has anyone ever heard of any other >> products like this that are cheaper (this is ~$6000)? > [ excellent back of the envelope cellular monitoring description deleted ] The Cellmate does indeed exist. It functions, actually, quite similarly to what Steven describes, although I'm not sure about its ability to deal with handoffs. It's certainly very plausible. I was recently being monitored by one of these things. They work. And neither your friendly cellular carrier nor the FBI really cares. Theoretically, the Cellmate is not available for sale in the United States, except in a situation similar to duty-free shopping. You must show a ticket out of the country. However, the electronic countermeasures specialist/vendor I discussed the device with said I could purchase one merely by showing a bus ticket to Vancouver BC, for example, on the order of a hundred bucks from here in Seattle. When you are purchasing a 6K device, another hundred bucks for a bus ticket you're not going to use isn't a big deal. So, they're around. The way I came in contact with the device was after I discovered I was being monitored, I essentially verbally drew the same picture that Steven did for the aforementioned countermeasures expert, and he came back right away with "Oh, you mean the Cellmate. Sure ... I have them for $6K". I have no idea whether a CDMA or TDMA digital version of the Cellmate exists. The experience did spark an interest in electronic countermeasures for me, although it seems quite like the arms race. I especially liked the scanner that covered everything from 0-1.2Ghz, although I didn't purchase it. Gregg Siegfried grs@claircom.com [Moderator's Note: You can always send the ticket back to Greyhound and get a refund you know, less a small handling charge. Tell 'em you decided not to make the trip after all. Or what the heck, go up and check out Vancouver or Victoria; they're both lovely places to visit. When purchasing verbotin radios and equipment around Chicago, one need not bother with bus tickets. One shop selling stuff like linear ampli- fiers for the eleven meter band and a variety of snooping equipment has you sign a 'certification' (yuk yuk!) saying the radio is only being purchased for the purpose of export outside the USA to your 'customer' in some other country where such things are legal. The proprietor said to me once that an odd thing about most of his cus- tomers is they are all named 'John Smith', or at least that is the way the certification form was signed. But if you do decide to make the bus trip north, stop off at Port Townsend, WA and visit the nice folks at Loopmanics; they have some neat books and other things for sale to people who value privacy or love violating it, either way. PAT] ------------------------------ From: djcl@grin.io.org Date: Sat, 13 Nov 93 22:50 EST Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Jamie Mason wrote: > 905 area code isn't ringing bell in U.S. > The United States has literally hundreds of phone companies that > need to know about last month's change for parts of the 416 area code > -- but some are still telling callers that the number doesn't exist. The Star specifically mentioned one person's experience in Frankenmuth, Michigan. I can't verify whether the company involved is Ameritech, GTE or whoever, though the Phonefiche says this is supposed to be under the Bay City/Saginaw directory area. Wonder how those folks will do when 810 gets started next month (splitting 313 Detroit region). Other cities reporting problems are Sebring, Florida (GTE or Centel?) and Palm Springs, California (GTE? PacBell?). Anyone confirm the telcos involved? Digest readers who are interested in testing 905 out could try to get Toronto weather information at +1 905 676.3066 to see if 905 will work (pre-recorded message). I work in (905) area as well, and could provide the work number(s) on request. David Leibold [Moderator's Note: Well, it works from 708-329 in Skokie. I know a couple years ago I had a battle with IBT over a new exchange which opened in the 414 area of Wisconsin. It took them two months to get around to putting it in the tables here. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mcintosh@larch.bellcore.com (Allen Mcintosh) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Organization: Bellcore, Morristown NJ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 04:13:50 GMT We have relatives in Canada, and our long distance carrier (one of the biggies) offers a plan that gives us a discount on certain numbers. Shortly after 905 became active, we called them up and asked to have the NPA changed. They were unable to do it -- whatever OSS they were using hadn't been updated. It was possible to place a call using 905, so they had at least done something. We're going to keep using 416 for a while ... ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Date: 14 Nov 1993 14:10:17 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC The most likely scenario is that these calls are coming from in-house PBXs or similar setups, and get blocked at that end. And, let's not forget the COCOTS. Then again, since we're dealing with '905', which is pretty close to '900' (which routinely gets blocked for the obvious reasons) could it be that some systems are set up to blcok '90X' area codes? Anyone out there try calling other 90X area codes and get blocked? dannyb@panix.com adds: all the usual disclaimers regarding liability, intelligence, accuracy apply. spelling disclaimer is doubled. ------------------------------ From: dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Date: 14 Nov 1993 12:41:02 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] Jamie Mason (g1jmason@cdf.toronto.edu) wrote: > "Bell Canada says its new 905 area code isn't getting enough > respect south of the border." > This seems, then, like an odd situation. How is it possible that > there exist "phone companies" that don't notice an area code split? The problem MAY stem from the fact that 905 was previously one of the area codes assigned to Mexico a few years ago, before it was decided that Mexico would be reached only via country code. Until about three years ago you could reach them both ways. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #758 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01031; 15 Nov 93 2:48 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA26147 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sun, 14 Nov 1993 23:53:50 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA18572 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 14 Nov 1993 23:53:14 -0600 Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 23:53:14 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311150553.AA18572@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #759 TELECOM Digest Sun, 14 Nov 93 23:53:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 759 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? (Tony Pelliccio) Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? (Steve Forrette) Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet (David Jones) Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (John R. Levine) Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? (Bob Tykulsker) Re: Wiring a New Town (Tony Harminc) Re: Those Sprint FaxModems (Gary Breuckman) Re: TRW Phone Print to Fight Cellular Fraud (Raj Sanmugam) Re: Strange Ringback (Robert Clark) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Russell Sharpe) Re: Earthquake Preparedness (Russell Sharpe) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Anthony_Pelliccio@brown.edu (Tony Pelliccio) Subject: Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? Date: 14 Nov 1993 16:06:22 GMT Organization: Brown University Alumni & Development Office In article , uswnvg!jlbrand@uunet.UU.NET (Jack Brand) wrote: > In article OUELLETT@ucs.indiana.edu > (Denis) writes: >> I was always under the impression that records of local telephone >> calls were kept on magnetic tape for a certain period of time by the >> local telco. But when I asked Michigan Bell for their records to a >> certain number (an attorney was all set to send in a subpoena) they >> said they didn't keep such records. Was I infomed correctly? Does >> [Moderator's Note: Whoever you spoke with misinformed you. The best >> approach is to simply have issued the subpoena from the beginning. >> Call records are available for some period of time, and telco will > Are we sure about this one? Denis is referring to *local* calls. > Some switches don't even bother to keep records of local calls, since > there is no billing to be done on them, or at least they didn't used > to. You can bet that just about every switch made is built with the capability to record ALL the data involved with switching a call for "diagnostic" purposes of course. But subpoena records from a telephone company and I'd love to see the look of surprise on your face when they can produce records of EVERY call you've made. To that end, it's a common feature even on little KSU's called an SMDR port. This continually streams call data to a computer or printer. It captures time, date, start time, end time, number called, number of rings before pickup, which extension picked up, etc. So don't think a multimillion dollar ESS doesn't have it. Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR Anthony_Pelliccio@Brown.edu Brown University Alumni & Development Computing Services Box 1908 Providence, RI 02912 (401) 863-1880 ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? Date: 14 Nov 1993 22:49:02 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc. Reply-To: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) In , uswnvg!jlbrand@uunet.UU.NET (Jack Brand) writes: > In article OUELLETT@ucs.indiana.edu > (Denis) writes: >> I was always under the impression that records of local telephone >> calls were kept on magnetic tape for a certain period of time by the >> local telco. > [Moderator's Note: If the switch is ESS, then there are local call > records kept for some period of time. PAT] Not necessarily. It is true that just about any SPC switch is able to log all sorts of events to tape. Whether it is standard pratice for a particular telco to log unbilled local calls to tape at all is another question. The switch will log those calls that the telco has configured it to log. It may be that most telcos to enable this logging, but it is more of a prodecural and policy issue rather than a technical one. It is also quite possible that if there is no standard way for the customer service people to access the records, then as far as they are concerned they don't exist. Perhaps the telco keeps them only for traffic analysis and problem resolution purposes, and filters them out before they get into the billing database. But it is wrong to conclude that just because it is a SPC switch that it has the logging enabled. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: dej@eecg.toronto.edu (David Jones) Subject: Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 16:27:54 -0500 In article pribik@rpi.edu (Chris Labatt-Simon) writes: > I just tried the traceroute, and: traceroute to kremvax.demos.su > (192.91.186.200), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets > 1 vccfr2 (128.113.75.254) 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms > 2 psi1.rpi.edu (128.113.100.1) 27 ms 3 ms 3 ms > 3 rpi.albany.pop.psi.net (38.145.34.1) 53 ms 9 ms 13 ms > 4 core.net223.psi.net (38.1.2.6) 51 ms 66 ms 77 ms > 5 Washington.DC.ALTER.NET (192.41.177.248) 172 ms 48 ms 30 ms > 6 New-York.NY.ALTER.NET (137.39.128.2) 92 ms 420 ms 413 ms > 7 Demos-gw.ALTER.NET (137.39.96.2) 707 ms 656 ms 733 ms 679 ms > 8 kremvax.demos.su (192.91.186.200) 709 ms 733 ms 679 ms > Seems like it made it to me ... Interesting... /ecl/dej> traceroute kremvax.demos.su traceroute to kremvax.demos.su (192.91.186.200), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets 1 cyclops.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.185) 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms 2 medusa.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.187) 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms 3 sand.gw.toronto.edu (128.100.1.224) 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms 4 utorgw.gw.utoronto.ca (128.100.96.19) 4 ms 4 ms 4 ms 5 Epsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.55.4) 71 ms 91 ms 82 ms 6 * Xpsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.53.1) 131 ms 128 ms 7 ENSS133.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (192.35.82.101) 201 ms 184 ms 174 ms 8 t3-1.Hartford-cnss49.t3.ans.net (140.222.49.2) 147 ms 165 ms 134 ms 9 t3-3.Hartford-cnss48.t3.ans.net (140.222.48.4) 196 ms * 127 ms 10 t3-2.Cleveland-cnss40.t3.ans.net (140.222.40.3) 96 ms 136 ms 195 ms 11 t3-2.Chicago-cnss24.t3.ans.net (140.222.24.3) 165 ms 198 ms 185 ms 12 * t3-1.San-Francisco-cnss8.t3.ans.net (140.222.8.2) 330 ms * 13 t3-0.San-Francisco-cnss9.t3.ans.net (140.222.9.1) 183 ms 273 ms 319 ms 14 t3-0.San-Francisco-cnss11.t3.ans.net (140.222.11.1) 275 ms 292 ms * 15 * * * /ecl/dej> traceroute iguana.reptiles.org traceroute to iguana.reptiles.org (142.57.253.130), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets 1 cyclops.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.185) 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms 2 medusa.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.187) 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms 3 sand.gw.toronto.edu (128.100.1.224) 4 ms 17 ms 5 ms 4 utorgw.gw.utoronto.ca (128.100.96.19) 6 ms 7 ms 4 ms 5 Epsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.55.4) 28 ms 32 ms 31 ms 6 Xpsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.53.1) 140 ms 167 ms * 7 ENSS133.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (192.35.82.101) 183 ms 144 ms 87 ms 8 t3-1.Hartford-cnss49.t3.ans.net (140.222.49.2) 138 ms 136 ms 174 ms 9 * t3-3.Hartford-cnss48.t3.ans.net (140.222.48.4) 146 ms 107 ms 10 t3-2.New-York-cnss32.t3.ans.net (140.222.32.3) 150 ms 76 ms 66 ms 11 t3-1.Washington-DC-cnss56.t3.ans.net (140.222.56.2) 108 ms 115 ms 178 ms 12 t3-0.Washington-DC-cnss58.t3.ans.net (140.222.58.1) 137 ms 148 ms 127 ms 13 t3-0.enss136.t3.ans.net (140.222.136.1) 118 ms 222 ms 243 ms 14 Washington.DC.ALTER.NET (192.41.177.248) 290 ms 247 ms 277 ms 15 * Falls-Church1.VA.ALTER.NET (137.39.128.6) 265 ms 269 ms 16 * Falls-Church2.VA.ALTER.NET (137.39.1.2) 246 ms 369 ms 17 * alternet-gw.Toronto.UUNET.CA (137.39.7.2) 753 ms 295 ms I can't make it to demos.su (It starts off OK, but then turns west. Not good) But I can make it to the Alternet. Hmmm... David Jones, M.A.Sc student, Electronics Group (VLSI), University of Toronto email: dej@eecg.utoronto.ca, finger for more info ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 17:41 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? Organization: I.E.C.C. > I personally suspect this is a bit of a religious debate, exactly like > Betamax vs. VHS, and while technical arguments pro and con can be > made, whoever has the best marketing is going to win. (wink wink) It's certainly the case that the debate will be settled politically, but it turns out that CDMA has major technical advantages: all those claims about lots more stations, lower power, smoother handoffs, better reception in noisy and cluttered environments, shared bandwidth, more security, etc., are as far as I can tell entirely true. Spread spectrum is great stuff, it lets you substitute CPU power for broadcast power, a very good tradeoff these days. This message, for example, was sent in via a 900MHz spread spectrum wireless Ethernet which shares its band effortlessly with any other 900MHz equipment in the neighborhood. The hangup about CDMA is that it requires a lot more computation in the phone, so it's basically waiting for the required chips to be ready at a price and volume that makes the units practical, while TDMA is computationally much simpler so can be rolled out faster. Perhaps someone else can comment on what CDMA and TDMA chip sets are likely to be available when. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: bobt@zeus.net.com (Bob Tykulsker) Subject: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? Date: 14 Nov 93 06:04:45 GMT Organization: NETWORK EQUIPMENT TECHNOLOGIES Hello, I am having a new home built and would like to install the wiring now that I might need for future technologies. What would you recommend? Cable, fiber, copper, etc. Any suggestions welcome. Regards, Bob Tykulsker, bobt@net.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 12:41:24 EST From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: Wiring a New Town From: walkerl@med.ge.com (Larry Walker) > This is a request for advice on how one should go about wiring a New > Town. I am working with a group that is designing and building a > "neo-traditional neighborhood" from scratch. Neo-traditional refers to > the concept of designing real neighborhoods with retail, commercial > and office space, a school, a neighborhood center, etc. all > integrated. It is the exact opposite of the current style of urban > growth, with isolated subdivisions here, office complexes there, and a > shopping mall somewhere else entirely. > The planner knows only that he's heard he needs 4" PVC conduit on the > streets and 2" PVC conduit to the house in order to accomodate fiber. > I am looking for suggestions as to what other technical issues he > should try to build into the plan. He has a much broader control over > requirements than is typical: If it makes sense and doesn't drive > costs up too much, he is anxious to design it in from the start, both > in the infrasructure design and in the building code. > 1) Require that all inside phone wiring be twisted pair. Q: How many > pair minimum? (Remember that this minimum would be be imposed on all > residents, not just the techno-freaks with multiple modems and fax). The incremental cost of a few more pairs is tiny in the scheme of things. I'd say four pairs minimum to each room, star topology -- not looped. > 2) On another project, he has gotten what he feels are very > competitive prices on pre-wiring all units with cable (like $150 per > house, before drywall goes on). Q: Does this make sense / is this > sufficient, with fiber-to-the-curb pending? Q: How many / which rooms > get cable? (Again, this would be a mandate for all units). Sounds like a good deal. But I think the lesson many of us have learned is that you aren't going to be able to anticipate all requirements. The only solution to this is liberal use of conduit. In may depend on local building/electrical/fire codes, but for telecom and similar low voltage wiring, it probably doesn't have to be traditional EMT or even PVC conduit -- polyethylene will do. It's not protecting the wiring as much as providing an easy alternative to fishing wires in the future. One run of 3/4" or 1" poly pipe from each room, homed on a common basement location should be ample. Often one run can serve two rooms sharing a wall. And the basement portion doesn't have to be installed until/unless the basement is finished. > What would you like to see the urban planner and the architects > provide in your neighborhood, if you planned to move into this "clean > slate" community? Expanding beyond the telecom question -- the first thing planners and architects should do is read some (preferably all) of the Jane Jacobs books, starting with "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" and "Cities and the Wealth of Nations". Then consider the relative priorities to be given to cars and pedestrians. If you choose cars, then there's not much more I can say. And one personal crusade: consider the nature of street lighting. If at all possible, use incandescant lights, preferably halogens. If energy efficiency concerns won't allow this, use metal halides. Avoid like the plague sodium and mercury lighting. Light the sidewalks first, and worry about the streets later, if at all. You want a community where people *want* to be out and about on the streets and public places at all hours - not locked behind bolted doors and alarm systems. Obviously street layout and lighting are not the only determinants of this, but they are a base. This sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. Good luck! Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: Those Sprint FaxModems Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 20:00:47 GMT In article mearle@cbi.tamucc.edu (Mark Earle) writes: > The V.42 and MNP 2-4 are in _software_ when using the provided Quick > Link ][ fax/data software. > Using the modem with a "standard" program such as Procomm gets you a > plane jane 2400 modem. > Oh, speed of data: Despite having mnp and v42, you can't select higher > than 2400 as the modem to computer speed. If you select 9600, you can > talk to the modem, but it connects to the host at 300. This may be Talking to the modem at faster than 2400 would not be possible or any advantage. With a 'real' V.42/V.42bis modem, using a faster computer- to-modem speed is an advantage because the compression is being done in the modem. In this case, the compression is being done in the software, and the already compressed data being sent to the modem. It can't take it faster than 2400 anyway. puma@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: lmcrajy@LMC.ericsson.se (Raj Sanmugam) Subject: Re: TRW Phone Print to Fight Cellular Frau Reply-To: lmcrajy@LMC.ericsson.se Organization: Ericsson Communications Inc. Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 21:00:04 GMT Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com Writes: > One detail that is conspicuously absent from the description is how it > works with roamers. Since the PacTel Los Angeles system won't have a > fingerprint on file for every phone in North America, it has no way of > verifying the legitimacy of a roamer. And isn't this where all of the > phraud is? Will PacTel only accept roamers from systems that also > have this system? This doesn't seem practical, but any other option > would result in the bad guys using MINs/ESNs from systems that don't > have the new system in place. Personaly, the fingerprinting concept appears to be too good to be true. Let us assume it works, then one possible way roaming can be supported is as follows. The signal transmission characteristics or the fingerprint of each mobile could be recorded and made available in a national database such as the one called for in the IS-41, the EIR. Whenever a roamer requests a service, the fingerprint measured at the accessing site along with the mobile's identity could then be transferred to the EIR for validation. This is sort of like the early manual roamer clearing house solutions... > Another poster assumed that the fingerprint might only be specific > down to the model of phone. I think this is not true from the > description others have posted, but the question came up as to how the > thieves would find out the make and model for the MIN/ESN they want to > clone. Aren't the ESNs issued in blocks to manufacturers from some > central body, much like automobile VIN's? If so, then the > manufacturer would be a matter of public record based on the first few > digits of the ESN, and the breakdown amongst a single manufacturer's > models could be determined through general observations. You are right! According to EIA/TIA 553, the ESN is made up of an eight bit manufacturer code and a seventeen bit serial number and six bits of reserved bits. The FCC allocates a block of serial numbers to each manufacturer. In fact, a popular fraud technique known as "tumbling" uses these information to cycle through the serial numbers until a valid one is found. ------------------------------ From: aa439@Freenet.carleton.ca (Robert Clark) Subject: Re: Strange Ringback Reply-To: aa439@Freenet.carleton.ca (Robert Clark) Organization: The National Capital Freenet Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 19:53:15 GMT In a previous article, jeffb@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Jeff Bamford) says: > I had a rather bizarre experience with the phone last night > and thought that someone here may be able to shed some light on the > subject. For starters the phone line has four features on it : Call > Display, Call Answer, Call Waiting and Three-Way Calling (Aside: Good > ole Bell Canada they may charge $30 to move your phone line but they > gave three features for free for eight weeks!). > I dialed up someone and left a message via Call Answer to > myself. That is I called my own number to leave a message. Since the > calls forward to the Call Answer number when the line is busy I > immediately got my message. I then left a message for someone else in > the household and hung up the phone. The phone then rang back (which > sometimes happens when you "hang up" on someone with Call Waiting). > The display showed no number was calling, in fact the Call Display > said nothing which I found curious. I picked up the phone but there > was no one there so I hung up thinking that somehow the Call Waiting > got confused because I called myself. I then tried the same thing > again (i.e. leave myself a message by phoning my number). I left > another message and then hung up. > This time the phone also rang back with no display for the number. I > let the phone ring more than four times which should forward it to the > answering service but this did not work. It just kept ringing. I > picked it up and was rather surprised to hear people talking on the > other end. Not really knowing quite what to do I hung up. I tried to > duplicate the experiment but I could not get the phone to ring back. > Perhaps I'll try again today. Has this happened to anyone else? I've never experienced the "ring back" that you described. But I do fairly frequently find that my "Call Answer" (i.e. Bell Canada's voice mail service) message include _both_ sides of a conversation ... the most recent episode seemed to be between the wife of one of the recently fallen Progressive Conservative government's CABINET MINISTERS and one of his staff or friends discussing the "changes" to their lives about to occur. Don't know how this finds it's way into my voice mailbox though! Rob Clark Ottawa, Canada aa439@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ From: sharpe_r@ix.wcc.govt.nz (Russell Sharpe) Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications Date: 14 Nov 1993 10:01:50 GMT Organization: Wellington City Council, Public Access Reply-To: sharpe_r@ix.wcc.govt.nz > I've been told that after an earthquake, if you can't get a call > through, try using a payphone. Supposedly, the phone company will > arbitrarily put some calls through and not others when the load is too > high, but payphone calls will always go through. After the Loma > Prieta quake, we tried calling a high school teacher while reporting > for the school paper. No one previously had been able to reach her > (calling SF from Oakland), but we did from a payphone, so it > apparently works. > [Moderator's Note: Or else that particular payphone at that particular > time was one of the arbitrarily chosen phones to get a line out. PAT] In New Zealand we have facilities that can be added to lines: *LOAD SHEDDING PRIORITY* which will, in the event of a switch load shedding, These lines will be among the last to be cut off, and the first to be reinstated. *STD Priority* Allows the caller to make Toll calls though <100% restricted switches. The above facilities, can be applied to a line for a *small fee* *OPERATOR CATEGORY* Is applied only to Emergency Services, and Toll/Emergency Operator Lines. *MAINTENANCE CATEGORY* Is used by the Telco Technicians, for the *resurrection* of service. This is the last to be restricted in the I assume in the States there will be similar services available. Can anyone confirm this? Cheers, Russell Sharpe UseNet: sharpe_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz FidoNet: 3:771/370 & 3:771/160 Voice: +64 4 5639099 snailmail: 171 Holborn Drive Stokes Valley 6008 New Zealand ------------------------------ From: sharpe_r@ix.wcc.govt.nz (Russell Sharpe) Subject: Re: Earthquake Preparedness Date: 14 Nov 1993 10:16:15 GMT Organization: Wellington City Council, Public Access Reply-To: sharpe_r@ix.wcc.govt.nz In article , stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) writes: > In , sharpe_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz > (russell sharpe) writes: [BITS DELETED AD NAUSEUM] > With the equipment in this state, and earthquake occurred, and the new > unit fell over since it was not bolted down. The thing is, since all > of the cables had enough extra slack that had uncoiled when it fell > over, nothing broke, and it was indeed still functioning perfectly and > in service. Pacific Bell placed a call to Northern Telecom to enquire > as to what the recommended procedure was to upright the cabinet while > it was in service. This reportedly took NT quite by surprise, as they > had never encountered or even thought of such a situation. They > finally got back to them with instructions to lift it back to the > regular position by hand while leaving it in service, and to bolt it > down this time. This leads me to yet another story ... one of my colleagues, sadly long deceased, related a story of rotary switches in London during WWII. One switch, after the building being bombed, continued working, albiet badly, despite the fact that there was no longer a floor!!! The switch was hanging by its cables over an abyss. I find this most impressive, considering cables in those days were wax cotton coated and/or enammelled. The fault rate must have been incredible!!! Does anyone have any more exciting or unbelievable stories? Cheers, Russell Sharpe UseNet: sharpe_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz FidoNet: 3:771/370 & 3:771/160 Voice: +64 4 5639099 snailmail: 171 Holborn Drive Stokes Valley 6008 New Zealand ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #759 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01647; 15 Nov 93 4:42 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22734 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4); Mon, 15 Nov 1993 01:33:10 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07946 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 15 Nov 1993 01:32:34 -0600 Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 01:32:34 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311150732.AA07946@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #760 TELECOM Digest Mon, 15 Nov 93 01:32:30 CST Volume 13 : Issue 760 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Remote Call Forwarding (Peter Tindall) Re: Nationwide GTE 800 Outage? (Macy M. Hallock) Re: AT&T Ships 800 Number Directory to One Million Consumers (Ken Thompson) Re: Problems With CNID (Chris Farrar) Re: Nationwide Caller ID (Chris Farrar) Need Caller ID / Number Identification Help (Reinhard A. Hamid) Re: Motorola Cellular Tech Manual Wanted (Ed Greenberg) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Jack Decker) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (James Taranto) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (James R. Ebright) Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Brett Frankenberger) Cell Phone Suggestions Sought (John R. Levine) Re: Help: Need to Query V&H Database (Dave Niebuhr) Questions About New Numbering Plan (Jim Wohlford) Re: Microsoft Telephony API/SPI (Nigel Roles) "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? (Steve Atlas) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Remote Call Forwarding Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 00:29:00 EST From: Peter Tindall In article @eecs.nwu.edu barnett@convex.com (Paul Barnett) writes: > This is the same solution that I use. However, I would like to > point out that not ALL cellular providers will forward your calls free. > According to my third-party compilation of roaming agreements and > standard service policies, some charge air-time even when a call is > simply routed through their switch and forwarded to another number. Yes. Cantel (at least in Ontario and Quebec) has started charging for call forwarding minutes (only when the total call forwarding in a month exceeds 1000 minutes). Example: You use 999 minutes : No charge You use 1000 minutes : you pay $500.00 (+50c/minute for all minutes extra). I really believed this was a typo -- so I contacted the regulator here in Canada (the CRTC) and obtained a copy of the amended tariff page. Sure enough it is correct. I also understand that the no charge threshold was recently increased from 1000 to 2500 for corporate users, although I have no official confirmation -- just the mumblings of a Cantel customer service rep. I do believe that a token charge is in order since some resources are tied up, but charging the same (50c) per minute for both airtime and call forwarding time (which uses only a tiny part of the switch's resources) is unfair. Peter Tindall VE3TJP ptindall@accesspt.north.net (905) 820-7052 af288@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ From: fmsystm!fmsys!macy@wariat.org Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 08:09 EST Subject: Re: Nationwide GTE 800 Outage? Reply-To: macy@telemax.com Organization: F M Systems/Telemax Medina, Ohio USA In article bnunes@netcom.com (Brian Nunes) writes: > I work in West Los Angeles, also covered by GTE, and we too could not > dial out to any 800 numbers yesterday. GTE here in Ohio lost their link to the 800 database at least twice not too long after 800 portability went into effect. I've had clients give me trouble reports since then that sound like the link has been out of service for several short periods since then. Macy M. Hallock, Jr. N8OBG +1.216.723.3030 macy@telemax.com macy@fms.com Telemax, Inc. - F M Systems, Inc. 152 Highland Drive Medina, OH USA ------------------------------ From: ken thompson Subject: Re: AT&T Ships 800 Number Directory to One Million Consumers Date: 14 Nov 93 14:42:00 GMT Organization: NCR Corporation Wichita, KS dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) writes: > Don't forget ... this directory lists only those businesses who have > AT&T 800 service. A great many other businesses also have 800 numbers, > but won't be in the book. Actually only those who PAY to be in the book are listed. Ken Thompson N0ITL Disk Array Hardware Development Peripheral Products MPD-Wichita NCR Corp. an AT&T company 3718 N. Rock Road Wichita,Ks 67226 (316) 636-8783 Ken.Thompson@wichitaks.ncr.com [Moderator's Note: You are correct. The default on 800 numbers is exactly the opposite of regular (or 'POTS') service where the norm is be listed for free and pay for non-pub. With 800 service, non-pub is free and you pay to be listed, either in printed books or with the 800-555-1212 database. PAT] ------------------------------ Reply-To: comp.dcom.telecom@cld9.com Subject: Re: Problems With CNID From: chris.farrar@cld9.com (Chris Farrar) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 11:16:00 -0600 Organization: C-9 Communications Lunatix!chelf@ms.uky.edu said something along the lines of the following: > When the in-use light went on, some rather strange data noises could > be heard over the scanner, then nothing (like a dead line). I left it > there for a long while and never heard anyone talking or anything like > that. > Could it be possible that Caller ID is at fault? Or, more likely (in > my opinion), the phone needs to be junked. It seems as if the phone > *itself* is calling places at random. I'd say it was the phone myself. He should try a normal phone on his line, and see if the problem disappears. From the sounds of it, someone in the area may have a cordless that is triggering his base. Chris chris.farrar@f20.n246.z1.fidonet.org Origin: CSRNET Reply To: user@csrnet.cld9.com (11:100/160) ------------------------------ Reply-To: comp.dcom.telecom@cld9.com Subject: Re: Nationwide Caller ID From: chris.farrar@cld9.com (Chris Farrar) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 11:36:00 -0600 Organization: C-9 Communications Emmanuel@well.sf.ca.us said something along the lines of the following: > but not from others where Caller ID definitely works. Dialing *67 has > no effect -- your number is always transmitted onto the Caller ID box > regardless of privacy setting. This may indicate that Caller ID data > is really sent on all calls, including the private ones, which means > the possibility exists of capturing it on non-800 calls. Strange. I have a caller id system on my computer, and it actually lets you see what was sent. Bell Canada uses the multi-message format, and when you dial *67 before making the call, the string in the computer definitely shows an absene of the incoming number. Caller ID signal with a phone number (multi-message format): ff80 13 1 8 31 31 30 36 30 39 31 34 3 7 39 37 39 34 32 30 38 4d Caller ID signal with call blocking received ff80 d 1 8 31 31 30 36 31 32 37 4 1 50 ff83 Field 1 has 8 digits, and contains date and time. Field 3 (in first example, contains 7 digits, and is the phone number, with 4d as the checksum. In the call with blocking, field 3 is missing, but there is a field 4, which contains 1 digit, namely 50 hex, which indicates the reason the message is missing is because the caller is using blocking (*67) Chris Origin: CSRNET Reply To: user@csrnet.cld9.com (11:100/160) ------------------------------ From: hamid@tnt.uni-hannover.de (Reinhard Abdel Hamid) Subject: Need Caller ID / Number Identification Help Reply-To: hamid@tnt.uni-hannover.de Organization: Universitaet Hannover, Theoretische Nachrichtentechnik Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 11:37:38 GMT Hello Americans ! I am able to use an international voicemail network that is able to send messages to every telephone in the United States. But for a test I would like to know the American number it is calling from, when it sends messages. So, who (with an caller-id display) could help and email me the telephone-number I can send my test voicemail to? Later I will call you and ask for the number, the display showed during my voicemail. Thanks in advance. Greetings from Germany. Reinhard hamid@tnt.uni-hannover.de [Moderator's Note: The thing you'll need to take care on is to find a place where *inter-lata* caller-id is working; otherwise you'll want someone in the same community as the voicemail. Do you know *where* in the USA the voicemail system is located? What town or what state? You may otherwise waste your time putting through calls only to get a report from your American contact that the caller-id display said the calling number was 'out of area' or similar. Caller-id is not yet universal here you know, or even very common between different LATAs. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 11:27:57 -0800 From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: Motorola Cellular Tech Manual Wanted Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) The manual is called the Technical Training Manual and costs $30 plus S&H from Motorola. The number is 1-800-331-6456 for USA transactions only. Overseas orders and inquiries may be sent by FAX ONLY to +1 708 523 8060. I will be receiving mine early next week. I will post a review to {Telecom-Tech} and TELECOM Digest. Note: Although I haven't received it, my credit card was charged about $38 already. The claimed next day shipment by UPS, and I didn't expect to have it yet (and don't :-) Ed Greenberg edg@netcom.com Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 18:07:02 -0500 From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Reply-To: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu In a previous article, djcl@grin.io.org (David Leibold) says: > The Star specifically mentioned one person's experience in Frankenmuth, > Michigan. I can't verify whether the company involved is Ameritech, GTE > or whoever, though the Phonefiche says this is supposed to be under the > Bay City/Saginaw directory area. Wonder how those folks will do when > 810 gets started next month (splitting 313 Detroit region). According to my Michigan LATA map, Frankenmuth is Michigan Bell (now Ameritech), as is all but one of the adjacent exchanges (the exception is Millington, served by the Wolverine Telephone Company). Frankenmuth is in the Saginaw LATA (northern half of the 517 area code). Jack ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Date: 14 Nov 1993 21:07:44 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC djcl@grin.io.org wrote: > Digest readers who are interested in testing 905 out could try to get > Toronto weather information at +1 905 676.3066 to see if 905 will work > (pre-recorded message). I work in (905) area as well, and could > provide the work number(s) on request. It works from Brooklyn, N.Y., though the recording said it was nine degrees out. Can that be right? It was in the 70s today in NYC! Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com ------------------------------ From: jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James R Ebright) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: 15 Nov 1993 03:33:11 GMT Organization: The Ohio State University In article john.eichler@grapevine.lrk.ar.us (John Eichler) writes: > oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) wrote: >> I should think that New York Telephone, which fills the front pages of >> every telephone directory with glowing talk of up-to-date digital >> technology, would be embarassed at its apparent failure to deploy ISDN >> beyond a handful of Manhattan exchanges. > It's almost a 'catch-22' proposition. The phone companies are slow to > implement ISDN because there is little demand for it and the demand is > waiting for the service to become available. Huh? ISDN was originally a way to get 56KB service ... but modems on regular analog lines can almost do this today. ISDN vs market forces. ISDN 0, Market 1. > This is just another example of the difficult time we will have > installing a nationwide 'information highway'. It will be if TPC (the phone company) is in charge of installation ;) > I guess the only way to move the telephone companies is for tens of > thousands of us little guys to keep asking them for ISDN until they > wake up and realize that they are losing big bucks in not providing > this vital service. Buy a V.fast modem for $499 and get most of the benefit without the aggrevation of Waiting For Godot ... Jim Ebright e-mail: jre+@osu.edu ------------------------------ From: brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 03:34:19 GMT mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) writes: > The only thing I would add is that making a device like this and > *using* it would violate the federal wiretapping laws, which is a > felony. No. It is illegal, but it violates the ECPA, not wire tapping laws. > It may be true that cellular phone use isn't really private, because > anyone could be listening, but it's no more legal for them to listen > than it is for them to bug your bedroom or boardroom. As a practical matter, though, it might as well not be illegal, because it is virtually unenforcable. And I know of no instances of prosecution for violation of the ECPA. (Some people feel that it is unconstitutional, but that's a separate issue). > Under federal law, any conversation going through a cellular switch is > considered a telephone conversation subject to the wiretap laws (the > technical term is "wire communication". A cellular phone is just as > private as a landline phone, because people have the same legal right > not to be "scanned" as they do not to have someone tapping in on a > craft set. Nope. In fact, cordless telephones do not have a special act protecting them, and it is perfectly legal for you to listen to your neighbors (or anyone else's) cordless telephone conversations (providing that you do so by monitoring the air waves, not by tapping into their physical wires). The fact that the conversation eventually passes through a regular land-line switch (or even, a cellular switch, if they happen to be talking to a celluler phone on the other end), is not relevant. Brett (brettf@netcom.com) ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Cell Phone Suggestions Sought Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 0:14:16 EST I'm looking for a cell phone for my car. I go back and forth between home, in Boston where cell service works fine, and my tiny timber barony, in northern Vermont, where cell service is marginal, though supposed to be better when they add towers in a few months. Desirable criteria: -- good performance in marginal conditions -- multiple NAMs -- hands free feature, if it works well enough that callers can hear you over the noise in the car Any suggestions? Also, experience with the local cell carriers here (NYNEX and Cell One/Boston) and Vermont (Contel and Cell One/Vermont-Western-New- Hampshire) would be appreciated. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 16:41:08 EST From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: Help: Need to Query V&H Database In TELECOM Digest V13 #751 neptune!banks@iex.iex.com (Nathan Banks) writes: > Here in Texas, the state Senate recently passed legislation (SB 632) > allowing rural communities to petition the PUC to extend their > respective local calling scopes to "communities of interest" of up to > 22 miles. > I am currently researching my community's locality of interest by > looking at county maps and interviewing members of the community to > ascertain their civic and business needs outside of our current 2-3 > mile local calling scope. > I was wondering if someone could suggest how I might access a "V&H" > coordinate database to query the following information. If a little work isn't minded, then the first thing to do would be to get a local map and using the mileage guide (how many miles to an inch) and take a compass, set it to as close to the mileage desired as possible and draw a circle around the desired community(ies) using your community as the center of the circle. Then using the telephone book, look up the community names within that circle and obtain the NXXs for them. Failing that, you could contact the telco for information. Another way is by driving to those communities and noting the mileage. Say you have to take care of some business in Community B and you live in Community A. Just note the mileage on your vehicle when you start and note it when you get to Community B. You probably come up with the figures that the telco has since I think that they are based on airline miles, not road; you'll be close though. I do this when I travel to compute driving costs per mile, time per trip, driving costs per mile including food stops/breaks, overall time, etc. Sounds nutty but its fun to me and helps me keep track of expenses. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ Subject: Questions About New Numbering Plan Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 00:38:08 EST From: Jim Wohlford I am researching for a paper on numbering plan changes, and would appreciate any late breaking news or information concerning the following: 1) Who will administer the plan after Bellcore retires? 2) How will the PBX world deal with maintenance and upgrade of their routing plans? 3) What, if any, involvement might the FCC have? 4) How will telecom ever be simple again? Any info will be graciously accepted at jwohlfor@gmu.edu. I have read all that I can find in the industry magazines, but I find more questions than answers. I will summarize my findings for a later posting. Thanks in advance! Jim Wohlford Compuserve 70214,636 jwohlfor@gmu.edu George Mason University Telecommunications Program ------------------------------ From: nigel@cotswold.demon.co.uk (Nigel Roles) Subject: Re: Microsoft Telephony API/SPI Reply-To: nigel@cotswold.demon.co.uk Organization: Interconnect Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 11:19:09 In article joe@erix.ericsson.se (Joe Armstrong) writes: > Does anybody have any information available about products which use > the recently published Microsoft Telephony API/SPI? > Do you think the Microsoft Telephony API will catch on? Up to now the > CCITT has been the principle organisation responsible for telephony > standards. The microsoft API seems to represent a radical departure > from this. Is this the future? [Select Switch Designers Hat] Good question. Anyone can invent a standard, but in telephony unless it follows existing standards you might have an acceptance problem. Conversely Miscrosft are inevitably a force to be reckoned with. Personally, the AT&T Novell Telephony API looks much better. It follows the CSTA call model, and as such looks much more professional in that it appears to have been written from the telecomms perspective, not the computer perspective. This strikes me as vital if you want switch manufacturers to support it. There are other issues as well; both specs. are pretty big, but Microsoft's looks quite unmanageably large, as opposed to just plain daunting. We intend going the AT&T Novell route. [Select PC Programmers Hat] There is not a lot to choose between the two specs. A non-telecomms programmer might not perceive the better pedigree of the AT&T Novell one because the nomenclature (calls, connections, devices, states) will be completely new stuff either way. ------------------------------ From: atlas@newshost.pictel.com (Steve Atlas) Subject: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? Organization: PictureTel Corporation Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 04:27:04 GMT > [Moderator's Note: ... > The problem with Q is that it must be followed by U in 99 percent of all > words in common use ...] Pat, Your explanation of why Q and Z don't appear the telephone dial was interesting, but to be picky, what English words contain the letter "q" not followed by "u"? I know there are Arabic names such as Iraq and Qatar, as well as people whose Arabic names are transliterated. But English words? Steve Atlas atlas@pictel.com [Moderator's Note: Well, if you want to discriminate against the Arabs, you're going to make my job answering this one a lot harder. :) QADARITES were members of an early Muslin philisophical school assert- ing the doctrine of free will in opposition to the Jabarites. QINTARS are monetary units in Albania. Each QINTAR is equal to 1/100 lek. QOPH (sometimes spelled KOPH) is the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. A few you can look up on your own: QARMATION QASHQAI QERE QERI QYRGHYZ A real motley collection, eh? In conclusion, please remember that TELECOM Digest is supported through the generous gifts of readers who benefit by the articles here and the material in the Telecom Archives. I pay the bills (mostly for the phone, generally about $200-300 per month for the connection, etc, and friends help me pay my phone bill and feed the cats. All gifts are acknowledged and appreciated. Checks payable to Ameritech are perfectly acceptable and will be used to retire my old phone bill in Chicago. (Skokie phone rates are much cheaper; I don't expect the bill to go over a hundred dollars per month here). If you prefer, checks can also be payable to TELECOM Digest earmarked for production and distribution of this journal. If you want a specific accounting of how your gift was used, just ask for it anytime. Our mailing address remains: 2241 W. Howard, Chicago, IL 60645. Thanks very much for all your help. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #760 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02091; 15 Nov 93 5:21 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04915 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Mon, 15 Nov 1993 02:24:29 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04169 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 15 Nov 1993 02:23:48 -0600 Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 02:23:48 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311150823.AA04169@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #760 TELECOM Digest Mon, 15 Nov 93 01:32:30 CST Volume 13 : Issue 760 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Remote Call Forwarding (Peter Tindall) Re: Nationwide GTE 800 Outage? (Macy M. Hallock) Re: AT&T Ships 800 Number Directory to One Million Consumers (Ken Thompson) Re: Problems With CNID (Chris Farrar) Re: Nationwide Caller ID (Chris Farrar) Need Caller ID / Number Identification Help (Reinhard A. Hamid) Re: Motorola Cellular Tech Manual Wanted (Ed Greenberg) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Jack Decker) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (James Taranto) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (James R. Ebright) Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Brett Frankenberger) Cell Phone Suggestions Sought (John R. Levine) Re: Help: Need to Query V&H Database (Dave Niebuhr) Questions About New Numbering Plan (Jim Wohlford) Re: Microsoft Telephony API/SPI (Nigel Roles) "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? (Steve Atlas) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Remote Call Forwarding Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 00:29:00 EST From: Peter Tindall In article @eecs.nwu.edu barnett@convex.com (Paul Barnett) writes: > This is the same solution that I use. However, I would like to > point out that not ALL cellular providers will forward your calls free. > According to my third-party compilation of roaming agreements and > standard service policies, some charge air-time even when a call is > simply routed through their switch and forwarded to another number. Yes. Cantel (at least in Ontario and Quebec) has started charging for call forwarding minutes (only when the total call forwarding in a month exceeds 1000 minutes). Example: You use 999 minutes : No charge You use 1000 minutes : you pay $500.00 (+50c/minute for all minutes extra). I really believed this was a typo -- so I contacted the regulator here in Canada (the CRTC) and obtained a copy of the amended tariff page. Sure enough it is correct. I also understand that the no charge threshold was recently increased from 1000 to 2500 for corporate users, although I have no official confirmation -- just the mumblings of a Cantel customer service rep. I do believe that a token charge is in order since some resources are tied up, but charging the same (50c) per minute for both airtime and call forwarding time (which uses only a tiny part of the switch's resources) is unfair. Peter Tindall VE3TJP ptindall@accesspt.north.net (905) 820-7052 af288@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ From: fmsystm!fmsys!macy@wariat.org Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 08:09 EST Subject: Re: Nationwide GTE 800 Outage? Reply-To: macy@telemax.com Organization: F M Systems/Telemax Medina, Ohio USA In article bnunes@netcom.com (Brian Nunes) writes: > I work in West Los Angeles, also covered by GTE, and we too could not > dial out to any 800 numbers yesterday. GTE here in Ohio lost their link to the 800 database at least twice not too long after 800 portability went into effect. I've had clients give me trouble reports since then that sound like the link has been out of service for several short periods since then. Macy M. Hallock, Jr. N8OBG +1.216.723.3030 macy@telemax.com macy@fms.com Telemax, Inc. - F M Systems, Inc. 152 Highland Drive Medina, OH USA ------------------------------ From: ken thompson Subject: Re: AT&T Ships 800 Number Directory to One Million Consumers Date: 14 Nov 93 14:42:00 GMT Organization: NCR Corporation Wichita, KS dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) writes: > Don't forget ... this directory lists only those businesses who have > AT&T 800 service. A great many other businesses also have 800 numbers, > but won't be in the book. Actually only those who PAY to be in the book are listed. Ken Thompson N0ITL Disk Array Hardware Development Peripheral Products MPD-Wichita NCR Corp. an AT&T company 3718 N. Rock Road Wichita,Ks 67226 (316) 636-8783 Ken.Thompson@wichitaks.ncr.com [Moderator's Note: You are correct. The default on 800 numbers is exactly the opposite of regular (or 'POTS') service where the norm is be listed for free and pay for non-pub. With 800 service, non-pub is free and you pay to be listed, either in printed books or with the 800-555-1212 database. PAT] ------------------------------ Reply-To: comp.dcom.telecom@cld9.com Subject: Re: Problems With CNID From: chris.farrar@cld9.com (Chris Farrar) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 11:16:00 -0600 Organization: C-9 Communications Lunatix!chelf@ms.uky.edu said something along the lines of the following: > When the in-use light went on, some rather strange data noises could > be heard over the scanner, then nothing (like a dead line). I left it > there for a long while and never heard anyone talking or anything like > that. > Could it be possible that Caller ID is at fault? Or, more likely (in > my opinion), the phone needs to be junked. It seems as if the phone > *itself* is calling places at random. I'd say it was the phone myself. He should try a normal phone on his line, and see if the problem disappears. From the sounds of it, someone in the area may have a cordless that is triggering his base. Chris chris.farrar@f20.n246.z1.fidonet.org Origin: CSRNET Reply To: user@csrnet.cld9.com (11:100/160) ------------------------------ Reply-To: comp.dcom.telecom@cld9.com Subject: Re: Nationwide Caller ID From: chris.farrar@cld9.com (Chris Farrar) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 11:36:00 -0600 Organization: C-9 Communications Emmanuel@well.sf.ca.us said something along the lines of the following: > but not from others where Caller ID definitely works. Dialing *67 has > no effect -- your number is always transmitted onto the Caller ID box > regardless of privacy setting. This may indicate that Caller ID data > is really sent on all calls, including the private ones, which means > the possibility exists of capturing it on non-800 calls. Strange. I have a caller id system on my computer, and it actually lets you see what was sent. Bell Canada uses the multi-message format, and when you dial *67 before making the call, the string in the computer definitely shows an absene of the incoming number. Caller ID signal with a phone number (multi-message format): ff80 13 1 8 31 31 30 36 30 39 31 34 3 7 39 37 39 34 32 30 38 4d Caller ID signal with call blocking received ff80 d 1 8 31 31 30 36 31 32 37 4 1 50 ff83 Field 1 has 8 digits, and contains date and time. Field 3 (in first example, contains 7 digits, and is the phone number, with 4d as the checksum. In the call with blocking, field 3 is missing, but there is a field 4, which contains 1 digit, namely 50 hex, which indicates the reason the message is missing is because the caller is using blocking (*67) Chris Origin: CSRNET Reply To: user@csrnet.cld9.com (11:100/160) ------------------------------ From: hamid@tnt.uni-hannover.de (Reinhard Abdel Hamid) Subject: Need Caller ID / Number Identification Help Reply-To: hamid@tnt.uni-hannover.de Organization: Universitaet Hannover, Theoretische Nachrichtentechnik Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 11:37:38 GMT Hello Americans ! I am able to use an international voicemail network that is able to send messages to every telephone in the United States. But for a test I would like to know the American number it is calling from, when it sends messages. So, who (with an caller-id display) could help and email me the telephone-number I can send my test voicemail to? Later I will call you and ask for the number, the display showed during my voicemail. Thanks in advance. Greetings from Germany. Reinhard hamid@tnt.uni-hannover.de [Moderator's Note: The thing you'll need to take care on is to find a place where *inter-lata* caller-id is working; otherwise you'll want someone in the same community as the voicemail. Do you know *where* in the USA the voicemail system is located? What town or what state? You may otherwise waste your time putting through calls only to get a report from your American contact that the caller-id display said the calling number was 'out of area' or similar. Caller-id is not yet universal here you know, or even very common between different LATAs. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 11:27:57 -0800 From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Re: Motorola Cellular Tech Manual Wanted Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) The manual is called the Technical Training Manual and costs $30 plus S&H from Motorola. The number is 1-800-331-6456 for USA transactions only. Overseas orders and inquiries may be sent by FAX ONLY to +1 708 523 8060. I will be receiving mine early next week. I will post a review to {Telecom-Tech} and TELECOM Digest. Note: Although I haven't received it, my credit card was charged about $38 already. The claimed next day shipment by UPS, and I didn't expect to have it yet (and don't :-) Ed Greenberg edg@netcom.com Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 18:07:02 -0500 From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Reply-To: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu In a previous article, djcl@grin.io.org (David Leibold) says: > The Star specifically mentioned one person's experience in Frankenmuth, > Michigan. I can't verify whether the company involved is Ameritech, GTE > or whoever, though the Phonefiche says this is supposed to be under the > Bay City/Saginaw directory area. Wonder how those folks will do when > 810 gets started next month (splitting 313 Detroit region). According to my Michigan LATA map, Frankenmuth is Michigan Bell (now Ameritech), as is all but one of the adjacent exchanges (the exception is Millington, served by the Wolverine Telephone Company). Frankenmuth is in the Saginaw LATA (northern half of the 517 area code). Jack ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Date: 14 Nov 1993 21:07:44 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC djcl@grin.io.org wrote: > Digest readers who are interested in testing 905 out could try to get > Toronto weather information at +1 905 676.3066 to see if 905 will work > (pre-recorded message). I work in (905) area as well, and could > provide the work number(s) on request. It works from Brooklyn, N.Y., though the recording said it was nine degrees out. Can that be right? It was in the 70s today in NYC! Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com ------------------------------ From: jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James R Ebright) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: 15 Nov 1993 03:33:11 GMT Organization: The Ohio State University In article john.eichler@grapevine.lrk.ar.us (John Eichler) writes: > oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) wrote: >> I should think that New York Telephone, which fills the front pages of >> every telephone directory with glowing talk of up-to-date digital >> technology, would be embarassed at its apparent failure to deploy ISDN >> beyond a handful of Manhattan exchanges. > It's almost a 'catch-22' proposition. The phone companies are slow to > implement ISDN because there is little demand for it and the demand is > waiting for the service to become available. Huh? ISDN was originally a way to get 56KB service ... but modems on regular analog lines can almost do this today. ISDN vs market forces. ISDN 0, Market 1. > This is just another example of the difficult time we will have > installing a nationwide 'information highway'. It will be if TPC (the phone company) is in charge of installation ;) > I guess the only way to move the telephone companies is for tens of > thousands of us little guys to keep asking them for ISDN until they > wake up and realize that they are losing big bucks in not providing > this vital service. Buy a V.fast modem for $499 and get most of the benefit without the aggrevation of Waiting For Godot ... Jim Ebright e-mail: jre+@osu.edu ------------------------------ From: brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 03:34:19 GMT mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) writes: > The only thing I would add is that making a device like this and > *using* it would violate the federal wiretapping laws, which is a > felony. No. It is illegal, but it violates the ECPA, not wire tapping laws. > It may be true that cellular phone use isn't really private, because > anyone could be listening, but it's no more legal for them to listen > than it is for them to bug your bedroom or boardroom. As a practical matter, though, it might as well not be illegal, because it is virtually unenforcable. And I know of no instances of prosecution for violation of the ECPA. (Some people feel that it is unconstitutional, but that's a separate issue). > Under federal law, any conversation going through a cellular switch is > considered a telephone conversation subject to the wiretap laws (the > technical term is "wire communication". A cellular phone is just as > private as a landline phone, because people have the same legal right > not to be "scanned" as they do not to have someone tapping in on a > craft set. Nope. In fact, cordless telephones do not have a special act protecting them, and it is perfectly legal for you to listen to your neighbors (or anyone else's) cordless telephone conversations (providing that you do so by monitoring the air waves, not by tapping into their physical wires). The fact that the conversation eventually passes through a regular land-line switch (or even, a cellular switch, if they happen to be talking to a celluler phone on the other end), is not relevant. Brett (brettf@netcom.com) ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Cell Phone Suggestions Sought Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 0:14:16 EST I'm looking for a cell phone for my car. I go back and forth between home, in Boston where cell service works fine, and my tiny timber barony, in northern Vermont, where cell service is marginal, though supposed to be better when they add towers in a few months. Desirable criteria: -- good performance in marginal conditions -- multiple NAMs -- hands free feature, if it works well enough that callers can hear you over the noise in the car Any suggestions? Also, experience with the local cell carriers here (NYNEX and Cell One/Boston) and Vermont (Contel and Cell One/Vermont-Western-New- Hampshire) would be appreciated. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 16:41:08 EST From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: Help: Need to Query V&H Database In TELECOM Digest V13 #751 neptune!banks@iex.iex.com (Nathan Banks) writes: > Here in Texas, the state Senate recently passed legislation (SB 632) > allowing rural communities to petition the PUC to extend their > respective local calling scopes to "communities of interest" of up to > 22 miles. > I am currently researching my community's locality of interest by > looking at county maps and interviewing members of the community to > ascertain their civic and business needs outside of our current 2-3 > mile local calling scope. > I was wondering if someone could suggest how I might access a "V&H" > coordinate database to query the following information. If a little work isn't minded, then the first thing to do would be to get a local map and using the mileage guide (how many miles to an inch) and take a compass, set it to as close to the mileage desired as possible and draw a circle around the desired community(ies) using your community as the center of the circle. Then using the telephone book, look up the community names within that circle and obtain the NXXs for them. Failing that, you could contact the telco for information. Another way is by driving to those communities and noting the mileage. Say you have to take care of some business in Community B and you live in Community A. Just note the mileage on your vehicle when you start and note it when you get to Community B. You probably come up with the figures that the telco has since I think that they are based on airline miles, not road; you'll be close though. I do this when I travel to compute driving costs per mile, time per trip, driving costs per mile including food stops/breaks, overall time, etc. Sounds nutty but its fun to me and helps me keep track of expenses. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ Subject: Questions About New Numbering Plan Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 00:38:08 EST From: Jim Wohlford I am researching for a paper on numbering plan changes, and would appreciate any late breaking news or information concerning the following: 1) Who will administer the plan after Bellcore retires? 2) How will the PBX world deal with maintenance and upgrade of their routing plans? 3) What, if any, involvement might the FCC have? 4) How will telecom ever be simple again? Any info will be graciously accepted at jwohlfor@gmu.edu. I have read all that I can find in the industry magazines, but I find more questions than answers. I will summarize my findings for a later posting. Thanks in advance! Jim Wohlford Compuserve 70214,636 jwohlfor@gmu.edu George Mason University Telecommunications Program ------------------------------ From: nigel@cotswold.demon.co.uk (Nigel Roles) Subject: Re: Microsoft Telephony API/SPI Reply-To: nigel@cotswold.demon.co.uk Organization: Interconnect Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 11:19:09 In article joe@erix.ericsson.se (Joe Armstrong) writes: > Does anybody have any information available about products which use > the recently published Microsoft Telephony API/SPI? > Do you think the Microsoft Telephony API will catch on? Up to now the > CCITT has been the principle organisation responsible for telephony > standards. The microsoft API seems to represent a radical departure > from this. Is this the future? [Select Switch Designers Hat] Good question. Anyone can invent a standard, but in telephony unless it follows existing standards you might have an acceptance problem. Conversely Miscrosft are inevitably a force to be reckoned with. Personally, the AT&T Novell Telephony API looks much better. It follows the CSTA call model, and as such looks much more professional in that it appears to have been written from the telecomms perspective, not the computer perspective. This strikes me as vital if you want switch manufacturers to support it. There are other issues as well; both specs. are pretty big, but Microsoft's looks quite unmanageably large, as opposed to just plain daunting. We intend going the AT&T Novell route. [Select PC Programmers Hat] There is not a lot to choose between the two specs. A non-telecomms programmer might not perceive the better pedigree of the AT&T Novell one because the nomenclature (calls, connections, devices, states) will be completely new stuff either way. ------------------------------ From: atlas@newshost.pictel.com (Steve Atlas) Subject: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? Organization: PictureTel Corporation Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 04:27:04 GMT > [Moderator's Note: ... > The problem with Q is that it must be followed by U in 99 percent of all > words in common use ...] Pat, Your explanation of why Q and Z don't appear the telephone dial was interesting, but to be picky, what English words contain the letter "q" not followed by "u"? I know there are Arabic names such as Iraq and Qatar, as well as people whose Arabic names are transliterated. But English words? Steve Atlas atlas@pictel.com [Moderator's Note: Well, if you want to discriminate against the Arabs, you're going to make my job answering this one a lot harder. :) QADARITES were members of an early Muslin philisophical school assert- ing the doctrine of free will in opposition to the Jabarites. QINTARS are monetary units in Albania. Each QINTAR is equal to 1/100 lek. QOPH (sometimes spelled KOPH) is the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. A few you can look up on your own: QARMATION QASHQAI QERE QERI QYRGHYZ A real motley collection, eh? In conclusion, please remember that TELECOM Digest is supported through the generous gifts of readers who benefit by the articles here and the material in the Telecom Archives. I pay the bills (mostly for the phone, generally about $200-300 per month for the connection, etc, and friends help me pay my phone bill and feed the cats. All gifts are acknowledged and appreciated. Checks payable to Ameritech are perfectly acceptable and will be used to retire my old phone bill in Chicago. (Skokie phone rates are much cheaper; I don't expect the bill to go over a hundred dollars per month here). If you prefer, checks can also be payable to TELECOM Digest earmarked for production and distribution of this journal. If you want a specific accounting of how your gift was used, just ask for it anytime. Our mailing address remains: 2241 W. Howard, Chicago, IL 60645. Thanks very much for all your help. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #760 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02803; 15 Nov 93 6:57 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32416 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4); Mon, 15 Nov 1993 02:21:07 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31835 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 15 Nov 1993 02:20:32 -0600 Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 02:20:32 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311150820.AA31835@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #761 TELECOM Digest Mon, 15 Nov 93 02:20:30 CST Volume 13 : Issue 761 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Bill Fischer) Re: ADSI (Al Varney) Re: Cordless Phone Systems (Gordon Hlavenka) Re: Problems With Michigan Bell (John Perkins) Re: Information About Iridium Wanted (Jeffrey Oliver Breen) Re: Calling Card Question (Carl Oppedahl) Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (Ed Casas) Re: Need List of Country Codes (Gordon Torrie) Re: Feature Interaction (Ed Leslie) Strange Telephone Behavior (Jason Hunsaker) Re: What is Transpac? (John R. Levine) Re: What is Transpac? (bob1@cos.com) Re: What is Transpac? (Fazal Majid) Re: Skokie, IL, and Telephone History (Paul J. Bell) Re: Skokie, IL, and Telephone History (David A. Kaye) Re: Minneapolis is no Picnic Either (vs Chicago) (Bill Pfeiffer) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bill.fischer@t8000.cuc.ab.ca Organization: T-8000 Information System Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 21:08:00 Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Robin Singla (u19250@uicvm.uic.edu) had a few questions about cellular phone monitoring systems. For the benefit of all readers, the basics of such monitoring follows: Calls to and from all phones in a particular cell can be monitored, or specific numbers can be entered into a log, and all other calls ignored. The equipment monitors the data on the cell's control channel and switches a radio scanner to the specified voice frequency when the phone makes or receives a call in that cell. The equipment will change to a new voice frequency each time the phone switches, ensuring that the complete call is monitored from start to finish. We have a Cellular Surveillance Interface that performs this function. It doesn't cost $6000, and it will work on both the AMPS (USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia) and TACS/ETACS (Europe, Middle East, Southeast Asia) cellular systems. I've sent Robin a copy of our brochure by private e-mail to maintain the non-commercial nature of this forum ;-) Regards, Bill Fischer Internet: bill.fischer@t8000.cuc.ab.ca Electronic Countermeasures Inc. Voice: +1-403-233-0644 65 - 31 Avenue South West Calgary, AB, Canada T2S 2Y7 [Moderator's Note: No doubt you will send your brochure to anyone who requests it after seeing your message here also. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 00:41:17 CST From: varney@ihlpe.att.com Subject: Re: ADSI Organization: AT&T In article bobh@cc.bellcore.com (Robert Hettmansperger) writes: > In article , varney@ihlpe.att.com wrote: >> TR-1273 says feature-specific TRs will determine if Call Waiting >> can interrupt a given ADSI "session" (SPCS or "server"). I haven't >> seen such requirements. Also, the recovery from an interrupted >> session is up to the "server". Just to check the latest, >> TA-NWT-001436, Visual Screen List Editing, August 1993 (issued 8 >> months after TR-1273) says not one word, zip, about session >> interruptions of any kind. > This is not quite true. [And Robert explains why Call Waiting won't bother VSLE users, assuming the switch programmers follow the reference threads ...] Thanks, Robert, for pointing out my error. I still claim there is no requirement dealing with interrupted sessions in general, but that's just being picky. And also thanks for giving me a chance to correct a mis-conception spread by my original article. Even co-workers felt I was a little "hard" on ADSI -- that was NOT my intent. ADSI is a reasonable extension of the Caller-ID interface and provides an improved "feature control" capability for complex features such as CLASS, as well as to Call Waiting. It opens the door to other service providers who don't need user terminals with full screens and a keyboard. (See, I'm not against it!) Nor am I concerned with the way Bellcore and/or NTI have pushed the ADSI interface. Every new protocol/interface has to have a sponsor, and prototyping and demonstrating interfaces almost always results in better standards and requirements, and an overall shorter idea-to-product window. I think this has been a good example of vendor/industry cooperation. My only concern was/is related to the issue of "spoofing" such terminals in the same way TR-30 caller ID boxes can be "spoofed" with off-hook signaling. While Bellcore and other close to the original TA reviews may have been aware of this issue, it did not appear in any CPE vendor documents. Awareness could prevent some problems and make ADSI less "hacker-friendly". Nothing in the current requirements says something as simple as a "off-hook message" indicator couldn't be used to let the user know what's happening. But if the CPE vendors aren't reminded to think about it, we can hardly fault them for not doing so on their own. > Applications which use a non switch-based server (such as banking, > etc.) can not rely on the switch to prevent such interruptions. > Therefore, they will have to depend on the customer (or the customer's > CPE) utilizing the Cancel Call Waiting feature. Cancel Call Waiting was also mentioned to me by a co-worker as a specific way around the Call-Waiting-interruption problem with servers. Some providers do not bundle Call Waiting and CCW, so that might have to be required for ADSI "server-based" users who also have Call Waiting. Al Varney - just my opinion ------------------------------ From: cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (gordon hlavenka) Subject: Re: Cordless Phone Systems Organization: Vpnet - Public Access Unix and Usenet Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 22:02:56 GMT Delavar K. Khomarlou wrote: > Our company is investigating the use of cordless phones (with mobile > base stations) in our stations (harsh environment). > We are looking at an 800 Mhz and a 1.2 Ghz > (European) system. Can someone tell me which system would have better > propagation characteristics in this environment? We've had a SpectraLink system in my office here for about two weeks. This is an 800MHz system in a normal office environment. Perhaps our installation is flawed (it was done in one evening by a non-telco type) but it has not performed well here. The PTs cut out a lot, and there is a strong "digital" character to the audio. Plus an echo problem. Cutting out could be explained by poor cell siting, but the distortion is apparent even when the signal is strong and echo has nothing to do with (RF) signal strength. I'd stay away from this one ... Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us Proud father of Daniel Scott born August 9, 1993 ------------------------------ From: johnper@bunsen.rosemount.com (John Perkins) Subject: Re: Problems With Michigan Bell Organization: Rosemount, Inc. Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 23:00:11 GMT In article smp@agape.sol.net (Steven M. Palm) writes: > [Deleted: long account of incorrect billing by Michigan Bell and writer's valiant attempt to straighten it out.] > [Deleted: long list of recommendations by the Moderator on how the > original writer should proceed] Here's another approach (that has worked very well for me in the past): Ignore the whole thing and save yourself a lot of trouble. There's really nothing they can do and eventually they'll get tired and give up. John Perkins [Moderator's Note: The only reason I did not suggest that as an alternative to the original writer was because MBT's collection agency *might* let something go to a credit bureau on it and then he would be stuck with removing that. While getting credit bureau repairs is not impossible, or all that difficult, it still might leave his credit messed up for awhile in the interim. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jeffrey Oliver Breen Subject: Re: Information About Iridium Wanted Organization: Dept. of Astronomy, University of Virginia Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 22:00:32 GMT In article prakash@cis.ohio-state.edu (ravi prakash) writes: > I would like to get information about the following: > - Iridium : a low earth orbit mobile satellite system The latest issue of _Wired_ magazine (1.5 - November 1993) has a feature article on Iridium and other competing systems (Globalstar, Ellipso, Aires, and Odyssey). It's a pretty good review article with some interesting tidbits. For example, Iridium is so named (at least partly) because its original spec called for 77 satellites in orbit: Iridium is element number 77 (==> 77 electrons in orbit). Besides, as the author correctly points out, "Iridium" sounds better than "Dysprosium", element number 66, which matches the current spec. :) _Wired_ lists the following contact information for Iridium: Iridium, Inc. 13501 Street, NW Washington, D 20005 (202) 371-6889 Best Regards, Jeffrey Oliver Breen Internet: job5g@Virginia.edu Department of Astronomy University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA 22903 (804) 924-7494 ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Calling Card Question Date: 14 Nov 1993 18:48:12 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) writes: > In yet another display of my ignorance, I ask the following question: > Can a calling card be acquired from either the LEC or an IXC with > the following restriction: that it can -only- get billed by the Local > Carrier (where appropriate) or by the disgnated IXC? > This would do a good job of reducing the tele-zleaze surcharges. The answer is, "sort of". All you have to do is to get a calling card issued by someone *other* than AT&T or a local operating company. For example, you could get a card issued by MCI or Sprint. All calls are placed via an 800 number or a 950 number or 10XXX, and there are never any surprises about what the call will cost. It will always be billed by MCI or Sprint, at their rates. You might wonder how local calls are handled in that case. Don't ask; it would get MCI or Sprint in trouble if the local operating companies were to learn that MCI or Sprint sometimes connects local calls in competition with the local operating company. Now, it is also the case that *some* of AT&T's cards are also safe against sleaze. But why choose a company that costs *more* and only protects some of its cards? Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 [Moderator's Note: He can also get a totally 'independent' calling card like the Orange Card (25 cents per minute of use, billed in 30 second increments with no surcharge) or use one of his VISA/MC cards through the hookup they have with MCI. PAT] ------------------------------ From: edc@ee.ubc.ca (Ed Casas) Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 23:21:19 PST In article , wrote: >> I personally suspect this is a bit of a religious debate, >> exactly like Betamax vs. VHS, and while technical arguments >> pro and con can be made, whoever has the best marketing is >> going to win. (wink wink) > It's certainly the case that the debate will be settled > politically, but it turns out that CDMA has major technical > advantages: ... I think these "technical advantages" are mostly a result of Qualcomm marketing. For example, I looked at Qualcomm's claims for capacity improvement and found that their claims were made on the basis of grossly unfair comparisons. For example, the Qualcomm system assumed: more-directional base station antennas, turning off the transmitter during silent periods to reduce interference, the use of low-rate high-gain codes, the use of low-rate speech coding, etc. A fair comparison would have been between a second-generation TDMA system (which could make use of many of the above techniques) and a CDMA system. I think you would then see the capacity advantage for CDMA eliminated. You should understand that a CDMA receiver starts off with a major handicap -- its correlator cannot separate signals anywhere near as well as a TDMA receiver's IF filter. You have to use a lot of tricks to overcome that initial disadvantage. To me (at least) the technical superiority of CDMA is far from proven. Ed Casas (edc@ee.ubc.ca) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Need List of Country Codes From: gordon@torrie.org (Gordon Torrie) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 10:18:22 -0500 Organization: Torrie Communications Services Malcolm Dunnett writes: > I'm looking for a list of all the "Country Codes"; either an FTP > site or someone to post/mail me a copy. While one might suppose that because Malcom posted his message to this group he meant the numeric codes one dials to route a call to a particular country, this was not explicitly stated. In the event that what he meant was a list of the country codes assigned by the ISO I will point out that a summary of them is available by anonymous FTP from ftp.uni-erlangen.de in directory pub/doc/ISO/english. Gord Torrie ------------------------------ From: edleslie@elearn.edu.yorku.ca (Ed Leslie) Subject: Re: Feature Interaction Organization: York University Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 11:45:42 -0500 Tony Harminc (EL406045@BROWNVM.brown.edu) wrote: > After about an hour, I wondered at my friend's line still being busy > (he has a modem line, so it wasn't that). I dialed *66 again, mainly > out of curiosity to see if the system would give me the same friendly > message, or would tell me that I had already made the same request. Does call return not limit its trials to a 30 minute period (assuming that after that length of time, you have moved on to other things)? Ed Leslie ------------------------------ From: Jason Hunsaker Subject: Strange Telephone Behavior Date: 14 Nov 93 13:43:19 MDT Organization: Utah State University I had an experience last night that I find difficult to understand. My telephone rang. I answered. There was no response. I was about to hang up when I heard a click followed by a busy-signal. This continued for a few seconds, and then I heard another click. Then, with the receiver still in my hand and the phone still off hook, my telephone rang. I had to hangup to answer the incoming call. How is it possible for my phone to be off hook and still activate the ringer? Internet: slhw4@cc.usu.edu (Jason Hunsaker), Logan, Utah ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 00:35 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: What is Transpac? Organization: I.E.C.C. > Can anyone tell me what Transpac is? A public network in France > perhaps? Thanks. It's the French X.25 network. Dialup access is available nationally via special phone numbers. Here is some somewhat obsolete information courtesy of MCI Mail: Contact: Mr. J.M. Chevalier - Tel: (33-1) 47 62 79 61 Direction des Telecomications des Reseaux Exterieurs INTELCOMFRANCE Tour Franklin 92081 Paris La Defense Cedex 11, France Telex: (842) 610586 A/B: CPTI 610586F or 610329 A/B: CPTI 610329F Prices: All charges in French Francs (FFr) Initial Fee: 160 FFr/NUI Monthly Fee: 80 FFr/month Connect Time Charge: 0.70 FFr/minute at 300 bps 0.90 FFr/minute at 1200 bps 1.00 FFr/minute at 2400 bps Volume Charge: 38 FFr/kilosegment A 18.6% VAT should be added to the above charges. Dialup (once you have an account): All cities in France may access TRANSPAC with the national numbers given below. 300 bps access: 36 01 1200 bps access: 36 00 1200/75 bps access (incl. Minitel): 36 13 36 21 (ASCII mode) 300/1200/2400 bps MNP error-corr.: 36 06 24 24 DOMPAC and TOMPAC provide similar service at slightly higher prices in the overseas parts of France. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: bob1@cos.com Subject: Re: What is Transpac? Reply-To: bob1@cos.com Organization: Corporation for Open Systems Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 14:26:06 GMT In phil@concave.cs.wits.ac.za (Philip Green) writes: > Can anyone tell me what Transpac is? A public network in France > perhaps? Thanks. You win the teddy bear! Transpac is the French Public Packet-switched Data Network operating according to Recommendation X.25. Transpac, DATApac (Canada), Telenet (USA), and the U.K. network (forgotten the name) were the first national packet-switched networks. Main reason that I remember is because I was on the team that did DATApac. Bob Blackshaw ------------------------------ From: majid@enst.enst.fr (Fazal Majid) Subject: Re: What is Transpac? Date: 14 Nov 1993 00:06:33 GMT Organization: Telecom Paris - France Philip Green (phil@concave.cs.wits.ac.za) wrote: > Can anyone tell me what Transpac is? A public network in France > perhaps? Thanks. Transpac (now officially called France Telecom Transpac) is a French public X.25 network operated by France Telecom, the national carrier, recently spun off from the PTT administration. Among other things, "Minitel" videotext services are carried by Transpac. Disclaimer: I work for France Telecom, but not in the Transpac division ------------------------------ From: pjb@23kgroup.com (Paul J. Bell) Subject: Re: Skokie, IL, and Telephone History Reply-To: pjb@23kgroup.com Organization: The 23K Group, Inc. Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 02:09:06 GMT In article , TELECOM Moderator noted: > [Moderator's Note: Actually, I have but three lines: one for voice, > one for data and one for fax. I'll make do somehow. The fax is now > on a full time dedicated line and available to anyone who wants to > use it: 708-329-0572. The Skokie area was also the home of Teletype > Corporation as some old-timers may recall. I am just just hoping > very desparately that things will work out financially for me and > the family. :( PAT] When Western Electric's Teletype Corp. was located in Skokie, the plant (on Touhy Ave.) was the largest open area manufacturing facility in the world. At it's peak, well into the '70, they received more orders for Teletype machines in a month than they could build in a year. It was a very interesting place to visit. I left Chicago in the early sixties and have no idea what happened to the area. Does anyone know the fate of the Teletype complex ? Cheers, Paul ------------------------------ From: dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) Subject: Re: Skokie, IL, and Telephone History Date: 14 Nov 1993 21:58:28 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] Dave Levenson (dave@westmark.com) wrote: > It was reported in that year that the largest number of telephones per > capita (86 per 100 population) anywhere in the world was in the > District of Columbia, USA. The second largest value of this number (I > think the number was around 70 or so) was in Skokie, Illinois. I don't know if it's still true or not, but the city of San Ramon (25 miles east of SF) had 102 phones per 100 population. This fact used to be in the back of the Pacific Bell yellow pages for that area, which I think is the Central Contra Costa book. I would think there might be an explanation here, but I don't know what it is. This was before cellular, and the community doesn't seem to have that much more business than any other community. ------------------------------ From: rrb@deja-vu.aiss.uiuc.edu (Bill Pfeiffer) Subject: Re: Minneapolis is no Picnic Either (vs Chicago) Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 03:54:09 CST > [Moderator's Note: I'm sorry to hear this grim news. I hope for your > sake you did not violate any of the civil rights of the burglar; the [...] > The people filed bankruptcy at that point, but the court ruled > the judgment could not be dismissed in bankruptcy, so I guess they > will be working a long time to pay off this guy. Let that be a lesson > to you. Keep your homes neat, clean and free of dangers. If someone > breaks in while you are gone (or some have the nerve to do it while > you are there!), you don't want them to injure themselves. PAT] Nice piece of urban folklore, Pat. But we all know that it is hogwash. You can shoot a burglar in your home (like the 90 year old woman just did on the south side when a 15 year-old broke in and wheeled her around in her wheelchair demanding that she point out valuables). She shot him after asking him to leave several times. She has not been, and will not be, charged. If someone invades your home (unlike your business) all bets are off. Although I have heard these tales too, they are not true. You CAN be sued, or even arrested, if you set up a booby-trap to either fire a weapon or do other bodily harm, via an automatic system (like pointing a shotgun at a doorway, triggered by a solinoid, connected to a door switch). But rest-assured, you may blow someone away without an eyeblink if they are inside your home uninvited. William Pfeiffer - Moderator/Editor rec.radio.broadcasting - Airwaves Radio Journal - Internet email - Article Submission: articles@airwaves.chi.il.us Subscription Desk: subscribe@airwaves.chi.il.us [Moderator's Note: I think you are in error. It is not quite that cut and dry. Yes, you have some rights inside your home you do not have outside your home, but I'm afraid shooting someone in your home would at least cause a few eyes to blink. I suspect you would get a lot of hassles from the police over it, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #761 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa08677; 15 Nov 93 18:18 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01442 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for james@g6fpc.demon.co.uk); Mon, 15 Nov 1993 12:55:39 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA13215 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 15 Nov 1993 12:55:00 -0600 Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 12:55:00 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311151855.AA13215@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #762 TELECOM Digest Mon, 15 Nov 93 12:55:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 762 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Supreme Court Decision on Baby Bells Info Services (AP via William Sohl) AT&T at COMDEX (Andrew B. Myers) 65 per Line or 65*per Line? (Paul Robinson) In the Matter of: Connecting to Kremvax.demos.su (Paul Robinson) Reverse Phone Directory News (Compuserve via Ray Normandeau) Videoconference System Questions (Hyeong-Kyo Kim) Minitel Questions (Michael Jansson) Synoptics 5000 Intelligent Hub (Alex Cena) Info on Old Key System Wanted (Caleb Hess) Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? (Paul Robinson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) Subject: Supreme Court Decision on Baby Bells Info Services Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 16:22:53 GMT Electronic Yellow Pages and Other Phone Information Services OK By LAURIE ASSEO Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Supreme Court today let the nation's regional telephone companies continue offering information services such as home education and electronic yellow pages. The court, without comment, rejected arguments by consumer groups and information competitors that a lower court wrongly let the seven "Baby Bell" companies enter the highly competitive market. Those groups say the regional Bells could gain a monopolistic advantage through their ownership of the phone lines. The case stems from the 1982 court-supervised breakup of American Telephone & Telegraph as the result of the federal government's antitrust lawsuit. The breakup agreement approved by U.S. District Judge Harold Greene stripped AT&T of its local phone companies and set up the regional Bells. The agreement barred the seven companies from providing information services by telephone. But in 1987, the Justice Department reversed its position and backed their request to start offering services such as home shopping, stock quotes and transmission of medical records. Greene ruled against the regional companies. But the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered him to reconsider and base his ruling on whether he could be certain that letting the regional Bells offer such services would harm competition. After the Supreme Court let the appeals court ruling stand, Greene reluctantly lifted the ban in July 1991. He said the appeals court ruling left him with no choice. The appeals court later ruled that Greene only had the authority to decide whether the Justice Department's recommendation was reasonable _ a standard under attack in the appeal acted on today. The growing information market and regulatory safeguards are enough to keep the Bells from taking over, the appeals court said. Their competitors _ including General Electric, AT&T, IBM and Sears _ are not pushovers, it added. In the appeal acted on today, the consumer and information groups' lawyers said the ruling gives the Justice Department "effective control over judicial decisions" on whether to approve any settlement involving the government. "Courts do not lose their competence to determine competitive impact when the government settles a case," the appeal said. Justice Department lawyers said the ruling does not require automatic approval of antitrust agreements. But they said the federal government, not a judge, should have the authority to decide whether an agreement will promote competition "as long as it has a reasonable basis for its prediction." The regional Bells' lawyers said the ban that kept them from providing information services was obsolete, and that there has been no evidence of harm to competition since they entered the market. "Investments have been made and fundamental changes in the industry have occurred," they said. "There is no reason for reversing course at this late date." The seven regional bells are Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, BellSouth Corp., NYNEX Corp., Pacific Telesis Group, Southwestern Bell and U S West Inc. The case is Consumer Federation of America vs. U.S., 93-318. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 10:41:53 EST From: myers@hogpa.ho.att.com (Andrew B Myers +1 908 221 2737) Subject: AT&T at COMDEX AT&T SHOWS ITS WARES AT COMDEX FALL '93 COMPUTER TRADE SHOW BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- Eight AT&T business units plan to showcase more than 25 products and services this week at the nation's largest computer trade show. The COMDEX Fall '93 show begins today, Nov. 15, and continues through Friday, Nov. 19 For copies of AT&T news releases, dial via modem to AT&T News Online, a database containing more than 5,000 AT&T news releases, the two most recent AT&T Annual Reports and the most up-to-date AT&T Fact Book. Set your software for 7 data bits, 1 stop bit, even parity, and dial 908-221-8088. The system autobauds up to 9600 bits per second. Following is a list of key AT&T exhibits and announcements scheduled at COMDEX. AT&T EASYLINK SERVICES Located at Booth No. L930, media contact Kevin Compton. Key displays from AT&T EasyLink include: o AT&T Mail. o Mobile messaging, LAN connectivity, fax solutions, forms solutions, information services. AT&T EasyLink plans to announce: o How road warriors on Harleys or foot soldiers at the office use messaging to do business around town and around the world. AT&T EO Located at Booth No. L2848, media contact Kevin Compton. Key displays from AT&T EO include: o EO 440 and EO 880 Personal Communicators. The major announcement from AT&T EO will be: o New applications and customer solutions for AT&T EO Personal Communiators. AT&T GLOBAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS Located in Booths No. L2348 and No. 1130, media contact Jo Johnston. AT&T GBCS displays will include: o Desktop and networked videoconferencing. o Passage Way(TM) Solution computer-telephone integration. o PhoneWriter(TM) desktop pen-based communicator. AT&T GBCS stories expected to be announced include: o AT&T TeleMedia Personal Video System being shipped to customers. o AT&T PassageWay Solution provides computer-telephone integration. AT&T MICROELECTRONICS Located in Booth No. L2348, media contacts Sam Gronner, Pat Mallon, Terri Hodges. Displays will include: o AVP(TM) Video Codec Chip Set. o DSP 3210/VCOS(R) Multimedia System. o Outrigger(TM) LAN/Fax/Modem PCMCIA chips. o 100 Mbps LANs. o New Hobbit(TM) chipsets. o DA400 Clock Distribution Chip. AT&T Microelectronics plans to announce these stories: o Desktop visual communication arrives. o Multimedia DSPs and LANs. o V32.terbo modems shipping to end users. o PCMCIA modem/fax/LAN cards coming. o Clock chip for high performance CPUs. AT&T NCR Located in Booth No. 1130, media contact Christine Imwale. NCR displays will include: o Mobile computing. o Servers. o AT Bus products. o Telemedia Connection. o MicroChannel products. AT&T NCR will announce these stories: o Telemedia customer announcements. o AT&T branded PC distrbution expands. o NCR and IBM provide LAN Manager for AIX. o New fax and data security software. o Price reductions on NCR 3360 series computers. AT&T PARADYNE Located in Room No. LN102, media contact Garrick Case. AT&T Paradyne will display: o VoiceSpan(TM) multimedia modem. AT&T Paradyne will announce: o Integration of data, fax and voice sets stage for new consumer multimedia products. AT&T SECURE COMMUNICATIONS Located in Booth No. 1130, media contact David Arneke. AT&T Secure Communications will display the following: o PC security software. o Security for mobile computing. AT&T Secure Communications will have two announcements: o New software for data and fax security. o Broad range of data security solutions. AT&T MULTIMEDIA SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS This unit, formerly known as AT&T Graphics Software Solutions, will be represented by media relations representatives Christine Colborne and Cherie Carter. AT&T MSS will display the following: o A variety of multimedia software applications for drawing, animation and presentation packages. o Multimedia packages for Windows and Windows-NT environments. o Illustration, animation and interactive multimedia authoring software including RIO, RIO Animator and Panorama for the high-end DOS market. # # # CONTACT: Andrew Myers - AT&T Media Relations 908-221-2737 (office), 908-522-9485 (home) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 10:11:38 EST Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: 65 per Line or 65*per Line? From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Well, a misunderstanding is back again. I originally had four telephone lines. The application I was using the fourth line for ended, so I had that line disconnected. I now have three phone lines. They were all set up for unlimited service, which is required under the current tariff schedules. So I decided to change them. Being told that if I want to take a 65-call-per-month allocation, then each line is metered for 65 calls and if I have two lines, and use 66 on one line and 5 on the other, it will cause me to be charged for one meter unit. So I broke up my account and had someone else who lives here listed as the "owner" of the primary phone line, set that to no call allocation (meaning charge 9c per call) because that line is used almost exclusively for incoming calls and set my computer and spare line to 65 calls per month each. I didn't like being "split in half" but it's the way the system is set up. A couple of weeks ago I decided to order Caller-ID on my computer line so that I can test the Caller-ID capability of my modem. (A report on how the data stream looks and some things I discovered, will be made later.) So then the clerk at the phone company told me that the number of phone calls that can be made on an account without being charged is 65 times the number of lines assigned to that account, e.g. for an account with three lines, there would be no message unit charge until the account used more than 190 calls. Finding out that this seemingly sane policy is what is supposed to be in effect, I have my service set to put all of my lines back together. I have finished the testing I wanted to do and have one more thing to try so I called today to take Caller-ID off one line and put it on a different one. Now I am told the original story -- that each line has a limit of 65 calls whether or not the lines are billed to one party or separately billed -- e.g. if I use 66 on one line and 5 on the other, I will be charged for one message unit. The phone company clerk tells me that each line is individually metered and it doesn't matter whether the three lines are attached to one account or billed to three different accounts. I have gotten totally disgusted at this whipsaw effect. I explained to the clerk that I want her to get ahold of her supervisor and find the tariff schedule and mail me a copy of the tariff. I explained to her that if what she is telling me is correct, then I need to reset my phone service back the way I had it before. She said she would call me back before mailing me a copy of the tariff, so I will have a written exact statement. If there is a question of ambiguity about it, I'm going to push for a PUC analysis as I'd prefer to be blended than separately charged. I am going to get to the bottom of this once and for all. Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 08:37:44 EST Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: In the Matter of: Connecting to Kremvax.demos.su From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA In TELECOM Digest recently there was mention that sites in the U.S. cannot connect (due to U.S. Government pressures) with some sites behind the former Iron Curtain. One example of which is the site kremvax.demos.su. Evidence from this message implies it is not the government doing this, it is someone else. A writer pribik@rpi.edu (Chris Labatt-Simon) indicated that he got through from his site (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12181, according to the WHOIS database): > 1 vccfr2 (128.113.75.254) 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms > 2 psi1.rpi.edu (128.113.100.1) 27 ms 3 ms 3 ms > 3 rpi.albany.pop.psi.net (38.145.34.1) 53 ms 9 ms 13 ms > 4 core.net223.psi.net (38.1.2.6) 51 ms 66 ms 77 ms > 5 Washington.DC.ALTER.NET (192.41.177.248) 172 ms 48 ms 30 ms > 6 New-York.NY.ALTER.NET (137.39.128.2) 92 ms 420 ms 413 ms > 7 Demos-gw.ALTER.NET (137.39.96.2) 707 ms 656 ms 733 ms 679 ms > 8 kremvax.demos.su (192.91.186.200) 709 ms 733 ms 679 ms Writer dej@eecg.toronto.edu (David Jones) tried: > 1 cyclops.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.185) 2 1 ms 1 ms > 2 medusa.eecg.toronto.edu (128.100.10.187) 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms > 3 sand.gw.toronto.edu (128.100.1.224) 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms > 4 utorgw.gw.utoronto.ca (128.100.96.19) 4 ms 4 ms 4 ms > 5 Epsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.55.4) 71 ms 91 ms 82 ms > 6 * Xpsp.ON.CAnet.CA (192.68.53.1) 131 ms 128 ms > 7 ENSS133.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (192.35.82.101) 201 ms 184 ms 174 ms > 8 t3-1.Hartford-cnss49.t3.ans.net (140.222.49.2) 147 ms 165 ms > 9 t3-3.Hartford-cnss48.t3.ans.net (140.222.48.4) 196 ms * 127 > 10 t3-2.Cleveland-cnss40.t3.ans.net (140.222.40.3) 96 ms 136 > 11 t3-2.Chicago-cnss24.t3.ans.net (140.222.24.3) 165 > 12 * t3-1.San-Francisco-cnss8.t3.ans.net (140.222.8.2) 330 ms * > 13 t3-0.San-Francisco-cnss9.t3.ans.net (140.222.9.1) 183 ms 2s > 14 t3-0.San-Francisco-cnss11.t3.ans.net (140.222.11.1) > 15 * * * I tried it from my full internet provider, Digital Express from site access.digex.net (164.109.10.3): 1 enss230.digex.net (164.109.1.1) 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms 2 t1-3.Washington-DC-cnss59.t3.ans.net (140.222.59.3) 4 ms 4 ms 5 ms 3 t3-3.Washington-DC-cnss58.t3.ans.net (140.222.58.4) 4 ms 6 ms 4 ms 4 t3-3.Washington-DC-cnss56.t3.ans.net (140.222.56.4) 5 ms 4 ms 4 ms 5 t3-0.New-York-cnss32.t3.ans.net (140.222.32.1) 10 ms 12 ms 10 ms 6 t3-1.Cleveland-cnss40.t3.ans.net (140.222.40.2) 22 ms 21 ms 21 ms 7 t3-2.Chicago-cnss24.t3.ans.net (140.222.24.3) 28 ms 29 ms 28 ms 8 t3-1.San-Francisco-cnss8.t3.ans.net (140.222.8.2) 70 ms 70 ms 70 ms 9 mf-0.San-Francisco-cnss11.t3.ans.net (140.222.8.195) 165 ms 71 ms 10 * * * 11 * * * This confirms what has been inferred on the com-priv list : Digital Express (and U of Toronto) connect to the U.S. Internet via ANS CO+RE. Rensaeler connects to the U.S. Internet via the Commercial Internet Exchange (CIX) member ALTERNET, as apparently does Kremvax. This appears to confirm what was implied before: that CIX members are not connecting non-CIX member Internet sites to the CIX member portion of the Internet. Since they are a commercial installation, this is their privelege to do; they are paying for the backbone, they can decide to refuse connections from sites that aren't paying them for access. Sounds like the days when cities had two telephone companies and larger sites had to have phones on both systems. Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ Subject: Reverse Phone Directory News From: ray.normandeau@factory.com (Ray Normandeau) Date: 15 Nov 93 11:21:00 GMT Organization: Invention Factory's BBS - New York City, NY - 212-274-8298v.32bis Reply-To: ray.normandeau@factory.com (Ray Normandeau) From CompuServe: TRY PHONE*FILE WITHOUT SURCHARGES Search Phone*File, CompuServe's online people directory, through 17-Nov and the $15 per hour connect-time surcharge is waived. Phone*File allows you to access name and address information on more than 75 million U.S. households. Use Phone*File to locate old friends and update your mailing list before sending your holiday greetings. To access Phone*File, a part of CompuServe's extended services, GO PHONEFILE. Phone*File is only available during certain hours: Monday through Saturday 6:00 am to 2:30 am EST Sunday 10 am to 8 pm EST ----------------- It has been operating VEEEERY SLOWLY due to large amount of people now accessing it. ------------------------------ From: kim@sabsal.etri.re.kr (Hyeong-Kyo Kim) Subject: Videoconference System Questions Organization: ETRI Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 09:05:21 GMT Hi, Where can I find material (books or papers) on video conference systems? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Hyeong-Kyo Kim Senior Member of Research Staff Media Application Section, Human Interface Dept. ------------------------------ From: Michael Jansson Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 13:48:33 +0100 Subject: Minitel Questions Hello, I saw in a message that you know things about Minitel. Perhaps you could help me to find out if there is any termcap for the MiniTel terminals that could be used on a Unix system? I must admit that I have not much knowledge about MiniTel, but the way it's been explained to me it is basically a terminal with a built in modem and rather specialized graphics. It seems possible to use it as a (rudimentary) terminal for a Unix system. Am I wrong? Thanks for your help / Jonas PS. Please reply to me as jonas@indic.se - this is just were I look for newsgroups that our system does not receive. [Moderator's Note: Everything I know about Minitel is in the Telecom Archives, accessible using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. You would log in, then 'cd telecom-archives' and 'cd minitel'. To pull those files be sure and set type 'I' since they are compressed. Email service users would get them with the SENDPACK command. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 08:58:46 EST From: Alex Cena Subject: Synoptics 5000 Intelligent Hub I am looking for organizations that have had a chance to evaluate Synoptics' new 5000 intelligent hub. The 5000 proposes a new wiring scheme for networks. That is, a migration from router-centric networks to structured wiring networks based on MDF hubs. Specifically, my questions are: The composition of your networks in terms of hubs and routers. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of this strategy? How long will it take to make this migration? Impact on router ports required within this new paradigm? Have you had an opportunity to evaluate other vendors MDF-based hubs? Thank you very much in advance. Alex M. Cena Lehman Brothers acena@lehman.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 12:55:10 -0500 From: Caleb Hess Subject: Info on Old Key System Wanted I recently moved into a house that included a TIE EK-516B phone system. Can anyone provide technical details on this system, such as how to upgrade it with features like autoredial? Or is it a hopeless relic, useful only as a room-to-room intercom? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 08:46:43 EST Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Bob Tykulsker , writes: > I am having a new home built and would like to install the wiring > now that I might need for future technologies. What would you > recommend? Cable, fiber, copper, etc. Any suggestions welcome. Unless fiber is available in your area now, go with a large amount of copper wire. Put your demarc in the basement, and run at least twisted six-pair to each room, in star format, e.g. each room's wiring is separate. This allows you to have two phone lines and still have room for two four-line circuits. The difference in price between four pair and six pair is probably negligible (less than 5c per foot, maybe even the same price); I know the last time I checked the price of 25 pair was about 10c a foot more than four pair. Count on the fact that the amount of information being sent will require more wiring and more circuits, not less. Having too much wiring simply means a slight extra expense since more than 5/8 of the cost of wiring is the wages for the installer. Let's say you end up using 200 feet of six-pair twisted at 40c a foot, versus buying 200 feet of four-pair at 35c. The cost for the extra two pairs will have added an extra $10 to the cost. If you ever need another line, it's going to cost a lot more than $10. And don't forget that the time taken for the install is going to be the same in either case. One possibility is to have "wire trap" capability; it's done in buildings because people have to reinstall new equipment; almost never have I seen it done in homes. Here's what you do. Run wiring through specific holes in the walls or airspaces specifically set aside for wiring. At the base of the point where the wiring runs up and down the wall from floor to floor, at floor level you put in a wall-jack or a blank face plate. Behind that face plate is the hole that leads down to the area where the wire comes from. Someone can drop a weighted string down the hole, and reach the demarc, then pull new wire up through the hole. Then run it from there to wherever it has to go. In short, leaving a straight-line accessible empty space sufficient to reach to the wire. Another thing to do is to run the wire in a "trap box" behind the baseboard; have each jack open into the trap box which means a stiff line with a loop on it can be used to pull new wire through later on. Note that this is used only for communications. You can run a second trap box, separated from it, to house the BX cable for the electric sockets, so as to reduce RFI. Also, in each room with a south-facing window, put a 220 plug for air conditioning even if you have central air. At some point someone may want to use a single air conditioner without enabling the entire system. Also, put each room's wall sockets on separate breakers from the lights, and if there is a room that a computer is going to go in, pick a spot and put that wall socket on its own 10- or 15- amp socket, or set up a group of sockets that will be used only for a computer and put all of them on their own 30 amp socket, and make sure the sockets for that purpose are marked as "for computer use" because the computer may be drawing a lot more power. Make sure those circuits have good grounding, perhaps even put in grounded outlets specifically for the computer outlets. Oh yes; for the benefit of the future occupants, find the gas line and permanently attach laminated red tags that say "GAS LINE - DO NOT USE FOR GROUND." Make sure the breaker box in the basement has an indicator as to what each switch turns on and off. There's nothing more frustrating than a house with 30 breakers and a blank indicator that doesn't tell you anything about what each switch turns on and off. Also, put in cable-tv wire to each room in the house at the same time and also run the wire to the roof with an outdoor weather insulated terminator there and include a weatherized outdoor electrical socket in case the dish or your antenna has an electric motor; this will allow you to hook up your house to the TV antenna or satelite dish much easier. As a PS to this, if you will be putting a satellite dish on your house, try to see if you can't get the house eaves created in such a way that there is a flat place on the roof not visible from the street; this will allow the dish to be more stable and prevent complaints about your satellite dish (since the city doesn't get cable license fees from private satellite dishes, they sometimes make trouble even thought this is permitted under federal law.) Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #762 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa12667; 16 Nov 93 6:43 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04601 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Tue, 16 Nov 1993 03:11:32 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14733 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 16 Nov 1993 03:10:55 -0600 Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 03:10:55 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311160910.AA14733@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #763 TELECOM Digest Tue, 16 Nov 93 03:10:30 CST Volume 13 : Issue 763 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Communications for Cooperating Systems" (Rob Slade) Community Plan vs Circle Plan (was 65 per Line or 65*per Line) (R Topolski) More Contact From Sprint (Chris Ambler) Re: Received My Free Sprint Modem Today (Roy M. Silvernail) DMS 100 CID vs. SMDI Revisited (Michael D. Corbett) GTE Responds! (Was: Nationwide GTE 800 Outage November 5th) (R. McMillin) Comdex Information Wanted (Mike Boeur) Along the Delaware River (Carl Moore) USA Providers of X.25 (J. R. Pendleton) MCI Internet Service (David J. Cazier) Common Carrier - Information Please (Thomas Freeman) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 15 Nov 93 15:06 -0600 From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Communications for Cooperating Systems" by Cypser BKCMCOOP.RVW 931014 Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Kelly Ford, Promotion/Publicity Coordinator P.O. Box 520 26 Prince Andrew Place Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 or Tiffany Moore, Publicity 72203.642@compuserve.com 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867-9984 800-527-5210 617-944-3700 5851 Guion Road Indianapolis, IN 46254 800-447-2226 "Communications for Cooperating Systems", Cypser, 1991 The subtitle of this book is "OSI, SNA and TCP/IP," thus giving a nice, neutral alphabetic ordering to the systems. In reality this is "SNA with OSI and TCP/IP." The organization, examples and slant to the material is all unmistakably IBM: not altogether surprising, given that they sponsored the Systems Programming Series from which it comes. Regardless of the generalities given in the preface, the intent seems to be to prove that SNA can "fit in" with OSI and TCP/IP. That it does need not be surprising: both systems are quite flexible. However, please do note the emphasis here. You *can* learn about OSI and TCP/IP from this book, but it will be, as it were, through IBM-coloured glasses. The structure of the book itself follows the SNA/SAA (systems network/application architecture) model, with a four-layer model which only fits the OSI (open systems interconnection) seven-layer or TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/internet protocol) five-layer model after some degree of work. Part one comprises an overview and introduction, with three chapters listing the usual platitudes regarding the needs and desires for open systems. Part two describes "Application - Services," which is "above the top" of both the OSI and TCP/IP models, and has no parallel structures other than application programs. Part three discusses the "End-to-End Data-Exchange Facilities" which relates to the applications layer on both OSI and TCP/IP diagrams. Part four talks of "Transport Inter-Subnetwork Facilities" relevant to the presentation and session layers of OSI (and subsumed within the application layer in TCP/IP). Part five deals with "Link/Subnetwork-Access Facilities" which comprise the bottom four layers of both models. (Notable here is chapter seventeen which, somewhat surprisingly, gives an excellent overview of local area networks and all component parts.) While the book is fair and accurate as far as it goes, the IBM bias is deeply entrenched, mostly in terms of what is *not* covered. It is instructive to note that neither OSI nor TCP/IP are defined in the glossary (or anywhere else). As only one example, in discussions of presentation, ASCII and EBCDIC are listed but not Unicode, and there is no mention of MIME at all. An attempt has been made to present the book as a possible course text. "Exercises" are found at the end of each chapter. They are simple queries taken from the bottom of the questioning taxonomy. To answer all correctly you need only read the chapter and recognize a few key words. The "technical references" are of use only if you work within an SNA/SAA environment. The two bibliographies could have been compiled by collating "Books in Print" with a periodical index. There is a very definite need for this book. SNA/SAA, although by no means an "open" system, has a large installed base, and one that is still expanding. Those both inside the IBM camp and without have requirements to "cooperate" with each other. This work serves as a valuable guide not to the implementation of gateways, but to the IBM mindset and jargon. Those on both sides will find it a helpful introduction to "how the other half lives." copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKCMCOOP.RVW 931014 Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of the TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ From: topolski@kaiwan.com (Robb Topolski) Subject: Community Plan vs. Circle Plan (was 65 per Line or 65*per Line?) Organization: KJ6YT Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 22:32:14 GMT Paul Robinson (TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM) wrote: > [...] So then the clerk at the phone company told me that the number > of phone calls that can be made on an account without being charged is > 65 times the number of lines assigned to that account, e.g. for an > account with three lines, there would be no message unit charge until > the account used more than 190 calls. > I have finished the testing I wanted to do and have one more thing to > try so I called today to take Caller-ID off one line and put it on a > different one. Now I am told the original story -- that each line has > a limit of 65 calls whether or not the lines are billed to one party > or separately billed -- e.g. if I use 66 on one line and 5 on the > other, I will be charged for one message unit. The phone company clerk > tells me that each line is individually metered and it doesn't matter > whether the three lines are attached to one account or billed to three > different accounts. > I have gotten totally disgusted at this whipsaw effect. I explained > to the clerk that I want her to get ahold of her supervisor and find > the tariff schedule and mail me a copy of the tariff. I explained to > her that if what she is telling me is correct, then I need to reset my > phone service back the way I had it before. > [...] I am going to get to the bottom of this once and for all. I had a similar thing happen earlier this year. I called Pacific Bell and asked them to sign me up for CALL BONUS COMMUNITY PLAN. For 16.50 + $5 "installation", I got a discount of 30% to calls to a particular CO and an ititial allowance of $33.00 against those calls. I remember when I signed up, I explained that I was going to be making a lot of calls and wanted the maximum discount I could get. I even investigated getting a foreign exchange or doing some remote call-fowararding hopping. I was assured this would be the cheapest. My first telephone bill, with the discount, was 336.00. This prompted Pac Bell to call me and offer to add CALL BONUS CIRCLE CALLING. $4.75 plus $5 "installation" bought me an additional 30% discount on these calls and others made within a wide circle around my home. My second telephone bill, with the double discount, was 507.24. Looking over the bill, it seemed to me that the CALL BONUS CIRCLE PLAN 30% discount was applied only to calls made to CO's OTHER than the one I had signed up for under the CALL BONUS COMMUNITY PLAN. I called PacBell and spoke to a billing clerk who explained that the two plans exclude each other, and that the tariff doesn't allow them to combine the two. I finally did get to speak with a supervisor who issued a one-time $210 credit for the errantly promised additional discount, fees, and installation charges. This was satisfactory, especially since I've learned that they are protected from their own bad information. In California, if the telephone company gives you information that contradicts the tariff, the tariff (since it is a readily available public document) prevails. And this is the way it has always been with Pacific Bell and me. I've heard horror stories about GTE and the way they treat their customers. Other than the occasional error (like this one), I am treated well. And, in case you're wondering, my big telephone bill days are over. I'm back to paying about $70 a month. Robert M. Topolski ------------------------------ From: cambler@cymbal.aix.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler - Fubar) Subject: More Contact From Sprint Organization: The Phishtank Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 23:50:00 GMT Another in the never ending saga of the Sprint Modem Offer gone Bad. If you'll recall, in our last episode, I recalled how it was going, and that I was waiting for word from the California Secretary of State on Sprint's registered agent in this state. The following is a recap of the events of today, as I did promise to keep you all up to date. This is all to the best of my memory and my notes, but I will state (and you will see why) that it is all my opinions here. I received a call this afternoon from a David Matson at Sprint. He asked that I not post his phone number, so I am complying with that request. He identified himself as a CSG with Sprint. It appears, and this is my opinion, that Sprint has copies of all my posts here to comp.dcom.telecom. Mr. Matson seemed to quote directly from them, though he denied that he had them in front of him when I asked. He was very concerned with the 'truth,' as he said, and continually queried me on whether or not all items I have posted to the net were absolutely true. (Hence, the "opinion" at the beginning on this paragraph). He advised me that my previous posts did not appear to be in opinion, but a statement of fact, to which he questioned some of the facts. During the initial call he was very vague, and seemed to be feeling me out for information. When I told him what my grievance with Sprint was, he asked me where I'd heard the information on the offer, and made analogies to situations in an attempt to see if I agreed that they were similar. When I mentioned that I had heard of the offer from a friend, and called a Sprint customer service rep to get details, he attempted to draw the conclusion that I had not heard the original radio advertisement, and that that was a problem. I advised him of what I had been counseled regarding public offers, advertisements, and contracts. He made a bad joke about people who think they are lawyers. He asserted that he believed that I was recording the conversation. He brought up the question as to whether or not I had been completely truthful when I had said that I had sent off to the Secretary of State for their registered agent, and sent mail to Sprint outlining my problem with them. When I told him that I was under the impression that I could not send that to anyone other than their registered agent, and as such, I was waiting for a reply from the SOS office, he implied that I had posted an untruth, and had better take pains not to do that in the future. When I queried him, at the end of our first call (there were two) as to his name, the line went silent, and disconnected about two minutes later. He called back shortly thereafter and asked if I had hung up. I said no, and asked again for his name and phone number which he gave, the phone number on the condition that I not post it to the net. All in all, and again, in my opinion, I found the phone call in bad taste, productiveless, and bordering on harassing. It did, however, give me quite a bit to talk with counsel about. I seriously question some of the things that he told me. I'm being somewhat vague here, since it is apparent to me now that Sprint is reading all posts on here. Greetings. It is apparent to me, in my opinion, that Sprint is preparing to fight this. I am prepared as well, and no amount of phone calls from Sprint is going to convince me that they should be released from being accountable for what they seem to think is an honest error, or an error on my part. And once again, lest they try to hang it over my head, this entire post has come live and direct from the opinion of none other than myself. Any facts contained herein are still a product of my opinion. Is it obvious that I am bitter? Again, anyone with anything to add, pointers to legal issues, a letter stating that Sprint made you the same offer, or anything, please drop me email! ++Christopher(); // cambler@cymbal.calpoly.edu, home of the .plan of Doom! Christopher J. Ambler, Author, FSUUCP 1.41, FSVMP 1.0, chris@toys.fubarsys.com [Moderator's Note: There have been many Sprint employees on the Digest mailing list for years, and from time to time they send in articles as well. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Received My Free Sprint Modem Today From: roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org (Roy M. Silvernail) Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1993 22:20:57 CST Organization: The Villa CyberSpace, executive headquarters In comp.dcom.telecom, zeta@tcscs.com writes: > rosellab@hawaii.edu (Rosella Bartonico) writes: >> The Smart One Fax Modem from Best Data Products, Inc. >> 9600/4800 bps send/receive fax >> 2400/1200/300 bps data modem >> with V.42bis and MNP error correction and data compression > Interesting: > This modem could indeed be represented as a 9600 data/fax modem. > 9600 bps send fax and 9600 throughput max with v.42bis. Yes, but the v.42/v.42bis/MNP is handled by a software driver, so it's not actually _in_ the modem. Roy M. Silvernail |+| roy@sendai.cybrspc.mn.org [Moderator's Note: My modem showed up via UPS on Monday, with the letter enclosed about the disruptions in California. I spent a couple hours Monday evening installing it and getting aquainted with it, and I really like it. I tried both the fax and data aspects of it and although it is 2400 on data, it seems to do a lot better at that speed than the other external units I have which are much older. In fact, I am now going to be making the Digest available by fax to any- one who wants to receive it that way for the cost of the phone calls. I think this was a great offer from Sprint, even if there has been various misunderstandings about exactly what was offered. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 17:30:02 -0800 From: Michael D. Corbett Subject: DMS 100 CID vs. SMDI Revisited Hello again, About two months ago, I posted a note to this Digest asking about Caller ID, and how that would affect an SMDI data link. Briefly, when CID is activated, it appears that the information is reformatted into a valid SMDI data link packet, and sent in _addition_ to the SMDI packets. A few kind souls responded to me and indicated it was a software switch, and the CO could disable the CID packets being sent to the SMDI link. Initially this seemed to work, but as more CO's enable this feature, certain CO's claim "It CAN'T be done!", while others seem to have no problem. The particular switch in question is a DMS 100. Is there anyone that can point me in a particular direction to find documentation explaining just how a CO tech would go about disabling this feature? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Mike Corbett Internet: mcorbett@halcyon.com Applied Voice Technology Voice: +1 206 820 6000 P.O. Box 97025 Fax: +1 206 820 4040 Kirkland WA 98083 I speak only for myself, not AVT! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 20:51 PST From: rlm@helen.surfcty.com (Robert L. McMillin) Subject: GTE Responds! (was Nationwide GTE 800 Outage November 5th) I had received only one reply to my earlier query about trouble accessing 800 numbers out of the Redondo Beach, CA exchange, an area serviced by GTE. That reply said that GTE had experienced no outage, at least, not a nationwide one. That would have ended the story there, except for a tidbit that arrived in today's e-mail. Gery Sommer, a GTE employee, responded to my query on the Digest, saying that during the process of "upgrading switch software ... [a] glitch prevented customers in the Los Angeles basin from reaching 800 numbers. The glitch occurred at approximately 11 a.m. Thursday ... [and was fixed by] 1:15 p.m. Thursday." While this doesn't excuse problematic software swaps (why weren't they doing this in the middle of the night?), I have to say that after many years of decidedly inferior service from GTE (as opposed to Pac*Bell), this is a refreshing change. What impressed me further were his comments that GTE is experimenting with various computer networks -- including the Internet -- as a tool for resolving problems with the GTE network. Hopefully, this is a sign that the days of bad service are over, or at least, are starting to end. Robert L. McMillin | Surf City Software | rlm@helen.surfcty.com | Dude! ------------------------------ From: Mike_Boeur@mindlink.bc.ca (Mike Boeur) Subject: Comdex Information Wanted Date: 16 Nov 93 03:52:43 GMT Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada Hi there. Can anyone please tell me how long Comdex goes on for this week? Also, does anyone know: 1. Is Spectrum Information Technologies exhibiting at Comdex? 2. Is John Sculley (New president) speaking at any events associated with Comdex in Las Vegas this week? Please e-mail your responses to mike_boeur@mindlink.bc.ca. If you have any faxable information, please fax to Michael Boeur at the Science Council of BC, FAX (604) 438-6564. Thanks a million. Much appreciated. [Moderator's Note: In an issue of the Digest on Monday, I printed a very detailed article outlining AT&T's participation in the show. PAT ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 16:31:12 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Along the Delaware River I recall 215-297 Carversville along the Delaware River and including Point Pleasant, where I went on a tubing outing in July. Apparently the next exchange north along Pennsylvania route 32 (which parallels the Delaware River) is 215-294 (Uhlerstown), which is on a list I have received for the 610 area (297 is not). Exchanges across the river are 609-397 Lambertville and 908-996 Frenchtown. So 215, 610, 609, and 908 will meet or almost meet at a corner. (Next exchange SOUTH along the river from Carversville is 215-862 New Hope, the town which is across from the town of Lambertville.) ------------------------------ From: jrpend@netcom.com (J. R. Pendleton) Subject: USA Providers of X.25 Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 22:48:17 GMT I have been working on a project that uses dedicated phone lines to have data communications between small (PC) computers and big (Sierra) computers. The data thruput requirements are not high and tends to occur in bursts. A 2400 baud modem handles the traffic just fine. (We are running Burroughs Poll-select and SNA via SDLC) The cost of dedicating a string of copper between two geographically distant computers is prohibitive. Our group has been discussing the possibilities of reducing line costs by using X.25 networks. We suspect that if the billing is done by volume, we can get a big win by converting to packet. I understand there are X.25 providers in europe. But what about the United States? If anyone has any insight on existing USA based X.25 public networks I would be grateful. Information on costs and any experience with the above protocols on packet (yes, I know, synchronous methods on packet ...) would really be appreciated. I will be happy to summarize for the group if requested. Many thanks in advance from a bunch of X.25 idiots. Jerry Pendleton jrpend@netcom.com Voice: (510)889-8158 Jerald R. Pendleton Amateur: KC6RTO Castro Valley, Ca. Party: Republican ------------------------------ From: cazier@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov (David J. Cazier) Subject: MCI Internet Service Date: 15 Nov 1993 23:16:54 GMT Organization: Software Technology Branch, Johnson Space Center, NASA Reply-To: cazier@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov While I don't want to focus on MCI, I reference MCI as an example to pose my question. I have a friend living in Grants Pass, Oregon, who wishes to connect to Internet but currently has to call long distance to gain access to a univeristy account for e-mail access. MCI offers something similar via an 800 number but you have to pay $0.50 for the first K of data and then $0.29 for each K thereafter ... this may be about the best deal one can get from a site like Grants Pass ... but it would seem that the Northwest Bell system would offer some type of inexpensive Eugene, OR, line so he could access Internet via the University there. Is anyone aware of inexpensive services like this that interface with Internet? Or other means to legally access Internet e-mail? [Moderator's Note: If all he wants to do is get email, there are lots of ways to get that. If he wants real-time live interconnection to use things like IRC, Telnet, FTP and etc then that is a different matter. If all he wants is email access, then MCI Mail offers that, as does Sprint Mail and ATT Mail. Is that all he wants? PAT] ------------------------------ From: tfreeman@netcom.com (Thomas Freeman) Subject: Common Carrier - Information Please Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 23:25:11 GMT I have had e-mail with a couple of people since I originally posted this message. At the end of this message is a section of a message that I sent to Mike Godwin of EFF, and his reply. I found the files: computer.bbs.and.the.law and sysops.legal.liability in the telecom-archives directory at lcs.mit.edu to be relevant to what I was really interest in. My expanded query: >> What I'm actually interested in is knowing more about the liability >> involved in running a BBS system. Since posting that query I have >> read two summaries about such liability in the telecom archives on >> the machine lcs.mit.edu. If you do know of a good source of information >> on any of these issues I would certainly appreciate a pointer. >> One person as asked me to share whatever I find out, and I may post >> a follow-up to the newsgroup if there seems to be more interest. The reply: > The short answer is, you can't become a common carrier, and you don't want > to be one. A common carrier gets exempt from liability, but only as a > trade for regulation, and for a commitment to carry all traffic from all > people. No BBS I've ever heard of wants to run that way -- they at least > want to be able to prune off-topic postings, sanction disruptive users, > and preserve the character of the system. [Moderator's Note: I would disagree with Mike Godwin on the 'commitment to carry all traffic from all people'. Common carriers can have qualifications required to use the system, along with regulations and rules pertaining to its use. The bus company is a common carrier, but if the bus goes to Detroit and you want to go to Chicago, you have to find another bus; you can't force them to take you. Neither is a common carrier obliged to serve customers who are disruptive to the other customers or who pose a security risk. How this relates to a BBS is simply that a BBS can define its purpose and intentions; then it must accept all users equally without favor or discrimination who desire to also share the same purpose and intentions. If my BBS is clearly devoted to discussions about classical music and social issues, I need not take users who want to discuss acid rock and the Chicago White Sox. I can be a common carrier and still regulate my user's behavior in a reasonable, non-discriminatory way to all *qualified* users. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #763 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa16023; 16 Nov 93 15:26 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14016 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Tue, 16 Nov 1993 11:45:46 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA02621 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 16 Nov 1993 11:45:00 -0600 Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 11:45:00 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311161745.AA02621@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #764 TELECOM Digest Tue, 16 Nov 93 11:45:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 764 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (Carl Oppedahl) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (Marco S. Hyman) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (R. Kevin Oberman) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (Dick Rawson) Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (Samir Soliman) Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (David Boettger) Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (James R. Ebright) Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (Tom Crawford, Qualcomm via Alex Cena) Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (David Hough) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: goldstein@carafe.dnet.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: 15 NOV 93 17:48:14 Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA In article , jebright@magnus.acs.ohio- state.edu (James R Ebright) writes: > Huh? ISDN was originally a way to get 56KB service ... but modems on > regular analog lines can almost do this today. ISDN vs market forces. > ISDN 0, Market 1. > Buy a V.fast modem for $499 and get most of the benefit without > the aggrevation of Waiting For Godot ... At the risk of seeming boring, let me restate the laws of physics. Modems are designed for analog lines, which in turn are implemented in most cases using digital techniques. So you take a 62ish (64 kbps minus signaling) kbps channel, convert it to analog for the modem, and convert data to analog in the modem. With these two conversions on a GOOD line, you can get 28.8 kbps with a V.fast modem. That's the bleeding edge, and approaches the "Shannon limit" for typical lines (though some phone lines are better). ISDN just takes the 64 kbps channel, which _might_ lose 8 kbps for signaling, and passes it right to the end user without the D:A:D conversion. So it's roughly twice as fast as any modem can ever be. IF you can get ISDN, then it'll blow the doors off of any modem. And yes, you can compress data over ISDN. Take a BRI with two B channels, run serious compression over low-entropy data, and get a megabit/sec over a local phone line! Of course, that's only if you believe in 8:1 compressibility, which applies to very little data in any case. Fred R. Goldstein goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com k1io or goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice:+1 508 952 3274 Standard Disclaimer: Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission. ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: 15 Nov 1993 19:36:06 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James R Ebright) writes: > In article john.eichler@grapevine. > lrk.ar.us (John Eichler) writes: >> oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) wrote: >>> I should think that New York Telephone, which fills the front pages of >>> every telephone directory with glowing talk of up-to-date digital >>> technology, would be embarassed at its apparent failure to deploy ISDN >>> beyond a handful of Manhattan exchanges. >> It's almost a 'catch-22' proposition. The phone companies are slow to >> implement ISDN because there is little demand for it and the demand is >> waiting for the service to become available. > Huh? ISDN was originally a way to get 56KB service ... but modems on > regular analog lines can almost do this today. ISDN vs market forces. > ISDN 0, Market 1. No, that's not right. even a V.fast modem only reaches what, 28 kbps. Some people say "oh, but with data compression the rate can be much higher". But that same data compression can be employed on a 56KBPS line (or, if the carriers get it worked out, 64KBPS) to maintain a two-to-one advantage. Besides which, the fundamentally asynchronous nature of V.32++ modems is ever-so-slightly less efficient in the time domain than a synchronous link. Finally, let's not forget that for some applications the call setup time really matters. ISDN call setups can be less than a second, I'm told, while a local V.32bis/V.42bis setup can take 22 seconds or more, and a long-distance one can be 50 seconds or more. If you want to have a real-time pseudo-continuous link between, say, two LANs, where the link is setup when needed and then turned off, the call setup time of a modem might be prohibitive. And for some people, the D channel of ISDN is likely to be handy. Burglar alarm monitoring, credit card validations ... lots of other things too. For still others, the B channel data delivery on voice calls would be handy. (ANI, CNID, etc.) >> This is just another example of the difficult time we will have >> installing a nationwide 'information highway'. > It will be if TPC (the phone company) is in charge of installation ;) >> I guess the only way to move the telephone companies is for tens of >> thousands of us little guys to keep asking them for ISDN until they >> wake up and realize that they are losing big bucks in not providing >> this vital service. > Buy a V.fast modem for $499 and get most of the benefit without > the aggrevation of Waiting For Godot ... Of course for many applications you are right. But for some applications, ISDN would offer advantages. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW (patent lawyer) 1992 Commerce Street #309 Yorktown Heights, NY 10598-4412 voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ From: marc@dumbcat.sf.ca.us (Marco S Hyman) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Organization: Codewrights/Ascend Communications Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 18:31:10 GMT In article jebright@magnus.acs.ohio- state.edu (James R Ebright) writes: > Huh? ISDN was originally a way to get 56KB service ... but modems on > regular analog lines can almost do this today. Arrgggghhh! How come this apples to oranges comparison comes up again and again? Your analog modem today does 14.4 kbit/s and uses compression to get to 57.6. This is fine IFF YOUR DATA CAN BE COMRESSED 4:1. If you're sending pre-compressed data you get 14.4. If your 14.4 kbit/s phone line does 57.6 then my 56 kbit/s digital service can do 224 kbit/s and isdn lines can do 256 kbit/s. Of course this leaves out the other difference -- your modem probably has an async serial interface and the digital service probably has a sync serial interface. marc marc@dumbcat.sf.ca.us or marc@ascend.com ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 18:41:06 GMT Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory In article jebright@magnus.acs.ohio- state.edu (James R Ebright) writes: > Buy a V.fast modem for $499 and get most of the benefit without > the aggrevation of Waiting For Godot ... V.Fast modems are pretty impressive, but ISDN they ain't! I don't understand how people can keep saying that V.fast is "just about as fast as ISDN". I belive that V.fast is 28 Kbps. That's a LOT less than a single 64 Kbps ISDN B channel and not even in the ballpark of the 128 Kbps available on the two B channels in a BRI. While some modem purveyors are claiming much faster speeds, these are the result of data compression which works just as well over ISDN as over a modem. If you stick to apple-apples comparisons it's still 128 Kbps vs. 28 Kbps and that's a big difference by any measure. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: koberman@llnl.gov (510) 422-6955 ------------------------------ From: drawson@Tymnet.COM (Dick Rawson) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: 15 Nov 1993 17:19:50 GMT Organization: BT North America, San Jose CA. > Buy a V.fast modem for $499 and get most of the benefit without > the aggrevation of Waiting For Godot ... "Most of the benefit"? Well, half the speed! On a clear day, you can see, say, 24 to 28 k bits/sec from a "V.fast" modem. That's at most half the 56 to 64 k bits/sec of a single ISDN B-channel, and the ISDN Basic Rate Interface has two B-channels. (And your LEC would like to charge you for both of them.) You can run a compression algorithm over either bit stream, so it is not appropriate to compare a "compressed V.fast" with "uncompressed B-channel" connection. Dick Rawson drawson@tymnet.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 13:49:53 -0800 From: Samir Soliman Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? In article , Ed Casas wrote: > I think these "technical advantages" are mostly a result of Qualcomm > marketing. For example, I looked at Qualcomm's claims for capacity > improvement and found that their claims were made on the basis of > grossly unfair comparisons. For example, the Qualcomm system assumed: > more-directional base station antennas, turning off the transmitter > during silent periods to reduce interference, the use of low-rate > high-gain codes, the use of low-rate speech coding, etc. > A fair comparison would have been between a second-generation TDMA > system (which could make use of many of the above techniques) and a > CDMA system. I think you would then see the capacity advantage for > CDMA eliminated. You should understand that a CDMA receiver starts > off with a major handicap -- its correlator cannot separate signals > anywhere near as well as a TDMA receiver's IF filter. You have to use > a lot of tricks to overcome that initial disadvantage. > To me (at least) the technical superiority of CDMA is far from proven. All the features you have mentioned (except for the more-directional base station antennas) are true features of the existing CDMA system. A system that has been extensively tested by Qualcomm and other interested customers. Some customers did the testing on their own and others in cooperation with Qualcomm. I don't know what did you mean by "more-directional base station antennas". If you mean more sectorized sites, let me tell you that although sectorization improves the trunking efficiency in CDMA, nevertheless we don't count its effect in calculating the relative capacity of CDMA (we usually compare the CDMA capacity to AMPS capacity, therefore if the AMPS uses sectorized cells we calculate capacity based on sectorized sites too). The parameters that really gets factored into the capacity equations are the voice activity factor, processing gain and the frequency reuse efficiency. Talking about fairness, you need to compare what TDMA can offer now vs. what CDMA can offer now. Otherwise you are giving fairness a bad name. Samir S. Soliman Staff Engineer/Manager Qualcomm Incorporated email: ssoliman@qualcomm.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 14:18:00 +0000 From: David Boettger Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? In article was written: > In article , wrote: >> I personally suspect this is a bit of a religious debate, > I think these "technical advantages" are mostly a result of Qualcomm > marketing. For example, I looked at Qualcomm's claims for capacity > improvement and found that their claims were made on the basis of > grossly unfair comparisons. For example, the Qualcomm system assumed: > more-directional base station antennas, turning off the transmitter > during silent periods to reduce interference, the use of low-rate > high-gain codes, the use of low-rate speech coding, etc. Have you read IS-95 (CDMA spec) or IS-54B (TDMA) spec? You cite discontinuous transmission, high-gain channel coding, and low-rate source coding as reasons why the comparison is "grossly unfair". First, they are not assumptions; they are part of the CDMA spec. Second, IS-54B _also_ specifies high-gain channel coding and low-rate source coding. I don't see the gross unfairness. As far as "more directional base station antennas" goes, I've not heard anything of that. > CDMA eliminated. You should understand that a CDMA receiver starts > off with a major handicap -- its correlator cannot separate signals > anywhere near as well as a TDMA receiver's IF filter. You have to use > a lot of tricks to overcome that initial disadvantage. What do you mean "separating signals"? If your're talking about multipath, IS-95 specifies a five-fingered RAKE receiver, designed for just that. If you're talking about co-channel interference, the reason CDMA works is that, if one chooses codes properly, many users can share one frequency resource. CDMA's correlators, by definition, MUST do a superlative job of signal separation. > To me (at least) the technical superiority of CDMA is far from proven. I certainly won't take issue with that. David Boettger boettger@bnr.ca I don't speak for my employer. ------------------------------ From: jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James R Ebright) Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? Date: 16 Nov 1993 03:43:27 GMT Organization: The Ohio State University In article edc@ee.ubc.ca (Ed Casas) writes: > A fair comparison would have been between a second-generation TDMA > system (which could make use of many of the above techniques) and a > CDMA system. I think you would then see the capacity advantage for > CDMA eliminated. You should understand that a CDMA receiver starts > off with a major handicap -- its correlator cannot separate signals > anywhere near as well as a TDMA receiver's IF filter. You have to use > a lot of tricks to overcome that initial disadvantage. > To me (at least) the technical superiority of CDMA is far from proven. TDMA is certainly in wider use than CDMA ... but that's not saying much :) The phone folks I spoke to were experimenting with CDMA but if they had to put something on the air today, most used TDMA and hoped for the abovementioned improvements. BTW, did the Qualcomm suit against the other CDMA vendor ever get settled? Single vendor technologies are not usually welcomed in the telcom industry ;) Jim Ebright e-mail: jre+@osu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 10:55:49 EST From: Alex Cena Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? Attached are comments from Tom Crawford at Qualcomm after I forwarded him a copy of the TDMA vs CDMA debate on the Digest. ----------------- Alex, I am sure you knew the TDMA vs. CDMA comments would get under my skin and I would have to respond. How do I send this response to Ed Casas, or to the network? My comments are in caps: In article , wrote: >> I personally suspect this is a bit of a religious debate, >> exactly like Betamax vs. VHS, and while technical arguments >> pro and con can be made, whoever has the best marketing is >> going to win. (wink wink) CARRIERS ARE GOING TO INVEST HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, IF NOT MORE, IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY. I SUSPECT THEY WILL LOOK BEYOND THE "BEST MARKETING" PITCH TO THE UNDERLYING CAPABILITIES OF THE TECHNOLOGIES. > It's certainly the case that the debate will be settled > politically, but it turns out that CDMA has major technical > advantages: ... I think these "technical advantages" are mostly a result of Qualcomm marketing. For example, I looked at Qualcomm's claims for capacity improvement and found that their claims were made on the basis of grossly unfair comparisons. For example, the Qualcomm system assumed: more-directional base station antennas, turning off the transmitter during silent periods to reduce interference, the use of low-rate high-gain codes, the use of low-rate speech coding, etc. "GROSSLY UNFAIR COMPARISONS" ARE HARDLY AN ACCURATE WAY TO DESCRIBE CLEAR ADVANTAGES. QUALCOMM'S CAPACITY IS 10X TO 20X AMPS CAPACITY USING A 3 SECTOR CELL, HARDLY "MORE-DIRECTIONAL BASE STATION ANTENNAS". CDMA CAN READILY UTILIZE HIGHER DEGREES OF SECTORIZATION TO ATTAIN EVEN HIGHER CAPACITY SHOULD THAT BE NEEDED. UTLIIZATION OF HIGHER DEGREES OF SECTORIZATION IS ACHIEVED MUCH MUCH MORE EASILY WITH CDMA THAN IN A TDMA SYSTEM WHERE FREQUENCY PLANNING ISSUES BECOME INCREASINGLY COMPLEX AS SECTORIZATION INCREASES. WITH RESPECT TO "TURNING OFF THE TRANSMITTER DURING SILENT PERIODS TO REDUCE INTERFERENCE", WHAT DO YOU THINK TDMA DOES? IT ONLY TRANSMITS 1/3 OF THE TIME. WHY? INTERFERENCE. THIS DOES NOT SOUND LIKE AN "UNFAIR COMPARISON" TO ME. "the use of low-rate speech coding" IS AN OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD ADVANTAGE OF CDMA. IS-95 USES A VARIABLE RATE VOCODER. WHEN THE CALLER IS SPEAKING, THE CONVERSATION IS ENCODED AT 8 KBPS. DURING A PAUSE THE RATE GOES DOWN TO 4, OR 2, OR 1 KBPS. THIS VOCODER AVERAGES ABOUT 4 KBPS. JUST BECAUSE TDMA USES AN 8 KBPS VOCODER ALL THE TIME IS THIS AN UNFAIR COMPARISON? NOT AT ALL. BY USING A VARIABLE RATE VOCODER, AND THROUGH THE COMMON USE OF THE CDMA CHANNEL BY ALL CALLERS SIMULTANEOUSLY, CDMA IS ABLE TO USE THE VOICE ACTIVITY FACTOR AND ESSENTIALLY IMPLEMENT DIGITAL SPEECH INTERPOLATION. THIS IS SOMETHING TDMA IS EVOLVING TO WITH ETDMA. HOWEVER, NOTE A VERY BIG DIFFERENCE: ETDMA WILL HAVE TO UTILIZE A HALF RATE VOCODER (4 KBPS) TO OBTAIN THE ADDITIONAL CAPACITY. THIS MEANS HALF RATE ALL THE TIME, NOT JUST ON AVERAGE. WE DO NOT FEEL THAT VOCODER TECHNOLOGY CAN CURRENTLY PROVIDE QUALITY COMMUNICATIONS LINK USING A HALF RATE VOCODER. IF WE ARE WRONG AND A GOOD HALF RATE VOCODER IS AVAILABLE, QUALCOMM CAN ALSO USE IT IN A VARIABLE RATE IMPLEMENTATION (AGAIN THROTTLING DOWN DURING PAUSES) TO ACHIEVE AN ADDITIONAL FACTOR OF 2 IN CAPACITY GAIN, IE NOW 20X TO 40X AMPS. ALSO, ETDMA'S USE OF DIGITAL SPEECH INTERPOLATION WILL REQUIRE RAPID CHANNEL ALLOCATION, ESSENTIALLY MINI-HANDOFFS DURING EACH PAUSE. THIS IS DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE WITHOUT SOME CLIPPING OF SPEECH. QUALCOMM'S COMMUNICATION CHANNEL IS ALWAYS UP, HENCE NO DYNAMIC ALLOCATION OF CHANNELS IS NECESSARY. THESE BENEFITS ARE INHERENT TO CDMA. A fair comparison would have been between a second-generation TDMA system (which could make use of many of the above techniques) and a CDMA system. I think you would then see the capacity advantage for CDMA eliminated. FROM MY DISCUSSION ABOVE YOU SHOULD NOW REALIZE THIS STATEMENT IS FALSE. ETDMA WILL UTILIZE A HALF RATE VOCODER (INCREASING TDMA CAPACITY FROM 3X TO 6X, AND DIGITAL SPEECH INTERPOLATION, INCREASING THE CAPACITY FROM 6X TO ABOUT 12X OR 15X, ASSUMING EVERYTHING WORKS WELL). CDMA, WITH A HALF RATE VOCODER WILL THEN BE AT 20X TO 40X (EVEN WITHOUT BETTER USE OF SECTORIZATION). You should understand that a CDMA receiver starts off with a major handicap -- its correlator cannot separate signals anywhere near as well as a TDMA receiver's IF filter. THE CDMA SIGNAL IS ACTUALLY BELOW THERMAL NOISE LEVEL, AND IS "SEPARATED" FROM THE OTHER SIGNALS THROUGH THE PROCESSING GAIN, A FEAT ANY TDMA RECEIVER IF FILTER WOULD BE UNABLE TO DO. THE WHOLE POINT OF CDMA IS THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SEPARATE THE SIGNALS OVER THE CHANNEL BY FREQUENCY OR TIME. DIFFERENT CODES PERMIT YOU TO PICK OUT YOUR CONVERSATION. You have to use a lot of tricks to overcome that initial disadvantage. To me (at least) the technical superiority of CDMA is far from proven. "TRICKS" IMPLY DECEPTION. CDMA'S TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE AND BENEFITS HAVE BEEN WELL TESTED AND PROVEN AGAIN AND AGAIN IN NUMEROUS TRIALS. THESE TRIALS HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK; CHICAGO,ILLINOIS; TAMPA, FLORIDA; WASHINGTON, D.C.; DALLAS, TEXAS; SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA; SEOUL, KOREA; MUNSTER, GERMANY; GENEVA, SWITZERLAND; AND SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. CARRIERS HAVE PUBLISHED REPORTS ON TRIALS IN SEVERAL OF THESE CITIES. IN ADDITION, CDMA HAS BEEN THROUGHALLY EXAMINED AND PROBED BY THE TIA IN PREPARATION FOR IS-95 STANDARDIZATION. THE RESULTS OF CDMA TESTING, CLEARLY DEMONSTRATING THE BENEFITS, ADVANTAGES AND PERFORMANCE CAPABILITIES ARE READILY AVAILABLE TO PARTIES WHO ARE TRUELY INTERESTED IN EXAMINING THEM. THOMAS R. CRAWFORD DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, DIGITAL CELLULAR AND WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY QUALCOMM tcrawford@qualcomm.com Tom Crawford (X 4820) ------------------------------ From: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk (David Hough) Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? Reply-To: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 07:16:22 GMT TDMA has one big disadvangate in the modern world ... it can cause all sorts of interference to nearby electronics. In the UK, the first GSM phones have arrived, and one of their characteristics is to cause a buzz at a few hundred hertz in sensitive electronics nearby. Most susceptible appears to be hearing aids, especially if the phone user also wears one! As any radio amateur worth his salt will know, 100% amplitude modulation of a signal with what amounts to a square wave is bound to cause problems. Still, look at it the other way: now we have something else to blame when the TV picture breaks up into a mass of interference :-) Dave G4WRW @ GB7WRW.#41.GBR.EU AX25 dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Internet g4wrw@g4wrw.ampr.org Amprnet ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #764 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa16751; 16 Nov 93 16:56 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14419 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Tue, 16 Nov 1993 12:25:41 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31176 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 16 Nov 1993 12:25:01 -0600 Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 12:25:01 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311161825.AA31176@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #765 TELECOM Digest Tue, 16 Nov 93 12:25:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 765 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Mark Brader) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Paul Robinson) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Rick Blaiklock) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (James Renals) Re: TDMA vs CDMA = Betamax vs VHS? (Alex Cena) Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? (Jack Decker) Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? (Alex Cena) Re: In the Matter of: Connecting to Kremvax.demos.su (Petri Helenius) Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? (Rich Greenberg) Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? (John Powell) Re: Wiring a New Town (David G. Cantor) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada References: Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 10:36:36 GMT >> Digest readers who are interested in testing 905 out could try to get >> Toronto weather information at +1 905 676.3066 to see if 905 will work >> (pre-recorded message). For greater clarity: Toronto is in 416. 676, however, is a Mississauga (or as Bell says, Malton) prefix; presumably it's the meteorological office at the Toronto international airport, which is in Mississauga. So it's in 905. Digression: the following dialogue was reported by a returning traveler at Canadian customs/immigration *at the airport* some years back. "Where do you live?" "Mississauga." "I asked you where you live, not what your name is." > It works from Brooklyn, N.Y., though the recording said it was nine > degrees out. Can that be right? It was in the 70s today in NYC! SEVENTIES?!! The all-time world record is only 58 degrees! Oh, right. Fahrenheit. Chuckle. Mark Brader SoftQuad Inc., Toronto utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 09:32:09 EST Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA From a 301-585 number, 10288 1 905 676 3066 (ATT) and 10222 1 905 676 3066 (MCI) go through without any trouble. I suspect Sprint doesn't have enough trunks; the first three times I dialed 10333 1 905 676 3066 I got a busy signal. All three of them went to the recording for Toronto Weather. ------------------------------ From: ag258@Freenet.carleton.ca (Rick Blaiklock) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Reply-To: ag258@Freenet.carleton.ca (Rick Blaiklock) Organization: The National Capital Freenet Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 22:00:17 GMT In a previous article, taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) says: > djcl@grin.io.org wrote: >> Digest readers who are interested in testing 905 out could try to get >> Toronto weather information at +1 905 676.3066 to see if 905 will work >> (pre-recorded message). I work in (905) area as well, and could >> provide the work number(s) on request. > It works from Brooklyn, N.Y., though the recording said it was nine > degrees out. Can that be right? It was in the 70s today in NYC! 9 degrees C(elcius) is approx 50 degrees F. PS: Did you know that only two countries in the world don't use the metric system? I'm told the other one is Liberia. Just a comment, no flames please. Rick Blaiklock ag258@freenet.carleton.ca Ottawa, Ontario, Canada [Moderator's Note: Actually we use some metric notation. We have 9 mm bullets for our weapons. :) My thanks to Mark Brader for passing along that chuckle, which he got from Dave Berry. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jrenals@balham.demon.co.uk (James Renals) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Reply-To: jrenals@balham.demon.co.uk Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 19:54:40 GMT In article djcl@grin.io.org writes: > Digest readers who are interested in testing 905 out could try to get > Toronto weather information at +1 905 676.3066 to see if 905 will work > (pre-recorded message). I work in (905) area as well, and could > provide the work number(s) on request. Tried to dial the above number from the U.K., using BT and Mercury, and success fully got through on both occaisons. Interesting to think that foreign telecos are more up-to date than local ones :) James Renals jrenals@balham.demon.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 93 08:28:47 EST From: Alex Cena Subject: Re: TDMA vs CDMA = Betamax vs VHS? In Telecom Digest #761 Ed Casas (edc@ee.ubc.ca) wrote: > A fair comparison would have been between a second-generation TDMA > system (which could make use of many of the above techniques) and a > CDMA system. I think you would then see the capacity advantage for > CDMA eliminated. You should understand that a CDMA receiver starts > off with a major handicap -- its correlator cannot separate signals > anywhere near as well as a TDMA receiver's IF filter. You have to use > a lot of tricks to overcome that initial disadvantage. I believe Ameritech, which has tried the most recent generation of TDMA systems available, publicly stated the results of its TDMA trials in Chicago. Ameritech held three trials: TDMA vs CDMA Fall of 1992; TDMA only Jan/Feb 1993; and TDMA only in May/June. The final May/June test was held in order to allow vendors a chance to show off their latest generation of equipment. In fact, Ameritech issued a press release indicating TDMA was not ready for commercial deployment since its customers did not perceive any incremental value in the service over current analog. In a blind survey of 15 high-usage customers eight said TDMA was better than analog and six said it was worse. This compares to CDMA where most rated it as excellent or very good relative to analog. > To me (at least) the technical superiority of CDMA is far from proven. In my opinion, we still are in the second inning of this ball game. The score is 3 to 2 with US West New Vector, Pactel Cellular and Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems purchasing CDMA-based equipment, while Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems and McCaw opting for TDMA. It gets somewhat confusing in areas like Bay Area Cellular in San Francisco, which is equally owned by McCaw and Pactel. Since Bay Area Cellular is composed of Ericsson switches and radios, I'm counting it as a part of the McCaw vote. The ball game internationally is quite different since GSM seems to have quite a bit of momentum. Alex M. Cena acena@lehman.com ------------------------------ From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? Date: 15 Nov 1993 18:37:20 GMT Organization: Youngstown State/Youngstown Free-Net On Sat Nov 13 23:45:32 1993, whs70@dancer.cc.bellcore.com (sohl,william h) wrote: >> [Moderator's Note: That's really something, to equate the laws >> pertaining to privacy in communications with the old (but still in >> force in about half the states in the USA) laws on sodomy. The latter >> are considered by many people to be an invasion of individual privacy, >> while the former are considered by many people to promote and protect >> individual privacy. In any event, they are all a bunch of worthless, >> unenforceable laws, eh? So what else is new in these United States? PAT] > Pat, when a law is unenforceable, it is both useless, and a waste of > time to even enact. Can you truly say that the ECPA has improved the > privacy of cellular? I doubt it. The ECPA is a "feel good" law with > no true impact. The politicos who passed can say ... "boy we feel good > about striking a blow for privacy" even though the blow has the impact > of a feather against a brick wall. Since listening to cellular isn't > something done in public (anymore than sodomy is) just how do you see > the ECPA helping communications privacy? Well, I have a fervent belief that unenforceable law is bad law, and that it causes people to lose respect for the law in general. The ECPA is particularly bad law precisely because it makes listening to cellular phone calls a felony, but it is virtually impossible to detect someone listening to a cellular phone call, so the law is generally unenforceable. However, think like a lawmaker for a moment. Assume that there are several undesirable outcomes that may occur when someone listens in on a cellular call. People's privacy may be violated. People may gain access to information they would otherwise not have had, that they can use to their financial (or other) advantage (for example, you might hear something about a famous person that could be sold to the press, or used to blackmail them, or to ruin a political career). The cellular telephone industry may lose money because potential users perceive that their calls are not private (which of course they aren't, but apparently many cellular users don't know that). If one considers these outcomes so undesirable that legislation is required, then it should legislate against these outcomes. In some cases, the necessary laws existed prior to the enactment of the ECPA (for example, laws making it illegal to reveal what you heard to a third party, or to use information you heard to your advantage). I think everything else that the ECPA might accomplish could have been achieved by banning the sale or importation of any receiver capable of receiving cellular frequencies, and making it illegal to advertise any device as having the capability to receive cellular calls. Those are things you can regulate, at least to a much greater extent than what a person does in the privacy of their home. You could make a similar argument about the sodomy laws ... they may not stop what goes on in the privacy of someone's home, but they do stop (at least to some extent) folks from openly soliciting for it (depending to some extent on whether local authorities are willing to actually prosecute offenders). But more to the point, they do give folks a bit of a handle on the situation when such practices are openly advocated. For example, if a public school teacher wishes to teach students that homosexuality is just another acceptable lifestyle choice, parents who disagree can point out that the teacher is really advocating commission of an illegal act (if sodomy is still a crime in that state). It might be better if the laws actually addressed the undesired behavior (making it illegal simply to solicit, and to teach about sexual preferences in the classroom) but when you get that specific you draw fire from groups like the ACLU, who claim that you are somehow restricting free speech or something. In some cases it is easier to just keep the existing laws on the books -- they may be overly broad but because of that, they're less likely to attact a constitutional challenge. I think the ECPA may be like that, too ... there may be a fear that if you try to convict someone based on a law that says they can't reveal what they heard on the airwaves, they could plausibly claim that their constitutional right of free speech is bening violated. Since there is no constitutional right to listen to certain frequencies, you are on less shaky legal grounds to attack that. Thus we play legal games, where the law as it is written is known to be virtually unenforceable, but it allows the government to place sanctions against other types of behavior that it is difficult to legislate against directly. In my opinion, we need to first get rid of the liberal judges that don't seem to have a lick of common sense, but kowtow to the every whim of the ACLU, and then pass laws that actually sanction the behavior we really want to limit (that is, get rid of the "back door" approach to lawmaking). At present, it's just too easy for lawmakers to pass the overly-broad laws ... much less friction that way. Having said all of that, I still consider the ECPA a fine example of "special interest" legislation, passed at the behest of political lobbyists. The cellular companies should have been told to go develop an effective scrambling system, if they truly wanted privacy of communications. It is really sad that special interests with enough money and/or political clout can buy legislation favorable to themselves, no matter how nonsensical that legislation is. But of course, this is nothing new ... the telephone companies of America have honed this practice (of buying favorable legislation) to a fine art over the years! :-( Jack ------------------------------ From: mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) Subject: Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? Date: 15 Nov 1993 04:07:13 -0500 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA lps@rahul.net (Kevin Martinez) writes: > In regard to the above, I live right under a cell site antenna tower > and *every* radio and TV I own picks up these annoying conversations > on occasion. Even my telephone (noncordless) picks them up sometimes. > I keep thinking of the Gilligan's Island episode where his filling > becomes a rectifier and detects broadcast band radio. > Does the ECPA make it illegal to live in my neighborhood or only to > possess a receiving device (or a filling)? Would these cold evenings > be even colder without the comforting rays of this antenna? Perhaps > this is the cause for retries on zmodem transfers .... Of course it's illegal for you to live there, or to have fillings, you wiretapper, you! (Dano, book him for criminal possession of a filling with intent to eavesdrop!) Michael D. Sullivan mds@access.digex.net avogadro@well.sf.ca.us Washington, D.C. 74160.1134@compuserve.com mikesullivan@bix.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 08:43:09 EST From: Alex Cena Subject: Re: Do You Monitor Cellular Channels? In Telecom Digest #761 Bill Fischer bill.fischer@t8000.cuc.ab.ca wrote: > Calls to and from all phones in a particular cell can be monitored, or > specific numbers can be entered into a log, and all other calls > ignored. The equipment monitors the data on the cell's control > channel and switches a radio scanner to the specified voice frequency > when the phone makes or receives a call in that cell. The equipment > will change to a new voice frequency each time the phone switches, > ensuring that the complete call is monitored from start to finish. > We have a Cellular Surveillance Interface that performs this function. > It doesn't cost $6000, and it will work on both the AMPS (USA, Canada, > Mexico, Australia) and TACS/ETACS (Europe, Middle East, Southeast > Asia) cellular systems. Can this equipment be used to monitor digital cellular networks? How do you know where your target may pop up since there may be hundreds of cell sites in a large city? Do you essentially have to set up monitoring stations in every cell site? Moreover, are you familiar with the equipment vendors used by many intelligence agencies besides E-Systems Melpar division? I am asking because of research I am conducting on a companwy called Comverse Technology that specializes in monitoring systems called AudioDisk. For obvious reasons, the company cannot reveal the name of its customers for me to survey so I am concentrating on identifying its competitors. If possible, could you send me a copy of your brochure by private e-mail. Alex M. Cena Lehman Brothers 200 Vesey Street, 14th Floor New York, NY 10285 Internet: acena@lehman.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 21:39:23 +0200 From: Petri Helenius Subject: Re: In the Matter of: Connecting to Kremvax.demos.su Paul Robinson wrote: > On the list Telecom Digest there is mention > that sites in the U.S. cannot connect (due to U.S. Government pressures) > with some sites behind the former Iron Curtain. One example of which is the > site kremvax.demos.su. Evidence from this message implies it is not the > government doing this, it is someone else. NSFNET/ ANS CORE. Name it anything you want. Our Russian friends have been connected to NSFNET occasionally, but every time this has been noticed, MERIT or ANS has cut them off, because they are not allowed to connect to NSFNET. They can connect to all non-ANS sites in the US, so this is not a government regulation. Pete ------------------------------ From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1993 18:48:31 GMT Pat, isn't this in the FAQ yet? If not ... In article bobt@zeus.net.com (Bob Tykulsker) writes: > I am having a new home built and would like to install the wiring now > that I might need for future technologies. What would you recommend? > Cable, fiber, copper, etc. Any suggestions welcome. Nobody knows what YOU will need or want in the future. Not even yourself. Anybody else will be just guessing, and who knows what new technology is just around the corner? Anyway, since you are not certain now, possibly the best approach is to lay conduit. Run plastic conduit as large as practical (at least an inch ID, bigger==better, from a central point (basement, closet, ???) to EVERYWHERE that you MIGHT possibly need access in the future. Keep in mind cable TV, and "smart" appliances as well as any home computer(s) and related equipment. At each location, terminate in at least a 4x4 deep box which can be papered over or just put on a blank plate. Inside each pipe run a strand of heavy cord, preferably a synthetic that won't rot or be eaten by bugs/rodents that can later be used to pull wires (and another length of cord!) as needed. Leave several feet of slack at each end. Make sure each conduit is marked. Make sure you have a map that says where each conduit comes out. Rich Greenberg Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA 310-348-7677 N6LRT TinselTown, USA Play: richgr@netcom.com 310-649-0238 I speak for myself only. Canines: Chinook & Husky ------------------------------ From: John Powell Subject: Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 01:30:15 -0600 Organization: Valcom/PCC > Unless fiber is available in your area now, go with a large amount of > copper wire. Put your demarc in the basement, and run at least twisted > six-pair to each room, in star format, e.g. each room's wiring is > separate. This allows you to have two phone lines and still have room > for two four-line circuits. The difference in price between four pair > and six pair is probably negligible (less than 5c per foot, maybe even > the same price); I know the last time I checked the price of 25 pair I agree, but I personally like to run two (or more) four-pairs to each location. This will allow for more isolation and multiple signal types/services to be sent to each room. It is standard practice to separate such things as voice lines, digital data, etc. as they can interfere with each other (ie. ringing voltage can affect LAN data). You will also be able to connect each cable to an RJ45 (ie. two RJ45's in each location) and maintain a standard that can accomodate many things from standard analog (one or two line) phone lines, ISDN, 10bT, Token Ring, etc. without any modification to the connectors, just change the connections in the basement. The REAL cost of wiring is pulling the cable, not the wire itself, and pulling two cables shouldn't cost much more than one. Also, there is no universal standard for six pair that everyone can follow; four pair is as universal as they get and any decent electrician or phone tech can manipulate it as needed without the designer being there to explain the kluge that would result from using six pair. John ------------------------------ Reply-To: dgc@math.ucla.edu Subject: Re: Wiring a New Town Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 12:01:45 -0800 From: David G. Cantor In Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 759, Tony Harminc states: > And one personal crusade: consider the nature of street lighting. If > at all possible, use incandescant lights, preferably halogens. If > energy efficiency concerns won't allow this, use metal halides. Avoid > like the plague sodium and mercury lighting. Light the sidewalks > first, and worry about the streets later, if at all. You want a > community where people *want* to be out and about on the streets and > public places at all hours - not locked behind bolted doors and alarm > systems. Obviously street layout and lighting are not the only > determinants of this, but they are a base. This is a major political issue in the City of San Diego. Mt. Palomar Observatory is nearby. Low-pressure sodium lighting only minimally interferes with the observatory because it's mono-frequency and can be easily filtered out. All of the other lights mentioned fog the astronmer's films. There is strong evidence that the kind of lighting is not the important factor. It's the brilliance. Low-pressure sodium is MUCH MORE efficient than the other choices and so the "green" position is to use low-pressure sodium. After prohibiting them for many years, the City of San Diego, over the strong opposition of the Palomar astronomers, has just allowed white-lights in certain high-crime areas. We shall see if this deters crime and we shall also see how much longer Mt. Palomar remains a useful observatory. David G. Cantor Center for Communications Research 4320 Westerra Court San Diego, CA 92121 dgc@ccrwest.org ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #765 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28015; 18 Nov 93 7:03 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06434 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Thu, 18 Nov 1993 04:03:05 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA15934 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 18 Nov 1993 04:02:17 -0600 Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 04:02:17 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311181002.AA15934@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #766 TELECOM Digest Thu, 18 Nov 93 04:02:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 766 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Toll Fraud on French PBXs -Phreaking :-) (Jean-Bernard Condat) Sprint Upgrading Internet Backbone (John D. Gretzinger) Finally Got REAL Phone Service (Jack Decker) Research Assistant - High Speed Wireless Networking Research (Joseph Evans) Announcement of New Moderator (Dennis G. Rears) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: cccf@altern.com (cccf) Subject: Toll Fraud on French PBXs - Phreaking :-) Date: Wed, 17 Nov 93 14:48:59 EST In France it is estimated that PBX trunk fraud (toll fraud) costs companies over $220 million a year. Criminal phreakers figure out how to access PBXs owned by businesses and then sell long-distance calling capacities provided by these systems to the public. In European markets where PSTN to PSTN connections are illegal it has not to date been such an issue. However, for a number of reasons this is likely to change. Trunk to trunk connection barring through PBXs is expected to be deregulated throughout Europe. The telecom industry has done more this year to prevent toll fraud than any other time. Yet, toll fraud losses will top more than $2 billion again this year. If you aren't doing anything to prevent being hit, it's not a matter of if you'll be hit, it's when you'll be hit and for how much. So, here are some low-cost ways to stop toll fraud-or at least lessen the blow if you do get hit. Increasing numbers of international companies have private networks and provide DISA (Direct Inward System Access) access to employees. Such companies are prime victims for phreaking. For example, a phone hacker can access the network in the UK, France, or Germany and break out in another country where it is legal to make trunk to trunk calls, and from that point they can call anywhere in the world. Voice mail is taking off across Europe. This, together with DISA, is one of the most common ways phreakers enter a company's PBX. Raising these issues now and detailing precautionary measures will enable companies to take steps to reduce such frauds. The following looks at the current situation in France. In France a whole subculture, like a real phone underground culture, of these technology terrorists is springing up on city streets. Stolen access codes are used to run call-sell operations from phone booths or private phones. The perpetrators offer international calls for circa FF 20, which is considerably less than it could cost to dial direct. When calls are placed through corporate PBXs rather than carrier switches, the companies that own the PBXs end up footing the bill. What are the warning signs that your own communication systems are being victimized by toll fraud? In inbound call detail records, look for long holding times, an unexplained increased in use, frequent use of the system after normal working hours, or a system that is always busy. In records of outbound calls, look for calls made to unusual locations or international numbers, high call volumes, long duration of calls, frequent calls to premium rate numbers and frequently recurring All Trunks Busy (ATB) conditions. Toll fraud is similar to unauthorized access to mainframe computers or hacking. Manufacturers such as Northern Telecom have developed security features that minimize the risk of such theft. Telecommunication managers, however, are the only ones who are ensure that these features are being used to protect their systems from fraud. Areas of Intrusion Into Corporate Systems: PBX features that are vulnerable to unauthorized access include call forwarding, call prompting and call processing features. But the most common ways phreakers enter a company's PBX is through DISA and voice mail systems. They often search a company's rubbish for directories or call detail reports that contain a companies own '05' numbers and codes. They have also posed as system administrators or France Telecom technicians and conned employees into telling them PBX authorization codes. More sophisticated hackers use personal computers and modems to break into data bases containing customer records showing phone numbers and voice mail access codes, or simply dial '05' numbers with the help of sequential number generators and computers until they find one that gives access to a phone system. Once these thieves have the numbers and codes, they can call into the PBX and place calls out to other locations. In many cases, the PBX is only the first point of entry for such criminals. They can also use the PBX to access company's data system. Call-sell operators can even hide their activities from law enforcement officials by using PBX-looping-using one PBX to place calls out through another PBX in another state. Holding the Line-Steps That Reduce Toll Fraud: Northern Telecom's Meridian 1 systems provide a number of safety features to guard against unauthorized access. It is the most popular PBX phreaked in France. The following information highlights Meridian 1 features that can minimise such abuse. DISA Security: The DISA feature allows users to access a company's PBX system from the public network by dialing a telephone number assigned to the feature. Once the system answers the DISA call, the caller may be required to enter a security code and authorisation code. After any required codes are entered, the caller, using push button tone dialling, is provided with the calling privileges, such as Class of Service (COS), Network Class of Service (NCOS) and Trunk Group Access Restrictions (TGAR), that are associated with the DISA DN or the authorisation code entered. To minimize the vulnerability of the Meridian 1 system to unauthorized access through DISA, the following safeguards are suggested: 1) Assign restricted Class of Service, TGAR and NCOS to the DISA DN; 2) Require users to enter a security code upon reaching the DISA DN; 3) In addition to a security code, require users to enter an authorization code. The calling privileges provided will be those associated with the specific authorization code; 4) Use Call Detail Recording (CDR) to identify calling activity associated with individual authorization codes. As a further precaution, you may choose to limit printed copies of these records; 5) Change security codes frequently; 6) Limit access to administration of authorization codes to a few, carefully selected employees. Meridian Mail Security: Northern Telecom's Meridian Mail voice messaging system is also equipped with a number of safeguarding features. The features that allow system users to dial out; Through Dial, Operator Revert and Remote Notification (Outcalling) should be controlled to reduce the likelihood of unauthorised access. The following protective measures can be used to minimise tool fraud: Voice Security Codes - Set security parameters for ThroughDial using the Voice Security Options prompt from the Voice Systems Administration menu. This prompt will list restricted access codes to control calls placed using the Through-Dial function of Meridian Mail. An access code is a prefix for a telephone number or a number that must be dialled to access outside lines or long-distance calling. If access codes are listed as restricted on the Meridian Mail system, calls cannot be placed through Meridian Mail to numbers beginning with the restricted codes. Up to ten access codes can be defined. Voice Menus - With the Through-Dial function of Voice Menus, the system administrator can limit dialling patterns using restricted dialling prefixes. These access codes, which are defined as illegal, apply only to the Through-Dial function of each voice menu. Each Through-Dial menu can have its own restricted access codes. Up to ten access codes can be programmed. Meridian Mail also allows system administrators to require that users enter an Access Password for each menu. In this way, the Through-Dial menu can deny unauthorized callers access to Through-Dial functions, while allowing authorised callers access. Additional Security Features - The Secured Messaging feature can be activated system-wide and essentially blocks external callers from logging to Meridian Mail. In addition, the system administrator can establish a system-wide parameter that forces user to change their Meridian Mail passwords within a defined time period. Users can also change their passwords at any time when logged in to Meridian Mail. System administrator can define a minimum acceptable password length for Meridian Mail users. The administrators can also determine the maximum number of times an invalid password can be entered before a log-on attempt is dropped and the mailbox log-on is disabled. Some of the features that provide convenience and flexibility are also vulnerable to unauthorized access. However, Meridian 1 products provide a wide array of features that can protect your system from unauthorised access. In general, you can select and implement the combination of features that best meets your company's needs. General Security Measures: Phone numbers and passwords used to access DISA and Meridian Mail should only be provided to authorized personnel. In addition, call detail records and other reports that contain such numbers should be shredded or disposed of in an appropriate manner for confidential material. To detect instances of trunk fraud and to minimize the opportunities for such activity, the system administrator should take the following steps frequently (the frequency is determined on a per site basis according to need): 1) Monitor Meridian 1 CDR output to identify sudden unexplained increases in trunk calls. Trunk to trunk/Tie connections should be included in CDR output; 2) Review the system data base for unauthorised changes; 3) Regularly change system passwords, and DISA authorisation and security codes; 4) Investigate recurring All Trunks Busy (ATB) conditions to determine the cause; 5) If modems are used, change access numbers frequently, and consider using dial-back modems; 6) Require the PBX room to be locked at all times. Require a sign-in log and verification of all personnel entering the PBX room. Two Practical Cases: Bud Collar, electronic systems manager with Plexus in Neenah, Wis., transferred from its payphone operations branch. As the PBX manager, he's blocked all outside access to his Northern Telecom Meridian 1 and meridian Mail. Just in case a phreaker does gain access, Collar bought a $600, PC-based software package from Tribase Systems in Springfield, NJ, called Tapit. With Tapit, Collar runs daily reports on all overseas call attempts and completions. But the drawback to Tapit is that by itself it has no alarm features, so if a phreaker does get in, Collar won't know about it until he runs the next report. Tribase does offer Fraud Alert with alarms for $950, but Collar chose not to use it. Erica Ocker, telecom supervisor at Phico Insurance in Mechaniscsburg, PA, also wanted to block all of her outside ports. But she has maintenance technicians who need routine access, so she needed a way to keep her remote access ports open, without opening up her Rolm 9751 to toll fraud. The solution is to buy LeeMah DataCom Security Corps's TraqNet 2001. For $2,000, Ocker got two secured modems that connect to her maintenance port on her PBX and to her Rolm Phone Mail port. When someone wants to use these features, they dial into the TraqNet and punch in their PIN number. TraqNet identifies the user by their PIN and asks them to punch in a randomly selected access code that they can only get from a credit card-sized random number generator, called an InfoCard. That access code matches the codes that are generated each time the TraqNet is accessed. The TraqNet 2001 is a single-line model that supports up to 2,304 users for $950. More upscale can support up to 32 lines and run call detail reports, but they cost as much as $15,000. InfoCards each cost an additional $50. Conclusions: The ultimate solution will be, as I read in a French consultancy review, The more pleasant story directly linked with French phreaking was the night that I saw on my TV screen in Paris a luxurous computer ad for the Dell micro-computers. At the end of the ad, a toll-free number was presented in green: 05-444-999. I immediately phoned this number ... and found the well-known voice of all French Northern Telecom's Meridian Mail saying in English: "For technical reasons, your call cannot be transferred to the appropriate person. Call later or leave a message after the tune." The dial of 0* gave the open door to more than Dell information. My letter to this company already is without (free voice-) answer! Jean-Bernard Condat, General Secretary Chaos Computer Club France [cccf] First European Hacking, Phreaking & Swapping Club Address: B.P. 8005, 69351 Lyon cedex 08, France. Phone: +33 1 47874083; Fax: +33 1 47874919; E-mail: cccf@altern.com ------------------------------ From: JOHN.D.GRETZINGER@sprint.sprint.com Date: 17 Nov 93 16:53:35-0500 Subject: Sprint Upgrading Internet Backbone Pat - This just came across our internal network and looks to be of interest. On another note, dial access to SprintLink is currently being tested and should be available the first quarter of next year. More on that as it becomes available. John D. Gretzinger +1.310.797.1187 +1.310.4430.1761 (FAX) I don't speak for Sprint, and they don't speak for me. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> SPRINT UPGRADES SPEED, CAPACITY OF INTERNET BACKBONE SERVICE WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 1993 -- Sprint today became the first carrier-based Internet service provider to announce plans to upgrade its transmission network -- SprintLink(SM) -- to accommodate transit speeds of 45 megabits per second by the first quarter of next year. The upgrade includes cutting-edge routing and network management technologies that significantly improve the network's performance. The SprintLink network upgrade anticipates the transition of Internet traffic from the National Science Foundation network, NSFNet, to commercial service providers, which is expected to begin in spring of 1994. The NSFNet is the U.S. backbone for the Internet, the global "network of networks" that interconnects more than 18,000 networks and over 2,000,000 host computers worldwide. One of the first phases in the network upgrade is a cooperative test with the NSF to transfer some of its global transit services across the new Sprint backbone. The test builds on Sprint's existing role as the international connections manager for the NSFNet, through which it already carries most of NSFNet's international traffic. As the international connections manager for the NSFNet, Sprint has the most comprehensive global routing tables of any service provider -- the "road maps" of the information highway. To further enhance the network's ability to route information, Sprint will replace existing routers with Cisco 7000 routers, one of the industry's highest performing models. Sprint also is embedding Silicon Graphics' Indigo(R) workstations within its network hubs to manage "domain name" service. These powerful systems maintain the extensive and ever-changing list of "domains" -- user groups or networks -- on the Internet and their corresponding addresses, from regional research networks to public electronic messaging service providers. Sprint has developed a "flat" network architecture -- a streamlined design that sends information through fewer levels of equipment, permitting higher speeds, less chance of failure and the smooth transition to future services, including Asynchronous Transfer Mode. In 1994, high-bandwidth customers will be able to connect to SprintLink using Sprint's ATM service through any of Sprint's more than 300 network points of presence in the United States. ATM currently allows data transmission at 45 megabits per second -- fast enough to send a 400-page book across the country in one second. "The tremendous growth of users on the Internet is fueling the demand for higher-speed, easily upgradable commercial services," said Don Teague, general manager for Sprint's Government Systems Division, which manages the company's business with the federal government. "This upgrade takes our network service to the next technological plane -- those high-bandwidth services required to support the research and scientific community, as well as a growing number of commercial users engaged in electronic commerce and other leading-edge information technologies." Sprint is a diversified international telecommunications company with more than $10 billion in annual revenues and the United States' only nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network. Its divisions provide global long distance voice, data and video products and services, local telephone services to more than six million subscriber lines in 19 states, and cellular operations that serve 42 metropolitan markets and more than 50 rural service areas. Silicon Graphics and Indigo are registered trademarks of Silicon Graphics Inc. ------------------------------ From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Finally Got REAL Phone Service Date: 18 Nov 1993 06:31:36 GMT Organization: Youngstown State/Youngstown Free-Net Reply-To: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) It has been almost a year since I moved into GTE land, and some of you may recall that when I got my phone service, it was provided via some obsolete (no longer manufactured) subscriber carrier equipment that has given me all sorts of problems over the past year (on no less than five occasions, it has gone out completely). At one point (after I complained to the Michigan Public Service Commission) GTE even gave me a credit ($25 plus the equivalent of three days' service) on my phone bill in compensation for the problems I had experienced. Well, today they cut me onto the new system. It's a remote unit located probably a mile and a half away from me. The cable between there and the downtown central office is fiber, and between the new unit and my home is all new underground cable, replacing aerial cable that is being taken out of service. After the cutover I noticed several things immediately: 1) My on-hook line voltage increased from ~15 volts to ~44 volts DC. Also, the tip/ring polarity reversed from what it had been when I was on the carrier. 2) So far I am getting considerably less noise and garbage on my modem calls. 3) On voice calls, the difference is amazing! I was actually starting to think that I was getting hard of hearing because I had trouble hearing people on the phone. Suddenly, voices on the other end seem MUCH louder and clearer. This is also appparent with the volume of dial tone. My modem is set to let me hear it dial and connect, and now when it first seizes the line the dial tone will about knock you out of your chair compared to what it used to be. And my mother used to complain about not being able to hear me on the phone; I called her tonight and she says I am much louder on her end, too. 4) I think the phone ring cadence is SLIGHTLY different ... maybe it's my imagination, but to me it sounds like the rings are slightly shorter (like maybe a quarter of a second or half a second shorter). I will add that I'm probably really pushing the limit on Ringer Equivalence Numbers on my line, but both the old and new systems seem to be able to handle that equally well. 5) CPC now works ... before, if the CO dropped current for a moment, I would hear a couple of faint clicks, but the voltage on my line would remain constant. Now, when the CO drops current, my line goes stone cold dead for that fraction of a second. 6) And finally, the new unit still will not accept dial pulses at 20 pps. When I mentioned this originally, I was told that this was a design limitation of the GTD-5 switch in my central office ... that 20 pps was NOT considered a standard dialing speed, and even though some AT&T and other switches may support it, the designers of the GTE switches didn't feel they should. Now, what I do not know is whether the new remote unit (the crew out here keeps referring to it as a MUX) actually provides dial tone itself, or simply relays dial tone from the CO downtown. I had sort of hoped that it would provide its own dial tone, and would therefore support 20 pulses per second, but no such luck. I'd still like to know where the dial tone is really coming from. I did retain my same phone number, if that's any clue. All in all I'm quite pleased so far, especially with the far better voice quality and volume. I think it will also make my service FAR more reliable than it has been, assuming of course that some idiot doesn't dig up the new fiber cable and cut it. As for the carrier box that was hanging on the utility pole out front, it's still there. I think they intend to collect them all at once. I suggested to the guys that they could take it down and back their truck over it a few times, but the said it would probably be reused elsewhere. I definitely pity whoever gets stuck with that thing next! :-) Jack ------------------------------ Subject: Research Assistant - High Speed Wireless Networking Research From: evans@hamming.uucp (Joseph B. Evans) Date: 17 Nov 93 17:14:16 CDT Organization: Elec. Eng. & Comp. Sci., Univ. of Kansas Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) for High Speed Wireless Networking Research University of Kansas Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Telecommunications and Information Sciences Laboratory (TISL) Lawrence, Kansas TISL is looking for qualified, creative individuals with a desire to pursue graduate research and education in high speed wireless link and networking technologies. The position requires an undergraduate or MS degree in EE, ECE, or CS with credentials for admission to the University of Kansas Graduate School. Good communication skills, strong self-motivation, and the ability to work as part of a team are required. A background in communications systems and/or networking is desired. The individual will join a team of faculty and students pursuing sponsored research in high speed wireless communications networks and in the hardware and software development of a prototype high speed wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) system. This position is an opportunity to develop the telecommunications technology of the future. TISL has state-of-the-art communications and computing facilities. We are a founding member of the MAGIC gigabit testbed and have experiential ATM and long distance SONET facilities. Within TISL, faculty and students address challenging research issues in various aspects of telecommunications, ranging from high speed networks to wireless communications systems and advanced spread spectrum techniques. The interaction between the laboratory and the other EECS faculty contribute to the stimulating intellectual environment. The University of Kansas is located in Lawrence, a city of about 75,000 people, which is situated in the rolling hills of eastern Kansas, about an hour's drive from Kansas City. The city of Lawrence has a long history and retains may interesting reminders of its colorful past. The community has 1,257 acres of public parks, indoor and outdoor community swimming pools, an arts center, an historical museum, and an active community education and recreation program. Interested applicants should submit two copies of both a resume and cover letter requesting application forms to: Dr. Victor S. Frost Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Director, Telecommunications and Information Sciences Laboratory University of Kansas 2291 Irving Hill Road Lawrence, KS 66045-6929 Phone: (913) 864-4833 FAX: (913) 864-7789 e-mail: frost@eecs.ukans.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Nov 93 15:11:17 EST From: Dennis G. Rears Subject: Announcement of New Moderator I will relinquish Moderator duties of the Computer Privacy Digest in a couple of weeks. Prof. L. P. Levine will take over as the new Moderator of the Computer Privacy Digest (comp.society.privacy) sometime in the next few weeks. Currently we are working on the transition. A message will go out shortly on the new addresses. The primary reason I am leaving the group is time. In the last few months I have not had the time to adequately perform the duties of being a Moderator. I would like to thank all the people who have contributed to the Digest and those people who have provided me with pointers on making the Digest better. I have for the most part enjoyed moderating the group. I will miss the off-line discussions I have had with many of you. The CPD had it origins in the telecom-privacy mail list which I set up in August of 1990. Telecom-priv started out to address concerns of Caller Id. It was an outgrowth of a discussion that was started on the TELECOM Digest. The telecom privacy mail list was merged into the Computer Privacy Digest on 27 April 1992. According to the October USENET readership report comp.society.privacy is read by about 44,000 people, 73% of USENET sites receive this and is ranked at 683. I have about 500 subscribers/exploder lists. I think we have come a long way since the first issue was published in April 1992. I wish Professor Levine good luck in his new role. I plan to assume a role as Official Lurker. Dennis G. Rears MILNET: drears@pica.army.mil UUCP: ...!uunet!cor5.pica.army.mil!drears INTERNET: drears@pilot.njin.net USPS: Box 210, Wharton, NJ 07885 Phone(home): 201.927.8757 Phone(work): 201.724.2683/(DSN) 880.2683 USPS: SMCAR-FSS-E, Bldg 94, Picatinny Ars, NJ 07806 [Moderator's Note: I'm sure all telecom readers join me in thanking you for your splendid service over the past three years. Best wishes to you in your future endeavors and to your successor as Moderator. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #766 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02389; 18 Nov 93 18:09 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29422 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Thu, 18 Nov 1993 14:18:48 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29923 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 18 Nov 1993 14:18:08 -0600 Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 14:18:08 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311182018.AA29923@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #767 TELECOM Digest Thu, 18 Nov 93 14:18:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 767 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: MCI Internet Service (Jim Graham) Re: MCI Internet Service (Steven King) Re: 65 Per Line or 65*per Line? (Paul Robinson) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (David Esan) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Andrew M. Dunn) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Scott D. Fybush) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Tony Harminc) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (John Little) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Carl Moore) NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes (Robert Casey) Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? (Steve Lamont) Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? (Mark W. Schumann) Re: Strange T1 Behavior (David Devereaux-Weber) Re: Strange T1 Behavior (Dave Levenson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jim@n5ial.mythical.com (Jim Graham) Subject: Re: MCI Internet Service Organization: Future site of Vaporware Corporation (maybe). --Teletoons (NW) Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 02:39:49 GMT Well, I do believe we have a record here! This makes three posts from me to comp.dcom.telecom in less than one week (I normally expect my posts here to go the same route as the first two of the three this week ... into the Moderator's bit bucket, regardless of the content, so I usually just don't bother). In article cazier@gothamcity.jsc.nasa. gov writes: > I have a friend living in Grants Pass, Oregon, who wishes to connect > to Internet but currently has to call long distance to gain access to > a univeristy account for e-mail access. MCI offers something similar > via an 800 number but you have to pay $0.50 for the first K of data > and then $0.29 for each K thereafter ... Ugggghhhh .... what a horrible price! Your friend needs to setup some type of batched process for getting mail and downloading it (UUCP would be an ideal solution). With a V.32bis modem and V.42 error control, you're looking at around 1724 cps (see the first of my three posts to comp.dcom.telecom in this past week for details on how to get at that number). At 1724 cps, that amounts to about 800k per minute, and with the AT&T calling plan I'm on, that's 10 cents for around 800k, vs around $230 for that same amount of data, assuming batched mail handling (such as UUCP). Ok, your friend doesn't want to setup UUCP? No problem. Just get on something like the program I'm on (I think it's called Evening Plus, or something like that), and from 1900 to 0800 S-F, and 1900 Fri to 1700 Sunday, it's ten cents/minute flat rate within the US (intra-state calls are more, obviously, and your mileage may vary). And then don't spend time reading mail online -- save it to a file, download it (if you can, use Zmodem), read it, type up any response(s), upload the response(s), and then mail them. > Or other means to legally access Internet e-mail? The easiest, and usually by far the cheapest, is to get a local UUCP feed. If you run dog on a PC, you'll need something like UUPC, which is UUCP for the PC. :-) That's how I'm setup here. I have a UUCP feed (actually, I have two feeds), and all of my Internet e-mail is via those feeds. Setup is a bit tricky if you're not a computer whiz (I personally found setting up UUCP to be rather trivial, for the most part), but once it's setup, you just let it run on its own. Another thing you can always do is find a local public access UNIX site. Refer to the nixpub listing (which, I believe, is still posted regularly in comp.misc) for sites near you. Feel free to e-mail me for info on how to find a local feed, etc., as well as more details on setting things up, good reference material, and so on. > [Moderator's Note: If all he wants to do is get email, there are lots > of ways to get that. [ .... -jdg ] > If all he wants is email access, then MCI Mail offers that, as does > Sprint Mail and ATT Mail. Is that all he wants? PAT] Those are rather expensive options, compared to something as cheap as a simple UUCP feed or using a public access UNIX site ... I personally would *NOT* recommend those choices, unless you just have money to burn, and don't care about some of the problems you might encounter (e.g., my previous employer uses one of the above, and incoming mail has this nasty habit of not being delivered, and not having any error messages sent to the originator of the e-mail ... in other words, it isn't worth a d*mn). Well, considering the fact that it's highly doubtful that this will even get posted, I think I'll stop here ... jim #include 73 DE N5IAL (/4) INTERNET: jim@n5ial.mythical.com | j.graham@ieee.org ICBM: 30.23N 86.32W AMATEUR RADIO: (packet station temporarily offline) AMTOR SELCAL: NIAL [Moderator's Note: Why do you feel it is 'highly doubtful it will get posted'? I can't remember any messages from you which specifically were not posted recently, although at 100-125 messages per day, the majority being replies to something previously posted/replied to, there has to be a cut off somewhere. PAT] ------------------------------ From: king@rtsg.mot.com (Steven King) Subject: Re: MCI Internet Service Date: 18 Nov 1993 15:01:50 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group Reply-To: king@rtsg.mot.com In comp.dcom.telecom cazier@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov writes: > While I don't want to focus on MCI, I reference MCI as an example to > pose my question. I have a friend living in Grants Pass, Oregon, who > wishes to connect to Internet but currently has to call long distance > to gain access to a univeristy account for e-mail access. MCI offers > something similar via an 800 number but you have to pay $0.50 for the > first K of data and then $0.29 for each K thereafter ... this may be > about the best deal one can get from a site like Grants Pass ... but > it would seem that the Northwest Bell system would offer some type of > inexpensive Eugene, OR, line so he could access Internet via the > University there. > Is anyone aware of inexpensive services like this that interface with > Internet? Or other means to legally access Internet e-mail? Gahh!!! Are you sure you're not quoting prices per MEGAbyte of data, instead of per KILObyte of data? Remember that a kilobyte, 1024 bytes, is less than a full screenful of text. $.29/K would be the most exhobitant rate I've ever heard of. There's a company called Speedway you might be interested in. I don't work for them and I'm not even a customer, but they might fit your needs nicely. They give free dial-up access to the net. The catch? You must call them via AT&T. They're directly connected to AT&T, not the local telco, and they make their money off of kickbacks. Since you can use any AT&T calling plan you normally would, this can be a pretty good deal. For example, AT&T's Reach Out America plan puts long distance at $.12/minute or thereabouts. Using a 14.4 kbps modem and a batch transmission like UUCP, PPP, or SLIP this works out to around 100K/minute. This is quite reasonable for a news and mail feed. Also, look for the Public Dialup Internet Access List (PDIAL). This lists a lot of public access Internet providers. Most if not all of these are for-pay commercial services. The newsgroup alt.internet.access. wanted may also be of service to you. If you're primarily interested in Usenet news and email and not so much in ftp, telnet, and other Internet goodies check out the Nixpub list. This is a listing of public access Unix systems. These systems may or may not have what you're looking for and they may or may not charge, but it's certainly a place to begin your investigations. Another source is looking for BBS lists local to your area. You can look on the net in alt.bbs.lists and maybe comp.bbs.misc. Also, call around to local computer stores and user's groups and ask if they know of any BBSs in the area. Most BBSs carry lists of other local BBSs so you get kind of a snowball effect very quickly. Hopefully you can find one that carries what you need. Public Dialup Internet Access List (PDIAL) kaminski@netcom.com (Peter Kaminski) alt.internet.access.wanted, alt.bbs.lists, ba.internet, news.answers Nixpub List phil@bts.com (Phil Eschallier) all.bbs, comp.bbs.misc, comp.misc The above lists can be found in the listed groups and are available for ftp at rtfm.mit.edu. Steven King -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 13:18:59 EST Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: Re: 65 Per Line or 65*per Line? From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Someone asked me about the charge for message units on phone service: >> different one. Now I am told the original story -- that each >> line has a limit of 65 calls whether or not the lines are >> billed to one party or separately billed -- e.g. if I use 66 >> on one line and 5 on the other, I will be charged for one >> message unit. The phone company clerk tells me that each line >> is individually metered and it doesn't matter whether the >> three lines are attached to one account or billed to three >> different accounts. > This implies that there's a per call charge after your 65th > call. Can you offer a few details on the billing and let me > know who your telco is? There are three 'flavors' of phone service which is provided by C&P Telephone of Maryland. Rates are per month and do not include long distance usage but DO include the $3.50 per line carrier access charge: 1. Unlimited local calls in the service area, which is all of the Washington Metro area which extends from Dulles Airport, VA to Rockville, MD to Prince Georges County, MD to Columbia, MD, encompasing four area codes from Silver Spring. Note that this option is only available to residential customers. This costs about $22 a month with taxes. 2. Metered by time. All calls costs 3.1c for the first minute and 1.3c for each additional minute. Residential customerts have an option of obtaining $5.85 worth of metering for $3. This costs about $11 if you take it with no meter allocation, or $14.50 with the extra $5.85, including taxes, plus any usage if no meter allocation or more than $5.85 is used, respectively. 3. Metered by count. All calls cost 9c regardless of how long you are on the line. Residential customers have an option of obtaining 65 calls for $3. This costs about $11 with no meter allocation, or $14.50 with 65-call count, including taxes, plus any usage if no meter allocation or more than 65 calls are made, respectively. A commercial telephone will pay about $15 a month over these rates, and all calls are billed either at 3.1c a call/1.3c a minute or 9c a call. Except for touch tone, all other services (call forwarding, three-way, call waiting, caller id, etc.) are at an additional charge. I switched my service from 1 to 3 with 65 metered calls. > I'm guessing that you pay a monthly service charge for Caller > ID. But this "per message" charge over the 65th call is news > to me. You only pay for message charges if you choose to take metered service. Caller ID costs $6.50 a month. I'm only keeping it for the duration of the test I'm doing, which means in a month I'll drop it since I will know everything I wanted to know about it. Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ From: de@moscom.com (David Esan) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Date: 18 Nov 93 14:44:46 GMT Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY In article g1jmason@cdf.toronto.edu (Jamie Mason) writes: > Now, correct me if I am wrong here, but is it not the case that > NPAs for North America are assigned by Bellcore? Presumably the split > of the old 416 into 416 and 905 was authorized by Bellcore. > I was under the impression that Bellcore publishes, on a regular > basis, its list of NPA assignments ... and I would assume that any LEC > or IXC with enough chutzpah to call themselves a "phone company" would > go to the trouble of reading these lists, and programming their > computers with them. Since I don't get tapes from BellCore any longer I can't speak directly about them, but I can add some experiences. The tapes from BellCore generally parallel the additions to the document FCC #10, in terms of time of addition. Now, the information for NPA 905 just arrived (11/15/93), even though 905 has been implemented for more than a month. Why? I don't know. We got the information for 810 and 910 in October, and the informtion about 610 in November. Both were some time before these codes were implemented. I don't think this is strictly a problem because it is a Canadian area code. We have gotten in information on some splits a years in advance, most about three months in advance, and a few after the fact. David Esan de@moscom.com [Moderator's Note: Obviously instead of relying on Bellcore to get you the information in a timely way, you need to read this Digest for the latest news on area code splits, etc. :) We were talking about 905 long before it occurred. We were even talking about 905 back in the days when it used to be an 'area code' for Mexico. PAT] ------------------------------ From: amdunn@mongrel.uucp (Andrew M. Dunn) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Organization: A. Dunn Systems Corporation, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 15:08:52 GMT In article taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) writes about calling the Toronto Ontario Canada weather info number: > djcl@grin.io.org wrote: > It works from Brooklyn, N.Y., though the recording said it was nine > degrees out. Can that be right? It was in the 70s today in NYC! Yikes! 70 degrees! That's close to the boiling point of water. I'd hate to be outdoors in that kind of heat ... you could fry an egg on your forehead. :-) (Hint ... in Canada we use the metric Celsius system of temperature measurement, not Fahreinheit. 100 degrees C = 212 degrees F, 20 degrees C is a pleasant 68 degrees F, 0 degrees C is 32 F, and 9 degrees C is around 48 degrees F, quite normal for this time of year in southern Ontario). Cheers, Andy Dunn or [Moderator's Note: In the USA, we use the metric system to measure the size of the ammunition for our weapons. :) 9mm bullets are common. Ooops, I said that one yesterday, but it bears repeating I guess. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 04:04:00 GMT Could someone with knowledge of the 416/905 split enlighten me about 416-551? The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission hotline was at 416-551-3409, and I had thought that area was going to 905. Yet from 617-254 Brighton, here's what I get when trying to call 905-551-3409: Via AT&T: Loud rushing noise with occasional clicks and pops. Via MCI and Sprint: "Your call cannot be completed as dialed". Via Westinghouse internal network: Ditto 416-551-3409 connects just fine. It's not that 905 isn't working, I can call Mississauga numbers in 905-820-XXXX just fine via all four carriers. Is there something weird about 416/905-551? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 13:18:36 EST From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) wrote: >> Digest readers who are interested in testing 905 out could try to get >> Toronto weather information at +1 905 676.3066 to see if 905 will work >> (pre-recorded message). I work in (905) area as well, and could >> provide the work number(s) on request. > It works from Brooklyn, N.Y., though the recording said it was nine > degrees out. Can that be right? It was in the 70s today in NYC! Well it has been a bit chilly here lately -- nine degrees sounds about right. But 70s in NYC !? Let's see -- a hot day in Death Valley would be around 55 degrees. My water heater thermostat is set to 65 degrees. Water boils at 100 -- freezes at 0. Could it be that NYC uses some funky temperature scale not used anywhere else in the civilized world ... ? Tony Harminc (in the heart of 905 country) ------------------------------ From: jlittle@AccessPoint.North.Net (John Little) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Organization: UUNorth's AccessPoint Service Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 19:26:43 GMT When my parents try to call me (905 area code) from Central Florida, using AT&T, they get an error, and have to use 416 to reach me. They live in the 407 area code, and the LEC is Southern Bell, with AT&T as the LD carrier, you would assume that they would get the most recent information. [Moderator's Note: AT&T has nothing to do with the error message your parents are reaching. Southern Bell is picking it off before it even leaves the local phone exchange. All the telcos examine the digits which are given to them for validity and to see if it is a call they should handle (or hand off to a long distance carrier). Southern Bell can't find it in their table, and claim it is an error. To prove this for yourself, have your parents *bypass the local central office* by going direct to AT&T on 800-CALL-ATT or similar, then dialing the 905 number. It'll go through okay. Another proof will come when you have your parents dial through the central office as before, but using a carrier access code such as 10333 for Sprint or 10222 for MCI (or 10288 for AT&T). The same thing will occur: the call will be rejected, and one would think Sprint or MCI did not know about 905 either, but in truth, they are never even seeing the request because Southern Bell is not handing it to them. And when you call the local telephone company and politely suggest they get their act together, the clerk first tries to pass you off to the long distance carrier ('you will have to complain to them') or maybe they ask if you have tried from all the phones in your house and get the same problem from each phone, and that they can have someone come out a week from next Thursday but if the problem is discovered to be on your end, boy are you gonna pay for it. Illinois Bell had a prefix missing from their table for area 414 for the longest time. No amount of talking to them did any good. Finally I reached a reasonably intelligent supervisor at AT&T who passed the message to her co-worker in charge of those things, and he called someone at IBT who corrected it. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 11:32:05 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized I take it that traveler living in Mississauga was a woman? On rare occasions, I do hear the play on words where "Mrs." is heard in the first part of "Mississippi". So whoever said "I asked for residence not name" should have recognized that he/she was right at Mississauga, right? [Moderator's Note: No, what directory should have said next was 'What town does Mrs. Ogga live in?' :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) Subject: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 04:32:22 GMT In article dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) writes: > The problem MAY stem from the fact that 905 was previously one of the > area codes assigned to Mexico a few years ago, before it was decided > that Mexico would be reached only via country code. Until about three > years ago you could reach them both ways. Would NAFTA have any impact on area code assignment? If USA, Canada, and Mexico are gonna be an economic unit, would there be motivation to make phone calling to Mexico similar to the style used to call Canada and USA (outside your local area code)? Well, they probably couldn't give back 905 to Mexico, but make up a new sort of area code for them? [Moderator's Note: I don't think NAFTA will matter. Besides, TelMex has never had the same historic relationship with telcos in the USA and Canada that the telcos in this country have had with each other. I rather suspect Mexico will remain an 'international' point. PAT] ------------------------------ From: smlamont@hebron.connected.com (Steve Lamont) Subject: Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 15:17:04 -0800 Organization: Connected INC -- Internet Services Henry Mensch (hcm@netcom.com) wrote: > For my residential long distance I currently use AT&T ... I got a > check in the mail from MCI last week (not a very big one, as they say; > only $20) which I get to cash if I let them switch me to MCI (and > friends and informants, or whatever it is this week). > Now, I remember reading in this space that some folks were able to > redeem these checks with their current LD carrier without having to > switch carriers ... has anyone done this lately ... with AT&T? If so, > how ...? I heard someone say that if you (1) call your local telephone company (i.e., your LEC) and tell them you don't want your phone slammed (which means you want to freeze any changes to your long distance carrier) and (2) cash the check at the bank, the carrier pays you the money but their change order for their long distance service does not get processed. You could say you get to take the money to the bank! I have never tried this, which is unfortunate because some of my "checks" have been for $75. Steven Lamont smlamont@hebron.connected.com [Moderator's Note: I would suggest that to deliberatly connive and structure things in that way amounts to fraud even though all you are doing is taking advantage of flaws in the system. Anyway, to be 'slammed' means to process the change without your signature. The carrier has your signature on the back of the check you signed, and if your signature is not sufficient to dictate your choice of carrier then I don't know what would be. Actually, if the local telco froze changes on your account on the basis of your phone call alone, in effect you 'slammed' yourself. Slamming by definition means the undocumented change or confirmation of carriers. Your signature is adequate documentation. PAT] ------------------------------ From: catfood@wariat.org (Mark W. Schumann) Subject: Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? Date: 17 Nov 1993 23:27:26 -0500 Organization: Akademia Pana Kleksa, Public Access Uni* Site In article , Henry Mensch wrote: > Now, I remember reading in this space that some folks were able to > redeem these checks with their current LD carrier without having to > switch carriers ... has anyone done this lately ... with AT&T? If so, > how ...? Yes, you have to switch carriers. But read the fine print. You can switch to the new carrier and change right back again the next day if you like; just wait for the check to clear and the paperwork to go through. What's neat about this is if you have AT&T, then cash an MCI check, you will likely get a check from AT&T to come back. If you play your cards right it can be a lot of free money. :-) In answer to the obvious question, yes, I am really a pain in the neck to play Monopoly with also. Mark W. Schumann/3111 Mapledale Avenue/Cleveland, Ohio 44109-2447 USA Preferred: mark@whizbang.wariat.org | Alternative: catfood@wariat.org "Aren't you glad you didn't marry someone dumber than you?" --my wife [Moderator's Note: Regards your signature, it was W.C. Fields who once commented on his choice of girlfriends, 'The dumber they are, the better I like 'em ... :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 12:19:41 CDT From: weberdd@clover.macc.wisc.edu Reply-To: weberdd@macc.wisc.edu Subject: Re: Strange T1 Behavior In a previous message, Tom Lowe writes: > I have a client with several T1s from Sprint. A strange thing happens > when I place a 14.4 modem call to one of the channels and a voice call > to an ADJACENT channel (using 800 numbers). A static type of noise > becomes present on the voice call when the far end is talking. It is > especially noticable when listening to ringback or busy signal. If I > disconnect the modem call, the static goes away. > If there is one or more channels between the calls, there is no problem. > The T1 is using D4 and AMI formats. I am not getting any timing slips. > Has anyone experienced such behavior or have any ideas? This could be crosstalk. The data on a 14.4 modem sounds like noise to our human ears. In addition to happening within the T span, the cross-talk can occur at your end (before the calls get in to the span), or at the far end (after the calls get off the span). I assume you have two analog lines at your work location; one for the voice call and one for the modem line. The crosstalk can occur in the cable from your office to the distribution frame, or at the far end from their distribution frame to their work location. The fact that the problem does not occur when there is one or more channels between the calls does not necessarily implicate the T1. It could be that the crosstalk occurs within the last three feet of the cable (in the distribution frame, where the cables are "punched" down on the terminal block). David Devereaux-Weber (608) 262-3584 (voice) MACC Communications; B263 (608) 262-4679 (FAX) 1210 W Dayton St. weberdd@macc.wisc.edu (Internet) Madison, WI 53706 ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: Strange T1 Behavior Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 02:43:04 GMT In article , tomlowe@netcom.com (Tom Lowe) writes: > I have a client with several T1s from Sprint. A strange thing happens > when I place a 14.4 modem call to one of the channels and a voice call > to an ADJACENT channel (using 800 numbers). A static type of noise > The T1 is using D4 and AMI formats. I am not able to help with a solution to this one, but I am very interested in it, as I have a customer who is about to install a substantial amount of Sprint T-1 service. You don't say how the T-1 line from Sprint is terminated at your client's site. Is there a channel bank? If so, which one? What's on the analog side of it? My instinctive answer would be to look there for the crosstalk. How about your end? Are your analog voice and data circuits leaking? Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #767 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa05599; 19 Nov 93 3:35 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA27875 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Fri, 19 Nov 1993 00:32:40 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07585 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 19 Nov 1993 00:32:00 -0600 Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 00:32:00 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311190632.AA07585@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #768 TELECOM Digest Fri, 19 Nov 93 00:32:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 768 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Canadian Govt Database Updates (Tyson Macaulay) Query For Network Designers on a LAN/WAN Problem (Dean Pentcheff) Serial Protocol For NT TCM/MPDA (Bill Riess) GSM Interference (was Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS?) (Erik Ramberg) Custom Cable Makers? (David Morgenstern) Mobilnet Pushing Credit Card Verification Over Cellular (Barry Lustig) Fiber Amplifiers and Solitons (Fred Bertsch) Terse 800 Failure ... Oh My! (Scott M. Pfeffer) Compression With ISDN (Roger Fajman) Watch Those Memos: TCI Memo Text (Reed Vance) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 15:54:13 EST From: Tyson=Macaulay%DTP%DGCP=HQ=ADMSR@dgbt.banyan.doc.ca Subject: Canadian Govt Database Updates ***** ATTACHMENT: G:\DATABASE\00ANNOU.N18 ***** Latest additions to Industry and Science Canada's Internet database ******************* Dernieres additions a la base de donnees Internet Industrie et Sciences Canada All files are available via anonymous ftp gopher and listserv unless otherwise stated. Tous les fichiers sont accessibles par le truchement de la commande GOPHER ou LISTSERV du protocole de transfert de fichier (ftp) anonyme, sauf indications contraires. Anonymous ftp to debra.dgbt.doc.ca /pub/isc Gopher to debra.dgbt.doc.ca port 70 If you Gopher into the database a WAIS search-engine is available to scan the entire database for keywords. Do to the large number of files this is the recommended approach -- if available. Si vous entrez dans la base de donnees a l'aide de la commande Gopher, une ressource de recherche WAIS permet de rechercher des mots cles dans toute la base de donnees. En raison du grand nombre de fichiers, voici l'approche recommandee, s'il y a lieu. Send Listserv commands to Listserv@debra.dgbt.doc.ca with the command / Lancez les commandes Listserv a Listservdebra.dgbt.doc.ca a l'aide de la commande get isc 00readme in the body of the message/ a l'interieur du message. This file will give more details about listserv access. / Ce fichier vous permet d'obtenir plus de details sur l'acces a listserv. New files in /pub/isc: *** Insight.zip Information Technology Statistical Review 1993 / Revue statistique de 1993 sur la technologie de l'information This is a software package contaning IT information for the Canadian and US IT industries in hypertext format. This program is to run on PC and requires about 9 megs of free disk space. Instructions for installation and running are included in the zip file: Il s'agit d'un progiciel qui contient des renseignements sur la technologie de l'information (TI) pour les industries de la TI au Canada et aux Etats-Unis, en format hypertexte. Ce programme tourne sur les PC et necessite quelque 9 Mo d'espace disque. Les instructions d'installation et d'execution sont incluses dans le fichier comprime (zip); Be sure to decompress this file using the command / Prenez soin de decomprimer ce fichier a l'aide de la commande: pkunzip -d insight.zip *** privacy.protection.in.telecommunications.english This file is concerned with the privacy implications of telecommunications services made possible by new technology and market changes. Its particular focus is that privacy issues should be dealt with as a telecommunications-specific matter, taking into account the need to balance the cost against the benefits of telecommunications service innovations. The paper proposes that privacy principles be developed through a public consultation process, and implementedon by the telecommunications carriers and service providers. *** protection.privee.telecommunications.francais Ce fichier a trait aux repercussions de la Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels en matiere de services de telecommunication, protection maintenant possible grace a la nouvelle technologie et aux changements qui caracterisent les marches. Il permet, notamment, d'assurer que les questions relatives a la protection des renseignements personnels soient traitees strictement dans le contexte des telecommunications, et de tenir compte de la necessite de trouver le juste equilibre entre les couts et les avantages des innovations dans le domaine des services de telecommunications. Dans cette communication, nous proposons que les principes regissant la protection des renseignements personnels soient elabores dans le cadre d'un processus de consultation, puis mis en oeuvre par les entreprises de telecommunications et les fournisseurs de services. *** isc.programs.english This file contains information about the various government programs available from ISC to aid in technology development by the private sector in Canada. All documents are available in English and French. *** programmes.isc.francais Ce fichier contient des renseignements sur les divers programmes gouvernementaux offerts par ISC, destines au developpement technologique par le secteur prive au Canada. Tous les documents sont disponibles en anglais et en francais. *** videotheque.library.english This is a catalogue of the video library that ISC makes available to the private sector in Canada for free. All files are in both English and French. An order-form file is included individually. *** videotheque.bibliotheque.francais Il s'agit d'un catalogue de la videotheque qu'ISC met gratuitement a la disposition du secteur prive au Canada. Tous les fichiers sont disponibles en anglais et en francais. Un fichier de formules de commande y est inclus. In addition to these new files in /pub/isc there are three new subdirectories with several hundred files, these directories are only available via anonymous ftp and gopher. Outre ces nouveaux fichiers dans /pub/isc, trois nouveaux sous-repertoires sont associes a plusieurs centaines de fichiers; ces repertoires ne sont accessibles que par le truchement des commandes ftp et gopher anonymes. /pub/isc/technology.networking.guide The **Technology Networking Guide -- Canada** documents Canadian private and public sector technology information sources, services, programs and contacts. These files are intended to aid Canadian business in the location of technology expertise, assistance and opportunities which will create new business and help the expansion of existing industries. Le **Guide de la gestion de la technologie en reseau - Canada** documente les sources d'informations technologiques des secteurs public et prive au Canada, les services, les programmes et les ressources qui s'y rattachent. Le but de ces fichiers est d'aider les entreprises canadiennes a recenser l'expertise technologique, a obtenir l'assistance necessaire et a repertorier les possibilites de creation de nouvelles affaires, tout en contribuant a l'expansion des industries existantes. /pub/isc/isc.publications.english This directory contains a list of publications sponsored by the department of Industry and Science Canada. The publications are arranged chronologically according to sector area. Information for obtaining each publication is made available along with the abstract. /pub/isc/publications.isc.francais Ce repertoire contient une liste de publications parrainees par Industries et Sciences Canada. Les publications sont classees dans un ordre chronologique, par sujet. Le resume fourni contient les renseignements de commande de chaque publication. Questions or comments should be addressed to: Veuillez faire parvenir tous commentaires ou questions a l'attention de: Tyson Macaulay Internet Applications Consultant Industry and Science Canada 7th Floor, Journal Tower North 300 Slater Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C8 (613) 993 7882 e-mail / courrier electronique: tyson@debra.dgbt.doc.ca tyson.macaulay@crc.doc.ca File updated / Mise a jour de fichier: Nov 18, 1993 ------------------------------ From: dean2@tbone.biol.scarolina.edu (Dean Pentcheff) Subject: Query For Network Designers on a LAN/WAN Problem Date: 18 Nov 1993 14:01:49 -0500 Organization: Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia I'm working at the University of South Carolina in the Biological Sciences Department. We've begun to explore the possibilities of setting up a network to provide scientific information and images to secondary schools in the state. The idea is to provide a network for teachers and students to correspond, and also to provide some Internet access (via such tools as Mosaic for Windows and Usenet News). The original plan was very simple: one computer per school with a high-speed modem. There are about eight schools involved, so we figured on a modem bank on this end with eight modems. They'd dial in and get connected to our host machine and use SLIP for TCP/IP connectivity. Fine. Then, in talking with the teachers, it became evident that we had to set up multiple machines per school (essentially one per science/math classroom) or the whole thing would be sort of useless. Now we're in over our heads and need some help to think about this. I'm assuming that the basic way to go about this would be to set up a LAN at each school (perhaps 10Base2 Ethernet cards in each computer since that's what I'm familiar with). I assume there's a way to link that network with our host at USC. What do we need? We're pretty clueless. I'm assuming that we need something like the following: School _Some flavor of phone line PC--| / PC--| / PC--|--Magic Box 1--Modem?--*--Modem?--|-Magic Box 2--Campus net PC--| | or our host PC--| | | School | PC--| | PC--|--Magic Box 1--Modem?--*--Modem?--| | School | PC--| | PC--|--Magic Box 1--Modem?--*--Modem?--| I don't know what "Magic Box 1" is. Are there devices that can can be directly hooked up to an Ethernet and relay packets to a remote site (bridge?). What type of phone line is appropriate? Is it possible to do this on a dialup line or is that a stupid idea? If so, what sort of leased line would be appropriate (keeping in mind that the cost of this _must_ be low). What's needed on our end? A modem for each incoming line? There must be another "Magic Box" on the other end - do we need just one (as diagrammed), or do we need one for each incoming phone line? How are those connected to the campus network? Or would we connect directly to our host? You see how lost we are? What are good sources of information on this sort of thing? Alternately, if there's someone out there who does this sort of thing professionally, I'd be extremely appreciative if you'd let me give you a call and pick your brain for 15 minutes. I suspect that to people in the networking biz, this is a pretty trivial thing to set up. Our problem is that we don't have the background to even begin to assess the multitude of possibilities. Thanks for any info or leads you can send me! N. Dean Pentcheff Biological Sciences, Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia SC 29208 (803-777-8998) Internet addresses: pentcheff@pascal.acm.org or dean2@tbone.biol.scarolina.edu ------------------------------ From: bill_riess@il.us.swissbank.com Subject: Serial Protocol For NT TCM/MPDA Organization: Swiss Bank Corporation CM&T Division Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 23:10:08 GMT We are trying to interface a Northern Telecom phone to some of our computer applications in a Non-PC/MAC environment (ie: does NOT compete with NT's VISIT products). We may implement some VISIT-like features, but Northern Telecom says they have "no plans" to do anything in our envivonment. I have talked (at length) to Northern Telecom about the serial protocol used between their Meridian Programmable Data Adapter (MPDA) and the attached device (PC, Workstation, whatever.) This apparently is the same as used by their Meridian TelAdaptor TCM. This is the protocol a PC running VISIT Voice or VISIT Video uses to "talk" to the phone, controlling the various features and functions. The manual that comes with the TCM or MPDA does have some simple "AT" commands for control, but there is a "transparent" mode (activaed with "ATTSP!") that allows for access to the RAW SIGNALLING between the PBX and phone and "is used by some special software applications". This mode is used by the VISIT products. It seems Northen Telecom is rather secretive about how this stuff works, even though AT&T and Rolm publish and distribute equivalent information for their respective equipment. NT actually has the documentation, it is called "The TCM Loop Series (2616) Aeries Subset of x.11 Commands", Northern Document F2K90AC, but they are unwilling and/or unable to release it. My frustration makes me want to just reverse-engineer the protocol, which appears straight-forward, as I have done a similar thing previously. However, I'd rather spend my time more productively. Which leads me to my questions: Does anyone out there have documentation on this Protocol? OR Can you tell me how to obtain it? OR Can you suggest someone who does/can? OR Do you have an other approaches/ideas? Thanks! Bill Riess Swiss Bank Corp. 141 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago Illinois Phone: +1 312 554 5150 FAX: +1 312 554 5030 E-Mail: bill_riess@swissbank.com The opinions expressed above are NOT those of Swiss Bank Corp., and I will likely disavow they are mine if confronted. ------------------------------ From: erik_ramberg@SMTP.esl.com (Erik Ramberg) Subject: GSM Interference (was Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS?) Date: 18 Nov 1993 21:39:46 GMT Organization: ESL Inc. In article , dave@llondel.demon.co.uk (David Hough) wrote: > As any radio amateur worth his salt will know, 100% amplitude > modulation of a signal with what amounts to a square wave is bound to > cause problems. Still, look at it the other way: now we have something > else to blame when the TV picture breaks up into a mass of > interference :-) Huh?!? GSM uses GMSK, i.e. MSK with a Gaussian window. TDMA uses DQPSK, or a quaternary form of phase shift keying. Both of these formats are designed to fit within the channel bandwidth and are very different from the AM that you discribe. Though I'm sure nobody really knows what's to blame for the interference, if anything it's some strange intermod problem rather than directly attributal to the move to a TDMA type system. Erik Nothing that I say can be construed as the opinion of my employer. ------------------------------ From: davidm@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (David Morgenstern) Subject: Custom Cable Makers? Organization: California State University, Sacramento Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 17:00:51 GMT I've used one of these Radio Shack devices to tape record phone calls in the past (nothing nefarious). I would split the line and one side would go to the phone and the other to the tape recorder with the help of a little switch box with cables. But here's the problem. I'm working now in a place with a Meridian system, which won't let me do this. I would guess that if I could split the handle then I could do this. What I need is a special cable (with a bunch of capacitors and whatever) to divide the handle cable, with one side going to the handle, and the other to a regular tape recorder line in plug. Or second best, an adaptor for the device I already own ...? Does anyone know of some places that could do this kind of work? And how much? Or if you've seen it already done in a catalog? Please reply to davidm@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu. Thanks, David Morgenstern, davidm@sfsu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 18:57:08 -0500 From: Barry Lustig Subject: Mobilnet Pushing Credit Card Verification Over Cellular Organization: ICTV Systems, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (408) 562-9200 In the "Quality Talk" newsletter issued with my latest bill from GTE Mobilnet bill was an article titled "New Mobile Merchant Captures More Sales". The article goes on to describe a product from Verifone that allows merchants to do credit card capture and authorization in the "field". Unfortunately, they don't mention anything about whether or not card numbers go out over the air in the clear. When will these folks start dealing with the reality of cellular snooping. barry [Moderator's Note: The 'reality of cellular snooping' is that there really isn't much of it and what there is is considerably overrated. Relatively few people bother doing it, although lots of people are excited at first knowing they can do it with their modified scanner, etc. Then after a week or less of listening to others, when they realize that unlike a soap opera they listen to on television, the calls they pick up on the scanner will be there a few seconds or a minute and drop off as soon as the tower they are monitoring passes the call, they get bored. Their scanner flips endlessly through 832 channels, hitting the same conversations over and over that they do not want to hear, so they have to reach over and step it up a channel to start the scan process again; then when one that does sound interesting comes along, its there a few seconds and the tower passes it off; finding where (what channel) it moved to is anyone's guess, and the folks sit there scanning and trying to follow it, but give up. As noted, after a week or so they get tired of the game and go back to listening to their local police frequencies, or other stable conversations where the radio either talks or remains silent but they don't have to keep stepping past stuff they don't want and chasing after what they find mildly interesting. The nature of how cellular phones work does not make them all that easy a target for repeated and constant listening to any one phone by any one snoop, etc where scanners are concerned. But what about the professional con-artist you say? The one who uses special equipment to capture ESN data (as one example) and install it in other phones? What real use do you think he has of your credit card number, particularly when he does not have your name and address to go along with it? Is he going to do a phone order for merchandise and have it come to *his* address to be signed for? People who wish to fraudulently use the credit of others want the *plastic* to present to merchants in a situation where the merchandise can be carried away on the spot. They don't like leaving audit trails; messy things like ANI records of their 800 call; a UPS delivery record of a package signed for by 'someone' in their residence, etc. The fleeting second or two that a credit card number is recited over a cellular phone poses no greater risk than the fleeting second or two you are punching digits at a cash station machine (for example) which has a hardwired landline phone to the bank's computer. Do you have equal concerns about the possibility -- quite remote -- that someone is tapping a multiple on the pair between the cash station and the bank to pick up tidbits of information regards card numbers and PINS? The chance of your credit card number getting abused by someone plucking it off the airwaves without your name, address and PIN to go along with it is equally remote. At least at the cash station, your account number and PIN are put in the machine and transmitted; is that a better deal to you? Phreaks being phreaks, they will always manage to rip some people off. But to *not* use cellular phones for card verification in remote settings (like an outside flea market for example) would drive the cost of credit higher than it already is, forcing everyone to pay more. The credit granters would rather take a risk on an occassional -- very occassional, very rare, INHO -- fraud by an opportunistic person who just happened to be tuned in scanning, just happened to land on the channel handling your call; just happened to have a pen and paper handy and just happened to have a criminal mindset all at the same time that your credit card number was passed. I agree. PAT] ------------------------------ From: fbertsch@msc.cornell.edu (Fred Bertsch) Subject: Fiber Amplifiers and Solitons Organization: Cornell-Materials-Science-Center Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 00:07:54 GMT I've heard that AT&T already has some Er doped fiber amplifiers in some terrestrial lines, and next year they plan two submarine cabels using them. Are other telecom carriers far behind? It seems as though the technology should be significantly cheaper than recons- tructing the signal electronically. How about solitons? I seem to remember that NTT managed to generate them. Is that true? Anyone else? Fred ------------------------------ From: sp9183@swuts.sbc.com (Scott M. Pfeffer) Subject: Terse 800 Failure ... Oh My! Date: 19 Nov 93 02:25:28 GMT Organization: Southwestern Bell Telephone Company After reading an article about Ascend Corp. in this newsgroup I called the number listed in the article after hours. To make a long story short, the recording at Ascend gave an 800 number to call for customer service ... I called the number, but accidently misdialed: 1 800 272-3631 as opposed to the number I should have ... In any event, I got the following: One ring. "Click" High-paid male announcer's voice saying "A system error has occurred. Goodbye." "Click" Delay Dialtone. Time: 8:10 pm From: St. Louis Date: 11/16/93 Weird. I wonder who the carrier was ...? I wonder where the problem was ...? I wonder what this world has come to ...? Reminds me of the old days when terse young men used to serve as operators (way before any of us were cognitive human beings ...) Scott Pfeffer Information Services, Southwestern Bell Telephone [Moderator's Note: I just got the same message by trying the number now from Chicago. It is not a carrier recording, it is a customer's recording, probably from a voicemail system misprogrammed. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Roger Fajman Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 21:09:02 EST Subject: Compression With ISDN > While some modem purveyors are claiming much faster speeds, these are > the result of data compression which works just as well over ISDN as > over a modem. If you stick to apple-apples comparisons it's still 128 > Kbps vs. 28 Kbps and that's a big difference by any measure. Yes, of course it's true that it's possible to do compression over ISDN. But is it practical today? As far as I know, there is no standard way of doing compression over ISDN and that ISDN terminal adapters sold today generally do not have compression. True or not true? If not, please mention some manufacturers and model numbers. Roger Fajman Telephone: +1 301 402 4265 National Institutes of Health BITNET: RAF@NIHCU Bethesda, Maryland, USA Internet: RAF@CU.NIH.GOV ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 13:43:52 CST From: Reed Vance Subject: Watch Those Memos: TCI Memo Text This is supposedly the text of the infamous TCI Memo. This was passed to me from someone on the telecomreg Listserv:Telecomreq LISTSERV. To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: TCI MEMO TEXT Here's the full text of the memo from TCI Cable COO Barry Marshall to the troops: As we move into the regulatory environment, it's important to remember something vital ... under regulation, we can't simply adjust our economics anymore. We have to take the revenue from the sources that we can, when we can. To that end I want to remind each of you that the transaction charges for upgrades, downgrades, customer-caused service calls, VCR hookups, etc. are vital new revenue sources to us. We estimate that by charging for these functions we can recover almost half of what we're losing from rate adjustments. We have to have discipline. Much like the install fee problem, we cannot be dissuaded from the charges simply because customers object. It will take a while but they'll get used to it ... they pay it to other service providers all the time ... and it isn't free with the phone company! Please hang in on this and installs, and we can still have a great fourth quarter when we have our heaviest volume. The best news of all is, we can blame it on reregulation and the government now. Let's take advantage of it! Reed Vance Irving, TX USA rvance@metronet.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #768 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa06670; 19 Nov 93 4:56 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01611 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Fri, 19 Nov 1993 01:58:43 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA18318 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 19 Nov 1993 01:58:03 -0600 Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 01:58:03 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311190758.AA18318@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #769 TELECOM Digest Fri, 19 Nov 93 01:58:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 769 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Microsoft Telephony API/SPI (Toby Nixon) Re: "Press (__) to Hear Special Message ..." (Mike King) Re: Crummy Service in NY (Gordon Jacobson) Re: Atomic Clocks (was: For A Good Time, Call 202-653-1800) (Alex Ranous) Re: Nationwide Caller ID (Patrick Chung-Pui Ko) Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet (Lars Poulsen) Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Michael P. Deignan) Re: Need to Buy E1 to T1 Converter (Ken A. Becker) Re: CA Tax Regulations for LD Providers (Paul Robinson) Re: CA Tax Regulations for LD Providers (Bob Schwartz) Re: Calling Card Question (Kevin A. Mitchell) Re: Calling Card Question (Paul Robinson) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (David Leibold) Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes (John R. Levine) Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes (Carl Moore) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tnixon@microsoft.com (Toby Nixon) Subject: Re: Microsoft Telephony API/SPI Organization: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond WA, USA Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 00:47:47 GMT In article declrckd@rtsg.mot.com wrote: > In article , Joe Armstrong > wrote: >> Does anybody have any information available about products which use >> the recently published Microsoft Telephony API/SPI? > Given, that this spec is supported, and written by a joint venture of > two companies with little or no communications experience (Intel and > Micro$oft), it seems to have little promise of being adopted as a > standard. > This may change, if a major PBX or switch vendor buys into it. When Windows Telephony was announced back in May, over 40 companies participated. In addition to Microsoft and Intel, companies which have announced support include: Acer America Acotec GmbH Active Voice Corporation Alcatel Business Systems Group Ameritech Analog Devices Articulate Systems Aspect Communications AT&T Global Business Communications Systems Bell Atlantic Centigram Communications Corporation Compaq Computer Corporation Contact Software International Cypress Research Corporation DEES Communication Engineering Ltd. Delrina Dialogic Digital Equipment Corporation DSP Group, Inc. Ericsson Business Communications Executone Information Systems Floreat, Inc. Fujitsu Business Communications Systems GPT Harris Digital Telephone Systems Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. InteCom, Inc. ISOCOR Jensen-Jones, Inc. Lotus Mitel Momentum Data Systems Motorola Digital Signal Processor Operation Motorola/Universal Data Systems National Semiconductor, Inc. Natural MicroSystems NEC Corporation Northern Telecom Octel Communications Corporation OCTuS, Inc. PictureTel Polaris Software Rhetorex Rockwell International Corporation Siemens Private Communication Systems Group (ROLM) Sequent Computer Systems, Inc. Smart Technologies Spectron TeleInt GmbH Toshiba America Information Systems Unifi Communications Corporation US West Communications, Inc. VMX, Inc. Voice Technologies Group, Inc. I think you'll agree that this includes most of the major players in the industry, including the "major PBX or switch vendors" you say are necessary for success (AT&T, Northern Telecom, Seimens/Rolm, Ericsson, Alcatel, Fujitsu, NEC, Harris, Intecom, Mitel, etc.), plus all of the major PC-based voice processing companies, most of the makers of telephony hardware chips, many major data, fax, and voice software developers, major telephone network operators, etc. Over 10,000 copies of the preliminary specification have been downloaded from various FTP sites and CompuServe, in addition to the thousands mailed out on paper and diskette from Microsoft. The official release of the SDK is imminent. As for "little or no communications experience", I was Principal Engineer at Hayes for nine years, and their representative in US and international standards committees (including TIA and CCITT). Similar experience exists of the Intel side. You can't assume that companies at Microsoft will stand still and not hire the best talent in pursuit of major corporate initiatives. The spec wasn't developed in a vacuum, either; most of the companies mentioned above (including your own) have made extensive contributions as it was developed. I'm happy to say that the vast majority of industry analysts have heartily disagreed with your assessment that Windows Telephony has "little promise of being adopted as a standard." On the contrary, it will be the core of switched communications support in the next major version of Windows, and a major part of continuing to make personal computing easier to use. Toby Nixon Program Manager -- Windows Telephony Digital Office Systems Group Microsoft Corporation ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 08:10:07 EST From: mking@fsd.com (Mike King) Subject: Re: "Press (__) to Hear Special Message ..." In TELECOM Digest, V13 #742, elana@netcom.com (Elana Beach) wrote: > I want to somehow have the simple option of an answering machine that > will allow me to say something like: "Press 1 for the latest news on > Chris Franke's limited CD release". That way, anyone who wants to > hear that stuff would have the option, and others can just ignore it > and leave a message like usual. Would you consider the inverse? Most GE, Panasonic, and AT&T answering machines have a feature where the caller can press '*' to avoid the rest of the outgoing message and get the beep immediately. Perhaps you could set your OGM to, "If you'd like to leave a message, press star; otherwise stay on hte line for the latest news on Chris Franke's limited CD release." I've used my machine in that manner when I've needed to leave the house but I wanted to get a message to the caller. "Hello, if this is ...., please stay on the line; otherwise, press star to leave a message." Of course, I never left confidential messages in that manner. Mike mking@fsd.com * Usual disclaimers * ------------------------------ Reply-To: gaj@pcs.win.net (Gordon Jacobson) Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 00:02:08 Subject: Re: Crummy Service in NY From: gaj@pcs.win.net (Gordon Jacobson) > Oh, and I cannot get ISDN, either. All Business Service NYTel COs south of 57th Street provide ISDN PRI/BRI. Call Bob Block at (212) 395 5272. > My service comes from the "Second Avenue" central office in Manhattan. So does mine -- 2nd Avenue and 56th Street in fact. And I can get ISDN whenever I want it. Regards, GAJ ------------------------------ From: ranous@news.nsa.hp.com (Alex Ranous) Subject: Re: Atomic Clocks (was: For A Good Time, Call 202-653-1800) Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 22:14:09 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Networked Systems Architecture Lou Fernandez (lff@sequent.com) wrote: > For more than you ever wanted to know about time, frequency and > clocks, I recommend you consult the July 1991 issue of the Proceeding > of the IEEE, Special Issue on Time and Frequency. Another place to find about this subject which is a bit more approchable is the July 93 issue of {Scientific American} in an artical titled "Accurate Measurement of Time" Alex ------------------------------ From: patko@uclink.berkeley.edu (Patrick Chung-Pui Ko) Subject: Re: Nationwide Caller ID Date: 19 Nov 1993 02:09:07 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley Is there any way I could get a phone service from Northwest Bell in California? Since PacBell plays games can we just use a different telco? [Moderator's Note: Sure you can, subject to a few requirements and a big budget for phone service. You can call 'Northwest Bell' or any telco you like; tell them you want Foreign Exchange (FX) service at your address in California. In other words, you want local Minneapolis dialtone or whatever. They'll be glad to arrange it for you, and of course, they'll coordinate it through PacBell since that's the telco which will supply the wire pair. You'll pay many, many hundreds of dollars per month for the FX circuit; but when you pick up the phone you'll get dialtone from the city of your choice and when someone dials that local number wherever, it will in fact ring on your phone in California. Two caveats, or maybe three: you won't be able to make *local* calls on that phone, since *local* will be defined as the service area of 'Northwest Bell'. I hope you know a lot of people living in Minneapolis, because you will be able to call them like a local call. Another caveat: it is questionable if custom calling features will be available to you. Not all telcos offer custom calling with FX service; I think it is the exception if they do. A third caveat: plan to pay PacBell for two things: the minimum monthly amount for one of their lines you never use since you have to have some form of local service as part of the deal, and also plan to pay PacBell for the wiring you are leasing from them to bring your 'Northwest Bell' service in to you -- unless the remote telco is paying it direct to PacBell and charging it back to you. In summary, each local telco has a protected area which is theirs alone to serve. At the present time, and in the immediate future, it is unlikely the Bell Companies -- or for that matter, any of the inde- pent telcos who have historically worked together -- will invade each other's territories to provide local dialtone. On the other hand, had you asked if you could ditch PacBell and go with a *non-traditional* carrier -- say, your local cable company, or one of the upstarts in recent years like Metropolitan Fiber, my answer would be maybe you can before long. But in real practice, no you can't right now unless you are a big business and can justify the cost of FX. PAT] ------------------------------ From: lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: Sri Lanka is Joining the Internet Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 17:49:27 GMT I have received large amounts of email with proof that the Federal Networking Council's ban on routing Internet packets to Russia has been lifted, and RELCOM has installed a line to ALTER.NET. I am pleased to see this concession to reality. Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@CMC.COM CMC Network Products Phone: (011-) +45-31 49 81 08 Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B Telefax: +45-31 49 83 08 DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK Internets: designed and built while you wait ------------------------------ From: md@maxcy2.maxcy.brown.edu (Michael P. Deignan) Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Reply-To: mpd@anomaly.sbs.com Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 23:59:27 GMT In article , mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) writes: > Under federal law, any conversation going through a cellular switch is > considered a telephone conversation subject to the wiretap laws (the > technical term is "wire communication". A cellular phone is just as > private as a landline phone, because people have the same legal right > not to be "scanned" as they do not to have someone tapping in on a > craft set. Why is it not illegal to listen to cordless phone conversation then? Cordless phones work on the same principle as cellular, except you only have a single "cell" (your base station) to communicate with. Michael P. Deignan Population Studies & Training Center Brown University, Box 1916, Providence, RI 02912 (401) 863-7284 [Moderator's Note: Why? Because the industry association which represents cordless phone manufacturers does not have the same political pull with Congress that the cellular phone companies have. If they would offer cash bribes -- only they call them gifts to the congress person's campaign fund -- the same as the cellular carriers did, then they could have a stupid law passed on their behalf also. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 09:31:26 EST From: kab@hotsc.att.com Subject: Re: Need to Buy E1 to T1 Converter Organization: AT&T In article , wts1@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (wts1) writes: > In article ken@pluto.dss.com (Ken > Adler) writes: >> Does anyone know of any companies that make a box that takes in one or >> more E1 trunks and convert it to multiple T1 trunks? >> I urgently need contact info for companies that have such a product. > Tellabs makes a T1 to CEPT (E1) PCM standards converter. > Tellabs International Inc. > 4951 Indiana Avenue > Lisle, IL 60532 > > PH: (708) 969-8800 > FAX: (708) 969-2884 > William T. Sykes AT&T FSAT-Engineering att!gcuxb!gcwts Well, I hope this doesn't turn into an advertising campaign. AT&T happens to make a system called DACS II (Digital Accress and Cross-connect Switch) that does this stuff to a fair-thee-well. In fact, we sell these things in E1 land, T1 land, and in all those places in between that need to convert. The small, cheap version (ISX) handles between 1 and 64 T1's or E1's; the biggie (CEF) can get up to 2,560 T1's or 2048 E1's, or any combination in between. Why do I know? Look at the sig. Ken Becker kab@hotsc.att.com DACS II circuit design [Moderator's Note: Ah, don't worry about 'commercializing the net'. I'm alleged to do it all the time. What a joke! PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 20:46:03 EST Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: Re: CA Tax Regulations for LD Providers From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA > Perhaps someone in the group -- or the Moderator -- can help me get > some information. Does anybody know the regulations and rates for > determining if tax is applicable, and what taxes, a LD provider > located OUTSIDE of California for long distance calls originating > within (and if applicable) outside of California? [Text Deleted] > [Moderator's Note: No, no, you do not want to get involved in utility > tax accounting and procedures. Repeat after me, "I do not want to know > about utility tax accounting procedures ...". Say it a few more times. I absolutely agree that you _do not_ want to have to do utility tax accounting. Especially not in California, since you would probably have to get California Public Utilities Commission Certification as a Common Carrier. (See my article in the Digest on the status of the CAL PUC within about a year ago, "... Is the Highest Law of the Land ...") As a former resident and California Sales Tax Permit holder, the paperwork isn't too bad for sales tax, but PUC rules are a mess. What you really want to do is figure out if you can operate the organization entirely from a state that either has no sales tax or has almost no chance of having any customers from within that state. I ran a mail-order software sales business out of a Post Office Box in the District of Columbia for just that reason. Since I never sold anything to a District address and had no warehouse or facilities outside the District, I did not have to collect sales tax. (I did have a District Sales tax permit and sent the forms in with zero sales on them). Based on newspaper reports (see, I get around being accused of practicing law) There are two Supreme Court Cases on this subject. One is a 1966 Connecticut Department of Revenue case: if you have no presence in a state you cannot be required to collect sales tax by it. The second is the recent (1992) Quill decision. Quill Corporation, an Illiniois office supply company, sells all over the country. The North Dakota Department of Revenue decided that since Quill is running ads that show up in North Dakota, it has a presence in the state and must collect tax. The State Supreme Court agreed. The U.S. Supreme Court continued the holding in the 1966 case, saying that only the U.S. Congress has the power to authorize such a collection. Since Congress has not done so, Quill is under no obligation to pay sales tax to a state it has no presence (warehouse, office space or agent) within. So, if you are going to run a common carrier, pick a state either with not enough people to matter not taking (like Wyoming, which has less people in it than the District), and only do interstate calls, or pick a state without sales tax (Like Nevada or New Hampshire) and operate from there. Or just operate from your own state but don't do any intrastate business and don't have any facilities, warehouses or agents in any state you do carry calls from. Mailing bills does not constitute having a presence there; buy the trunks from AT&T or MCI or someone and let them pay the sales taxes on their transactions. You could also consider DC as a place to operate. :) I would also note that the District of Columbia has a special exemption on certain sales taxes paid by "long distance telephone companies." There are only two long distance companies operating in the District: Mid Atlantic Telecom and MCI. Which of these do you think was big enough to get an exemption passed? :) Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ Subject: Re: CA Tax Regulations for LD Providers From: bob@bci.nbn.com (Bob Schwartz) Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 21:30:01 PST Organization: Bill Correctors, Inc., Marin County, California ole!rwing!pat@nwnexus.wa.com (Pat Myrto) writes: > Perhaps someone in the group -- or the Moderator -- can help me get > some information. Does anybody know the regulations and rates for > determining if tax is applicable, and what taxes, a LD provider > located OUTSIDE of California for long distance calls originating > within (and if applicable) outside of California? > Telccom outfits in CA are quite evasive on the subject (read: no > useful information), and there has been not very much luck in getting > meaningful information from authorities. This has been going on for It's not quite as tough as our Moderator describes. There are a limited number of taxes and applications. Yes, there are legions of bureaucrats that do this for telcos but remember that some bureaucrats work so hard and fererishly that we have forgotten that the work they do is not at all necessary. In the past we have used information from Veretex, 1041 Old Cassatt Rd, Berwyn PA, 19312 (215-640-4200) speak with John Riewe and tell him hi from me please. They have a database on the ten thousand or so taxing jurisdictions. In short, it doesn't matter where the provider is located what does matter is the origonating location and or the terminating location. Other than veretex you might call the business office and ask for a breakdown/explanation of thge taxes on your bills. Information on exemptions can be found in thr IRS codes section 4251 I believe. Bob Schwartz bob@bci.nbn.com Bill Correctors, Inc. +1 415 488 9000 Marin County, California ------------------------------ From: kam@dlogics.com (Kevin A. Mitchell) Subject: Re: Calling Card Question Organization: Datalogics, Incorporated, Chicago, IL Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 15:24:34 GMT In article dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) writes: > Can a calling card be acquired from either the LEC or an IXC with > the following restriction: that it can -only- get billed by the Local > Carrier (where appropriate) or by the disgnated IXC? I'm pretty sure the AT&T calling card offers this feature, and that was one of the reasons I chose it. I've paid $6.95 for a one-minute call from Pontiac, IL to Elmwood Park, IL made by my wife, and a local COCOT says that credit card rates for the two blocks to home are $2.95 for the first minute. AT&T Customer Service is 1-800-CALL-ATT. They can give you the definitive answer. Also, make sure the OLD card is really cut off. I got some AOS calling card charges on my bill earlier this year, and found that my wife had used the old number. I had to make a call to Illinois B ... oops ... "Ameritech" and tell them that when I said I wanted the card turned off, I meant it. I think they dropped the charges. Kevin A. Mitchell (312) 266-3257 Datalogics, Inc Internet: kam@dlogics.com 441 W. Huron UUCP: ..!uunet!dlogics!kam ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 19:38:17 EST Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: Re: Calling Card Question From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA danny burstein , writes: > Can a calling card be acquired from either the LEC or an IXC with > the following restriction: that it can -only- get billed by the > Local Carrier (where appropriate) or by the disgnated IXC? Yes. The "85" AT&T Cards (as well as the new custom number cards) are only accepted by AT&T and by local telephone companies.* MCI and Sprint's plastic will only be accepted by them when using their 950 or 1-800 numbers. This is because when one dials 10xxx + 0 + npa + number, AT&T checks its own database as well as the database of local line company numbers. The others only check the local line company database, which is why you can't use MCI or Sprint cards even when dialing 10222 + 0 or 10333 + 0 respectively. * There is one known problem. In certain cases using a restricted calling card will allow the user to make any calls. The systems which are incorrectly implemented check the first call (which is to a valid number the restricted card is assigned to) then accept further calls from that card to any number. This appears to be common on airplane phones. My personal opinion is that if the minimum monthly charge for 800 numbers gets any lower, anyone taking *any* collect calls will find it easier to get an 800 number than to worry about collect call charges. The current rates now indicate that if you accept more than six collect calls a month, it is cheaper to get an 800 number unless they are very long duration where you need the lower per-minute rates after the first minute and you can't do a callback in such a case. > This would do a good job of reducing the tele-zleaze surcharges. The AOS systems on COCOTS cannot accept AT&T "85" cards. This is how I get around the problem of being charged $6.00 for a local call placed by AOS on a calling card, that C&P Telephone would charge 65c and AT&T would charge $1.00. Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM [Moderator's Note: 800 numbers are really the way to go now-a-days. The 800 numbers I now broker are 18.4 cents per minute of use with a $5 monthly service fee. These are your own personal 800 numbers, set up to terminate on whatever line you request, not one of the bogus deals like MCI has where you have to append some extra digits at the end. I also represent the AT&T Software Defined Network, and those 800 numbers are time of day and distance sensitive, meaning you can get an 800 number with rates of 9-10 cents per minute if the calls are at night from nearby places, etc. You have to spend at least $200-250 per month on 800 service to get one of those however since the discounts at the end of the month are factored into the final cost per minute of use. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 23:53:41 EST From: David Leibold Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized To clarify a thing or two, the (905) number given for weather is indeed using metric readings, not only in degrees Celsius, but km/h wind speeds and kilopascal barometer values (can't believe it's been that many years since I last heard of pressure readings in "inches"). The weather office serving Toronto is at the Pearson International Airport which is actually in Mississauga, Malton exchange (Bell still refers to the Mississauga area in terms of separate exchanges such as Malton, Port Credit, Streetsville, etc). It's good to hear that calls from many parts of the world are completing to 905, but there are still a few telcos who need to know about 905 (or might that be a good number of COCOTs and PBXes?). Now ... fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) wrote: > Could someone with knowledge of the 416/905 split enlighten me about > 416-551? The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission hotline was at > 416-551-3409, and I had thought that area was going to 905. Yet from 551 has been a pager exchange; this appears to have been in effect throughout the old 416 territory. What happens to such numbers is unclear since they're not part of the ordinary phone service. These numbers might still be served out of Toronto for both 416 and 905, thus the 416-551. Certainly this is not a regular exchange in the Niagara Falls/St. Catharines' region, at least last I heard. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 18:13 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes Organization: I.E.C.C. > Would NAFTA have any impact on area code assignment? If USA, Canada, > and Mexico are gonna be an economic unit, would there be motivation to > make phone calling to Mexico similar to the style used to call Canada > and USA (outside your local area code)? I doubt that dialing to Mexico will change any time soon. For one thing, it's incredibly expensive. It costs more to call Mexico City than it does to call Tokyo. Also, Mexico has a mixture of six and seven digit numbers, so they'd have to renumber to match NANP numbers. On the other hand, after 1995 there will be plenty of area codes, so if NAFTA really works, it might end up being worth doing. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 16:46:25 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes This is the first time I have heard someone wondering about NAFTA's effect on the phone system. When was NAFTA proposed originally? It's unrelated (right?) to the change in usage for 905, formerly used for some calls to Mexico and now in use for a part of Canada. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #769 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa07308; 19 Nov 93 6:17 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA26366 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Fri, 19 Nov 1993 02:53:41 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29395 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 19 Nov 1993 02:53:02 -0600 Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 02:53:02 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311190853.AA29395@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #770 TELECOM Digest Fri, 19 Nov 93 02:53:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 770 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (David Boettger) Re: Crummy Service in NY (Bob Schwartz) Re: Finally Got REAL Phone Service (Tony Pelliccio) Re: TRW Phone Print to Fight Cellular Fraud (David Woolley) Re: Long Distance Company Offers 800 Internet Access (james@kaiwan.com) Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems (David Devereaux-Weber) Re: Canada Goes 1 + 10D For All Long Distance, Sept '94 (John Little) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Dick Rawson) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Ron DeBlock) Instant Modem Banks (Martin McCormick) TAPS Software (John Little) Sprint Modem Offer/Impressions (Sean Slattery) Sprint Modem Offer :-( (Stan Hall) Automated FAX Delivery (Luis Delgado) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 12:18:00 +0000 From: David Boettger Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? In article , Alex Cena writes: > Attached are comments from Tom Crawford at Qualcomm after I forwarded > him a copy of the TDMA vs CDMA debate on the Digest. > Alex, > I am sure you knew the TDMA vs. CDMA comments would get under my skin > and I would have to respond. How do I send this response to Ed Casas, > or to the network? My comments are in caps: > CARRIERS ARE GOING TO INVEST HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, IF NOT > MORE, IN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY. I SUSPECT THEY WILL LOOK BEYOND THE > "BEST MARKETING" PITCH TO THE UNDERLYING CAPABILITIES OF THE > TECHNOLOGIES. You would hope so, but that isn't always the case, as Mr. Crawford (a marketing exec) knows. > "GROSSLY UNFAIR COMPARISONS" ARE HARDLY AN ACCURATE WAY TO DESCRIBE > CLEAR ADVANTAGES. QUALCOMM'S CAPACITY IS 10X TO 20X AMPS CAPACITY Get real! 20X has only been demonstrated on paper (e.g., W. C. Y. Lee) or, perhaps (now I am guessing), in a Qualcomm laboratory. > QUALITY COMMUNICATIONS LINK USING A HALF RATE VOCODER. IF WE ARE > WRONG AND A GOOD HALF RATE VOCODER IS AVAILABLE, QUALCOMM CAN ALSO USE > IT IN A VARIABLE RATE IMPLEMENTATION (AGAIN THROTTLING DOWN DURING > PAUSES) TO ACHIEVE AN ADDITIONAL FACTOR OF 2 IN CAPACITY GAIN, IE NOW > 20X TO 40X AMPS. ALSO, ETDMA'S USE OF DIGITAL SPEECH INTERPOLATION > ABOUT 12X OR 15X, ASSUMING EVERYTHING WORKS WELL). CDMA, WITH A HALF RATE > VOCODER WILL THEN BE AT 20X TO 40X (EVEN WITHOUT BETTER USE OF > SECTORIZATION). Wrong again. The relationship between source coder rate and absolute channel capacity (I am using "capacity" not in an information theory sense, but in a "number of telephone conversations" sense) is not linear. Using a half-rate coder in CDMA does not automatically double the number of conversations that can occur, even under ideal conditions. > RECEIVER IF FILTER WOULD BE UNABLE TO DO. THE WHOLE POINT OF CDMA IS THAT > YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SEPARATE THE SIGNALS OVER THE CHANNEL BY FREQUENCY OR > TIME. DIFFERENT CODES PERMIT YOU TO PICK OUT YOUR CONVERSATION. True enough. > "TRICKS" IMPLY DECEPTION. CDMA'S TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE AND BENEFITS HAVE > BEEN WELL TESTED AND PROVEN AGAIN AND AGAIN IN NUMEROUS TRIALS. THESE How many commercial cellular CDMA systems are deployed and stable? Approximately zero. "Well tested and proven" is a bit of a stretch, but then again, Mr. Crawford is in marketing. David Boettger boettger@bnr.ca I don't speak for my employer. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Crummy Service in NY From: bob@bci.nbn.com (Bob Schwartz) Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 16:51:35 PST Organization: Bill Correctors, Inc., Marin County, California oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > I called the telephone company business office. There's a reason that > I can't use *69, namely that my telephone exchange is too old. > Oh, and there is no scheduled date for upgrading my telephone exchange > to more modern equipment, according to the business office. Hearing about crummy lines and transmission in beautiful Manhatten makes me wonder jusy why/how the Local Loop, and End User Common Line charges are so darned high. Could it be that they have incentive for patchwork and repair which is lacking for replacements and upgrades? Bob Schwartz bob@bci.nbn.com Bill Correctors, Inc. +1 415 488 9000 Marin County, California ------------------------------ From: Anthony_Pelliccio@brown.edu (Tony Pelliccio) Subject: Re: Finally Got REAL Phone Service Date: 18 Nov 1993 20:51:28 GMT Organization: Brown University Alumni & Development Office In article , ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) wrote: > 1) My on-hook line voltage increased from ~15 volts to ~44 volts DC. > Also, the tip/ring polarity reversed from what it had been when I was > on the carrier. {stuff deleted to save space} Sounds to me like they've upgraded you to something equivalent to a SLIC-96. They tend to work very well and keep the line quality up. Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR Anthony_Pelliccio@Brown.edu Brown University Alumni & Development Computing Services Box 1908 Providence, RI 02912 (401) 863-1880 ------------------------------ From: david@djwhome.demon.co.uk (David Woolley) Subject: Re: TRW Phone Print to Fight Cellular Fraud Reply-To: david@djwhome.demon.co.uk Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 15:36:41 GMT In article is written: > Why not public key? There are several companies with commercial > applications using public key ... the government only gets antsy when > it's used for general purpose encryption of data/messages and the > register bits are long enough to eliminate any realistic crunch by a > supercomputer (i.e. a day or two). Use as an authentication device > (i.e. digital signitures) is not a big deal. In fact my Mac at home > implements this capability in the operating system! Why specifically public key? Why not allow encryption of the message as well, as done by GSM? The government can still get the keys from the network operator, or tap the signal in the fixed network. (The network operator needs to know both the session keys used for communication and the subscriber master key used to encrypt the session key when sending it to the subscriber.) The only problem I can see is if the subscriber's home network is outside the jurisdiction. In this case there is no access to the master key and there is no one place where the session keys can always be found, although the number of Visitor Location Registers which would have to be covered ought to be small. (Visitor Location Registers are the entities in GSM which store details about subcribers who are currently in the area that they cover. Amongst other things, they maintain a small cache of session keys for that subscriber.) David Woolley, London, England david@djwhome.demon.co.uk ------------------------------ From: james@kaiwan.com Subject: Re: Long Distance Company Offers 800 Internet Access Organization: KAIWAN Internet Access Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 08:20:48 GMT In article , Klaus Dimmler wrote: > Telephone Express, a regional long distance carrier in the Western > States, is offering national 800 Internet access for less than the > cost of a long distance phone call! For only 13 cents per minute, > access to a T1-Internet connected host is available from anywhere in > the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Alaka! > The host is connected directly to the ANS backbone. > For information on this, please call 800-748-1200 (voice), or write to > service@cscns.com. Just called AT&T and they quoted me no installation fee, monthly fee $10.00 ... $0.25/minute daytime $0.17/minute evening $0.14/minute night Volume calls with discount. info@kaiwan.com,Anonymous FTP,Telnet kaiwan.com(192.215.30.2)FAX#714-638-0455 DATA# 714-539-0829,830-6061,310-527-4279 818-579-6701 16.8k/14.4k 8-N-1 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 12:56:26 CDT From: weberdd@clover.macc.wisc.edu Reply-To: weberdd@macc.wisc.edu Subject: Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems In a previous message, Thomas Neudeker writes: > I recently upgraded my modem to LineLink 14.4 modem. I now use a SLIP > connection to connect to the network. On the other modems I have had > Call Waiting would break the connection. I know about the *70 tone > signal to deactivate call waiting. My problem is that the error > correction on the modem doesn't accept the call waiting tones until > after eight to twelve rings and people I need to talk to can't get > through. Bell of PA said they hadn't seen this use of call waiting > before and that the 5ESS switch at my CO is has a very short off hook > time for the tone to be sent. Does anyone know of a modem init string > to let call waiting and the modem work as I wish? The meaning of your message isn't clear. You said that on your other modems, call waiting would break the connection. You don't say whether call waiting breaks the connection on the 14.4 modem. The message seems to imply that you are in fact hoping to be notified of a call waiting while a modem call is in progress. If this is what you want, you would have to find a way to put your data connection "on hold" (or simply abandon the data call in progress), switch your modem into voice mode, and pick up your telephone handset. Usually call waiting is not considered when data calls are in progress. There is no easy way to support call waiting while a data call is in progress (another way of saying this is that there is no easy way of keeping a data call going when call waiting occurs). If it is important to be able to reach you when data calls are in progress, I recommend a second telephone line. David Devereaux-Weber (608) 262-3584 (voice) MACC Communications; B263 (608) 262-4679 (FAX) 1210 W Dayton St. weberdd@macc.wisc.edu (Internet) Madison, WI 53706 ------------------------------ From: jlittle@AccessPoint.North.Net (John Little) Subject: Re: Canada Goes 1 + 10D For All Long Distance, Sept '94 Organization: UUNorth's AccessPoint Service Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 18:26:18 GMT Alabama (area code 205) has been doing 1 + 10D LD calling within your area code for over two years now. Area code 407 (Central FL) has also moved to 1 + 10D calling. These are just to that I have had personal experiences with, I'm sure there are many others. John ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 12:55:35 PST From: drawson@Tymnet.COM (Dick Rawson) Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications > I've been told that after an earthquake, if you can't get a call > through, try using a payphone. Supposedly, the phone company will > arbitrarily put some calls through and not others when the load is too > high, but payphone calls will always go through. Correct (except for two quibbles), according to Pacific Bell. Here is (my memory of) what they tell public emergency service agencies. Lines can be categorized as "essential service lines". These are not deliberately denied service or delayed access while the switch is configured to shed some of its load. Also, the repair service gives priority to restoring outages of essential service lines. Emergency services like fire and police, and quite a few others, are supposed to have (at least some of) their lines categorized this way. Public telephones always have essential service lines. Note that not all pay telephones are public telephones. (That's quibble 1.) We've discussed that here before. A pay phone in a bar probably isn't a public telephone; one in a public area available 24 hours a day, particularly at road-side, generally is a public telephone. The other quibble is with "will always go through"; that would be hard to guarantee. But the call would not be blocked to shed load. Dick Rawson drawson@tymnet.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 11:13:50 EST From: rdb1@homxb.att.com Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications Organization: AT&T In article nathan@seldon.foundation. tricon.com writes: > From a possibly unreliable source, I heard that in > downtown San Francisco, the phone exchanges actually have JET engines > running turbines to provide power during emergencies. (Locally, the > phone company uses diesels, but I do not know the capacity). I've heard from techs who work/worked in CO's that some do indeed have "jet" engines for backup power. I suspect that they are generators powered by turbine engines of some sort. I was in AT&T's Saint Louis 4ESS(tm) office when it was running on backup power one day. The equipment sure sounded like a jet engine, but I did not actually see it. The generators were running because one of the power transformers had blown up. The techs said that molten copper flew all over the room -- YIKES! I would expect the transformer to be in a cabinet of some kind, but what do I know -- that's a hardware problem. At the time, I wondered why the power equpment was on the top floor, rather than in the basement. After this year's floods, I can under- stand why. Back to earthquakes ... I was in San Franscisco about two months after the 1989 quake. I was surprised at the LACK of destruction. TV reports on the East Coast made things sound worse than they really were. The AT&T office was unscathed. The equipment I was interested in (a bunch of Conversants (tm) ) and the 4ESS in the next room continued to operate on backup power following the quake. One Conversant that was used for administrivia and testing was just sitting on a table and had crashed to the floor, it was the only casualty. The other Conversants were mounted in racks that were bolted down. I don't know if a jet engine provides backup power in the SF office. The only power equipment I saw was a very impressive array of batteries. Ron DeBlock rdb1@homxb.att.com (that's a number 1 in rdb1, not letter l) AT&T Bell Labs Somerset, NJ USA ------------------------------ Subject: Instant Modem Banks Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 06:53:47 -0600 From: Martin McCormick In recent postings, several people told of modem banks which can be attached directly to a T1 and use DSP to simulate 24 dial-up modems. Do any of these systems connect to an Ethernet and act as a terminal server such that one would have the V.35 cable to the T1 as one port and an Ethernet connector as the other port? Three or four such systems would free an amazing amount of rack realestate and would most likely prove to be more reliable in the long run. If anybody knows of such a system and whether or not it has a good track record, please let me know. Thank you. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group ------------------------------ From: jlittle@AccessPoint.North.Net (John Little) Subject: TAPS Software Organization: UUNorth's AccessPoint Service Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 13:29:42 GMT I am looking for a program to send alpha numeric data to my pager using the TAPS protocol. I use Bell Canada's pager (standard Bell Mobility). Looking for something that runs under Windows 3.1 (Microsoft). Free would be great, but I may consider buying a package. I have one for UNIX (commercial), but that doesn't do me any good from home. John ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 08:50 EST From: Sean Slattery Subject: Sprint Modem Offer/Impressions I switched to Sprint a month ago on the promise of a modem. Posts in the Digest lead me to believe that it was a 9600 baud modem but the Sprint rep set me straight when I called. I did not hear the original offer on the radio. Sprint made some mistakes; this is easy to do when you have marketing people targeting a technically savvy population that is intolerant of lack of knowledge on the part of the general population (you know it's true !). It is my belief that Sprint acted in good faith and did not intentionally misrepresent this offer. In the case of Mr. Ambler's conflict with Sprint I was originally on Sprint's side. That is until I read Mr. Ambler's last post. If it is at all representative of what actually occurred the I feel that I must warn Sprint that they are spending good will here. I, like many Digest readers, specify long distance carriers for my organization as well as myself. I want Sprint to maintain a high level of professionalism here. The account of the phone call received by Mr. Ambler did not make me fell good about Sprint, it left me cold. I will continue to follow this dispute. While I think Mr. Ambler should find better things to do with his time, I believe that the resolution of this dispute will tell us a lot about the corporate character of Sprint. Sean Slattery Network Administrator Airflow Research This post does not necessarily represent the opinions of my employer. PS: I switched from the modem to the Star Trek Screen saver, which I have not yet received. ------------------------------ Subject: Sprint Modem Offer :-( From: kilgore@wuntvor.pillar.com (Stan Hall) Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 10:56:09 CST Organization: The Eternal Apprentice BBS, Oklahoma City, Ok Well it seems that every step of the way Sprint has screwing everything up. I switched two of my personal phone line to Sprint for this modem offer. When the word came down that the modem was only to be a 2400bps with 9600/4800 FAX internal I resigned myself to accept the offer despite what the sales droids had said. They sent me two Foncards for one line instead of one for each line. They billed seperately instead of on my regular phone bill. They attempted to call my Data line by voice to contact me about the Windows/DOS software and disk size. So what is the latest bit of stupidity on Sprint's part you ask? It seems that since they couldn't reach me on my Data line that they sent me a letter about two weeks ago asking me to please tell them via mail or phone which software that I would like for my modem. So last night I finally found some time to sit down and call the number that Ms. Worthy had given me and left a message telling her what software I wanted for each of my two modems. I get a call this morning from Ms. Worthy telling me that I am only to receive one modem and asking what software I would like for that modem. When I argued with her that I wanted both of the modems I had been promised she told me that the offer was limited one per household. Everytime I tried to discuss this with her she asked me what software I would like for my *modem*. I gave in and told her, hoping that I will receive somthing from Sprint (besides a bill). Has anyone else actually received more than one modem at one residence? Needless to say as soon as I get my modem (or confirmation that I am not to get a thing) I am running from Sprint as far and as fast as possible. Not that they are concerned with my low long distance usage. Though I *will* cost them as much as possible via word of mouth. Is anyone interested in getting together to visit the Sprint office in Kansas City, MO and Ms. Worthy? Stan Hall [Unhappy (soon to be former) Sprint Customer] kilgore@wuntvor.pillar.com (Stan Hall) The Eternal Apprentice BBS, Oklahoma City, OK -- +1 405 942 8794 [Moderator's Note: *Who* told you that you would get two modems? Really, I can't see what your beef is about. 'One per household' is one of the most common phrases in business promotional offers I have ever heard. Time and again you hear it, 'one per household, not good when combined with other offers or special promotions, etc ...' I got my modem several days ago. It installed easily and is working fine for sending faxes from my 386. If you honestly think you are going to get two modems, you are quite mistaken. Diane Worthy has done a great job of getting this mess straightened out; I'm sure she is sorry Sprint even decided to have such a generous promotion. PAT] ------------------------------ From: lmd@cayman.inesc.pt (Luis Delgado) Subject: Automated FAX Delivery Organization: INESC - Inst. Eng. Sistemas e Computadores, LISBOA. PORTUGAL. Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1993 14:48:17 GMT I was wondering how implement an automatic system for fax delivery. What I wanted is the following: - to have in my personal business card a unique personal fax number, like any other person in the same company. Everyone could have a unique fax number. For example: FAX # 3100234 - to me Fax # 3100235 - to you FAX # 3100236 - to him, etc. - All fax calls would be received by the local company PABX, that would redirect all calls to the same FAX card installed in a PC, for example. Then the FAX Software on the PC would decide based on the last three digits of the # specified by the sender, to which person to send the fax in an electronic mail message format. I'm not saying this should be the best way to implement, and I even don't know if there are automated systems like this. I know however that it its possible (correct me if I'm wrong) to specify, something like a destination in the fax message it self, but I don't what this solution, because it is'nt completely transparent to the sender. Does anybody know any way to do this? Is there any hard/soft solution to implement this? While waiting for your sugestions, my best regards, Luis Delgado INESC-CCAE Lisbon, Portugal. lmd@inesc.pt cis: 100024,3520 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #770 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa16141; 20 Nov 93 6:10 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA22491 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sat, 20 Nov 1993 02:35:41 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA02621 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 20 Nov 1993 02:35:01 -0600 Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 02:35:01 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311200835.AA02621@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #771 TELECOM Digest Sat, 20 Nov 93 02:35:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 771 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? (Bob Schwartz) Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? (Gordon Hlavenka) Re: Compression With ISDN (Kevin Richard O'Toole) Re: Compression With ISDN (Bob Larribeau) Re: Compression With ISDN (David E. Martin) Re: Compression With ISDN (R. Kevin Oberman) Re: Query For Network Designers on a LAN/WAN Problem (David E. Martin) Re: Query For Network Designers on a LAN/WAN Problem (Lars Poulsen) Re: AT&T Ships 800 Number Directory to One Million Consumers (C. Dold) Re: AT&T Ships 800 Number Directory to One Million Consumers (S. Lichter) Re: GSM Interference (was Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS?) (Declerck) Re: Finally Got REAL Phone Service (Jack Decker) Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes (John Nagle) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (John Rice) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (Gary W. Sanders) Re: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? (Fred Linton) Re: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? (Matt Ackeret) Re: Brought to You by the Letter Q (David Cornutt) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? From: bob@bci.nbn.com (Bob Schwartz Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 16:36:37 PST Organization: Bill Correctors, Inc., Marin County, California There is, according to FCC regulations, stiff jail time available for the failure to retain call detail records for less than five years, as I recall from research for a client several years ago. Call them directly for verse and chapter if you need to. The local CO even records the several digits you may have dialed before realizing that you mis-dialed, hung-up and dialed the whole right number. Bob Schwartz bob@bci.nbn.com Bill Correctors, Inc. +1 415 488 9000 Marin County, California ------------------------------ From: cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (gordon hlavenka) Subject: Re: Are Local Calls Kept on Record? Organization: Vpnet - Public Access Unix and Usenet Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 20:29:10 GMT uswnvg!jlbrand@uunet.UU.NET (Jack Brand) wrote: > Some switches don't even bother to keep records of local calls, since > there is no billing to be done on them, or at least they didn't used > to. Tony Pelliccio wrote: > You can bet that just about every switch made is built with the > capability to record ALL the data involved with switching a call for > "diagnostic" purposes of course. Indeed. When I first started playing with modems (The TRS-80 Model 100 was state-of-the-art at the time) I contested one of my phone bills. ("I couldn't have made _that many_ calls!" ... But I had :-) Illinois Bell provided what looked like a cash-register tape containing the phone numbers dialed and length of each call. I have no idea how long they keep these tapes, or whether the same information is also stored electronically somewhere. Gordon S. Hlavenka cgordon{qn(Ao4pA Q0CnlG;)P%OPCL]O:=jZ Yvg@vpnet.chi.il.us [Moderator's Note: Local call detail provided the proof that Illinois Bell employees had stolen phone service from me in 1974-75. It was at that time that the Chicago-Wabash CO was cut over to ESS. For three or four months in a row I had an obscene number of local calls on my bill that I could not account for. I called the business office and spoke with a rep -- let's call her Ms. Prissy -- who said she'd prove to me I made all those calls. She promptly mailed me a printout of the whole mess. I went over the printout line by line. My guidelines were if I recognized the number, I assumed I made the call regardless of the time or day of week. If I did not recognize the number, but the time of the call was a time I was normally at the number in question, I assumed I made the call. If I did not recognize the number, and the time was such that it was quite unlikely I was at the number (for example, 7:30 - 8:00 AM) then I made a circle around that entry. I then used 'two-oh-eight-oh' (the predecessor to 796-9600; you called the exchange in question plus 2080 -- i.e. xxx-2080) and asked the clerk who answered for the name and address of the number. Time after time after time the answer came back with the numbers listed to: IBT Company, no address given IBT Company, Parts and Supply Depot, Chicago. IBT Company, Vehicle Repairs and Assignments, **Aurora, IL** IBT Company, 65 E. Congress Street (the address of the Wabash CO itself) That one to Aurora cost me ten message units every five minutes, and the guy called it for a half hour one day and twenty minutes the next day. I called back Ms. Prissy who opened the conversation by telling me she was glad I figured out why my bill was so high. I told her I had figured it out alright, and ask her if she knew what the phrases 'toll fraud' and 'theft of service' meant. I asked her what earthly reason *I* would have for calling an internal number at the Wabash CO at 8:00 AM. I told her my pairs also showed up multipled in a big terminal box in the third sub-basement of the Pittsfield Building two blocks away where there 'just happens to be' a locker room/supply depot/room to eat lunch and hide from the foreman used by installers and other outside plant guys who sit around drinking coffee and shooting the bull in the morning until the foreman shows up. And maybe since my number ended in two zeros (as in xx-hundred) they assumed I had so much phone equipment I would not miss five or six hundred extra 'units' of local calling every month. Ms. Prissy decided I should be speaking to her superior Ms. Huffy. When Ms. Huffy came on the line, I told her we would read together in unison beginning on page X of the printout, line Y. She called me back later that day to say she was going to write off all the extra unit charges on my bill for the past three months and that the fore- man had been instructed to tell his people they are to use their own phone 'down there in their locker room' and not just any subscriber lines they happened to grab with their alligator clips, etc. When my bill came the next month, she did another write off for me but that was the end of it. Moral of the story: from time to time, do ask for your local calling detail. Spot check it for abuses. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Kevin Richard O'Toole Subject: Re: Compression With ISDN Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 09:12:43 -0500 Organization: Information Networking Institute, Carnegie Mellon, Pitts, PA Excerpts from netnews.comp.dcom.telecom: 18-Nov-93 Compression With ISDN Roger Fajman@CU.NIH.GOV wrote: > Yes, of course it's true that it's possible to do compression over > ISDN. But is it practical today? As far as I know, there is no > standard way of doing compression over ISDN and that ISDN terminal > adapters sold today generally do not have compression. True or not > true? If not, please mention some manufacturers and model numbers. I know of one product that plans on doing compression. The ISDN to Ethernet bridge from Combinet will do 2:1 compression to get you 256 Kbps effective rate. If you want the contact information, let me know. Kevin R. O'Toole Information Networking Institute Carnegie Mellon University ------------------------------ From: Bob Larribeau Subject: Re: Compression With ISDN Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 06:54:48 -0700 Organization: Combinet-) Combinet's ISDN Ethernet LAN bridges support compression using the Stacker algorithm. They get two or more times compression giving effective throughput of 250 kb/s or more. The IETF is working on compression. My understanding is that they will support multiple algorithms with a standard method of negotiating which one is to be used. Bob Larribeau San Francisco ------------------------------ From: dem@hep.net (David E. Martin) Subject: Re: Compression With ISDN Date: 19 Nov 1993 18:19:49 GMT Organization: National HEPnet Management, Fermilab, Batavia, IL, USA Reply-To: dem@hep.net > In article 9@eecs.nwu.edu, Roger Fajman writes: > Yes, of course it's true that it's possible to do compression over > ISDN. But is it practical today? As far as I know, there is no > standard way of doing compression over ISDN and that ISDN terminal > adapters sold today generally do not have compression. True or not > true? If not, please mention some manufacturers and model numbers. I don't know of any stand-alone ISDN terminal adapters that do compression, but most of the makers of ISDN bridges have compression built-in. Gandalf (708-517-3672), Digiboard (612-943-9020) and Combinet (408-522-9020) all have compression in their products. Unfortunately, they all use different compression methods. Combinet, for example, uses the Stacker algorithm. David E. Martin National HEPnet Management Phone: +1 708 840-8275 Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory FAX: +1 708 840-8463 P.O. Box 500, MS 368; Batavia, IL 60510 USA E-Mail: dem@hep.net ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Re: Compression With ISDN Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 15:55:29 GMT Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory In article Roger Fajman writes: >> While some modem purveyors are claiming much faster speeds, these are >> the result of data compression which works just as well over ISDN as >> over a modem. If you stick to apple-apples comparisons it's still 128 >> Kbps vs. 28 Kbps and that's a big difference by any measure. > Yes, of course it's true that it's possible to do compression over > ISDN. But is it practical today? As far as I know, there is no > standard way of doing compression over ISDN and that ISDN terminal > adapters sold today generally do not have compression. True or not > true? If not, please mention some manufacturers and model numbers. Since I don't use terminal adapters, I really don't know. But Combinet ISDN Ethernet Bridges do data compression just fine. The area of standardization is fuzzy, but V.42bis seems perfectly wel suited for ISDN and is already a standard. That said, I don't know just what compression algorithm is used by my Combinet box, although I would be very surprised if it's not some LZ or LZW implementation; probably V.42bis. R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: koberman@llnl.gov (510) 422-6955 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 12:13:58 -0600 From: David E. Martin Subject: Re: Query For Network Designers on a LAN/WAN Problem If you can get ISDN basic rate service at each remote school, then your best bet probably is to get an ISDN bridge (Combinet sells them to schools for about $1000 each) for each remote school. The brige will dial up the campus when packets need to be sent. At the central site you would need a pool of bridges. The advantage of using ISDN is that you can get 128 Kbps (around 250 Kbps with compression) and it is transparent to the networks on both ends. I have written a paper on our ISDN setup for work-at-home. It's available via ftp to ftp.hep.net in nhm-reports/isdn-proposal.ps. If you would like to discuss this further, feel free to call or e-mail. Good luck. David E. Martin National HEPnet Management Phone: +1 708 840-8275 Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory FAX: +1 708 840-8463 P.O. Box 500, MS 368; Batavia, IL 60510 USA E-Mail: dem@hep.net ------------------------------ From: lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: Query For Network Designers on a LAN/WAN Problem Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 20:16:28 GMT In article dean2@tbone.biol.scarolina. edu (Dean Pentcheff) writes: > I'm assuming that we need something like the following: > School _Some flavor of phone line > PC--| / > PC--| / > PC--|--Magic Box 1--Modem?--*--Modem?--|-Magic Box 2--Campus net > PC--| | or our host > PC--| | > School | > PC--| | > PC--|--Magic Box 1--Modem?--*--Modem?--| Rockwell International, CMC Network Products makes such magic boxes, called "NetHoppers". They include a modem and dial up when needed. On the other hand, you might not need a PC in each room. There is this quaint old thing called a "terminal", which relies on a computer elsewhere (a Unix machine ?) to hold the intelligence. A dozen terminals and a terminal server might be cheaper than a dozen PC's. Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@CMC.COM CMC Network Products Phone: (011-) +45-31 49 81 08 Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B Telefax: +45-31 49 83 08 DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK Internets: designed and built while you wait ------------------------------ From: dold@rahul.net (Clarence Dold) Subject: Re: AT&T Ships 800 Number Directory to One Million Consumers Organization: a2i network Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 16:19:27 GMT Dave Levenson (dave@westmark.com) wrote: > Don't forget ... this directory lists only those businesses who have > AT&T 800 service. A great many other businesses also have 800 numbers, > but won't be in the book. Being of devious mind, if I wanted to be in the book, I would figure out when the numbers were to be gathered, switch my number to AT&T, then switch it back to the proper carrier as soon as possible. Clarence A Dold - dold@rahul.net - Milpitas (near San Jose) & Napa CA. ------------------------------ From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: AT&T Ships 800 Number Directory to One Million Consumers Date: 20 Nov 1993 04:40:53 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) My 800 number on my BBS is not listed for the ovious reason it is for mine and a few friends to get into it from long distance areas for less then the LD rates. When I got the service it was listed but I had it removed when I found out about it and I did not see where I was charged to have it listed. ------------------------------ From: declrckd@rtsg.mot.com (Dan J. Declerck) Subject: Re: GSM Interference (was Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS?) Date: 19 Nov 1993 19:27:48 GMT Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group In article , Erik Ramberg wrote: > In article , dave@llondel.demon.co.uk > (David Hough) wrote: >> As any radio amateur worth his salt will know, 100% amplitude >> modulation of a signal with what amounts to a square wave is bound to >> cause problems. Still, look at it the other way: now we have something >> else to blame when the TV picture breaks up into a mass of >> interference :-) > Huh?!? GSM uses GMSK, i.e. MSK with a Gaussian window. TDMA uses > DQPSK, or a quaternary form of phase shift keying. Both of these > formats are designed to fit within the channel bandwidth and are very > different from the AM that you discribe. Though I'm sure nobody > really knows what's to blame for the interference, if anything it's > some strange intermod problem rather than directly attributal to the > move to a TDMA type system. But TDMA does not transmit continuously. GSM ramps from noise floor to full power in 28 *microseconds*, and has a 1/8 duty cycle (577 microsec) over 4.615 frame period. I have used a GSM phone next to a land-line, and the Subscriber unit's PA inducesa very nice "buzz" on any phone. In fact, when making a mobile terminated call from a land line (located physically next to it), you can tell when the mobile RACH bursts, hops to the SDCCH, and finally makes it to the TCH, purely by the feedback you get in your ear on the land-line phone. Dan DeClerck EMAIL: declrckd@rtsg.mot.com Motorola Cellular APD Phone: (708) 632-4596 ------------------------------ From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Re: Finally Got REAL Phone Service Date: 19 Nov 1993 20:36:12 GMT Organization: Youngstown State/Youngstown Free-Net Reply-To: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) In a previous article, I wrote about how GTE finally cut me over to a real phone line, and got me off of the lousy subscriber carrier. You may recall that I posted a list of changes I had noted, including this one: > 1) My on-hook line voltage increased from ~15 volts to ~44 volts DC. > Also, the tip/ring polarity reversed from what it had been when I was > on the carrier. Now I think that may have had something to do with this: When we moved, in the process of setting up our home (we live in a mobile home), they pinched one of the phone lines going to a front bedroom between a concrete block and an I-beam. I pointed this out and they jacked up the home enough to release the wire, but the damage had been done. I always meant to replace or repair that wire, but never got around to it because the bedroom phone always worked just fine. Yesterday my son told me that there was static on the phone in that room, but since I was in the middle of something else, I didn't pay much attention. Besides, all the other phones worked fine, so I didn't make the connection. This morning there was severe noise and crackling on all the phones in the house. I disconnected the line at the demarc and plugged a phone in there and it worked fine, so I knew the problem was in my wiring. I finally tracked it down to that pinched spot in the wire, which had a small cut in the insulation at that point which had turned a lovely shade of green! Apparently the copper wiring was oxidizing due to some chemical reaction fueled by the electricity in the phone lines and the moisture under my home. What's interesting to me is that as long as the on-hook line voltage was about 15 volts, I didn't seem to have any problem, but once they got "normal" voltage on my line, things deteriorated rapidly! I just wonder if any of my neighbors are suddenly having unexpected problems due to inferior or damaged inside wiring that worked fine all these years on the carrier system, but quickly went south once they got real phone service? Jack ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 05:45:46 GMT wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) writes: > In article dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) > writes: >> The problem MAY stem from the fact that 905 was previously one of the >> area codes assigned to Mexico a few years ago, before it was decided >> that Mexico would be reached only via country code. Until about three >> years ago you could reach them both ways. > [Moderator's Note: I don't think NAFTA will matter. Besides, TelMex > has never had the same historic relationship with telcos in the USA > and Canada that the telcos in this country have had with each other. > I rather suspect Mexico will remain an 'international' point. PAT] Anyone remember that Saudi Arabia used to have a US area code? A convenience for the oil industry, before international direct dialing. John Nagle ------------------------------ From: rice@ttd.teradyne.com Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Organization: Teradyne Inc., Telecommunications Division Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 20:43:29 GMT In article , djcl@grin.io.org writes: > Jamie Mason wrote: >> 905 area code isn't ringing bell in U.S. >> The United States has literally hundreds of phone companies that >> need to know about last month's change for parts of the 416 area code >> -- but some are still telling callers that the number doesn't exist. > Other cities reporting problems are Sebring, Florida (GTE or Centel?) --------------------------------- Sprint. John Rice K9IJ rice@ttd.teradyne.com ------------------------------ From: news@cbnews.att.com Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 21:37:12 GMT Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Organization: AT&T In article oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov writes: > In article jebright@magnus.acs.ohio- > state.edu (James R Ebright) writes: > While some modem purveyors are claiming much faster speeds, these are > the result of data compression which works just as well over ISDN as > over a modem. If you stick to apple-apples comparisons it's still 128 > Kbps vs. 28 Kbps and that's a big difference by any measure. You have yet to factor in the cost of ISDN with POT line access. I would love to have an ISDN line to transfer data but the cost are prohibitive. Locally I can get a POT line with unlimited local calling (99% of my traffic) for $20/month. My line is off hook about 22hr/day. An ISDN line cost me $40/month plus minute charges. 4-5 I double my charges at a minimum. Granted I have greatly enhanced my speed capabilitys, but if its a choice of $20/month and 22hr/day or $40/month +time my $ go for the POT line. Gary W. Sanders (N8EMR) gary.w.sanders@att.com AT&T Bell Labs 614-860-5965 ------------------------------ From: flinton@osprey.wcc.wesleyan.edu Subject: Re: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 21:57:03 GMT Organization: Wesleyan University In article atlas@newshost.pictel.com (Steve Atlas) asks: > what English words contain the letter "q" not followed by "u"? and our esteemed Moderator replies, in part: > QADARITES QINTAR QOPH QARMATION QASHQAI QERE QERI QYRGHYZ To this list I might add the familiar English-language tradenames Q-tips (tm) Qantas (the airline) QModem (the comm's software) P.D.Q. Bach (OK, that one's not a tradename, but ... ) Bar-B-Q (hey, another non-tradename -- I'm getting better at this :-) ) "on the QT" (moribund idiomatic expression, similar to "QLAB") and more. Fred ------------------------------ From: unknown@apple.com (Matt Ackeret) Subject: Re: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? Date: 19 Nov 1993 19:01:03 -0800 Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA In article , Steve Atlas wrote: > Your explanation of why Q and Z don't appear the telephone dial was > interesting, but to be picky, what English words contain the letter > "q" not followed by "u"? Well, along with the other examples given, there's the Australian airline named Qantas. ("The ooooooooonly way to fly." -- dontcha hate it when advertising slogans burn into your brain for eternity?) Dunno where that name comes from though. unknown@apple.com unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu These opinions are mine, not Apple's. ------------------------------ From: cornutt@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov (David Cornutt) Subject: Re: Brought to You by the Letter Q Organization: NASA/MSFC Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 19:53:07 GMT forags@smokey.berkeley.edu (Al Stangenberger) writes: > I've always wondered whether the reason "ZEnith" was chosen for some > toll-free numbers (before WATS service) was that if somebody tried to > ... To which our fearless Moderator replied: > Very interesting. I think the only difference between Zenith and Enterprise was the sponsoring telco. Some used one name, the rest used the other. And I don't think a subscriber in a telco using Enterprise as their toll free keyword could call a Zenith number or vice versa. I think Zenith was largely the independent telcos where Enterprise was mostly for the Bell System. Hmmm ... I recall that, in this area, they used to refer to these numbers as "WX" numbers. I distinctly recall listings in the Huntsville telephone books, say for an out-of-town business, of the form: Fred & Ethyl Enterprises Birmingham Ask the Operator For..... WX-9999 This was and is South Central Bell territory. (It was an independent, though, much before my time. Maybe that has something to do with it.) David Cornutt, New Technology Inc., Huntsville, AL (205) 461-4517 (cornutt@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov) -- New .sig, finally! [Moderator's Note: Umm ... 'Ethyl' is a univalent hydrocarbon radical which used to be a type of gasoline additive put in automobiles, however 'Ethel' is the name of Fred's wife. Or, as the old joke goes, "Did you hear about the sexual assault down at the gas station last night? ... The police detectives are trying to find out who pumped Ethyl." Admittedly, that was funnier back in the days when Ethyl was the common name for premium gasoline to put in your machine, and gas stations all had attendants who came out to do the pumping for you. (Until about 1965, self-service at gas stations was considered too dangerous for the average person since the handling of a flammable liquid was involved.) PAT ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #771 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa21138; 21 Nov 93 2:05 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19791 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sat, 20 Nov 1993 22:47:42 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30204 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 20 Nov 1993 22:47:00 -0600 Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 22:47:00 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311210447.AA30204@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #772 TELECOM Digest Sat, 20 Nov 93 22:47:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 772 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson CFP: Broadband Islands 1994 (Klaus Lenssen) GTE/AT&T Executives Arrested in Venezuela (TELECOM Moderator) Looking For CID For PC's (Lars Nohling) Information Wanted About Northern Telecom (Greg Welsh) Information Wanted on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) (Holly Blakeman) Carrier For 800 Number? (Jeffrey T. Hutzelman) SMDR Polling Device Recommendation Needed (Anthony Palmer Dawson) UPT, Voicemail: Market Tests? (J|rgen Bergstedt) Prodigy Access From Europe? (Roland Alton-Scheidl) Leased Lines (Pawel Dobrowolski) ADSL Progress! (Keith H. K. Chow) TAPI vrs Telescript (Heiki Kybbar) Wireless LAN Systems (Daniel Wong) New 411 System in Atlanta (Les Reeves) Help Wanted Locating ECPA Text (Rick Dennis) Book Review: "The Complete Guide to Pathworks" by Spencer (Rob Slade) Harris TS-21 Internals (Christian Void) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Klaus Lenssen Subject: CFP: Broadband Islands 1994 Date: 20 Nov 1993 10:33:22 GMT Organization: RWTH Aachen, Department of Computer Science CALL FOR PAPER 3rd International Conference on Broadband Islands 1994 Hamburg, Germany June 7-9, 94 Important Dates January 10, 1994 Deadline for submission February 11, 1994 Notification of acceptance March 11, 1994 Camera ready paper !!! June 7, 1994 Tutorials June 8-9, 1994 Conference Objectives and Scope The widespread deployment of broadband networks creates possibilities for end users to exploit the capabilities of multimedia communica- tions, thus adding to the competitive advantage of their business operations. Turning this possibility into a reality requires the successful transfer of the technology to end users, and the solution of key technical problems. The main goals of the conference are to provide a forum where technical problems and their solutions will be discussed, and to demonstrate multimedia applications on broadband networks. The conference aims to bring together network operators, service providers, multimedia application designers and end-users to accelerate the development of distributed multimedia applications for broadband networks. The following issues will be addressed: - Technical problems involved in adapting applications for use on broadband networks; - New services and applications for broadband networks; - Use of multimedia applications in a distributed multi-user environment; - Multimedia to residential end user; - Multimedia access to mobile end users. The conference will be held in Hamburg to emphasize its importance as one of the three locations in Germany to be provided with an ATM-Switch as part of the Deutsche Telekom ATM Field Trial. The conference is being organised by the RACE projects EuroBridge and CIO projects and the ATM Forum. It is the first official conference of the Advanced Communication Experiments Projects of the RACE Programme. This conference follows the highly successful conferences on Broadband Islands held in Athens, in 1993 and in Dublin, in 1990. Structure of the Conference The conference will comprise four dedicated streams: - Technical Stream - Latest research results will be communicated; - Strategic Stream - Strategic and political issues will be addressed by invited experts in the field; - Applications and Market Stream - Market trends and forecasts will be presented; - Demonstration Stream - Non-commercial multimedia and broadband related developments will be on show. Paper Submissions TECHNICAL STREAM: Original full papers on all technical aspects related to multimedia and broadband communication are solicited. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to: - Multimedia applications and services; - Multimedia communication requirements; - Network interconnection; - High performance protocols. APPLICATIONS AND MARKET STREAM: Submit extended abstracts (one A4 page) or full papers focusing on applications, economic and organizational issues, including - Applications development; - Usability aspects; - Market trends and economic implications. DEMONSTRATION STREAM: Please contact: Dr. Wulf Bauerfeld DeTeBerkom GmbH Voltastrasse 5 D-13355 Berlin, Germany Phone (+49) 30 467 01310 Fax (+49) 30 467 01445 e-mail: Bauerfeld@deteberkom.detecon.d400.de Send four copies of the paper/extended abstract (please state the intended stream) to: Kai Jakobs Technical University of Aachen Computer Science Department, Informatik IV Ahornstrasse 55 D-52074 Aachen, Germany Phone (+49) 241 80 21405 Fax: (+49) 241 80 21429 e-mail: BRIS94@informatik.rwth-aachen.de For further information, please contact: Jane Korsager Ericsson Eurolab Deutschland GmbH Ericsson Allee 1 D-52134 Herzogenrath, Germany Phone (+49) 2407 575 118 Fax: (+49) 2407 575 400 e-mail: eedjak@chapelle.ericsson.se ***************** Important Dates ***************** January 10, 1994 Deadline for submission February 11, 1994 Notification of acceptance March 11, 1994 Camera ready paper !!! June 7, 1994 Tutorials June 8-9, 1994 Conference The proceedings will be published by Elsevier Science Pulbishers B.V. PROGRAMME COMMITTEE S. Konidaris (Chair) CEC, Belguim E. Andersen SAS, Denmark W. Bauerfeld DeTeBerkom, Germany A. Casaca INESC, Portugal A. Clark HUSAT, UK B. Cooper JANET, UK A. Danthine Univ. of Lie`ge, Belgium A. Entwistle Analysys, UK D. Ferrari Univ. of Berkeley, USA N. Georganas Univ. of Ottawa, Canada U. Killat MAZ Hamburg, Germany P. Kuehn Univ. of Stuttgart, Germany Y. Liang RIC, Belgium P. Linington Univ. of Kent, UK P. Martini Univ. of Paderborn, Germany A. Patel Univ. College Dublin, Ireland R. Popescu-Zeletin GMD FOKUS, Germany P. Potin IBM, France V. Reible DeTeBerkom, Germany T. Saito Univ. of Tokyo, Japan D. Shepherd Univ. of Lancaster, UK O. Spaniol Univ. of Aachen, Germany A. Spinner Ericsson Eurolab, Germany R. Steinmetz IBM ENC, Germany K. Uhde MAZ Hamburg, Germany STRATEGIC COMMITTEE R. Hueber (Chair) CEC DG XIII, Belgium M. Buchmayer Ericsson, Germany A. Danthine IFIP R. Dorn ATM Forum, Belgium B. Ericson Ericsson, Sweden S. Schindler TELES, Germany J. Baal-Schem IEEE Region 8 O. Spaniol IFIP K. Ullmann DFN, Germany W. Zucker MAZ Hamburg, Germany A. Funck Telekom, Germany ORGANIZING COMMITTEE F. Williams (Chair) Ericsson Eurolab, Germany S. Bruyn BNR Europe Limited, UK H. Escola TELES, Germany M. Guenay MAZ Hamburg, Germany K. Jakobs Univ. of Aachen, Germany N. Kerforn DeTeBerkom, Germany J. Korsager Ericsson Eurolab, Germany K. Lenssen Univ. of Aachen, Germany J. Nolan CEC, Belgium ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 21:36:50 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: GTE/AT&T Executives Arrested in Venezuela A judge in Venezuela has ordered the detention of two GTE Telephone Operations executives after a natural gas explosion killed about 50 rush-hour commuters near Caracas. The two GTE officials, along with two AT&T executives and 17 other persons have been ordered not to leave the country after the explosion on September 28. AT&T and GTE are the principal members of a consortium which operates Compania Anonima Nacional de Telefonos de Venezuela SA, Venezuela's national telephone company. Bruce Haddad is president of the company, and Vito Raskauskas is vice-president. Both have been ordered to surrender, but they are in hiding, and GTE is at the present time refusing to reveal their whereabouts. According to Robert Brand, an assistant vice-president of GTE Telephone Operations in Irving, Texas, "They are safe. They are not being detained. We are not going to say where they are ..." Brand said the 'orders of detention' issued by the Venezuelan government are 'unclear', although he admitted the executives could face arrest, detention and trial if they surrendered. The fatal explosion occurred following the rupture of a natural gas pipeline involving a crew that was completing a fiber-optic link between Caracas, the nation's capital, and Maracaibo, the second largest city in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government contends that the Telecom Agency is responsible, thus the orders to detain the highest ranking officers, two from GTE and two from AT&T. The names of the AT&T officials under arrest is not known to me at this time. The 17 other persons arrested and/or detained include the crew members doing the work at the time of the explosion. Under Venezuelan law, the telecom executives face charges of 'uninten- ionally causing a fire' which is punishable by one to ten years in prison. They also face charges of accidentally causing the deaths of the approximatly fifty persons killed in the explosion. GTE Telephone Operations led a consortium including AT&T which bought 40 percent of CANTV for nearly two billion dollars in 1991. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 11:38 EST From: Lars Nohling Subject: Looking For CID For PC's I am looking for comments on hooking up a PC serial port to a Caller ID receiver. I have seen several modems that provide this, do they work well? Lars Nohling Business Systems Solutions lnohling@mcimail.com ------------------------------ Organization: The American University - University Computing Center Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 13:50:08 EST From: Greg Welsh Subject: Information Wanted About Northern Telecom I have a friend who is seeking information on Northern Telecom's major accounts organization structure. Any info on this topic or contacts would be appreciated. Followup to gwelsh@american.edu. Thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 15:49:23 EST From: HLB107@psuvm.psu.edu Subject: Information Wanted on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Organization: Penn State University Dear Reader: I am doing a research paper on electronic data interchange. I need information on the national standard for EDI and/or information about EDI and trading partners. If you have any information please reply soon. Thank you, Holly Blakeman ------------------------------ From: Jeffrey T. Hutzelman Subject: Carrier For 800 Number? Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 14:03:30 -0500 Organization: Sophomore, Math/Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Is there any way left to easily tell what carrier "owns" a given 800-number? I'm trying to find out who is carrying 800-950-3535, and have been unable to get any assistance either my local carrier (Bell of PA) or my preferred IXC (Sprint). Ideas, anyone? Jeffrey T. Hutzelman (N3NHS) [Moderator's Note: One thing which might give you that information but is not absolutely guarenteed is the guide to area codes in the Telecom Archives (anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu or use the email service available to readers, tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu). That guide has a list of which carriers were assigned to which 800 prefixes as of the time portability started back in May. If the owner of 950-3535 was on that number prior to May, and if the owner has not since changed carriers, then the guide in the archives can be relied upon. If the owner of the number started using it since May or has chosen to change carriers since that time, then the carrier cannot be ascertained except by asking the subscriber to reveal the information, which many would probably do willingly just by asking them. It is illegal for any person or organi- zation with access to the database -- myself for example, as a broker of 800 service -- to reveal for marketing purposes or just general information purposes what subscriber is located where and with whom. The telcos can exchange that information where billing is concerned, but that is it. According to the guide in the archives, '950' was assigned to MCI from at least 1988 forward. Whether or not they are the carrier of record today for 950-3535 is something the subscriber will have to tell you. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tdawson@wheaton.wheaton.edu (Anthony Palmer Dawson) Subject: SMDR Polling Device Recommendation Needed Date: 20 Nov 1993 14:52:50 -0600 Organization: Wheaton College, Wheaton IL I need to acquire a device that can store SMDR information provided from a 5ESS Generic 8 to my premises. This device must allow polling via modem and/or ISDN. Any recommendations or pointers to vendors via email will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Tony Dawson tdawson@david.wheaton.edu Computing and Telephone Services Wheaton College, Wheaton IL 60187 ------------------------------ From: jbt@lulea.trab.se (J|rgen Bergstedt) Subject: UPT,Voicemail: Market Tests? Organization: Telia Research AB Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 08:42:36 GMT Hello! I am looking for information about market tests and studies within the fields of universal personal telecommunications (UPT) and voicemail. Does anyone know where I can find such information? Regards, Per Nilsson, Telia Research Email: Per.Nilsson@lulea.trab.se ------------------------------ From: scheidl@lezvax.arz.oeaw.ac.at (Scheidl) Subject: Prodigy Access From Europe? Date: 20 Nov 1993 11:57:12 GMT Organization: Academy of Science, Austria We do research on telecommunication services and I just wanted to know an access number of Prodigy. Can I use it with simple terminal session? For testing, I can also do a long distance call to the US. Where do I get a test-account? Is there an email adress to obtain this information (support@prodigy.com ??). Thank you in advance, Roland Alton-Scheidl Vienna, Austria [Moderator's Note: Normal convention for obtaining help from a site usually calls for writing 'postmaster'. Try postmaster@prodigy.com. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dobrowol@husc8.harvard.edu (Pawel Dobrowolski) Subject: Statistics on Leased Lines Date: 20 Nov 1993 17:39:41 GMT Organization: Harvard University Science Center Hi folks! I was wondering whether anyone out there knows of a reliable source of statistics on telephone lines leased by businesses? Does the FCC publish something that could be helpful? I am wriiting a paper for one of my classes and I will need current data, and for comparison sake something going back 20 years or so. If you know (or suspect) where to look/whom to call please let me know. Many thanks, Pawel dobrowol@husc8.harvard.edu ------------------------------ From: keith@uxmail.ust.hk (Keith H. K. Chow) Subject: ADSL Progress! Organization: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 14:38:20 +0800 Hi there, Does anyone know the current progress of ADSL , HDSL research or standardisation Work?? I am currently evaluating different approaches to ADSL. Right now the one tested in Stanford seems to be the best and is going to be adopted by the standardisation committe. Is it correct?? Or does anyone have the schedure about that?? Thanks for reading. Keith Department of Electrical & Electrical Engineering Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, HK Internet address: keith@uxmail.ust.hk ------------------------------ From: gibs@lulea.trab.se Subject: TAPI vrs Telescript Organization: Telia Research AB Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 15:25:44 GMT Hi, all! In order to integrate PC into telephone networks, there are two concurrent solutions using TAPI -- Microsoft versus Novell/AT&T. General Magic is claiming about another approach - interpreted language called Telescript, which "defines an intelligent sub- system for establishing and routing communications among users and processes". Can anyone point out a bit more information about Telescript? Has anyone done any comparison of Telescript with TAPI? Any information greatly appreciated. -gibs- Heiki Kybbar Telia Research AB, Lulea, Sweden Email: gibs@lulea.trab.se voice phone: (46) 920-75426 ------------------------------ From: daniel@isl.Stanford.EDU (Daniel Wong) Subject: Wireless LAN Systems Organization: Stanford University Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 10:14:25 GMT We are looking for information on commercial wireless LAN products. We basically want to know what the different options are (eg. Motorola Altair, etc.) and information of the following type would be appreciated: a) Name of manufacturer; b) Name of product; c) Operating frequencies (we are also interested in products which utilize infrared frequencies, for example); d) How manufacturer can be reached (email, phone, fax, etc.); e) Other information, like brief description, costs, etc. Any help would be appreciated. Please email replies to daniel@isl.stanford. edu or post to the newsgroup. Thank you very much. Daniel Wong ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 10:09:28 PST From: Les Reeves Subject: New 411 System in Atlanta Sometime this week Southern Bell in Atlanta converted directory assistance to a new system. The previous system used an automated talker to read back the number once the operator located it. The new system asks what city, then asks for the name, all via non-human voice. A few seconds later a human operator comes on, asks for any other information (which location, etc) and passes you to the automated talker to get the number. I am assuming it is primarily a voice storage system, although any amount of speaker-independent voice recognition could be going on. Does anyone know anything about this system? ------------------------------ From: rad@eusdatl.attmail.com (rad) Date: 20 Nov 93 23:04:55 GMT Subject: Help Wanted Locating ECPA Text I'm doing a paper on federal policy (United States) concerning secure telecommunications. I'm concentrating on the Escrow Encryption Standard and the FBI wiretap proposal affecting switch manufacturers. I've already got a good bit of info, but I need to locate an ftp site that has a copy of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. Does anyone know of an ftp site that has the full text of about 70 pages? Please mail directly to attmail!rickdennis. Thanks in advance! Rick Dennis AT&T Systems Development Organization Conversant Systems Suite 600 email: attmail!rickdennis 5555 Oakbrook Parkway Phone: (404) 242-1552 Norcross, GA 30093 ------------------------------ Date: 20 Nov 93 18:49 -0600 From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The Complete Guide to Pathworks" by Spencer BKPTHWRK.RVW 931015 CBM Books 101 Witmer Road PO Box 446 Horsham, PA 19044 215-957-4265 215-957-4287 Fax: 215-957-1050 76702.1565@compuserve.com books@propress.com "The Complete Guide to Pathworks", Spencer, 1878956221 The title here is almost justified, but is perhaps just a tad enthusiastic. Although the subtitle does refer to "Pathworks for VMS and DOS," it is a bit of a surprise to find the author extolling the virtues of Pathworks as a means to tie together VMS, DOS, Macs, OS/2, Windows and so forth, and thereafter completely ignoring everything except VMS and DOS. If you are dealing with VMS and DOS only, then this is reasonably complete. Everything you need; installation, cabling, configuration, printing, management, security, troubleshooting, etc.; is in here someplace. You may, however, have to dig for it. The organization is not particularly logical for a tutorial, first telling you how to install it, and only then considering how to set up network cabling. The chapter divisions make sense, though, and as a reference it works just fine. Generally speaking, the level of the material is sufficient to most common use. There will be times when you need additional help. This is particularly true in terms of MS-DOS. The book assumes that readers are well familiar with DOS: the "suggested readings" are primarily directed at getting more help for VMS. On the other hand, some DEC-specific areas are assumed as well. The coverage of DECnet is basically, "Start it and make sure it is set up properly." For most reasonably simple applications, however, this is a basic "one stop" reference for a myriad details to do with the network. Although the average user won't find much helpful here, system managers and technical support staff will likely find it a handy quick guide. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKPTHWRK.RVW 931015 Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of the Digest DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ Subject: Harris TS-21 Internals From: cvoid@albemuth.tatertot.com (Christian Void) Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 11:32:58 PST Organization: Void Multi-Media Research - San Francisco, CA I recently acquired a Harris TS-21 test set, and am in need of a schematic for said device. Someone went through it an removed all of the wiring, and I would like to get it working again. If someone has any of this information, please e-mail. Thanks in advance, Christian Void /T71 V/M/Research, Inc. cvoid@netcom.COM P.O. Box 170213 Tel. 1+415-807-5491 SF, CA 94117-0213 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #772 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa21534; 21 Nov 93 3:05 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10279 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sat, 20 Nov 1993 23:51:28 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA03145 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sat, 20 Nov 1993 23:50:46 -0600 Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 23:50:46 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311210550.AA03145@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #773 TELECOM Digest Sat, 20 Nov 93 23:50:45 CST Volume 13 : Issue 773 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Robert Bonomi) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Gas Turbine Generators) (M Hallock) Re: Serial Protocol For NT TCM/MPDA (Macy Hallock) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (James R. Ebright) Re: Specialized Mobile Radio (John Gilbert) Re: Battery Cross-Reference Information Needed (Andrew C. Green) Re: Nationwide GTE 800 Outage? (Steven H. Lichter) Re: GTE Responds! (was Nationwide GTE 800 Outage November 5th) (S. Lichter) Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? (Dennis Smiley) Re: Cell Phone Suggestions Sought (Dennis Smiley) Re: Reverse Phone Directory News (Blake Patterson) Re: Reverse Phone Directory News (Dan Spencer) Re: Need List of Country Codes (Malcolm Dunnett) Re: Instant Modem Banks (Bill Mayhew) Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? (John R. Levine) Re: More Contact From Sprint (Brendan B. Boerner) Re: Automated Fax Delivery (Steve Elias) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bonomi@eecs.nwu.edu (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications Organization: EECS Department, Northwestern University Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 09:53:28 GMT In article , wrote: > In article nathan@seldon.foundation. > tricon.com writes: >> From a possibly unreliable source, I heard that in >> downtown San Francisco, the phone exchanges actually have JET engines >> running turbines to provide power during emergencies. (Locally, the >> phone company uses diesels, but I do not know the capacity). > I've heard from techs who work/worked in CO's that some do indeed have > "jet" engines for backup power. I suspect that they are generators > powered by turbine engines of some sort. [... munch ...] > I don't know if a jet engine provides backup power in the SF office. > The only power equipment I saw was a very impressive array of > batteries. I can't speak for CO's, but in Des Moines, Iowa, the -power company- has a 'peaking' generator plant located just off the business district, that uses 'gas turbine' engines to turn the generators. This facility has been in place for approximatly 20 years. It had the advantage over more 'conventional' utility generator plants of 'quick start-up'. As I recall, they could go from 'cold' to 'on-line' in something like five to seven minutes, vs 30+ for a conventional generator rig. If memory serves correctly, they have six units at this site, and can fire them up individually as needed. It's a neat way to match generating capacity to load. Robert Bonomi bonomi@eecs.nwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 08:28 EST From: macy@fms.com (Macy Hallock) Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Gas Turbine Generators) Reply-To: macy@fmsystm.ncoast.org Organization: F M Systems, Inc. & Telemax, Inc. Medina, Ohio USA > I don't know if a jet engine provides backup power in the SF office. > The only power equipment I saw was a very impressive array of > batteries. At one time, many of the major intertoll switches had Solar jet turbines on the roof. These had the advantage of producing much less vibration than a diesel, so they could be mounted on the roof. Diesel generators require a substantial concrete foundation and shock mount assembly to deal with the low frequency vibrations they generate, especially at startup. Solar was at one time a part of International Harvester. No doubt things have changed in the twenty years since I worked in toll centers with these turbines. MCI uses Solar gas turbines located on middle floors of buildings in several cities, I'm told. No doubt AT&T still has quite a few in service to this day. Gas turbines work well, but have a higher initial cost, as well as a higher operating cost, due to more stringent maintenance requirements. They also consume almost the same amount of fuel when they are at no load as they do at full load. As you mentioned, an unshielded gas turbine sounds like a F-16 at startup ... and uses the same abount of fuel. So, you'll see these in mostly high rise installations or where a great deal of power is required and a large earth based foundation is impracticle. Gas turbines also are used in some alternate fuel applications, but that's another story. Macy Hallock N8OBG Voice= +1.216.723.3030 Fax= +1.216.723.3223 macy@fms.com Telemax Inc. and F M Systems Inc. 152 Highland Drive Medina, Ohio 44256 USA ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 08:43 EST From: macy@fms.com (Macy Hallock) Subject: Re: Serial Protocol For NT TCM/MPDA Reply-To: macy@telemax.com Organization: F M Systems, Inc. & Telemax, Inc. Medina, Ohio USA In article is written: > We are trying to interface a Northern Telecom phone to some of our > computer applications in a Non-PC/MAC environment (ie: does NOT > compete with NT's VISIT products). We may implement some VISIT-like > features, but Northern Telecom says they have "no plans" to do > anything in our envivonment. There is a telephone equipment manufacturer called "Dees Communications" that produces several types of adapters for Meridian type sets. You might want to talk to them. Be sure to talk to not only their sales types but also their technical staff. Dees produces several useful devices for use in both a standard POTS and Meridian environments. If they do not produce a device that will fit your needs, perhaps they will consider your suggestions. They have quite a bit of knowledge and experience with the Meridian products made by NTI. As I recall they are a Canadian company. I show this number in my directory: 800-654-5604 fax: 206-869-0717 (this is their US sales office). Macy Hallock N8OBG Voice= +1.216.723.3030 Fax= +1.216.723.3223 macy@fms.com Telemax Inc. and F M Systems Inc. 152 Highland Drive Medina, Ohio 44256 USA ------------------------------ From: jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James R Ebright) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: 20 Nov 1993 13:01:56 GMT Organization: The Ohio State University In article news@cbnews.att.com writes: > You have yet to factor in the cost of ISDN with POT line access. I > would love to have an ISDN line to transfer data but the cost are > prohibitive. Locally I can get a POT line with unlimited local > calling (99% of my traffic) for $20/month. My line is off hook about > 22hr/day. An ISDN line cost me $40/month plus minute charges. 4-5 I > double my charges at a minimum. Granted I have greatly enhanced my > speed capabilitys, but if its a choice of $20/month and 22hr/day or > $40/month +time my $ go for the POT line. Gary's post re-enforces a point made this summer by an ex-TPC employee who spoke on campus ... a tech type. He "couldn't understand" why customers were not rushing to some of the new! modern! better! services ... they were often every techie's dream :) Then he realized customers cared more about 'the tariff structure', ie. COST, than they did almost anything else. Why do you think X.25 is used in Europe and not here ... compared to Europe, leased lines are CHEAP! I still say Market 1 ISDN 0. BTW, I believe the new V.fast spec is at about 34-38 kb raw, uncompressed. And it runs over POTS to any phone now :) $599 from Hayes, $499 from --??-- were the prices I saw. Jim Ebright e-mail: jre+@osu.edu ------------------------------ From: johng@ecs.comm.mot.com (John Gilbert) Subject: Re: Specialized Mobile Radio Organization: Motorola, LMPS Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 23:15:14 GMT In article , jga+@osu.edu (Jon Anhold) wrote: > Does anyone have any information on Specialized Mobile Radio? > Specifically, types of radios, what bands they are on, and common uses > for SMR? SMRs provide shared system voice dispatch services on the 806-824/851-869 and 896-901/935-940 MHz Land Mobile radio bands. Telephone interconnect, data and paging are also available. The most common use for a SMR is for business dispatch operation. Trunked radio systems are often purchased by private users. These systems could be used to cover a single factory site or could cover the communications needs of an entire state or federal agency. U.S. Government agencies are authorized to operate trunking systems in the 406-420 MHz band. The largest U.S. manufactuers of trunked radios are Motorola, Erickson/GE, and E.F. Johnson. The radios for SMRs look like very much like conventional radios. They are available in mobile, portable and control station (base) configurations. John Gilbert johng@ecs.comm.mot.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 9:53:19 CST From: Andrew C. Green Subject: Re: Battery Cross-Reference Information Needed Arthur L. Shapiro (ARTHUR%MPA15C@MPA15AB.MV-OC.UNISYS.COM) writes: > I've owned a pre-breakup American Bell speakerphone for a few years, > [...] Clearly the battery is kaput. Alas, it's such a bizarre battery > -- Sanyo! -- that none of my references seem to tabulate anything similar. > Can anyone provide a source of an equivalent unit to this guy? Here is some info on a rechargeable battery specialty company which can probably supply a replacement battery for you. In particular, they have an (800) number with which you can ask them all sorts of battery questions without getting a sales pitch. They handle battery sales over-the-counter or by mail, and can custom-fabricate batteries for out-of-date designs, including retrofitting new cells into the old case where required. Old batteries are accepted for recycling. In my brief experience with them, I found their service was prompt, and they were able to put together an oddball battery configuration for an old rechargeable phone of mine for the price of the standard replacement battery that was no longer available. The Battery Works 6759 W. Dempster St. Morton Grove, IL 60053 (708) 966-2220 FAX: (708) 966-2270 Toll-Free: (800) 707-7000 I have no connection to them except as a customer. Andrew C. Green Datalogics, Inc. Internet: acg@dlogics.com 441 W. Huron UUCP: ..!uunet!dlogics!acg Chicago, IL 60610 FAX: (312) 266-4473 ------------------------------ From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: Nationwide GTE 800 Outage? Date: 21 Nov 1993 01:37:52 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) I would guess that since the outage reports came from different parts of the country the problem would have been the 800 service supplier and not GTE as there is no central center for GTE other then its control center in Texas which does the monitoring of the network. I had not heard about any major outages in the area I work in, which is not to say there was not since I work late at night and don't always see all that happens. Steven Lichter GTECalif COEI ------------------------------ From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: GTE Responds! (was Nationwide GTE 800 Outage November 5th) Date: 20 Nov 1993 02:47:54 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) Any and all updates are done at night to prevent any outages. This is standard. The only time it would be done duringthe day would be because it had to be because of a major problem. If someone did something during the day, then it was done in error and could and will cause the people involved to get a little unpaid vacation. Steven Lichter GTECalif COEI ------------------------------ From: smiley@crl.com (Dennis Smiley) Subject: Re: Wiring a New Home - Suggestions? Date: 20 Nov 1993 20:51:47 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] I would agree with the conduit or pull wire idea, to allow insertion of whatever cableing technology is available in the future. Dennis Smiley smiley@crl.com ------------------------------ From: smiley@crl.com (Dennis Smiley) Subject: Re: Cell Phone Suggestions Sought Date: 20 Nov 1993 20:59:45 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] John R Levine (johnl@iecc.com) wrote: > I'm looking for a cell phone for my car. I go back and forth between > home, in Boston where cell service works fine, and my tiny timber > barony, in northern Vermont, where cell service is marginal, though > supposed to be better when they add towers in a few months. > Also, experience with the local cell carriers here (NYNEX and Cell > One/Boston) and Vermont (Contel and Cell One/Vermont-Western-New- > Hampshire) would be appreciated. I just insatlled a cell phone in my car. I live in Santa Rosa, CA, about 60 miles north of San Francisco. I would recommend a three watt model with as high a gain on glass or in hole antenna mounted as high on the vehicle as possible. If you are really conerned with use in remote area, while inconvienant while moving, a higher gain yagi design directional antenna is probably small enough to stash away in the car somewhere for emergency use in the sticks. Here in California, the Highway Patrol and CalTrans have installed cell phone call boxes on most of the freeways and State Highways, the ones on the fringe have small Yagis on the tops of the poles. My handsfree works surprisingly well in my Izusu Rodeo with the microphone mounted on the window fringe just above the rear view mirror. There is little background noise and the audio quality is quite good. A GE XR-3000 by the way. Dennis Smiley smiley@crl.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 14:51:38 EST From: blake@hou2h.att.com Subject: Re: Reverse Phone Directory News Organization: AT&T In article ray.normandeau@factory.com (Ray Normandeau) writes: > Search Phone*File, CompuServe's online people directory, through > 17-Nov and the $15 per hour connect-time surcharge is waived. > Phone*File is only available during certain hours: > Monday through Saturday 6:00 am to 2:30 am EST > Sunday 10 am to 8 pm EST > It has been operating VEEEERY SLOWLY due to large amount of people now > accessing it. Has anyone checked the accuracy of Compuserve's PHONE*FILE data? (Improving data quality is my job at AT&T Bell Labs.) In August, dannyb@panix.com estimated that the national synthetic- voice reverse directory is 85% accurate. (900-933-3330, $1 per minute, by Clarity Inc, Box 8357, Red Bank, NJ 07701.) This "Undirectory" seems always fast and always available. I presume that Illinois Bell's reverse directory for 312- and 708- NPAs is close to 100% current. (312-796-9600, $.35 for two lookups from 312/708 phones, "free" from outside 312/708.) Can any frequent user confirm? Blake Patterson [Moderator's Note: It is the same database used by Directory Assistance and is updated daily or more often. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dspenc1@uswnvg.com (Dan Spencer) Subject: Re: Reverse Phone Directory News Date: 20 Nov 93 19:17:21 GMT The slowness would have nothing to do with an hourly access charge, would it? Dan :) [Moderator's Note: No, I doubt it because Compuserve does not resort to that sort of sleazy tactic to get revenue. They have all the cus- tomers they can handle now, perfectly willing to pay for their various services and offerings. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Malcolm Dunnett Subject: Re: Need List of Country Codes Date: 20 Nov 93 08:48:45 -0700 Organization: Malaspina College In article , gordon@torrie.org (Gordon Torrie) writes: > Malcolm Dunnett writes: >> I'm looking for a list of all the "Country Codes"; either an FTP >> site or someone to post/mail me a copy. > While one might suppose that because Malcom posted his message to this > group he meant the numeric codes one dials to route a call to a > particular country, this was not explicitly stated. Yes, I did. Sorry I wasn't clearer. I found a comprehensive set of "country" and "city" routing codes on the tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu LISTSERV. Malcolm Dunnett Malaspina University-College Email: dunnett@mala.bc.ca Computer Services Nanaimo, B.C. CANADA V9R 5S5 Tel: (604)755-8738 [Moderator's Note: Which is, of course, where I referred you in the first place. For those not familiar with the Telecom Archives Email Information Service, try sending email to tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu. The subject does not matter, but in the text of your message give these commands in the order shown: REPLY yourname@site HELP INFO INDEX END You'll get back lots of information to enable you to make full use of our archives, including the SEARCH feature for subjects and authors of articles which have appeared in this Digest in the past and the GLOSSARY feature, which lets you look up telecom terms by email with which you are unfamiliar. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu (Bill Mayhew) Subject: Re: Instant Modem Banks Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 14:21:01 GMT In article Martin McCormick writes: > In recent postings, several people told of modem banks which can > be attached directly to a T1 and use DSP to simulate 24 dial-up modems. Please post, if possible. I have a project where we are about to embark on some bypass applications with T1 carried on our private microwave system. We have to carry POTS lines back to our central location where they go into 24 modems. It sure would be nice if such a device exists so that I don't have to mess around with FXO cards, ring generator and separate modems on the central side, which is what our consultant has specified. Actually, we're pretty locked into that configuration, but it would be nice to know for the inevitable expansion that will occur. Ideally the modem emulator described above could be configurable to use the A and B signalling highways to work with either loop-start or four-wire signalling protocols. Also, I'd be interested in hearing if anybody has had problems with patching high speed modems through a tandem. One of my circuits has two 18 mile or so microwave hops, so in between there are two E2M2 cards back-to-back. The extra analog conversion worries me a little about loss of quality, especially at 14.4kb/s. I'd rather use DS0 rate digital cards back to back, but the mfr. of our equipment doesn't have a DS0 that provides A and B siganlling highway capability; they always stuff the 8th bit to a 1 (this is a limitation of the way the common equipment in our channel banks works; we can't do B8ZS coding of the T1 carrier). I'd rather be using terminal servers and modems at the outlying ends, but we've had problems with modems locking-up and needing power-cycling. We don't have enough staff to be able to go around to the mostly unattended installations at the remote ends of our links to reset modems on a regular basis, hence they are going to be located at our central site. Bill Mayhew NEOUCOM Computer Services Department Rootstown, OH 44272-9995 USA phone: 216-325-2511 wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu amateur radio 146.58: N8WED ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 18:07 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? Organization: I.E.C.C. > For my residential long distance I currently use AT&T ... I got a > check in the mail from MCI last week (not a very big one, as they say; > only $20) which I get to cash if I let them switch me to MCI (and > friends and informants, or whatever it is this week). I hear that if you call up AT&T and tell them that MCI has sent you a $20 bribe to switch, AT&T will probably tell you to send it to them and they'll credit it to your account as a thank-you for not switching. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: BBOERNER@novell.com (Brendan B. Boerner) Subject: Re: More Contact From Sprint Organization: Novell, Inc. -- Austin Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 15:43:44 GMT In article cambler@cymbal.aix.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler - Fubar) writes: [ ... long tale of negative phone call from Sprint employee ...] > Again, anyone with anything to add, pointers to legal issues, a letter > stating that Sprint made you the same offer, or anything, please drop > me email! One thing I'm surprised to discover is that Sprint apparently doesn't think that trying to squirm out of this is going to hurt them in the future. Say for the sake of argument that Sprint has the law on it's side and/or economic muscle to never give in to all the bit heads out there who a) know the difference between a 9600 bps data/FAX external modem and a 2400 bps data, 9600/4800 FAX send/receive internal modem, and b) care about getting the 9600 external as opposed to the 2400 internal and want Sprint to make good. Fine, so now Sprint has a bunch of unhappy bit heads, some of which may work as I.S. folks or who know I.S. folks in companies interested in setting up ATM. I noticed in a recent issue of {NetWork World} I believe that Sprint is gearing up to try to be a bigtime player for ATM services. When those burned I.S. types go shopping for an ATM provider, they're going to remember that Sprint couldn't tell the difference between a 9600 bps external modem and a 2400 bps internal, so how could someone possibly trust the quality of ATM service? I would think that the loss of ATM business will end up costing Sprint more than buying a 9600 bps modem for every customer who complains would cost them. Just my opinion, Brendan B. Boerner Phone: 512/346-8380 MHS: bboerner@novell Internet: bboerner@novell.com \ Please use either if replying or Brendan_Boerner@novell.com / by mail exterior to Novell. Disclaimer: My views are my own, not Novell's. They pay me to write code, not speak for them. ------------------------------ From: eli@glare.cisco.com (Steve Elias) Subject: Re: Automated FAX Delivery Date: 20 Nov 93 14:15:27 Organization: cisco Systems Luis, what you have described is a combination of DID lines with DID capable fax modem cards. A number of vendors sell equipment which can do this. Brooktrout and Gammalink/Dialogic (what is their new name?) are two such vendors. Also there are external DID-Rs232 boxes which will work with any fax modem, but I'm not sure who makes those. It is the ideal solution for computerfax delivery because it is transparent to the sender, as you point out. eli lmd@cayman.inesc.pt (Luis Delgado) writes: ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #773 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa24730; 21 Nov 93 16:25 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05257 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for u2251545@alliant.snu.ac.kr); Sun, 21 Nov 1993 10:05:50 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA12844 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 21 Nov 1993 10:05:06 -0600 Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 10:05:06 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311211605.AA12844@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #774 TELECOM Digest Sun, 21 Nov 93 10:05:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 774 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson PC Pursuit; Also Inexpensive 14.4k FAXmodem (Jack Decker) Telecommunications in the Year 2020 (Jack Godfrey) Mnemonic For Wire Colors (Steve Runyon) Internationl Dialback Service? (Tawfig Al Rabiah) *Why* I'm Suing Sprint (Chris Ambler) Palmtop + Cellular Modem (Chris Johnston) NEAX2400 Users Out There? (Steve Chafe) Best 900mhz Cordless? (Rich Skrenta) 416-551 (was Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized) (Carl Moore) Information Wanted on Setting Up BBS (sy1759@albany.albany.edu) Association For Contingency Planning (Lynne Gregg) Automated Checking of Phone Bill Balance (Carl Moore) 1-800 Caller ID (Scott Anderson) Call FROM Ground TO Airplane? (Carl Moore) Correction: Re: Information About Iridium Wanted (Carl Moore) Re: Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Dan Spencer) What is the Future of Electronic Mail? (David R. Johnston) Re: Skokie, IL, and Telephone History (Bob Schwartz) Re: Skokie, IL, and Telephone History (Jonathan T. Cronin) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: PC Pursuit; also inexpensive 14.4k FAXmodem Date: 21 Nov 1993 07:20:30 GMT Organization: Youngstown State/Youngstown Free-Net There have been some messages here recently regarding the impending demise of PC Pursuit. Just to satisfy my own curiosity, I called the PC Pursuit BBS, which is accessible by calling your local SprintNet node, and once online, typing "C PURSUIT" (without the quotes). Before I go on, I will say that in my opinion, PC Pursuit has been one of the most customer-hostile services to ever exist (unless, of course, you include certain regulated public utilities which shall remain nameless). :-) Basically, their attitude seemed to be that if the system worked at all you should be thankful, and you certainly shouldn't expect any response to requests for service enhancements. They also made promises that remain unkept to this day (for example, that Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan would have a SprintNet indial ... that was a few years ago and they still don't have one, not that it matters to me anymore). It may well be that SprintNet itself is a dinosaur of sorts. The interesting thing about it is that for the last couple of years, they seem to have added as many new nodes (if not more) in points outside of the United States as within the U.S. They have upgraded a few cities (generally the larger ones) to 9600 bps, but there are still a large number of SprintNet cities that are only accessible at 2400 bps or slower. Anyway, in reading the messages on the PC Pursuit BBS, the only comment from anyone at SprintNet was that the service was being re-evaluated and that they were not accepting any new customers at this time. This led to a rather interesting speculation by one of the posters to that BBS, which I reprint herewith verbatim: No. 68 11/19/93 21:17:29 From: John Lockard To: Wilfrid Kernan Subject: (R) Termination &c Message class: Public Message base: PCP > Our services are being reevaluated by management. Then is it true that your going to remove the entire Telenet network and replace it with a new SprintNet network that anyone can directly dial using five digits and then the number their calling and it will recieve the computer or fax data at the ISDN switch compact and send it on a sperate packet nework and then convert it back to modem tone at the other end? [END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE] There were also messages on the BBS that would never have been tolerated in the past, such as discussions of other services available (two that were mentioned were MCI's service that allows PC's to connect for as little as eight cents per minute, and something I've never heard of called "Global Access"). There was also a couple of messages that seemed to indicate that the service has really deteriorated in the last couple of months (as least from the perspective of the message writers). And then there was this message, which if true, may give you an idea for a Christmas stocking stuffer for any modem junkies in your life: No. 47 11/18/93 13:12:16 From: Harv Laser To: All Subject: cheap 14.4k modem Message class: Public Message base: PCP You can purchase a LineLink 144e 14.4k V32/42.bis FAXmodem from Mac Warehouse for $99 plus $3 for overnight shipping. This isnot a mis-print. Ninety Nine Dollars. It's a mac bundle with mac cable and software but it is a generic RS-232 port modem made by Prometheus under the name Technology Concepts. It is FAX software ready. If you don't have a Mac, just use the serial cable you use now on your PeeCee or Amiga or whatever. I bought one two months ago and it works brilliantly and you absolutely cannot beat the price. Mac Warehouse is at 1-800-255-6227 and ask for catalog #BND0249. I am in NO way connected with Mac Warehouse. I get NO sales commissions. I'm just a happy, satisfied customer of this modem (the only think I've ever ordered from them.. and I use it on my Amiga) and wanted to let you people know that you do NOT have to pay $250 or even $200 for a capable 14.4k FAXmodem. Harv [END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE #2. Please note that I also have no connection with nor experience with the company mentioned.] Again, this is the sort of message that would probably not have been tolerated in the recent past, since if folks have a decent 14.4k modem, they are probably better off to call direct than to use PC Pursuit (especially in areas with 2400 bps or slower indials). My gut feeling from my reading of the messages (and this is my OPINION only) is that SprintNet would be more than happy at this point if the remaining PC Pursuit customers would quietly drop their accounts with the service and leave. Some folks mentioned that they had heard that PC Pursuit would be shut down on January 1, 1994, and others mentioned that the contract they have requires 30 days notice of termination of service. The sysops of the PC Pursuit BBS did not comment on any of this. I hope that if they decide to replace PC Pursuit with something else, that they do make it universally accessible, but also that they put someone in charge that understands the meaning of customer SERVICE. I'll stop here lest I get started on a tirade on their past mistakes. Jack [Moderator's Note: If you think back and remember the origins of the PC Pursuit program and Telenet (the network it runs on, which is now called Sprintnet), it is easy to see why it is obsolete and may be in line for the scrap heap: when Telenet began in the middle to late 1970's, it was a service for businesses only -- large businesses -- which wanted to transfer data between locations at a rate much less expensive that the public phone network could provide. *Fast* modems went at 300 baud; more typical modems ran at 65 or 110 baud. By using modern techniques at the time of having several subscribers on one circuit, costs could be held down. When PC Pursuit got underway in in the middle 1980's, 300/1200 baud modems were the standard, and Telenet could charge subscribers one dollar per hour -- quite a big savings over the cheapest long distance at the time of $7-8 per hour at night -- and still make money. Unless you have unlimited local service, you pay something per minute for the local connection to thier indials, a dollar per hour for the network (actually, $30 for $30 hours per month), and wind up staying on much longer than you would by dialing direct using a 9600 baud or 14.4 modem. The only reason they started PC Pursuit in the first place was to make a creative and profit- able use of the network during overnight and weekend hours when it was otherwise almost entirely deserted. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jgodfrey@fox.nstn.ns.ca (Jack Godfrey) Subject: Telecommunications in the Year 2020 Date: 21 Nov 1993 10:29:46 -0400 Organization: Worker's Compensation Board of Nova Scotia My son, who is in grade 7, is doing a long term class project. His part of the project is to gather information about the future directions of telecommunications in the year 2020. If you have any information, we would appreciate it if you would pass it on to us. If you know of any other places where we can look for information we would appreciate that as well. [Moderator's Note: If the next 27 years are anything like the past 10 years, the network won't be recognizeable to any of us who might happen to come back and visit or still be around; that's how much things have changed. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Steve Runyon Subject: Mnemonic For Wire Colors Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 23:33:03 -0400 Organization: Mr. Producer Reply-To: p00866@psilink.com I am looking for an easy way to memorize the wire colors in 66 wire. The colors are blue, orange, green, brown, gray, yellow, ... I was hoping that there might be a sentence with each word starting with the same letters as the corresponding color. For instance, to memorize the color codes of resistor bands, my father taught me "Blackie Brown rapes our young girls but Violet gives willingly." This translates to black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, gray, white. There are other neat forms of mnemonics, like ROY G BIV and "How I wish I could enumerate pi correctly". Any ideas? from the disk of Steve Runyon p00866@psilink.com ++ ------------------------------ From: tawfig@cs.pitt.edu (Tawfig Al Rabiah) Subject: Internationl Dialback Service Date: 21 Nov 1993 04:33:23 GMT Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science What are the companies that offer dialback service which allows you to direct your calls through the US and how good are they? Tawfig [Moerator's Note: One is the company I represent, Telepassport. I think their service is pretty good for a company which has been operating only about six months (although they are a division of another company which has been around several years and is the largest reseller of AT&T anywhere). With TP, you dial the access number in New York, let it ring once, and hang up. TP then calls you back, gets your author- ization code and PIN, and gives you USA dialtone from New York. Calls are billed to the credit card of your choice, at rates which are much less that AT&T's rates for international calls, but are based on AT&T's times of day and rate structure. I now have a lot of customers in the UK using Telepassport, as well as customers in Israel and several other contries. They use TP since international rates from the USA are so much better than the rates from their own country. For more detailed information about using TP, and to get an application for service, please write ptownson@eecs.nwu.edu. Sign up takes only a few days. PAT] ------------------------------ From: news@zeus.aix.calpoly.edu Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 20:14:19 GMT From: cambler@cymbal.aix.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler) Subject: *Why* I'm Suing Sprint Organization: The Phishtank Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 20:14:16 GMT I understand the sentiment expressed by a few Digest readers that I should find "something better to do with my time" rather than sue Sprint. I just want to make a few public points about that. When I received the call from the Sprint "CSG," he said the same thing. Except his words were, "Don't you have a job?" This is taking up very little of my time. I visit the law library when I am downtown anyway, or on my lunchtime. I'm actually getting quite an education out of this. I don't believe that Sprint should be allowed to apologize away an error on their part. They made a mistake, perhaps, but they should be held accountable for it. If *I* had made a mistake, do you think they would have hapilly accepted my unconditional refusal to, for example, pay my bill? "I'm sorry, I'm not a telecom expert, I did not realize that that call to Sri Lanka would cost so much. I've made sure it won't happen again, but I will not pay." Their claim that their sales reps are not modem experts and as such made a simple mistake is quite similar. Lesson learned by Sprint, perhaps, but I simply want what I was promised and accepted in good faith. Nothing more, nothing less. Christopher(); // All original text is strictly the opinion of the poster Christopher J. Ambler, Author, FSUUCP 1.41, FSVMP 1.0, chris@toys.fubarsys.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 17:57:37 CST From: Chris Johnston Subject: palmtop + cellular modem Hi, I'm interested in using a palmtop and a cellular phone as a portable terminal. Are there any PCMCIA or battery powered modems suitable for use over a cellular telephone? I am especially worried about cell hand off and RF crosstalk. I want to walk around with this so it should be light weight. Since I will be using this to dial in to the computer at work, one way RF and satellite links are not appropriate. How much might this weigh? Thank you. Best Regards, cj ------------------------------ From: itstevec@hamlet.ucdavis.edu (Steve Chafe) Subject: NEAX2400 Users Out There? Organization: University of California, Davis Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 00:00:17 GMT Hello, Are there any folks out there that run NEC 2400's and who would like to be part of an informal internet discussion group based on a mailing list? If so, please send me a reply. I've been doing this for the SL100 and it has proven quite helpful for troubleshooting purposes. Thanks, Steve Chafe steve@telcom.ucdavis.edu -or- itstevec@hamlet.ucdavis.edu ------------------------------ Subject: Best 900mhz Cordless? Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 14:07:15 EST From: Rich Skrenta I'm interested in opinions on 900mhz cordless phones. I've seen the old and new Tropez models, as well the "Quantum Leap" 900mhz phone. Features I'm interested in: o Security. If it's all-digital, doing some simple scrambling should be easy. Going digitial is enough to weed out the neighbors with scanners, but I don't want someone to be able to plug in another 900mhz phone and hear my calls. o Clarity and range. I recall a review of the first Tropez model that said there was a problem with the volume. Does anyone know if this is fixed in their new one? Rich Skrenta [Moderator's Note: Have you checked out the Radio Shack 900 mhz phone? I've seen one demonstrated here and they seem to work quite well. The range is much further than a regular cordless phone. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 17:05:58 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: 416-551 (was Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized) Just what is this hot line supposed to do anyway? I can't reach it. I tried the Orange Card and AT&T, first from my office on 410-278 and then from a C&P pay phone on 410-273. Orange Card from my office to 905-551-3409 got a recording saying this was not a working number, please call my long distance carrier, "two two"; same card to area 416 said my call could not be completed as dialed, "212". AT&T card got an intercept "... cannot be completed as dialed ... 703 0T" in both 416 and 905. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 22:39:42 EST From: SU1759@ALBANY.ALBANY.EDU Subject: Information Wanted on Setting up BBS Hi, I have been asked to try and find some information on setting up a small BBS (of the order ten to twenty concurrent users). I'd appreciate any (on-line??) sources as to hard and software requirements, level of expertise required to setup and to maintain the system. The main 'theme' of the board would be access to a database and conferencing. Please copy me direct with any replies as well as to the newsgroup as I have very limited access at the moment. Thanks for your help. Bryan ------------------------------ From: Lynne Gregg Subject: Association For Contingency Planning Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 23:04:00 PST I know there's at least one national association devoted to (telecom) contingency planning. I'd like to compile a list of national and regional associations. If you belong to such an "animal", please post to me with name/address and a bit of background on the organization. If you post to me directly, I summarize the list and post to the Digest. Thanks much, Lynne Gregg ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 13:16:57 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Automated Checking of Phone Bill Balance I attempted to pay my first C&P bill by using my own envelope in the mail, but it apparently didn't arrive, and I ended up having to send another check (this time, I did use the C&P envelope and it has now been credited, according to the C&P automated system I am about to describe). Anyway, besides using my bank's automated system to determine that the first payment stil had not cleared, I had a 954-xxxx number (went thru toll-free with just the seven digits when punched in on a pay phone on 410-272 Aberdeen) which put me on an automated system where I could learn my bill balance! There is a three-digit number (after my phone number), printed on my phone bill, which is apparently the key to my getting access to my account-balance information. [Moderator's Note: The three digit number at the end of your phone number is for the RAO, or Regional Accounting Office. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Scott@tdkt.kksys.com (Scott Anderson) Reply-To: Scott@tdkt.kksys.com Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 08:59:00 -0600 Subject: 1-800 Caller ID Organization: The Dark Knight's Table BBS: Minnetonka, MN (Free!) Hello everyone! I looking for ideas about how our business can incorporate caller ID into our computer system, so when our customers call, the computer would pull up their account information. We have about 10,000 regular clients that call in on our 1-800 lines. Almost always, the people call from the same number. If you think this would be possible, I'd like some advice on how it could be done and at what cost. I don't know a lot about this topic, but am interested either way. You can E-mail to me Scott@tdkt.kksys.com. Origin: Dark Knight's Table (1:282/31) The Dark Knight's Table BBS +1 612 938 8924 Minnetonka, MN USA Free access to Usenet news and e-mail [Moderator's Note: Just call the carrier handling your 800 service and tell then you want automatic number identification displayed in real time as calls are received. If they can't do it, you will need to switch your service to some carrier -- such as AT&T -- who can. You will *not* like the price they charge you for it. By comparison, Caller-ID on a regular POTS line is quite cheap. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 13:18:01 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Call FROM Ground TO Airplane? According to a little item appearing in summary in {USA Today} newspaper seen by me today, some USAir planes will have the capability of RECEIVING calls from the ground. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 93 021:19:00 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Correction: Re: Information About Iridium Wanted Jeffrey Oliver Breen writes: > Iridium, Inc. > 13501 Street, NW > Washington, D 20005 > (202) 371-6889 That's Washington, DC (the "C" was left off at the end). In the street address, 13501 seems to be too high to be found in DC, and the street name is missing; did you perhaps mean "1350 I Street"? (Sometimes "Eye" is used instead of "I" to avoid confusing "I" and "1".) ------------------------------ From: dspenc1@uswnvg.com (Dan Spencer) Subject: Re: Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Date: 21 Nov 93 01:41:38 GMT Mr. Fischer, you obviously have no respect for a individual's privacy. Is business that bad that you must "prostitute" your product on the "net"? I can only hope that your privacy is invaded in a sufficiently grotesque manner to educate you on it's value. You should take your device and drop it in the ocean (that's the place where your country insists on dumping it's raw effluent). Who knows, maybe with NAFTA, it might be cheaper for your company to move to Mexico and make you obsolete ... Get a life. Disclaimer: My views are my own and not necessarily my company's. e [Moderator's Note: It sounds to me like you are unhappy with the idea of people listening to your cellular calls. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1993 23:13:09 EDT From: David R Johnston Subject: What is the Future of Electronic Mail? I am working on a paper for a graduate course in Communication Technologies and would be interested if anyone has any information, or opinions on what the future of electronic mail services has to offer. It seems to me that right now there is limited access due to the cost of access, as well as many people that I would like to communicate with are not on-line. It is not unlike days of old when not everyone had a telephone, but the question remains, how long will it be for this type of communications to become widespread in N. America, and or developing countries? Look forward to your feedback! drjohnst@uoguelph.ca ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Skokie, IL, and Telephone History From: bob@bci.nbn.com (Bob Schwartz) Date: Sat, 20 Nov 93 17:16:09 PST Organization: Bill Correctors, Inc., Marin County, California > I don't know if it's still true or not, but the city of San Ramon (25 > miles east of SF) had 102 phones per 100 population. This fact used > to be in the back of the Pacific Bell yellow pages for that area, > which I think is the Central Contra Costa book. I would think there > might be an explanation here, but I don't know what it is. This was > before cellular, and the community doesn't seem to have that much more > business than any other community. San Ramon is no longer a sleepy agricultural community. With AT&T and Pacific Bell executive offices there, and legions of employees as well as several high tech companies in the large industrial parks and mixed use industrial parks, it is no big surprise. If a resident doesn't have kids requiring additional lines then it's the business line at home. Bob Schwartz bob@bci.nbn.com Bill Correctors, Inc. +1 415 488 9000 Marin County, California ------------------------------ From: jtc@world.std.com (Jonathan T Cronin) Subject: Re: Skokie, IL, and Telephone History Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Sun, 20 Nov 1993 01:40:32 GMT In article , David A. Kaye wrote: > Dave Levenson (dave@westmark.com) wrote: >> [Skokie stats omitted] > I don't know if it's still true or not, but the city of San Ramon (25 > miles east of SF) had 102 phones per 100 population. This fact used > to be in the back of the Pacific Bell yellow pages for that area, > which I think is the Central Contra Costa book. I would think there > might be an explanation here, but I don't know what it is. This was > before cellular, and the community doesn't seem to have that much more > business than any other community. But it does have Pacific Bell headquarters, (guarded by attack swans.) Jonathan ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #774 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa24974; 21 Nov 93 16:38 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA23353 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sun, 21 Nov 1993 13:06:52 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14852 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 21 Nov 1993 13:06:11 -0600 Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 13:06:11 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311211906.AA14852@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #775 TELECOM Digest Sun, 21 Nov 93 13:06:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 775 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson A TV Show Which Never Got Aired (TELECOM Moderator) When the World Stopped Talking - November 22, 1963 (Donald E. Kimberlin) Re: Crummy Service in NY (Brendan M. O'connor) Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? (Gregory K. Johnson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 11:58:24 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: A TV Show Which Never Got Aired During the fall of 1963, I worked with a couple people in putting together a video documentary about our library here. Entitled 'Getting Aquainted With the Chicago Public Library', the documentary was a tour of the library, conducted by myself, explaining the various departments and the services each offered, etc. The others did the technical work and I was the person leading the video tour. This was part of the volunteer work I've done for the library for quite a few years, and one of my first efforts. Many of you know that for a dozen years now, I've produced programs on Chicago history for the visually handicapped reading service here, a service known as CRIS (Chicago Radio Information Service). Back in the 1960's I helped with some public relations stuff at the library. This was a two-part series, to be aired on WGN-TV, channel 9 on two Sunday mornings in November, 1963. Then as now, Sunday mornings were the time when the television stations all discharged their public affairs obligations in the hopes most people would be asleep anyway, and not too much commercial revenue would be lost. :) We had it ready to go and in the hands of WGN-TV according to schedule several days before it was to air. That weekend, the station had some technical difficulties which forced them off the air a couple of times during the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, and the parts or whatever needed to end the problem finally were available about 10 AM Sunday morning, which was when our video documentary was to air. Rather than go all day with whatever problem had been plaguing them, the station decided to shut down for the twenty minutes or so needed to cure the problem. When? Right at the time we had been scheduled to be on the air, of course. :( ... But not to worry, they said the programs scheduled for 10 AM on Sunday over the next month would all just be shoved back a week so both of our programs in the two-part series would run, but each just a week later than planned. Okay, fair enough, unexpected technical problems will occur, especially back in a much earlier period in television's history as this was. All week we looked forward to having our production on the air starting the following Sunday, but then on Friday of that week, the unthinkable had to be thought about: the president was assassinated. It was a Friday about noon. I was with some friends and we had the television on some game show. As memory serves, it was that game where the contestant spins the wheel, it stops on some question or challenge, and the contestant has to do whatever is called for to get the prize which is associated with that stop on the wheel. The first news bulletin came, and it was only about twenty seconds long, one of those 'unconfirmed reports from Dallas' type things, and they went back to the show in progress. Perhaps just a minute or two later, the second bulletin interuppted the game show, saying that the information had now been confirmed; that shots had been fired at the presidential motorcade, and that Secret Service agents had piled into the president's car, pushed him to the floor and driven away at break-neck speed somewhere ... back to the game show where the smiling contestants and laughing host were busily spinning the wheel and examining the prizes. This odd juxtapostion of game show and bulletin went on for another couple minutes with twenty and thirty second bulletin interupptions mixed with a thirty seconds or so of spinning wheel and prizes and laughter. Then the face of Walter Cronkite (we had started changing channels by that time, trying to figure out what was going on) telling the story as it was known at the moment. Within the next five minutes or less, every television and radio station in the USA, and perhaps much of the world, was telling of the event in Dallas. No more spinning wheel with laughter and prizes. The networks all turned over their air to their affiliate stations in Dallas and stations without contacts there simply latched onto the feeds of those who did. For the next 36 hours or so, the television stations had continuous coverage. By late Saturday night, there was little left to report which had not already been said, and during the overnight hours into Sunday morning, many stations simply focused continually on Kennedy's casket as it sat in Washington, DC, and long lines of people walked past paying their last respects. This went on all night. Sunday morning the stations resumed their usual programming schedule and the engineer on duty at channel 9 confirmed in a phone call to us that our tape would be on at 11 AM, rather than 10 AM as originally planned. They were having a followup newscast on Kennedy and running about an hour behind schedule with their programs. Sure enough, 11 AM and our documentary started; we all were watching television eagerly to see how it turned out. Two or three minutes into the documentary, an interupption -- another news bulletin -- occurred, and we were told that "We are going to switch to Dallas for just five minutes or less. Police are transferring Mr. Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of the president from the custody of the Dallas Police to the County Jail. We are going to be live from Dallas long enough to see him transferred, and see if it is possible to at least ask him a question or two ..." Admittedly, that was even better than the documentary we had worked on, so there was no real resentment at this interupption. The 'magic of television' as we called it in those days brought a flash on the screen, then the basement of the police station in Dallas where crowds of reporters and police officials were waiting. All the report- ers had their cameras and microphones set up ready to capture any possible statements or visual images they could of the man who it was said had killed Kennedy. Then someone said, "Here he comes! Look down the hall, two sheriffs have him in handcuffs." And walking down the hall was Mr. Oswald and two or three deputies with him. As they approached where the cameras and reporters were waiting, walking him out to the street where the transport van was waiting, up walks Jack Ruby, a local businessman in Dallas. No one bothered to stop him, because he was well-known and trusted by all the police officials. They assumed he was there to watch like everyone else. When Oswald is a couple feet away from him, Ruby pulls out a gun and says to Oswald and the nation at large watching on television, "You son of a bitch! You killed the president and now I am going to kill you." And wasting no time, he did just that. He pumped bullets into Oswald while the police, the reporters and the nation watched in horror, then quietly surrendered. Ruby made no effort to escape, and said he understood all along that after he killed Oswald, he himself would be arrested and put on trial. Needless to say, that was the end of normal television programming again that day ... all the rest of the day at five minute intervals or so, and well into the night, every TV station anywhere was replaying that gruesome scene for those who missed it the first (or second or third or umpteenth) time around. Originally, some cameras had picked up on Ruby when he got up into Oswald's face while others had been on Oswald exclusively including as the evidence of pain from the bullet was in his face and he started to slump down. Originally we did not see Ruby; we only heard his voice, heard the bullets and saw Oswald begin to fall to the floor but later replays had the tape edited in two ways: we saw Oswald coming down the hall, we saw Ruby standing there as Oswald approached, we saw the hatred in Ruby's face as he was speaking and pointing the gun, then as the shots were fired the scene of Oswald grimmacing from pain and falling over. As a matter of what was considered good taste in those days, Ruby's mention of Oswald's ancestry was 'bleeped out'. The versions all afternoon and evening at five minute intervals only showed an angry Ruby's lips moving with a 'bleep-bleep', the gun being pointed, and then the sound returned with the fire of the pistol. Lip readers could easily tell what Ruby had to say, but that was not the point: you were not supposed to say those words on the radio or television. Our documentary about the library never did get aired. The following Thursday was Thanksgiving Day, and a normally joyous holiday in the United States was marred by a very somber America as we all reflected on the events of the past week. And that's the way I recall thirty years ago this week. How do you recall it? Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 93 00:39 EST From: Donald E. Kimberlin <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: When the World Stopped Talking - November 22, 1963 Dear Pat: I hope the following is an interesting story for readers on this 30th anniversary of an event that rocked the world: WHEN THE WORLD STOPPED TALKING It was the coldest part of the "Cold War," with momentous events leading to that time. America's move toward the "Camelot Years" had seen, in addition to actions on the Civil Rights front, youthful President John F. Kennedy's early days punctuated by events like the following on the international stage: 4/61 - The abortive Bay of Pigs invasion attempt; 10/61 - The Berlin wall was built to separate the East Berlin from the West. 10/16/62 through 10/26/62 - Twelve Days in October that brought America closer to nuclear war than any other event ... staring down the barrel of 36 Russian ICBM's in Cuba, with more on the way by sea. John Kennedy had ended it by forcing Kruschev to trade those ICBM's aimed at America's underbelly for 15 antiquated Jupiter missiles in Turkey. That permitted Kruschev to save some face, but it was obvious both he and the Soviet bloc worldwide smarted from an obvious loss. Fidel Castro had his own reasons for wanting to get rid of John Kennedy, also. From the Bay of Pigs and beyond, Castro was certain that a string of plots to unseat him or even assassinate him had been hatched by the government now headed by JFK and heavily dominated by his younger brother, Robert Kennedy, who had taken very broad scope of the powers of Attorney General. So far as anyone in the world communist orbit was concerned, the Kennedys in Washington were certainly a duo sent straight from the very Devil himself. Both were dangerous people and leaders of the most powerful opponent in the world; the one that had provided weapons and power on a scale not previously known on earth. It was obvious that any number of groups wanted not only to stop that power, but to cut off its leadership, in the hope that would equalize the balance somehow. And there were those in the U.S. government establishment who themselves might be suspected of having their own reasons to stop the Kennedy control being exerted over that establishment. During that time, life at AT&T's Fort Lauderdale Overseas Radio Station was in a bustling stage of expansion. It was the last burst of expansion before the age of satellites and submarine cables would burst forth to provide transoceanic and intercontinental telecommunications capacity that was to offer a means to knit nations and businesses together in ways no one save philosophers like Arthur C. Clarke had yet foreseen. Computers were struggling to push 1200 bps down such circuits as could be provided; "teleprocessing" was in its infancy, and thus computers couldn't really have made much use of capacity if it had been there. Rather, communications between nations were matters of cablegrams, 50 Baud Telex and, when possible, badly-delayed, but urgent telephone calls at US$ 3.00 per minute, sometimes more. Fort Lauderdale was one of the three "plant gateways" that AT&T, operating as the sole long distance telephone company in the U.S., had for providing telephone circuits to other nations using high-frequency (commonly known as "shortwave") radio. To the outside world, Fort Lauderdale was The Miami Overseas Operator, located some 25 miles away in the Southern Bell buildings in downtown Miami. Those faceless voices were known on the "inside" as Overseas Toll Unit 3. (Units 1 and 2 were at New York and San Francisco, respectively, similarly backed up by nearby Overseas Radio plant offices. Short of the very few channels that the earliest transatlantic telephone cables and one tiny precursor between Key West and Havana (obviously in trouble since Castro had taken over Cuba), any sort of "phone call" to any other place on earth from the U.S. was carried on "shortwave." The "plant gateways" operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, working at the task of launching high-powered multichannel "shortwave" radio waves at ionized layers of the upper atmosphere, and receiving the same from distant nations. So far as the public was concerned, the vast majority had no notion of how their voice was getting to the other country. In fact, the quality of channels provided, even in solar low years, was good enough that, combined with the rather lossy characteristics of domestic lines, users didn't perceive anything unusual. What many didn't even know was that there was no such thing as a "dial circuit" on HF radio; the operators wrote "toll tickets," just as had been done since the 1920's, and serial numbered each one, exchanging full details with their counterparts, so that both ends had complete records for billing at the paying end and settling for their respective portions in their countries. Fort Lauderdale provided channels to most of the nations of Central America and the Caribbean, with demand growing at such a rate that more and more channels had to be added. Despite that growth, delays ranging up to three days to get a call completed to some nations were not unusual. In the case of many nations, the called party did not even have a telephone, so it would be necessary to "book" the call in advance, whereupon the telephone company in the other nation would send out a messenger, often on a bicycle, to summon the called party to a telephone, or even the telephone building itself, to sit down in a booth and have their conversation. There would even be extreme cases of a transit call via the U.S. from a European or Asian nation to a Latin nation, which meant two links of "shortwave" coupled by a connection between Overseas Toll Units across the U.S. The whole scene was quite a far cry from the convenience of International Direct Dialing most people take as a given condition these days. Similarly, the paucity of international telephone channels made it necessary that the historic "Hotline" between Washington and Moscow not be a telephone circuit, but rather a teleprinter circuit. Hushed in the highest secrecy, the first iteration of the "hotline" was in fact, an encrypted teletype circuit operated by ITT World Communications under contract, with classified U.S. encryption equipment located in Washington and at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. For a degree of backup, ITT provided two channels on different routes, entering the Soviet bloc via Austria and Finland. Both carried the signals in parallel, and on occasion, one route might carry the transmission one way, while the other carried the return signals, although both were full duplex channels. (The government would never remove the crypto gear, even refusing to send the "Fox" test messages in the clear, which gave ITT personnel fits trying to find the section that might have garbling going on in it. No one along the route was equipped to copy the signals!) This telegraphic "hotline" was the environment in which JFK negotiated with Kruschev, writing out messages, having them sent, decrypted at the Moscow Embassy, then hand delivered by courier to Kruschev. Kruschev's messages were similary written out, taken by hand to the Moscow Embassy, then typed in and encrypted for transmiss- ion to Washington. (Obviously, the Russians were not to see the en- cryption methods, so EFTO was the only means used.) Were there a notion of trying to put JFK on the telephone with Kruschev, simply getting the connection might have taken more hours than were available for the more cumbersome means of encrypted teletype. In this environment, then, the HF radio channels at Fort Lauderdale were constantly occupied, at least during business days. Weekends, evenings and holidays, there might be fewer circuits opened up, but even at night, there was at least one working channel to almost every distant nation ... and that one nighttime circuit was often almost constantly occupied. November 22, 1963 was just another balmy semi-tropical day at Fort Lauderdale, with routine normal business day traffic and stable sollar conditions making all scheduled circuits available and occupied with traffic. After the morning round of taking short breaks in operations to change radio frequencies up to the daytime operating range of 12 to 18 megahertz to most points, things settled down to routine "patrolling" of circuits, merely watching the speech "volume indicator" meters on each speech terminal and observing that the receiver automatic frequency controls were not drifting of lock, while checking the recieved signal levels to see they were staying within comfortable tolerances. There was an occasional "Pirate of the Caribbean" that might pop up on a channel here and there to cause interference, thus the order wire circuits from the Miami operators would ring from time to time, requiring our intervention to talk to the other end and take the circuit out of traffic use for a while, and make a measured guess as to whether it would be better to shut down all circuits and change frequency or merely suffer some lost time on one channel of a multi-channel system. But November 22 was like any other day, and even the interference cases tended to be those that showed up for a while and then went away. We'd measure their frequency and other signal characteristics, and identify them if possible to make an "observation" for filing with the FCC (which reported our cases to the International Frequency Registration Bureau in Geneva, then close the case out when they went away in a few minutes or so. In the midst of this rather ordinary time of busy circuits, the order wire for my "tour" of circuits rang. I answered it and the Miami operator said, "The Technical Operator in Guatemala City wants to talk to you on Circuit 3." I said thanks, and plugged a headset into the terminal for Guatemala 3. After some time of working on these circuits, I knew the faceless voice on the other end would be Franco Godoy of Tropical Radio at Guatemala City. I said, "Hi Frank, what's up?" It would be typical as part of our ongoing international relations work that a sentence or two of pleasantries would be exchanged, but not this time. Franco just blurted out, "Did you know your President has been assassinated? The Communists did it." I simply said, "Wow! Thanks for telling me. I'll tune in a domestic radio here and see what's happening," and immediately switched the circuit back to the traffic operator. I shouted it out to the others in the room, and ran over to a monitoring receiver to tune it to a local AM station, where the somber sounds of a reporter on site at Dealy Plaza could be heard, backing and filling and re-explaining what was known, while the mortally wounded John Kennedy was being taken to Parkland Hospital. So there we were, finding out for the first time about the shooting of John Kennedy from someone in another country 1,200 miles distant, across the Gulf of Mexico. We were, of course, as the rest of the U.S., in a momentary state of shock and puzzlement, trying to hear the news from Dealy Plaza and get some notion of what had transpired ... and of course, who the perpetrator of such a heinous act was. As I turned away from tuning in the receiver, I noticed something extremely peculiar along the row of C4 Overseas Radio Control Terminals. Despite all the circuits showing their usual white and green lights meaning "circuit available and engaged by Traffic," all the speech volume indicators had stopped moving. Despite the charges being US$3 per minute, it seemed the whole world was in a similar state and had stopped talking! It took a full five minutes or more before speech activity began once again. I think it's fair to say that was truly a moment when the world stopped talking. EPILOG About fifteen years later, in a totally different job, I made a marketing call on Vice President of Engineering at the headquarters of TRT Telecommunications, the later name for Tropical Radio, which still had its HQ in Boston at the time. On entering the VP's office, I was introduced to the Chief Engineer of TRT, who was none other than Franco Godoy, the voice I'd spoken to daily for several years, and the man who'd first told us about JFK's assassination. It was another experience at how small the world of global telecommunications once had been. ------------------------------ From: boconnor@sales.stern.nyu.edu (Brendan M O'connor) Subject: Re: Crummy Service in NY Date: 20 Nov 93 22:01:04 GMT Organization: NYU Stern School of Business In article gaj@pcs.win.net (Gordon Jacobson) writes: >> Oh, and I cannot get ISDN, either. > All Business Service NYTel COs south of 57th Street provide > ISDN PRI/BRI. Not true. Perhaps you mean all wire centers, but it still isn't true. By the end of this year, nearly all digital switches will be ISDN capable, with the remaining two ready by July 1994. If you're in an analog switch, you'll have to take a number change or wait for the analog switch retirement. >> My service comes from the "Second Avenue" central office in Manhattan. > So does mine -- 2nd Avenue and 56th Street in fact. And I can > get ISDN whenever I want it. "Second Ave." is Second Ave. and E. 13th St. You're wire center is commonly referred to as "56th St." boc. Don't confuse my opinions with those of NYNEX or New York Telephone. [Moderator's Note: And we'll try not to confuse the initials of your name with the abbreviation for Bell Operating Company either! :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: gkj@namaste.cc.columbia.edu (Gregory K Johnson) Subject: Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? Date: 21 Nov 1993 00:30:19 GMT Organization: Columbia University In article , Steve Lamont wrote: > Henry Mensch (hcm@netcom.com) wrote: >> Now, I remember reading in this space that some folks were able to >> redeem these checks with their current LD carrier without having to >> switch carriers ... has anyone done this lately ... with AT&T? If so, >> how ...? > I heard someone say that if you (1) call your local telephone company > (i.e., your LEC) and tell them you don't want your phone slammed > (which means you want to freeze any changes to your long distance > carrier) and (2) cash the check at the bank, the carrier pays you the > money but their change order for their long distance service does not > get processed. You could say you get to take the money to the bank! > I have never tried this, which is unfortunate because some of my > "checks" have been for $75. It seems that the carrier(s) (specifically AT&T, I don't know about others) are sending out checks for some amount of money, made payable to the recipient. There is a check-endorsement contract that endorsing the check and giving it to your bank for deposit or encashment gives them the signature they need to switch your primary long-distance carrier. My point was that signature endorsement is not required to deposit a check to your own account, assuming the check is made payable to you. Simply mail the check with a deposit slip to your bank, and they will stamp "Guarantee of Endorsement" on the back of the check and send it through the clearing system. Signature endorsement is only required if you present the check for encashment. In case you think this doesn't work, a friend of mine has tacked on his bulletin board a letter from AT&T saying "You forgot to endorse the check we sent you, please sign this form to permit us to switch your long-distance carrier to us." There is nothing illegal or fraudulent about what I've described. IMHO, any company that sends out *real checks* as an enticement to center into some agreement based upon the endorsement of the check deserves to have their checks deposited and their contract unexecuted. Greg [Moderator's Note: At which point, after you refuse to sign, the carrier could reverse the transaction through the banking system, calling upon the original (your) bank to pay based on its guarantee of endorsement. Your bank would then debit your account and take the money back. It can happen that way legally, although I don't know who would bother for the amounts of twenty to fifty dollars, which is typical for the carriers seeking your business. None the less, it is fraud to manipulate the system as you suggest. I think people who do it go on a list the carriers maintain of petty chiselers who are not to be tempted with any further bonuses or premium offers. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #775 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28819; 22 Nov 93 5:39 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32048 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Mon, 22 Nov 1993 02:54:44 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA00902 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 22 Nov 1993 02:54:03 -0600 Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 02:54:03 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311220854.AA00902@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #776 TELECOM Digest Mon, 22 Nov 93 02:54:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 776 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Instant Modem Banks (Vance Shipley) Re: "Escort" Cordless Phone Information Wanted (Sam Noonan) Re: MCI Internet Service (Gary Breuckman) Re: Sprint Modem Offer :-( (Gregory Youngblood) Re: Received My Free Sprint Modem Today (Kevin Wang) Re: Sprint Modem Offer :-( (Kevin Wang) Re: Wireless LAN Systems (info@kaiwan.com) Re: GSM Interference (was Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VH) (David Hough) Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems (H. Shrikumar) Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Joe Pace) Re: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? (Al Stangenberger) Re: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? (Laurence Chiu) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Vance Shipley Subject: Re: Instant Modem Banks Organization: XeniTec Consulting, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 17:39:09 GMT In article , Martin McCormick wrote: > In recent postings, several people told of modem banks which can > be attached directly to a T1 and use DSP to simulate 24 dial-up modems. > Do any of these systems connect to an Ethernet and act as a > terminal server such that one would have the V.35 cable to the T1 as > one port and an Ethernet connector as the other port? U.S. Robotics is bringing out such a system. Unfortunately they made the decision to develop an X.25 based system before support of IP over ethernet. They do intend to have IP available soon though. They will support a mixture of T-1, ISDN and analog type "modems" and incorporate routing capabilities. This is definitely the '90's way of doing things. Vance Shipley, vances@xenitec.on.ca ------------------------------ From: snoonan@netcom.com (Sam Noonan) Subject: Re: "Escort" Cordless Phone Information Wanted Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 01:24:51 GMT Dick Rhoads (dsr@atl.hp.com) wrote: > I saw an ad in {USA Today} this week for an "Escort" 900 MHz cordless > phone manufactured by Cincinnati Microwave (they make the Escort > automotive radar detectors). > Has anyone tried one of these yet? Do you have any comments on its' > range, quality, etc ...? Yes, I tried one. It is better than the standard phones, but it has a built in antenna they doesn't seem to have the range of an external antenna. Also there was quite abit of static near the end of it's range. People I called stated that I sounded muffled. They exchanged the phone for me, but the second phone functioned the same way, so I returned the phone. Although I will comment their Support and service was outstanding and I have nothing against the company. Currently I have the Tropez phone from VTech. It less than half the price, it's digital (not spread spectrum) and works great. In fact all of my friends have been buying them. Good luck, Sam Noonan ------------------------------ From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: MCI Internet Service Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 01:16:07 GMT > In article cazier@gothamcity.jsc.nasa. > gov writes: >> I have a friend living in Grants Pass, Oregon, who wishes to connect >> to Internet but currently has to call long distance to gain access to >> a univeristy account for e-mail access. MCI offers something similar >> via an 800 number but you have to pay $0.50 for the first K of data >> and then $0.29 for each K thereafter ... >> [Moderator's Note: If all he wants to do is get email, there are lots >> of ways to get that. >> If all he wants is email access, then MCI Mail offers that, as does >> Sprint Mail and ATT Mail. Is that all he wants? PAT] The commercial systems (Compuserve, Genie, America Online, Prodigy) all offer internet mail now, if mail is the only need, and access is available by local numbers in many areas, either the company's own number or Tymnet/Sprintnet. Delphi offers both mail access (included in their basic rates) plus newsgroups, plus for an additional $3/month you can get telnet and ftp. Delphi has a plan for $20/month that includes 20 hours of connect time and no surcharge for Tymnet/Sprintnet access during non-prime hours. puma@netcom.com ------------------------------ Subject: Sprint Modem Offer :-( From: zeta@tcscs.com (Gregory Youngblood) Date: Sun, 21 Nov 93 13:08:03 PST Organization: TCS Computer Systems TELECOM Moderator noted: > Diane Worthy has done a great job of getting this mess straightened > out; I'm sure she is sorry Sprint even decided to have such a generous > promotion. PAT] Generous? It isn't really. I bet they didn't pay more then 20 to 30 for these modems. A lot cheaper than these 50 and 75 dollar checks you see others talking about. Generous would have been a v.32 9600 at about $100 per unit. I have long ago left Sprint and MCI. You know the story, AT&T drums it into everyone's head on TV/radio spots. They didn't save me any money. In fact they cost me money. And MCI had problems. These are just my opinions though. I'll stick with AT&T and may try others, but it's going to have to be a good deal for me to switch around. These modems weren't. Greg The Complete Solution BBS Allfiles List: Anonymous UUCP Calls Accepted 707-459-9058 (24hrs, v.32) ~/tcsbbs.lst Login: nuucp Password: nuucp Telemate Distribution Site zeta@tcscs.com Cellular Telephony Groups [Moderator's Note: Well, we know that Sprint/MCI are no bargains; their rates at best work out to AT&T's in the long run; here and there they are less expensive and sometimes they are more expensive, etc. Way back in 1974-76 when MCI was first in the business with their service called 'Execunet' I was telling people there were no savings to be had. Yes MCI charged less for the long distance part of the haul, but they failed to tell people they were paying local call charges to reach the MCI switch. MCI threatened to sue me for slander and libel after a series of complaints I filed against them with the FCC and an article I wrote for {Telephony Magazine} describing how I got them several Execunet subscribers they never did pay me my comm- ission on. They really got sore when I talked about them on the radio one night. We get KOA out of Denver like gangbusters here in Chicago some nights; I used to call in to a talk show they ran late in the evening. KOA had me talk about the FCC complaints I filed against MCI; Mr. Bill McGowan's attorney called me the next day to moan and complain. I told him what I'd do for him was file another commission complaint if he liked. :) Ah, MCI's early days! What history! PAT] ------------------------------ From: kwang@cymbal.aix.calpoly.edu (Kevin Wang) Subject: Re: Received My Free Sprint Modem Today Organization: The Outland Riders Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 04:00:26 GMT TELECOM Moderator noted: > [Moderator's Note: My modem showed up via UPS on Monday, with the > letter enclosed about the disruptions in California. Disruptions? What Disruptions? I never heard about this. I never saw any such letter as well. > I think this was a great offer from Sprint, even if there has been > various misunderstandings about exactly what was offered. PAT] Well, I received my modem, despite the fact that I told them that I refused their $50 as well as their modem. An internal will do me absolutely no god since I have a NeXT. FYI: I will be filing with my housemate Christopher Ambler (cambler@ zeus.aix.calpoly.edu) against Sprint for the modem I was told I would receive. Kevin [Moderator's Note: You do that. Seriously, I'll be interested in hearing how it works out, and hope frequent reports will be filed here in the Digest. Regards the disruptions in California you never heard about, they were talking about the fires. Roads were closed making it very difficult for people to get to work; large numbers of workers chose to stay home to defend their homes as best they could; delivery trucks were stalled coming and going because the road closings and extreme congestion on the roads which were open, etc. Production and shipment of the modems was greatly hindered. PAT] ------------------------------ From: kwang@cymbal.aix.calpoly.edu (Kevin Wang) Subject: Re: Sprint Modem Offer :-( Organization: The Outland Riders Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 20:15:34 GMT In comp.dcom.telecom kilgore@wuntvor.pillar.com (Stan Hall) writes: > So what is the latest bit of stupidity on Sprint's part you ask? It > seems that since they couldn't reach me on my Data line that they sent > me a letter about two weeks ago asking me to please tell them via mail > or phone which software that I would like for my modem. So last night > I finally found some time to sit down and call the number that Ms. > Worthy had given me and left a message telling her what software I > wanted for each of my two modems. I get a call this morning from Ms. > Worthy telling me that I am only to receive one modem and asking what > software I would like for that modem. When I argued with her that I > wanted both of the modems I had been promised she told me that the > offer was limited one per household. Everytime I tried to discuss > this with her she asked me what software I would like for my *modem*. > I gave in and told her, hoping that I will receive somthing from > Sprint (besides a bill). > Has anyone else actually received more than one modem at one residence? Yes, I received my one modem, and my housemate (Chris Ambler) received three of his five modems. All this despite the fact that we specifi- cally declined both the modems and the $50 offer. I remember quite distinctly listening to Chris as he talked to the sales droid and made sure that he was getting oen modem per line. They did say, however, that phone lines that were on the same bill would be only given one modem. (He has seven lines, and two groups of two = five modems). This might be your case ... kevin Wang [Moderator's Note: By the way, did you *sign* for the packages they sent you? Have you opened the packages and installed/used the modems? Sorry to make it rough for you guys, but under the Uniform Commercial Code -- which will be the prevailing law -- you may have waived any further claims. You may have accepted Sprint's offer, or settlement or whatever. If you refused to accept the packages, or lacking the ability to refuse (i.e. you came home and found them by your door) have kept the sealed packages in your safekeeping waiting for Sprint or the modem factory to pick them up or authorize their return, then you may still have a more solid case ... maybe ... but that isn't what happened, is it? ... you eagerly ripped open the boxes with your new toys as soon as they arrived; you have played with them frequently since that time and now Sprint does not have to take the 'incorrect merchandise' back. In summary, if you fellows have been playing with your new toys and have them installed in your computers then you haven't helped your case any, and may have damaged it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: james@kaiwan.com (James) Subject: Re: Wireless LAN Systems Organization: KAIWAN Internet Access Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 02:30:58 GMT In article , Daniel Wong wrote: > We are looking for information on commercial wireless LAN products. > We basically want to know what the different options are (eg. Motorola > Altair, etc.) and information would be appreciated. Below is something I saved from comp.dcom.lans.ethernet. Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans.ethernet From: whinery@uhunix3.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Alan Whinery) Subject: Re: Ethernet over laser link Organization: University of Hawaii Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1993 21:34:03 GMT Bob Lummis (lummis@alsys1.aecom.yu.edu) wrote: > I am looking for a way to send Ethernet across a public street. Somebody > told me there is a $2500 pair of laser devices that can do that. Another > person in this newsgroup said $5,000 but gave no brand names. I know of the > LCI brand of device that costs more like $15,000 per link (both ends). We have three pairs of LCI-Lace ethernet lasers, and your price estimate is probably about right. They're great, except that sometimes in the summer we get overheating, but avoiding direct sunshine is probably enough ... We also have a couple of radio links, both spread-spectrum -- one Cylink Air-Link 256 kbps, which seems to be pretty robust at getting over buildings and around trees, etc, and on Solecktek AIRLAN bridge, which goes 2 Mbps, and is new, so we haven't really run it through the paces yet. Pricing: Cylink 256 >$7000/pair with long-distance yagi antennas, AIRLAN >$8000/pair with very same antennas ... AIRLAN would probably be as good as it gets with radio, since it actually is an ethernet bridge; ether-in ether-out, and the cylink stuff would require additional bridges to work. D. Alan Whinery, Computer Networks Engineer | The University of Hawaii at Manoa | whinery@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu 2565 The Mall, Honolulu, HI 96822 | (808)956-9167 FAX (808)956-2412 | ---------------------- info@kaiwan.com,Anonymous FTP,Telnet kaiwan.com(192.215.30.2)FAX#714-638-0455 DATA# 714-539-0829,830-6061,310-527-4279 818-579-6701 16.8k/14.4k 8-N-1 ------------------------------ From: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk (David Hough) Subject: Re: GSM Interference (was Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VH) Reply-To: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 22:25:52 GMT In article erik_ramberg@SMTP.esl.com (Erik Ramberg) writes: > In article , dave@llondel.demon.co.uk > (David Hough) wrote: >> As any radio amateur worth his salt will know, 100% amplitude >> modulation of a signal with what amounts to a square wave is bound to >> cause problems. Still, look at it the other way: now we have something >> else to blame when the TV picture breaks up into a mass of >> interference :-) > Huh?!? GSM uses GMSK, i.e. MSK with a Gaussian window. TDMA uses > DQPSK, or a quaternary form of phase shift keying. Both of these > formats are designed to fit within the channel bandwidth and are very > different from the AM that you discribe. Though I'm sure nobody > really knows what's to blame for the interference, if anything it's > some strange intermod problem rather than directly attributal to the > move to a TDMA type system. All TDMA systems I have come across have to turn off the carrier when it is someone else's turn to transmit. In my book that is equivalent to amplitude modulation, and if you go from peak power to zero power and back, then that is 100% AM. It is definitely the cause of the problem -- you can't get RF intermod on an audio hearing aid! The bandwidth might be suitably narrow but the problem is not bandwidth- related (at least not in that way). What is happening is that the RF is being rectified by various semiconductor junctions in the affected equipment and shifting DC bias levels. If you do this often enough, it becomes very noticeable. CDMA tends to have a constant carrier level, so all the DC levels will shift when it starts to transmit but will then stay at their new values until it stops transmitting, when they will return to normal. All you will get is a couple of clicks. With a TDMA system, the DC levels are changing several hundred times a second as the transmitter power varies from zero to maximum and back, hence causing noticeable interference. Dave G4WRW @ GB7WRW.#41.GBR.EU AX25 dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Internet g4wrw@g4wrw.ampr.org Amprnet ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 19:31:43 -0500 From: shri@sureal.cs.umass.edu (H. Shrikumar) Subject: Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems Organization: UMass, Amherst MA + Temporal Systems Bombay India In article weberdd@macc.wisc.edu wrote: > In a previous message, Thomas Neudeker writes: >> before and that the 5ESS switch at my CO is has a very short off hook >> time for the tone to be sent. Does anyone know of a modem init string >> to let call waiting and the modem work as I wish? > Usually call waiting is not considered when data calls are in > progress. There is no easy way to support call waiting while a data > call is in progress (another way of saying this is that there is no > easy way of keeping a data call going when call waiting occurs). If > it is important to be able to reach you when data calls are in > progress, I recommend a second telephone line. Indeed there is a way! Works for me almost as good as two lines. I had set up my old 1200bps modem, which was un-smart, to drop the line and go on-hook only on loss of DTR and had set my vt100 to drop DTR after two seconds of CD loss. So each Call Waiting "Beep" would result in my modem dropping CD, but staying on line. A 12V 90dB buzzer wired between CD and CTS with a 1N4001 to protect it would beep me loud, and I had the option of getting off the line and taking the call, after saving my files. Worked very well ... ... till I got a AT&T Paradyne Dataport 14.4! But an evening of fiddling with options got my "feature" back. I have set the Dataport to do error correction and compression, short V.32 bis training, and CD to do something the modem calls "Simul_Carrier" in its help screens (can only guess what that means.), and DTR to quick disconnect on drop of DTR. This time I had to wire the buzzer between CD and DSR. I can always be alerted about a call, and can always (if I so chose) take the call on the 4the ring latest, even after a quick ":wq!" to my vi session. I can email a schematic and Dataport commands if interested. For other modems milage will very. If you don't mind living without the warranty you can just wire a buzzer between the EC (error correct) and the DSR lights. And set the modem to go on hook unless you drop DTR. shrikumar ( shri@cs.umass.edu, shri@shakti.ncst.ernet.in ) [Moderator's Note: I've never been able to understand one thing about these schemes. Yes, anyone can make adjustments to their modem to virtually ignore call-waiting signals if that is what they want to do. But how do you get the modem on the other end to go along with the momentary disconnection caused by call-waiting? I can tell my modem to stay off hook and 'sit it out', and it will presumably go back to normal operations once the call waiting signals are gone. But what prevents the other end from seeing that I am gone, even for the split second and dropping the carrier from that end instead? If the distant modem senses for a half second that my carrier is missing, won't it terminate the session anyway? So what good does it do me to ride it out -- ignoring for the moment the likelyhood of errors in the data coming across, which may or may not be very critical, depending on what it is without the ability to set the other modem for the same liberal tolerance? PAT] ------------------------------ From: pace@usace.mil (Joe Pace) Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Organization: US Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District Date: Mon, 22 Nov 93 04:33:41 GMT In article mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) writes: > It may be true that cellular phone use isn't really private, because > anyone could be listening, but it's no more legal for them to listen > than it is for them to bug your bedroom or boardroom. > Under federal law, any conversation going through a cellular switch is > considered a telephone conversation subject to the wiretap laws (the > technical term is "wire communication". A cellular phone is just as > private as a landline phone, because people have the same legal right > not to be "scanned" as they do not to have someone tapping in on a > craft set. But this is not the same as a wiretap. Cellular connections are broadcasts, not signals kept within the wires of a private switching system. These are two completely different things. If the telephone system ran a trunk of wires through my home without my permission, I feel that I would have every right to tap them. Those cellular 'trunks' are in my home as well, and I have every right to monitor them if I choose to. To say that a cellular call is a wire communication is ridiculous. I could just as easily make the argument that the broadcast of those frequencies into my personal space is a violation of my privacy. Joe Pace UNIX/Networking Analyst US Army Corps of Engineers pace@usace.mil Sacramento District JPPACE@UCDAVIS.BITNET [Moderator's Note: In other words, if the cellular carrier does not want you listening to its subscriber's conversations, then it should not have its radio waves coming into your private property. Good argument! I suspect the cell carrier would respond by telling you to build a house with RF shielding if you wanted to keep their signals out of your private space. :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: forags@smokey.berkeley.edu (Al Stangenberger) Subject: Re: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? Date: 21 Nov 1993 18:51:18 GMT Organization: U.C. Forestry & Resource Mgt. Reply-To: forags@smokey.berkeley.edu According to {National Geographic} a few years ago, QANTAS = Queensland and Northern Territories Air Service Al Stangenberger Dept. of Env. Sci., Policy, & Mgt. forags@nature.berkeley.edu 145 Mulford Hall - Univ. of Calif. uucp: ucbvax!ucbnature!forags Berkeley, CA 94720 BITNET: FORAGS AT UCBNATUR (510) 642-4424 FAX: (510) 643-5438 ------------------------------ From: lchiu@crl.com (Laurence Chiu) Subject: Re: "Q" Not Followed by "U"? In English? Date: 21 Nov 1993 10:57:25 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access In a message, unknown@apple.com had the following to say about Re: "Q" Not Followed by "U": > Well, along with the other examples given, there's the > Australian airline named Qantas. ("The ooooooooonly way to fly." -- > dontcha hate it when advertising slogans burn into your brain for > eternity?) Dunno where that name comes from though. QANTAS is not a good example since it is not a word nor really a name. It is an acronym which stands for Queensland and Northern Territories Airways Service. And this seems to be getting a bit far off the telephony subject. So to rectify this phones in New Zealand do have Q and Z on them now (if they were made for the NZ market rather than imported from the US). Laurence Chiu Walnut Creek, California Phone(Work) : 510-215-3730 Internet: lchiu@crl.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #776 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03261; 22 Nov 93 15:17 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16699 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Mon, 22 Nov 1993 12:05:19 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09729 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 22 Nov 1993 12:04:34 -0600 Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 12:04:34 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311221804.AA09729@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #777 TELECOM Digest Mon, 22 Nov 93 12:04:30 CST Volume 13 : Issue 777 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (John R. Levine) Survey for Cellular Communicator (Paul Ruminiski) COCOT Blocking/Splashing (Linc Madison) RFD: comp.home.misc moderated (Kresten Bjerg) Modems and Hotel Switchboards (A. Padgett Peterson) Videophone Prices, Models, and Sales? (David E. Bernholdt) Considering a Car Phone -- Need Advice (John McGing) Only Two "Operating" IXCs in DC (Paul Robinson) What Happened to "811" Numbers? (Linc Madison) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Nov 93 10:54 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 Organization: I.E.C.C. >> At long last, federal law now requires telemarketers to remove from >> their call lists, anyone who requests it. Here's the Library of Congress' semi-official summary of this law. If you want the full text, you'll have to go to a library that has copies of the U.S. code. You'll note that it refers primarily to automated junk phone calls. It also outlaws junk fax, requires that computer generated faxes be time-stamped and have the originating phone number, and, at the end, has a non-germane amendment about AM radio. Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 ABSTRACT AS INTRODUCED: Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to restrict the use of telephone facsimile machines, automatic telephone dialing systems, and other systems used to transmit artificial or prerecorded voice messages via telephone to make unsolicited calls or advertisements. REVISED DIGEST: (AS OF 11/26/91) Measure passed House, amended Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit any person within the United States from: (1) using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or an artificial or prerecorded voice (APV) to make a call to any emergency telephone line of a hospital, medical physician or service office, health care facility, poison control center, or fire protection or law enforcement agency; to the telphone line of any patient room of a hospital, health care facility, elderly home, or similar establishment; or to any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or radio common carrier service or any other service for which the called party is charged for the call; (2) initiating any call to a residential telephone line using an APV to deliver a message without the consent of the called party, with specified exceptions; (3) using any telephone facsimile machine (FAX), computer, or other device to send an unsolicited advertisement to a FAX machine; or (4) using an ATDS in such a way that two or more telephone lines of a multi-line business are engaged simultaneously. Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prescribe regulations to implement such requirements. Requires the FCC to consider allowing businesses to avoid receiving calls made using an APV to which they have not consented. Authorizes the FCC to exempt from such requirements: (1) calls that are not made for a commercial purpose; and (2) categories of calls made for commercial purposes if such calls will not adversely affect privacy rights or do not include unsolicited advertisements. Authorizes private actions and the recovery of damages with respect to violations of such requirements. Directs the FCC to: (1) initiate a rulemaking proceeding concerning the need to protect residential telephone subscribers' privacy rights to avoid receiving telephone solicitations to which they object; and (2) prescribe regulations to implement methods and procedures for protecting such privacy rights without the imposition of any additional charge to telephone subscribers. States that such regulations may require the establishment and operation of a single national database to compile a list of telephone numbers of residential subscribers who object to receiving such solicitations, or to receiving certain classes or categories of solicitations, and to make the compiled list available for purchase. Outlines information to be included in such regulations if the FCC determines that such a database is required. Directs the FCC, it if determines that the national database is required, to: (1) consider the different needs of telemarketers conducting business on a national, State, or local level; (2) devleop a fee schedule for recouping the cost of such database that recognizes such difference; and (3) consider whether the needs of telemarketers operating on a local basis could be met through special markings of area white pages directories, and if such directories are needed as an adjunct to database lists prepared by area code and local exchange prefix. Authorizes private actions and the recovery of damages with respect to violations of such privacy rights. Makes it unlawful for any person within the United States to: (1) initiate any communication using a FAX or ATDS that does not comply with technical and procedural standards or to use such devices in a manner that does not comply with such standards; or (2) use a computer or other electronic device to send any message via FAX unless such person clearly marks on the document the date and time it is sent and identifies the entity sending the message and the telephone number of the sending machine or entity. Requires the FCC to revise the regulations setting technical and procedural standards for FAX machines to require any FAX machine manufactured one year after the enactment of this Act to clearly mark on a document the date and time it is sent and identify the entity sending the message and the telephone number of the sending machine or entity. Directs the FCC to prescribe technical and procedural standards for systems transmitting APV messages via telephone that require: (1) the messages to clearly state the identity and telephone number or address of the entity initiating the call; and (2) such systems to automatically release the called party's line within five seconds of the time the party has hung up. Provides that if the FCC requires the establishment of a database of telephone numbers of subscribers who object to receiving telephone solicitations, a State or local authority may not require the use of a database or listing system that excludes the part of the national database that relates to such State. Permits States to bring civil actions to enjoin calls to residents in violation of this Act and to recover monetary damages. Grants U.S. district courts exclusive jurisdiction over such actions. Prohibits a State, whenever the FCC has instituted a civil action for violation of this Act, from brining an action against any defendant named in the FCC's complaint. Declares that it shall be the policy of the FCC to ensure the placement of a principal community contour signal 24 hours a day for a licensee of an existing AM daytime-only radio station located in a community of over 100,000 that: (1) lacks a local full-time station licensed to the community; (2) is located within a Class I station primary service area; and (3) notifies the FCC that the licensee seeks to provide full-time service. COSPONSOR COSPONSORED ON WITHDRAWN ON Sen Inouye 07/11/91 Sen Stevens 07/11/91 Sen Bentsen 07/11/91 Sen Simon 09/10/91 ------------------------------ From: ruminskip@postoffice.agcs.com (Paul Ruminiski) Subject: Survey for Cellular Communicator Date: 22 Nov 1993 04:59:31 -0700 Reply-To: ruminskip@postoffice.agcs.com Personal Communicators: the next generation Would you be interested in helping define the feature set of a new Personal Communicator? This survey is part of a research project that will define what features an end-user will need to make a Personal Communicator a more productive tool. The researcher, Paul Ruminski, will use this research to determine if a new product line could be developed and to partially fulfill his degree requirements at the University of Phoenix. By participating in this survey you will help to bring a better product to the marketplace, a Personal Communicator with the features you, as a customer will use. The survey results will be made available to anyone participating in the survey by requesting a copy when the survey is completed and returned. Please email all surveys to ruminskip@agcs.com by December 17, 1993. Thank you for your participation. I look forward to your comments. ------------------ What is your occupation: What is your Gender: ___ Male ___ Female Level of education: ___ High School Graduate ___ Certificate ___ Collage Graduate Answer question one through five by inserting an "X" on the appropriate line. 1) Do you currently use a cellular phone? ___ No ___ Yes 1a) If yes, what is the primary use for your cellular phone? ___ Home use ___ Self employed business ___ Company business ___ Other_________________ 2) Do you currently use a computer? ___ No ___ Yes 2a) If yes on question two, which of the following best describes your computer use? ___ A laptop or portable computer at work ___ A laptop or portable computer for home ___ A desktop computer at work ___ A desktop computer a home 3) A full feature set Personal Communicator should cost approximately? ___ $1500-$1999 ___ $2000-$2499 ___ $2500-$2999 ___ $3000-$3499 ___ $3500-$4000 4) If you were going to purchase a Personal Communicator, please mark with an "X", how would you rank each of the following features, not useful, useful, or very useful? Not Very useful useful useful a) Speed Calling buttons ___ ___ ___ b) Call timer ___ ___ ___ c) Speaker Phone capability ___ ___ ___ d) Liquid crystal/light pen interface ___ ___ ___ e) Standard Key board interface ___ ___ ___ f) FAX ___ ___ ___ g) E-Mail ___ ___ ___ h) Battery-low Indicator ___ ___ ___ i) Modem ___ ___ ___ j) Pager capabilities ___ ___ ___ k) Call-timer ___ ___ ___ l) Spreadsheet Software ___ ___ ___ m) Scheduling Software ___ ___ ___ n) Wordprocessor Software ___ ___ ___ o) Database Software ___ ___ ___ 5) Are there any features you would like to have on a Personal Communicator that were not mentioned in this survey? Paul Ruminski ruminskip@agcs.com Phoenix AZ. 602-582-7305 ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: COCOT Blocking/Splashing Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 12:48:33 GMT Last month, I undertook a bit of a road trip from my home in Oakland, California, to visit friends in Albuquerque, New Mexico. On the way back, I stopped in a revolting truck stop on I-40 somewhere vaguely near Kingman, Arizona, and placed a call to Oakland to let my neighbor know I would be returning a day later than originally planned. I looked at the face plate on the pay phone (a hideous monster itself, similar to but worse than the GTE payphones, with a little LCD dot-matrix display near the coin slot), and noticed that the phone was pre-subscribed to the moral equivalent of Fred's Fabulous Fone Fraud, so I got out my AT&T non-subscriber card and attempted to dial 10288-0-510-XXX-XXXX. However, I only got as far as 10288-0 when the keypad went dead. I was fairly shortly connected to an operator who identified herself as being with the AOS (Absolutely Overpriced Slimeball) company. I told her, "I dialed 10288-0. I want to be connected to an *AT&T* Operator." She obliged me. I explained to the Operator (the *real* Operator) that I was calling from a payphone that blocked AT&T, and asked to be connected to my party at the regular calling card rate. I was connected. On my way out of the truck stop, I tried to tell the counter clerk that the payphone was illegally rerouting calls, but I'm sure she thought I was some loony crackpot and ignored me completely. A few weeks later, I got my bill, showing the $2.11 charge for a one-minute call from Kingman to Oakland, so I called AT&T. My non-subscriber card is billed to my credit card, so I didn't have anything on the bill telling me whom to call. I got bounced around to three different AT&T "800" numbers (only one of which is open 24 hours) before I landed at the right one. After checking with a supervisor, they agreed to re-rate the call (to $0.97). I asked them what I should do to report this illegal phone. Call 1-800-661-0661 to report a payphone which blocks or splashes AT&T for interstate calls. They also told me to dial 1-800-3210-ATT (1-800-321-0288) to place calling card calls if I was at a blocking payphone. They can, on request, send out wallet cards and stickers for your AT&T calling cards. I'd like to be there to see the look on the clerk's face (and her boss) when the federal agents move in with the SWAT team to recapture the payphone. Well, it's a nice thought, anyway. Linc Madison * Oakland, California * LincMad@Netcom.com [Moderator's Note: They cannot legally block your call via AT&T; they can however legally 'splash' the call via their nearest operator center, however they are supposed to bill it from where you actually are located. In other words, the splashing can be for their administra- tive convenience as long as the rates billed accurately reflect where you called from and to. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Nov 93 23:01:03 -0500 From: kresten@vax.psl.ku.dk (Kresten Bjerg) Subject: RFD: comp.home.misc moderated Organization: psl.ku.dk PROPOSAL FOR A USENET NEWSGROUP Suggested group name: comp.home.misc Media, technology and information in domestic spaces. S U G G E S T E D C H A R T E R The group will be devoted to discussions of larger perspectives and options in research, development and use of domestic information- technology, automation and telecommunication ACROSS the levels of * consumer hard- and software, * network infrastructure * storage and distribution-media * teleservices and * socio-cultural & economic structures. The forum, which this group shall establish, is primarily a forum for researchers and developpers, who are concerned with the problems, conflicts and constructive potentials cutting across the main areas of home-oriented technology research and development, i.e. bridging between the main areas of # Advanced Home Technologies (e.g. Intelligent home - Linking of TV, telephone, computer and VCR - Interactive multimedia and domestic virtual reality - Security- systems - Household appliances - Environmental control and ecology - Bio-electronics and health-monitoring.) # Communication and Telematics (e.g.Convergence of broadcast and telecom networks - Interactive teleservices and teletransactions - Teleeducation - Telework - Evolving informal networks - Home-to-Home interfacing.) # Economic and Politics of Home-oriented information technology (e.g. Interests of industry and service providers - Links between R&D and marketing - Prices and tarifs - Legal and regulatory policies on national and international level - The future of home economics.) # Cultural and social Impact on everyday life (e.g. Personal development and knowledge distribution - Intra- and interfamily relations - Functions for children, elderly, disabled and home-bound people - Community structure - Cultural continuity.) In view of a) the need to have a crossdiciplinary research oriented forum cutting across all home-related issues and b) the very wide spectrum of different interests pertaining to narrower, more specialized and practical issues, it is planned to start out with only this comp.home.misc - group, and to expand the set of groups as the volume of use grows and as the usage patterns emerge. Possible titles of such groups could be: for a): comp.home.research and for b): comp.home.ai, comp.home.automation, comp.home.education, comp.home.energy, comp.home.medicine, comp.home.multimedia, comp.home.telecom, comp.home.work etc. MAJOR THEMES * The social construction of new domestic technologies * The changing position and importance of households in the new social and economic structure of the global information and communication society * Strategies for creating professional, public and political awareness of the converging potentials and implications of constructive Home-oriented technological innovations for everyday life and for social, cultural, educational, health-, energy- and economic policies. * Ways of organizing relations between sufficiently cross-disciplinary research and sustainable product development. * Relevance for developing countries and cultural diversities MODERATOR Comp.home.misc will be moderated by Kresten Bjerg, Psychological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, with an advisory panel from IFIP WG.9.3. Volunteer moderators for the emerging spectrum of groups are invited to suggest themselves. PRAGMATICS The group will prepare inputs for relevant conferences such as the Copenhagen Conference on Home Oriented Informatics, Telematics and Automation (See: Conferences for details) and serve as forum for further discussions on topics highlighted on such occassions. The moderator will attempt to produce a modest newsletter OIKOS, where the best of discussions can be circulated on a non-profit basis- in print as well as e-mail. End of Message from Kresten Bjerg [[ This message appeared in news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, comp.dcom.isdn, comp.human-factors, comp.misc, comp.society.futures, misc.consumers, misc.kids.computer, sci.edu, sci.psychology before being sent separately to the moderated groups comp.dcom.telecom and comp.society. -- David Lawrence, moderator news.announce.newgroups ]] Vice-chairman of IFIP WG 9.3 (Home-oriented Informatics, Telematics and Automation) Home of the 90+' Project, Psychological Laboratory University of Copenhagen, 88, Njalsgade DK 2300, Copenhagen DENMARK Tlf.:+45 31 54 18 56 FAX +45 32 96 31 38 e-mail: ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Nov 93 08:44:41 -0500 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Modems and Hotel Switchboards When I have space, I usually take my Supra 14.4 modem with me and while on a road trip had an interesting experience. To dial out to my service I was using attd8w1800xxxx. The 8W1 worked just fine but then *something* happened to put the modem into pulse dial mode. (Finally discovered that attd8w1t800... worked). This was repeatable at both sites so *must* have been some line signal from their switch. Had not seen this happen before. The two sites in question were a Holiday Inn and a Best Western however I have stayed at others in both chains and this was the first time it happened. The only other common point was that both stated that there was a charge for 800 number calls though none showed up on my bill (mentioned it at checkout & was told not to worry about it) Problem is that with all of the digits needed for carrier access, number, authorization codes, and "W"s I was at the limit of buffer space in the modem (can use ";" and a stored string as a workaround but do not like it). Now my old 2400 baud pocket modem had no such problem (dialed the whole sequence without any trouble) but am curious what could be causing the switch to pulse dialing by the Supra (and if there is a setting to stop). The Supra is using a Rockwell 144AC chip with their own ROMs (I have the Caller-ID upgrade). Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ Date: 22 Nov 1993 07:03:26 GMT From: gg502@fermi.pnl.gov Subject: Videophone Prices, Models, and Sales? Organization: Pacific Northwest Laboratories, Richland, WA The most recent Hello Direct catalog included the AT&T videophone for the same $1000 price I saw it at when it was introduced some months ago. But a friend tells me he was sure he'd seen a videophone recently for something like $400-500, but doesn't remember the brand or anything. So I'm wondering what's out there these days in the videophone market and what prices are like? Has anyone seen any figures on how many units have been sold? Thanks for any info. David E. Bernholdt | Email: de_bernholdt@fermi.pnl.gov Molecular Science Research Center | Phone: 509 375 4387 Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P.O.B. 999 | Fax: 509 375 6631 Richland, WA 99352-0999 | ------------------------------ From: jmcging@access.digex.net (John McGing) Subject: Considering a Car Phone - Need Advice Date: 22 Nov 1993 10:41:18 -0500 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA Reply-To: jmcging@access.digex.net Because my son is handicapped, he needs a lot of ferrying around from place to place. I'm considering getting a car phone for my wife (who does over 50% of the ferrying) just for peace of mind. We live in Maryland, where Cellular 1 and Bell-Atlantic are the providers. It seems that Cell 1 dealers have about a gazillion "plans" prices and options available; Bell Atlantic (direct) has fewer options, but Bell Atlantic through a place like Circuit City has a gazillion options too. I'm getting confused. :) Do you really need an extended warrenty for the "brain" (like if you fry it giving the car a jump?) Are there models of phone known to be dogs? The Cell 1 guy recommended Motorola TVM200, THe Circuit City guy had no literature and Bell Atalntic had a Nokia or Motorola (SEIII?) Anyway, I figure there has to be some underlying principals to follow; aspects of things that I may not have thought of; so I'd welcome advice or being pointed to a FAQ. Thanks! John jmcging@access.digex.net jmcging@ssa.gov J.MCGING on GEnie 70142,1357 on Compuserve ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 04:42:30 EST Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: Only Two "Operating" IXCs in DC From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA I was asked: > In article was written: >> sales taxes paid by "long distance telephone companies." There are >> only two long distance companies operating in the District: Mid >> Atlantic Telecom and MCI. Which of these do you think was big enough >> to get an exemption passed? :) > Thats intriguing .. how do you mean only MCI and MidAtlantic are long > distance cos in DC ? > I mean ... are not AT&T and Sprint "operating" there ? > I am sure there is some technicality in the word "operating" that > I am not educated about. This comment is correct and I used the wrong term. Rather than use the term "operating" I should have said either "domiciled" or "headquartered". As far as I know, only two long distance companies have their headquarters in Washington, DC. Mid Atlantic Telecom and MCI. Sprint is in Shawnee Mission, KS if I remember, and AT&T is in Basking Ridge, NJ. Number 4, which is Wiltel, if I'm not mistaken, is domiciled in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I think. Anyone care to name who number five is? Paul Robinson - TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1993 12:55:03 GMT A couple of years ago, Pacific Bell moved a considerable portion of their customer service numbers into "811" service. For example, for new service inquiries, I would dial 811-7600. That was a number specific to a particular area of the East Bay, but I could dial it toll-free from any Pacific Bell phone in California, even in a different LATA, without any prefix or anything -- just dial 811-XXXX. On my return from Europe, I find that the numbers to dial for various Pacific Bell offices are almost all on 1-800 numbers; I can't find a single reference to an "811" number. Did Pac*Bell give them up voluntarily, or were they ordered to by the PUC or a court or Bellcore? In either case, why? Linc Madison * Oakland, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #777 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa15624; 24 Nov 93 3:49 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30793 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Tue, 23 Nov 1993 23:53:59 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA28181 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 23 Nov 1993 23:53:13 -0600 Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 23:53:13 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311240553.AA28181@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #778 TELECOM Digest Tue, 23 Nov 93 23:53:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 778 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson ATM Conference, Jan 27-28, Vancouver Canada (Mark Fraser) Online Processing of VISA/MC Transactions: Who Offers Service? (P Rukavina) ADSL Progress Reply (Ken Russell) Mobile Phone Interference (Juha Veijalainen) Nynex Mobile to Purchase Properties of Contel Cellular (David E. Sheafer) AT&T _Required_? (Marshall Levin) Fax Networks (Bob Rankin) German Phones (Andrew Evan Boggs) Area Code Splits and Fax Numbers (Nigel Allen) Double Hunt Group - Possible? (Nathan Lane) Dates For Enhanced Services on Switches (Nathan Lane) Payphone in the Desert (Bill Chiarchiaro) Book Review: "The Smiley Dictionary" by Godin (Rob Slade) GSM in the US? (Roy Thompson) Beeper Transmitter (David J. Cazier) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mfraser@vanbc.wimsey.com (Mark Fraser) Subject: ATM Conference, Jan 27-28, Vancouver Canada Date: 23 Nov 1993 16:47:08 -0800 Organization: Wimsey Information Services ATM CONFERENCE - VANCOUVER, CANADA, JAN 27-28, 1994 Title: ATM: Technology, Standards, Trials and Applications Sponsors: NWCRF, TRLabs, OCRI, TRIO, TCC and IEEE Location: Sheraton Landmark Hotel, Vancouver, B.C. Focus: This conference will be of interest to product developers, service providers, network operators and researchers, who desire both an overview, and a more in-depth appreciation for ATM technology, hardware, software, standards and applications. Current ATM status, including ongoing trials, as well as trends, will be covered. Format: A variety of presentations and panel discussions have been scheduled, to provide product and system developers, application developers, network providers and potential users, with a forum for creative ideas and exchanges. PRESENTATIONS / PANELS: Commercial-Newbridge Networks, BNR, AT&T, MCI, Bellcore, MPR Teltech Digital Equipment, SaskTel and others. Academics- TRLabs, University of Toronto, Waterloo University, University of British Columbia, MIT, and others. MORE INFORMATION: Conference Registration, Brochures: Mr. John Mele, National Wireless 450, 1122 Mainland Street, Vancouver, B.C., CANADA V6B 5L1 Ph: 604 687 7644 FAX: 604 687 7563 email: mfraser@wimsey.bc.ca Technical Program: Dr. Carey L. Williamson TRLabs 108, 15 Innovation Blvd., Saskatoon, SK, CANADA S7N 2X8 Ph: 306 668 8204 FAX: 306 668 1944 email: carey@cs.usask.ca REGISTRATION FORM Incl GST Early Registration (before 03 Jan 94) $495.00 CDN $529.65 Members (of sponsoring organizations) $550.00 CDN $588.50 Non-Members $625.00 CDN $668.75 Students $200.00 CDN $217.00 Payment by cheque, money order (payable to NWCRF), or VISA Substitutions allowed, cancellation charges may apply. Name_______________________________________________________ Title______________________________________________________ Organization_______________________________________________ Address____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ City_______________________________________________________ State/Province_____________ Zip/Postal Code________________ Phone________________________ FAX__________________________ email______________________________________________________ IEEE membership number ____________________________________ Payment by cheque/money order ________ or VISA ________ VISA Card Number __________________________________________ Expiry Date __________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 17:40:10 AST From: Peter Rukavina Subject: Online Processing of VISA/MC Transactions: Who Offers Service? We operate an online information system for the crafts industry which we are proposing to expand to a North American level using the Internet. We need to be able to charge fees for data and, because we are a small non-profit, don't have the ability to bill after the fact; we need to be able to process credit card transactions online or do some sort of pre-authorized electronic cheque withdrawl. Needless to say we've not been getting the greatest reaction from the banks. Their reaction when hearing our plans is to class to tell us of that we would be classed as a standard "mail/phone order" merchant, that we would have to post a bond of $100,000 to cover fraud and pay somewhere in the neighbourhood of $5000 for custom software and monthly charges of between $65 and $150. They usually add that they fully expect that we'd lose our shirt if we went ahead. We can't afford any of this. Teleflora Creditline, a branch of the folks who deliver flowers by "wire" have done a lot of work on this in the U.S. and, indeed, have a pretty decent set up (initial set-up fee of $150, 2.55% and 25 cents per transaction, phone 1-800-842-7111). Their services are not, alas, duplicated by their cousins at Teleflora Canada (I'm trying to encourage them ...). So, I am looking for pointers either to other third party VISA/MC transaction processors like Teleflora (who operate in Canada) _or_ some suggestions as to how I might otherwise receive payment in "real time" from many different people all over North America whose signature I can't get. I'll summarize email I receive and post it here. Thanks. PETER RUKAVINA * Information Manager * PEI Crafts Council 156 Richmond St., Charlottetown, PEI CANADA C1A 1H9 +1 902 566 1584 Me? pete@crafts-council.pe.ca * Information? info@crafts-council.pe.ca [Moderator's Note: Getting a VISA/MC Merchant account is *very difficult* for people operating small mail order businesses. Some of the banks get quite arrogant in fact, with their 'requirements' ... its as though there was a law saying you HAD to deal with them. I've had very good luck with an electronic funds transfer service operated by First Financial Banking Services, a subsidiary of a major bank. Called 'Checks By Phone', it is a service which allows mail/phone order businesses to receive customer authorization to debit their checking account over the phone, then send the same information by fax or modem to FFBS's processing office. You get your money usually 48 hours later (either it is credited to the bank account of your choice, or you are sent a paper draft) and your customer's bank account is debited within 3-4 days. The customer gets a description of the debit in their next bank statement. This Digest is a client of FFBS, and I've received many payments via 'Checks By Phone.' It was no hassle to sign up; my account was in the network about two weeks after I applied. They specifically deal with small business people and don't have a lot of red-tape and paperwork to join. They don't care how small you are, and they assume you are honest until you demonstate otherwise. Processing fees are a little more expensive than credit cards and you can purchase check guarentee from them for an extra fee. The other thing is, they are set up to deal with banks on the United States ABA transit system (which does include a few foreign banks). So they might not be able to handle Canadian customers in all cases. But I've found them quite helpful and efficient when working with my customers in the USA. Anyone who wants more information about becoming a merchant on the 'Checks By Phone' network can send me email: ptownson@eecs.nwu.edu and I will respond. PAT] ------------------------------ From: RUSSELK@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu (RUSSELK) Subject: ADSL Progress Reply Organization: Vanderbilt University Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 22:19:33 GMT I have been in contact with Northern Telecom, which is working on ADSL discrete multitone technology. The sending transceiver secures a regular POTS channel, which is passive filter isolated from two other channels within the loop carrier. The upstream signal will range from 16 kbps to 384 kbps. The delivery channel will operate between 1.5 Mbps and 6.3 Mbps, in multiples of 1.5 Mbps for US carrier systems and 2.048 Mbps for European systems. OAM&P support is provided in embedded channels. Within the channels, support is provided for ISDN, Nx64, H0 asymetrical transmissions, upstream 16 kbps D channel, and downstream compressed video. This service can be a simple as one way 1.5 Mbps compressed video, or as complex as POTS, Basic Rate ISDN, duplex 384 Kbps, and compressed video simultaneously. AT&T on the other hand, I am told, is using a single 1.5 Mbps channel. My interest is in delivering video through a campus PBX system, which is possible if the PBX can provision local point-to-point T1/E1 circuits. Ken Russell Access Development Corporation 5115 Maryland Way Brentwood, TN 37027 615 377-0765 russelk@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu ------------------------------ From: JVE%FNAHA@eccsa.Tredydev.Unisys.com Date: 23 NOV 93 15:39 Subject: Mobile Phone Interference Lately I've seen several articles here on mobile phone, especially GSM, interference. These articles have been mainly from technical point of view, almost like 'technically superior CDMA from USA' and 'inferior TDMA from somewhere else'. I'm not referring to TELECOM Digest only and I did not intend my previous sentence as a flame -- that's how it seems to me. I'd like to share my own observations on GSM / NMT (analog) / cordless phone interference. It seems that cheapest equipment is most susceptible to interference and more expensive ones are less susceptible (maybe you _can_ buy quality ...). My cheap stereo set at home will pick up the buzz from GSM phone some two metres away, but my car stereo picks up inteference only when phone antenna is almost touching the unit. Same rule seems to apply to TV sets and other RF equipment, too. Some computer monitors will pick up the interference, but only if antenna is very close (< 20 cm). Some do not pick up _any_ interference. So far I have not seen any problems using PC and GSM at the same time. Normal land line phones (office phones) in Finland and Switzerland seem to handle interferense from GSM quite nicely; antenna needs to be closer than 30 cm to the phone. On the other hand, the phones in England were quite different -- they picked up the GSM transmission from over two metres away actually preventing other people from using their office phones when GSM phone was transmitting. Motorola Silverlink 2000 cordless phone at home also interferes with some radio equipment (read: at least my cheap stereo set), but since transmission power is only 10 mW, antenna needs to be very close (< 15 cm) to the stereo. I do not know what transmission method Silverlink uses; it's supposed to be digital, though. Of course my meager experiments do not create any valid scientific data, but IMHO it seems that there are already lots of equipment that do not pick up GSM (or other) interference. Also, unfortunately, there seems to be quite a number of devices that pick up the interference, like some phones and hearing aids. So, what to blame? GSM technology or faulty / inferior quality devices that pick up interference easily? Anyway, I'm quite sure the situation will get better -- until then I'll just move a couple of steps away from devices that pick up the GSM 'buzz'. I forgot to mention that my phone is a hand held unit, so the power is less than 1 W. Car phones would use more power, but then again, you are not going to encounter a car in your living room or office -- hopefully. Juha Veijalainen 4ge system analyst, tel. +358 40 5004402 Unisys Finland Internet: JVE%FNAHA@eccsa.tredydev.unisys.com Mielipiteet omiani ** Opinions are PERSONAL, facts are suspect ------------------------------ From: David E. Sheafer <_sheaferd@merrimack.edu> Reply-To: __SHEAFERD@merrimack.edu Subject: Nynex Mobile to Purchase Properties of Contel Cellular Date: 23 Nov 93 22:14:00 GMT Organization: Merrimack College, No. Andover, MA, USA In my Nynex Mobile bill this month, in the newsletter it stated that Nynex has signed an intent to purchase the Northeastern properties of Contel Cellular. These include the MSA's of Binghamton and Elmira NY, Manchester NH, Burlington VT and Contels minority interest in Orange County and Poughkeepsie, NY. The RSA7's are NH-2, VT-1b & 2B1, NY 2 & 3 and PA 3 & 4. With Mobilereach already in effect there is already automated call delivery to most of these markets to customers subscribing to NYNEX, but with these additions NYNEX Mobile will virtually control the Cellular market in New England, excluding CT. David E. Sheafer internet: __sheaferd@merrimack.edu or nin15b0b@merrimack.edu ^^ (thats 2 _ in the net address) GEnie: D.SHEAFER Cleveland Freenet: ap345 ------------------------------ From: mlevin@nyx10.cs.du.edu (Marshall Levin) Subject: AT&T _Required_? Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept. Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 15:32:39 GMT I just saw this message on another newsgroup. What's the deal? You _must_ use AT&T? How can it be that you can only reach this number with a particular carrier? Shouldn't it be that _any_ carrier can connect you to _any_ phone number (other than the carrier-specific 700 numbers)? > There is a site that I sometimes use that is a free site with internet > access. It is Speedway.net and the number is 15035202222 but if you > don't have AT&T you have to call 1028815035202222. [Moderator's Note: No, you have that wrong. No telephone company or COCOT or Alternate Operator Service (AOS), or reseller of the local telephone network can force you to place calls via a certain carrier or deny you the right to use the carrier of your choice (as long as that carrier wants your business and operates in your area, etc). That is the law. There is no such law where the *recipient* of a phone call is concerned. The *recipient* can choose to accept calls from any carrier, or only the carrier of his choice. Speedway refuses to accept calls from other than the AT&T network because AT&T gives Speedway a commission on the traffic they handle. Speedway, as the *recipient* of the call, has the right to do that if they wish. In other words, no one is forcing you to use AT&T to call 503-520-2222, but Speedway says unless you do (call via AT&T) they don't wish to connect with you since they are being paid by AT&T for the time you spend on line with them. Regards the [any carrier <=> any traffic] thing you mentioned, also exempt are 800 numbers since the recipient is the one paying for the call, and 900 numbers, again since the recipient is the one who has the billing arrangements with the carrier of choice. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 13:47:19 EST From: Bob Rankin Subject: Fax Networks Can anyone provide information on setting up a fax network where a fax can be sent from an "originator" to multiple "servers" who in turn forward the fax to multiple "clients"? I'd also like the servers to report back to the originator if they fail to connect with a client after a specified retry or time limit expires. I think a PC with fax-modem would serve nicely as the "server" piece, but I don't know what software to use. Ideas, kind readers? Bob Rankin (r3@vnet.ibm.com) [Moderator's Note: The free modem sent out by Sprint does what you are asking quite nicely. The software which comes with it allows sending faxes to all the names in a directory, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: German Phones From: boggie@lawton.lonestar.org (andrew evan boggs) Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 21:04:28 CST Organization: Southwest Oklahoma Netnews Addicts Hello everybody, I am going to be going to Germany in a few months, and I wondered if anyone could tell me how different using my modem over there will be than using it here. I've heard something about a guard tone? What type of jack/plug do they use? Any info will be greatly appreciated! Andrew DOMAIN: boggie@lawton.lonestar.org (andrew evan boggs) UUCP: ...!rwsys!lawton!boggie (andrew evan boggs) Good News II BBS Lawton, OK USA +1 (405) 357-0478 [Moderator's Note: Since we've been through this a few times here, perhaps someone will kindly pass along prior commentaries on the German phone network and associated wiring/connections to Andy. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 22:57:51 EST From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: Area Code Splits and Fax Numbers Organization: The National Capital FreeNet, Ottawa Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca When an area code split happens, fax machine owners in the new area code should reprogram their fax machines so that the machines identify themselves with their new number. In the new 905 area code in southern Ontario, this doesn't seem to be happening. Roughly half of the fax machines in area code 905 that I have sent or received faxes are still using the old 416 area code in their answerback. Most of the rest have not programmed an answerback at all, so that the "distant station ID" on the log my fax machine keeps shows up as a blank. The one properly-programmed fax machine in area code 905 that I have encountered so far is shared by the Institute for Land Information Management and the Centre for Surveying Science at the University of Toronto's Erindale College. This suggests that telecommunications managers at organizations that go through an area code or prefix change should expect that most of their users will ignore reminders about reprogramming fax machines. Nigel Allen ae446@freenet.carleton.ca [Moderator's Note: Alot of people don't find it expedient to program any sort of ID or answerback into their machines. Sometimes for whatever reason, they prefer NOT to identify their outgoing faxes as to origin, etc. :) PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 20:37:26 -0800 From: nathan@seldon.foundation.tricon.com Subject: Double Hunt Group - Possible? I want to establish a "double hunt group". The scenario goes as follows: User calls in on high speed modem line and gets the "main" hunt group for high speed users. User two calls in on "alternate" low speed hunt group. BUT, if user one calls in and all of the main hunt groups are busy, then he is forwarded to the alternate, low speed hunt group. The reason I ask is because my main, high speed hunt groups have been busy lately and when I asked about a dual hunt-group, the local phone person had no idea what I was talking about. I wanted to have a "high speed" group, for v32bis callers and a low speed group for callers not capable of v32bis (v32 or lower), BUT on the "same" hunt group. That is, in plainer terms, I wanted to have lower speed callers call one number, higher speed callers call another, BUT, if the higher speed caller hit a busy, he would be re-routed back to a lower speed number. From my telco, I can get two hunt groups. No problem. But, they are separate and cannot forward to each other. I am on a DMS-100 as a remote service unit to the main service unit. (I will note that, when I ask for my next line, GTE will have to run more cable to my neighborhood ... I ran them out of pairs in my neighborhood when I got my first four lines). Fortunately for GTE, I can see their RSU from my roof, so it shouldn't be a problem for them to run more pairs. (600 ft. away). Oh, one more thing ... the low speed callers should ALWAYS get the low speed lines. The low speed lines go to a different host computer. Nathan Lane Triicon Systems, Inc., Lompoc, CA [Moderator's Note: The reason they do not understand is because (a) you are using the wrong phraseology and (b) hunting does not work the way you want it to. What you want to do is ask for another (how many? two, five, ten?) lines in your existing hunt group. What you with them on your end is your businesses, so when the lines are delivered, you send them to your low-speed machine. So now let's say you have lines 1 --> 75 in hunt. That is, one hunts to two which hunts to three which hunts to four ... > 75. Lines 1 to 49 are the high speed modems; lines 50-75 are the low speed modems. When 49 (high) is busy, it will hunt to 50 and subsequent (low), which is what I think you want. Then you send a note to your known low-speed users and you tell them as of a certain date the system has a new dial-in number. As of (date) you MUST dial the new number for our modem bank (line 50, whatever the number is). On the conversion day, you take lines 1-49 and you lock the modems therein on the high speed. You program them to not adjust downward at all. If the caller is not at 9600 baud or greater, too bad. The answer- ing modem never will train to his speed, because you programmed it that way. At the same time, you take the modems on lines 50-75 and you fix them to go up or down in speed as required. If you prefer not to have such an abrupt conversion you can also play some games with 'login' and add a bit of code which looks for the tty the caller is on and the speed at which they are at. I think the commands 'tty' and 'stty' will tell you all you need to know. If the tty relates to lines 1-49 and 'stty' tells you the speed is undesirable, then you abort login and echo a message to the caller, 'you must hang up and dial in to the system using the number xxx-xxxx.' .... Let it stay that way for a week or two prior to locking the first group of modems at the speed you want them to be at. Or, never lock the modems, just keep playing out the 'you must dial in on ....' message to inappropriate users. On the modems from 50 upward of course, you have no such restrictions. One public access system in Chicago keeps non-subscribers off the bank of modems spec- ially reserved for subscribers (so they won't get busy signals all the time) by checking out the tty versus the 'group' (guest or contrib) that the caller is part of. You guessed it: if the group is guest and the tty is reserved for contrib, the caller gets unceremoniously dumped. When you go back to telco for this, do them a favor: they don't want to hear your life story. All you need to say is you need X additional lines in your hunt group. When the lines are installed, YOU publicize the 'entry point' in the middle of the hunt group where you want your low-speed people to come in (and you enforce it, per the examples shown above. And as a matter of system security, you *never* publish or list any of the numbers in your hunt group except for the first, or main listed number. Where they hunt to from there is nobody's business but yours. Naturally, you'll have to publicize the 'number in the middle' that you want for the low-speed people, but other than that, don't tell anyone the actual numbers of all the lines in the middle and save yourself a lot of grief from people playing games. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 20:46:38 -0800 From: nathan@seldon.foundation.tricon.com Subject: Dates For Enhanced Services on Switches I am curious about the dates on various switches when "enhanced" calling systems became available. I can remember in 1978 when my parents got call forwarding in San Francisco (city of), CA. Where I am now, we didn't get call forwarding until 1991. I am not asking for various regional information, but when certain features became available on specific switches. For example, here in Santa Barbara County, CA, we have GTE. Two months ago, the downtown switch was replaced with a 5ESS. It was previously a GTD-5. Tone dialing only became available in downtown Santa Barbara in 1983(!). UC Santa Barbara got a 5ESS early on, so they had the best of luck. Where I live now, we're stuck with our DMS-100 "until kingdom come" according to one GTE rep. Heck, we just got Datakit (you know, that 19.2Kbps Data Over Voice thingie?!) two months ago. That awful c--p has been around for at least ten years in other areas with other switches. Specifically, I'm interested in release dates for various services on the following switches: GTD-5 (they're going AWAY, aren't they ... please?) DMS-100 (rumored to have ISDN coming in soon ... but why did GTE in Santa Barbara replace their DMS-100 with a 5ESS to get ISDN capabilities????) 5ESS 1AESS (or is that 1ESS?) I thought call-forwarding was so "groovy" in 1978! Imagine the odd expressions on friends faces when they got a call from my parents at their own home! (I was eight years old in '78). Nathan Lane Triicon Systems, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA [Moderator's Note: ESS, which is what makes 'custom calling features' available (not that AT&T invented ESS so they could offer call-waiting and similar; to the contrary, they invented ESS because by the early to middle 1960's they were quickly losing control of the public phone network to fraud and other abuse) about 1972. It was in Morris, IL and somewhere in NJ in beta-test during the late 1960's. A couple of Chicago offices had it in 1972; downtown got it in 1974 through 1976, and the outlying areas finally got it during the middle 1980's. Some places won't have it until 2000, if then. Just as in the past we have talked here about 'the last cord board finally pulled on ' -- only in a couple cases to find there was still one more out there! :) -- I wonder if anyone wants to predict when the USA will finally be one hundred percent ESS? 'Custom Calling' is just frosting on the cake and extra revenue for the telcos today. Network control, management and security is what ESS is all about, plus the ability to handle huge increases in traffic the old stuff could never have dealt with. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wjc@ll.mit.edu (Bill Chiarchiaro) Subject: Payphone in the Desert Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 14:34:13 -0500 I was looking through the TELECOM Digest Archives last week and came across an article about a payphone in the Mojave desert ("Magneto Telephones," Volume 10, Issue 491). This reminded me of an experience I had which I will relate and then follow with some questions. In November 1991, a colleague and I were travelling on business in Nevada. One night, we were driving north on Highway 375 to pick up U.S. 6 and head west into Tonopah. My friend had done that trip before, and said he wanted to stop in the town of Warm Springs to make a phone call to his wife. Warm Springs is located at the end of Highway 375 where it joins U.S. 6. So far as we could tell, there was no longer any resident population in Warm Springs. Directly across U.S. 6 from the end of 375 was a closed-down bar (as in saloon), a working streetlight, and a phone booth. We pulled up in front of the booth, my friend got out to make his call, and I aimed the headlights at the warm spring. While he was in the phone, I walked along the bank of the stream, watching the steam rising into the darkness, and looking up at the black bulk of the mountain which was the source of the spring. When my friend was finished with his call, I went into the booth to call my wife. The phone looked like an ordinary, contemporary payphone, but without a dial or DTMF pad. I picked up the handset, and an operator answered after several seconds: Operator: What number are you calling? I: 508 XXX XXXX Operator: I'll have to connect you to another operator. Pause of several seconds... Operator #2: What number are you calling? [or so I thought] I: 508 XXX XXXX Operator #2: No, that's the number _you're calling_. What number are you _calling from_? I: Well, the only thing it says here [on a lable in the space where the dial would be] is "Warm Springs #2." Operator #2: Warm Springs #2 in what state? California or Nevada? I: Nevada... She went to work completing the call, and I became curious. Just where was _she_? For all I knew, she might have been in Nebraska. I asked, and she replied "Reno." That wasn't too spectacular; Reno is only about 255 air miles from Warm Springs. I stood in that isolated phone booth, getting an overwhelming sense of distance which can be felt only by a New Englander plunked down in the middle of a western desert. Just before the call went through: Operator #2: Thank you for using AT&T! I: Thank _you_ for being there... To this day, I've been curious about that payphone's local loop: where did it go? I believe the nearest inhabited town is Tonopah, 45 miles to the west. There is also Manhattan, at about the same distance to the northwest. However, the booth's drop cable went up to a line of poles which more or less followed U.S. 6 to the northeast. The nearest town in that direction is Lund, about 88 miles away. I believe there were no poles heading in the direction of Tonopah. I don't recall seeing any equipment which might have been a carrier terminal. Then again, it was pretty dark out there. Also, it now occurs to me that I should have paid more attention to the source of power for that streetlight --- the type of distribution lines might have given a clue as to how far the AC power and phone signals had to travel. My only guess is that the loop went to one of the military installations scattered across the area. Driving through that area at night, you sometimes see in the distance what looks like the lights of a town, but there's no town on the map. Even so, I bet the nearest such installation to Warm Springs was 10 or 20 miles away. So, has anyone else used Warm Springs #2? Or, does anyone have an idea about how that phone was connected? Bill Chiarchiaro wjc@ll.mit.edu [Moderator's Note: Maybe its time to run those articles about toll stations once again. I'm sure a lot of the newer readers would be fascinated by things like Warm Springs #2 and Mary's River Ranch #1. I had thought surely they were all gone by now, and said so in an issue of the Digest a few years ago only to have John Covert write in with a list of several dozen still operating in remote places. Toll stations can also get incoming calls. For example when *calling* Warm Springs, Nevada #2, your long distance operator will scratch her head at first and eventually look up the manual routing tables which will reveal that she has to connect with the operator in Reno, Nevada by doing what only AT&T operators can do and KP'ing 702 + 181 ... it'll ring a few times, and another operator will answer 'Reno'; your operator will then ask for Warm Springs #2. On some toll-stations, when you call them you hear an audible ringing tone just like calling any other number; still others are completely manual and the distant operator has to pull a ringing key with her finger a couple times so you (as caller) hear nothing except maybe a 'clunk' once or twice. She'll report back to your operator in a minute or so that #2 is 'DA' ... it doesn't answer; that is unless someone else is driving down the highway and stopped there at the moment to admire the warm springs or answer some other call of nature or whatever. And when the bill comes from AT&T? Just the usual rate, no operator surcharge since Warm Springs is a non-dialable point, and the called number will read something like 702-089-0002 or close to that. By the way, on some toll stations, the transmission sounds like pooh, as we used to say about Radio Shack CB's years ago, only we didn't say pooh; there was some other term we used. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 23 Nov 93 12:25 -0600 From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The Smiley Dictionary"~ by Godin BKSMLDCT.RVW 931012 Peach Pit 2414 6th St. Berkeley, CA 94710 510-548-4393 fax: 510-548-5991 800-283-9444 "The Smiley Dictionary", Seth Godin, U$6.95/C$9.95 One assumes that this is meant to fall into the "computer gag gift" category. It is certainly an amusing diversion for those in the know and, of course, it doesn't take long to get in the know. The cover blurb's boast that this is "the world's most complete book of smileys" is only hype. To this volume's almost two hundred emoticons, we have to compare Sanderson and Dougherty's 650 (cf BKSMILEY.RVW). However, it is laid out in a more organized fashion with roughly topical sections and a cross index. The large print of the sample emoticons gives them an immediacy sometimes lacking in other lists, although the font sometimes makes the mid- lines of the face awkward. Aside from the smileys themselves, however, there is nothing here. Even the "non-smiley smileys" section has little in it, choosing not even to scratch the surface of the more common acronyms. There is no discussion of online etiquette. The few prose sections seem quite sarcastic and could do with a few smileys sprinkled throughout. (On the other hand, maybe "smirks" would be more appropriate.) For your non-computer literate friends, this is probably the gag to get. For even slightly more serious use, stick with Sanderson and Dougherty. Copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKSMLDCT.RVW 931012. Permission to reprint only in TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ From: roy_thompson@vos.stratus.com (Roy Thompson) Subject: GSM in the US? Date: 23 Nov 1993 18:38:20 GMT Organization: Stratus Computer Inc, Marlboro MA For those of you familiar with GSM and IS-41B: What is the likelyhood of GSM being adopted for the US? Are their any operators currently planning to deploy GSM HLR? EIR? AuC? SMS? I'm particularly interested in HLR and SMS (Short Message Service). Are there any firm plans to move from the interim standard to a permanent standard? Direct email would be appreciated. Roy Thompson - roy_thompson@vos.stratus.com ------------------------------ From: cazier@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov (David J. Cazier 244-5750) Subject: Beeper Transmitter Date: 23 Nov 1993 20:16:04 GMT Organization: Software Technology Branch, Johnson Space Center, NASA Reply-To: cazier@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov Is there any wireless technology that a person can carry on the hip (like a beeper) that would allow an individual to transmit an id number to a base station, perhaps another receiver beeper or some PC or UNIX system? What I'm interested in finding is the cheapest (reliable) way to transmit an id from a paging device to another device used only as a receiver. The coverage should be at least one mile radius (line of sight desired). ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #778 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa15881; 24 Nov 93 4:29 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA01744 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Wed, 24 Nov 1993 01:36:01 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA28917 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 24 Nov 1993 01:35:19 -0600 Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 01:35:19 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311240735.AA28917@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #779 TELECOM Digest Wed, 24 Nov 93 01:35:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 779 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Inexpensive Modem (or Should it be Cheap?) (A. Padgett Peterson) Info Needed on Digitalization and Fiber Optics in Zimbabwe (J. Dhliwayo) Demodulating Modem Conversations (gardnern@spot.colorado.edu) Information Wanted on ISDN Centrex (Dan Veeneman) Looping, Data Looping (Sharif Torpis) Echo Cancellation (deneire@montefiore.ulg.ac.be) PC to Alpha Pagers! (Steve Lamont) Nation-Wide Electronic PhoneBook on Internet? (Eric N. Florack) Interrogative Rockwell (Ken Leonard) HLR/Cellular Question (Roy Thompson) Job Openings at Motorola (Jay Jayapalan) Want Info: Audio-Conferencing (to Accompany Whiteboard) (John Kimball) Internet Survey (Edward John Sona) Still Another Internet Survey (Donna Johnson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 21:54:48 -0500 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson Subject: Inexpensive Modem (or Should it be Cheap?) Following the posting Sunday concerning a $99 144 faxmodem and being somewhat able to justify a spare (my son recently discovered BBSs), I ordered one from the MacWarehouse (800.255.6227 - have not found a non-800 number but they are in Lakewood, New Jersey). With Airborne (tm) shipping it came to U$103. It arrived Tuesday and I have been playing with it somewhat this evening. For the record, the name is LINELINK 144e and it is apparently made by Practical Peripherals and repackaged by the mail order house. It does appear to be a real v32/v32bis FaxModem. This connection is 9600 baud and I just downloaded a 300k file at 1595 cps on a 14,400 connection (my Supra usually runs at 1612-1617 cps) so it is in the ballpark. Have not tried the FAX portion yet but AT+FCLASS=? gives 0,2 so it apparently supports group III class 2 FAX with the right software. My Supra uses class 1 so I'll have to do some finagaling to test but it does give the right responses so far. The following are some pertinant returns: AT+FMFR?: SIERRA,V32BIS/F AT+FMDLMDL?: SQ322X ATI3: Copyright (c) 1993 SSC, V1.0 - 08/27/93 ATI4: SERIAL * V32BIS * V42BIS * VOICE 2.2 * TIES * CID * V23 * SRFAX I know nothing about the SIERRA chip (my Supra has a Rockwell) but expect that one of the other readers will fill us in. The only one that would make me hesitate is the TIES since I *assume* that stands for Time Independant Escape Sequence or the Microcom method of bypassing the Hayes patent. I have no idea what the CID means other than it does not repond to the AT#CID=? that Supra uses to establish Caller-ID compatability. The modem is pretty large at 8"x7"x1 1/2" and I did have to reset PROCOMM+ to use the setup for a Practical Peripherals 14.4 modem. The only modem changes I made were to set W1 to enable verbose messages and &C1 for CD handling. Might have to make sure that &R0 is set (&R1 is MAC mode) for a PC but mine came that way. Other than not testing the FAX, the only problem has been a couple of unexplained lockups after terminating a connection that required a reboot of the PC but this may have just been all of the odd and unusual AT commands I have been firing at it. Will post a short note if it continues to be a problem. My *feeling* is that it was the 16550 UART and not the modem but not sure. However, for a buck, it is a real external 144 FAXmodem with lights and speaker and does include a MAC serial cable (ever price one?) and communications software. Not having a MAC, this does not help me very much but still for the price it seems reasonable particularly considering that I paid three times that amount for the Supra just a year ago. One final caveat: apparently the unit is only guarenteed for 30 days (cannot find any reference but this was what the lady said on the phone. Warmly, Padgett PS: Thanks to those who commented about my hotel/modem situation. It does appear that what was happening was that the hotel switch was slow in dropping the dialtone following the "1" and the modem interpreted this as being a "pulse" system. Have not yet figured out a fix but possibly a "," instead of the "W" might work. (home again and hard to test). ------------------------------ From: JABULANI@PHYSICS.watstar.uwaterloo.ca (Jabulani Dhliwayo) Subject: Info Needed on Digitalisation and Fiber Optic Networks in Zimbabwe. Organization: University of Waterloo Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 02:41:00 GMT Though it is highly unlikely that anybody on this network will have any interest in the Telecommunication Development in a third world country, this is probably the only group that there can be any hope for such information. I understand that the Public Telecommunication Corp. in Zimbabwe is digitalising it's telecom networks. I also understand they are installing fiber optic networks in some cities. I am looking for documentation on the details of this operation. Among the questions that I want answered are: The specific type of switching services they are including; The switching services that are currently available; The cities affected and the progress so far; The countries or companies sponsoring this venture. etc. Efforts to contact the Zimbabwe PTC have so far been fruitless. Thanks for any information. Jabulani Dhliwayo 322-163 University Av. West Waterloo (519)-884-4021 (519)-885-1211 x 6195 ------------------------------ From: gardnern@spot.Colorado.EDU (T*P) Subject: Demodulating Modem Conversations Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 00:01:28 GMT Greetings, I am stumped with how I can demodulate modem communications in-progress. My project includes displaying the originating AND answering data, though not both at the same time. I envisioned recording it, and piping it into my modem. Not so. How would I go about convincing a modem to listen to a tape recorded conversation or "tapped" in realtime. (Problems there include messing up the current conversation). If two passes are made into the local modem, one forcing it to listen to the originating modem's data, and another listening to the answering modem's data, how would I synchronize them together? (Assuming the answering host did NOT echo the keys typed, I would not know when what was typed! [??] :) Any suggestions would be extremely appreciated. John ------------------------------ Subject: Info Wanted on ISDN Centrex From: System Operator Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 17:12:33 EST Organization: Fountainhead Title Group Hello, I'm looking for information and experiences with ISDN Centrex operations, especially from Chesapeake and Potomac (C&P) Telephone Company (now Bell Atlantic). Our company has nineteen offices across the state of Maryland, and currently each has their own dial-up voice, fax, etc. lines. Part of my job is to investigate options for our data processing operations, including data lines. I'd like to find out more about using ISDN Centrex to combine voice, fax, and data traffic among our offices, as well as to the outside. Any pointers or real-world experiences would be welcome, especially from those who might know what is available in Maryland. Dan Veeneman uunet!anagld!ftgcorp!dan Work: (410) 381-5300 ext 127 Fax: (410) 290-7281 The Fountainhead Title Group Corporation Real Estate Title Services ------------------------------ From: storpis@crl.com (Sharif Torpis) Subject: Looping and Data Looping Date: 23 Nov 1993 13:42:24 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] I have heard the terms 'looping' and 'data looping' being used by various individuals not necessarily in the telecom field. The only looping I know of is the process of routing calls through various places (PBXs, diverters, etc.) before the final destination. What are some other interpretations of the above two terms? Keep in mind that the terms are related to telecommunications fraud. ------------------------------ From: deneire@montefiore.ulg.ac.be Subject: Echo Cancellation Organization: Universiti de Lihge Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 22:02:42 GMT Hello, For one of our students, we are in search of Impulse Responses of telephone channels (two and four wires) for echo cancellation. Thanks for your help. deneire@montefiore.ulg.ac.be Universite de Liege, Belgium Europe. ------------------------------ From: smlamont@hebron.connected.com (Steve Lamont) Subject: PC to Alpha Pagers! Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 22:00:10 -0800 Organization: Connected INC -- Internet Services Several people have posted questions about sending messages to alpha numeric pagers. I just saw an announcement for *free* software, called MessageFlash, to send messages from any PC with Windows and a modem. All they charge is $7.50 for S&H. The number to call is 1-800-99FLASH or e-mail your address and credit card data to: info@mccaw.com. They also have software that automatically relays Microsoft Mail messages from a PC to an alpha pager. You can set the filter for time-of-day, header-only or full message, and filter by name of sender. They can give you more information at the sources listed above. Steven Lamont smlamont@hebron.connected.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 06:33:24 PST From: Eric_N._Florack.cru-mc@xerox.com Subject: Nation-Wide Electronic PhoneBook on Internet? I'm looking for information on any public database, containing nationwide white pages information. Is there such a beast available on Internet? If not, where else online? Compu-bux? AOL? GEnie? Eric_N._Florack.cru-mc@xerox.com [Moderator's Note: The database is available on Compuserve and you can also purchase it as CD Roms in a few places. It is not available for free on any ftp site, if that is what you are thinking about. I've had some thoughts about buying a reasonably accurate database on CD Roms and installing it here, then letting people use it by dialup or maybe even telnetting to it for some small fee to cover the expense in the purchase and line connection, etc. There certainly have been enough inquiries about it. But you know how it goes with the Usenit-wit crowd: that would be commercializing the net. Seriously, I've got a lot of very nice, wonderful people reading the Digest via comp.dcom.telecom, but a few from the Usenet side are absolute idiots. Between the privacy nuts and the 'how dare you put commmercial stuff on the net' nuts, I doubt I would get time for anything but 'rm'-ing their flames if I were to automate a lot of the Digital Detective stuff as well as the white pages directory and make it available for everyone at cost, but don't think I haven't considered it. I still am considering it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: leonardk@happy.vf.ge.com (Ken Leonard) Subject: Interrogative Rockwell Organization: GE Aerospace - VF Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 14:45:06 GMT Howdy... Does anyone know how to get interface-level specs for the Rockwell modem chipset(s) -- i.e. what kind of UART(s) it/they look like and/or how to control that behavior? Thanks and regards, Ken ------------------------------ From: roy_thompson@vos.stratus.com (Roy Thompson) Subject: HLR/Cellular Question Date: 23 Nov 1993 18:34:58 GMT Organization: Stratus Computer Inc, Marlboro MA I'm somewhat familiar with IS-41B and the GSM specifications. But I have a question about the cellular phones and how they identify themselves to base stations and eventually effect the HLR/VLR. Do cellular phones periodically broadcast their MIN/ESN when the phone is on? Or, do the base stations poll in some way? How does a given system know where a particular subscriber is when a call comes in for that ID? Also, is there an interest group or something related to cellular and wireless technology that I can join? I have struggled with the question of whether computer-based HLR is marketable. I know it makes technical sense, but I'm not sure if operators are willing to move the existing HLR off the switch. What makes HLR marketable on a computer? Multiple applications/services capabilities? Faster database support? Lower cost per subscriber? AIN service platform (SN, SCP)? Any thoughts on this? Direct email would be appreciated. I would like to discuss this with those that have an interest. Thanks for any assistance. Please email directly. Roy Thompson - roy_thompson@vos.stratus.com ------------------------------ From: jayapal@rtsg.mot.com (Jay Jayapalan) Subject: Job Openings at Motorola Date: 23 Nov 93 16:33:41 GMT Organization: Motorola Cellulsr Infrastructure Group Synopsis of Job: Become a member of the System Requirements and Architecture team and contribute to the definition of the architecture for providing error free data services in an integrated voice/data cellular system. One position is to define and/or evaluate protocols for async data, facsimile, short message and packet data. Write System Feature Descriptions and System Functional Specifications with possible direct involvement in implementation. The second position is to help investigate innovative ideas for industry wide standardization and technical implementation of data services. Work with product management and customers to define requirements for provisioning, operating and billing for these services. Skills Required: Six to ten years of design and development experience in communications systems preferably in network control data or user data communication areas and/or in developing architecture and requirements for cellular services. Working knowledge of current cellular technologies plus data communications experience is necessary. Must be very familiar with OSI lower layer protocols, such as X.25, IEEE 802.X, HDLC etc. Experience in channel mod- els and performance modelling/testing of protocols is a plus. Some experience in working with standards committees is desirable but not necessary. MSEE/ CS is preferred. Please send your resume to: Motorola Code JW/BK Professional Staffing 1501 W Shure Dr. Arlington Heights IL 60004 or Fax it to (708)-632-7382 Regards, Jay Jayapalan 708-632-4031 jayapal@rtsg.mot.com ------------------------------ From: jkimball@src.honeywell.com (John Kimball) Subject: Want Info: Audio-Conferencing (to Accompany Distributed Whiteboard) Organization: Honeywell Systems & Research Center Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 18:06:53 GMT We're investigating how to support a project whose team-members are in two different cities. I've seen a lot of hype about video-conferencing, but I was recently reminded that a lot could be done to provide better *audio*-conferencing. At least, it could be a lot better than simply having people crowded around speaker phones at both ends of a conversa- tion. I'm interested in what's available, in commercial or freely-redistributable systems. I'm also interested in pointers to relevant research. Here's a description of the kind of system that would probably satisfy the need: This would be an "advanced conference call" facility. It could use either the standard phone lines or a computer network as transport. It would be used by geographically-dispersed engineers who are working on the same project though they are located thousands of miles apart. The audio conferencing facility would be used on a daily basis, from the engineers' offices, at the drop of a hat. It would likely be used in concert with a distributed shared whiteboard / shared document viewing and markup facility. It should be easy to use -- setting up a conference among a group of N people should be no more complicated than selecting N names from a menu of team members. There should be no push-to-talk button and no echo suppression turn-around delays. It must be able to be hands-free. There should be an out-of-band indication of (a) who's currently talking, and (b) who wants to talk ("raised hand"). It may provide support for side conversations, letting each participant select the volume for each conversation. Ideally the audio conferencing controls should be integrated with the controls for the shared whiteboard / document viewer. If the audio conferencing is hosted on a computer, or tied to a whiteboard hosted on a computer, ideally it should support conferencing among engineers running SunOS on Suns or Windows NT. More background: "Inexpensive, easy-to-use, from-own-office audio conferencing. I hear that the [...] telecon interconnect is expensive, and phone conferencing using it is too time consuming to set up. Need something like phone speed dial / email list where several lists of individuals and be called up for conferencing with just a few button pushes. A hands-free audio set up would be nice. Push-to-talk (PTT) and echo-suppressor turn-around delays are no good. An auxiliary indication of who is talking and who wants to talk is needed. The latter is a 'my hand is raised' switch which isn't nearly as onerous as a PTT switch since it is much more seldomly used. Another handy feature would be side conversations. This would require request send, request Rx indication, granted, and cancel mechanisms. After granted and before cancel, the mikes involved in the side conversation would only go to each other but the incoming audio would be a mix of the side and main conversations. The volume of the main and side conversations would have to be independently set by the listener. The volume also could be set differently for each speaker. (That is what I do when I fly jump seat [in a commercial airliner]. I set a different volume for the pilots, ATC, the flight attendants, and the company radio channel.) I saw a system on the TV program "NextStep" which used stereo and pseudo phasing to place the apparent source of each speaker at different points in the listener's aural space to give the who-is-talking information." "It would be great if the telecon controls were integrated with the whiteboard controls, so that setting up the telecon automatically sets up the shared whiteboard / shared document viewing and markup session. Ditto for side conversations -- they would optionally get their own whiteboard/ document markup session". Thanks in advance for any info ... John Kimball DOMAIN: jkimball@src.honeywell.com Honeywell Systems and Research Center postmaster@src.honeywell.com Computer Sciences/Software Technology UUCP: !srcsip!jkimball 3660 Technology Drive, MN65-2100 VOICE: +1 612/951-7343 FAX: 7438 Minneapolis, MN 55418-1006 STATUS: "Will do research for food." ------------------------------ From: esona@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (edward john sona) Subject: Internet Survey Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington IN Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 02:40:06 GMT Survey of Uses of The Internet for Competitive Information I am a member of a group of graduate students conducting exploratory research on the use (and potential use) by commercial users of the Internet as a competitive intelligence resource. By competitive intelligence, we mean information of *any* sort which might give your organization a competitive edge. A few simple examples might be: - establishing contacts with others in your field whom you might not have met otherwise; - using/monitoring listservs on topics of interest to your firm to get insights or advice on a problem or situation; - retrieving data/files/software from remote, unaffiliated sites on a more timely basis than might otherwise be the case. We would appreciate it if you would consider and answer each of the three following questions, which will help us gain insights into how the Internet is being or may be used for competitive purposes. Please don't let our examples hamper your imagination! Your response, via e-mail, can be sent to the address listed at the end of this message. Please note that any information you share with us will be held in the strictest confidence. 1. Could you share any anedotes about how you, or others in your organization, have used the Internet to gain information which is useful for competitive purposes? 2. In what ways do you imagine the Internet might be used for making your firm more competitive, even if you haven't used it in such a manner. 3. Some might perceive no place for the Internet in the corporate competitive intelligence environment. For instance, some feel that corporate data security might be compromised, or that information retrieved from the Internet is of dubious nature. Others even feel that employees will waste corporate time "playing" on the Internet. In light of your answers to the first two questions, what's your opinion on this subject? Again, we emphasize that your responses will remain confidential. Please respond as soon as you can. We encourage you to respond, as it will broaden our understanding of the enviroment in which the Internet is expanding. We would be more than happy to share the results of our study with you if you wish (mid-December). Simply indicate this in your response. Thank you for taking the time to assist us. Sincerely, Edward Sona Indiana University, School of Library and Information Science Please respond as soon as you can! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 13:34:14 PST From: Donna Johnson Subject: Still Another Internet Survey As a new member of the Internet system, and a returning student at Evergreen, I need some help with a project that I am working on. Some answers to a few questions would sure help me in my research on the "Power of Internet", namely, what were some of the early frustrations experienced in learning how to use the Internet. Has it helped in doing your job? Has it "empowered" you to communicate better with your collegues. Short consise answers are really what I need, and since I am in the thick of my project now, I need responses ASAP. Any help you can lend me is surely appreciated. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #779 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa16452; 24 Nov 93 5:44 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32308 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Wed, 24 Nov 1993 02:43:32 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24019 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 24 Nov 1993 02:42:49 -0600 Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 02:42:49 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311240842.AA24019@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #780 TELECOM Digest Wed, 24 Nov 93 02:43:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 780 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems (Rich Mintz) Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems (Gary Breuckman) Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems (Chris Salter) Re: Compression With ISDN (H. Peter Anvin) Re: Local Detail Records (Dave Niebuhr) Re: Special Report: Telecom Strife in Venezuela (Katarina Wong O'Gara) Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (Rich Greenberg) Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (Jay Hennigan) Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (Jeff Bennington) Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (Fred Linton) Re: Finally Got REAL Phone Service (H. Shrikumar) Re: Finally Got REAL Phone Service (Kevin W. Williams) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (Mathew Englander) Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes (David A. Kaye) Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes (Linc Madison) Saudi Arabia (was Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexican Area Codes) (Carl Moore) Re: PC Pursuit; Also Inexpensive 14.4k FAXmodem (Lars Poulsen) Re: PC Pursuit; Also Inexpensive 14.4k FAXmodem (James Taranto) Re: PC Pursuit; Also Inexpensive 14.4k FAXmodem (Steven H. Lichter) Correction: Re: Bad FAX Number (Carl Moore & John Gretzinger) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rmintz@ecst.csuchico.edu (Rich Mintz) Subject: Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems Date: 23 Nov 1993 16:20:49 GMT Organization: California State University, Chico I think some of you have misunderstood the original poster's question. As I read it, while using his 2400 baud modem, he depends on call waiting to kick him off of whatever computer service he's using and allow the incoming call through. This blurb of static or disconnect will typically occur on the first or second call waiting beep. When he upgraded to a 14.4 modem, he found that for the same call-waiting induced disconnect to occur, the caller had to wait through eight rings or more. This is because the 14.4 has fancy error-correcting features that filter out the call waiting beep as static, so it screws up the system of being kicked off immediately by call waiting. I encountered a similar problem when I upgraded to my 9600 baud modem. So far, no solution. Setting register S10 to 1 (1 tenth of a second between loss of carrier and disconnect) will make the modem disconnect more readily with call waiting but it doesn't get past the higher baud rates' static filtering routines. It still takes over eight rings for the call waiting to make the modem disconnect at baud rates over 2400, whereas the disconnect is immediate at 2400 or lower. If anyone's got a fix for this problem, I'd love to hear it (as I'm sure the original poster would). Rich ------------------------------ From: puma@netcom.com (Gary Breuckman) Subject: Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems Date: Thu, 24 Nov 1993 06:28:47 GMT TELECOM Moderator notes: > [Moderator's Note: I've never been able to understand one thing about > these schemes. Yes, anyone can make adjustments to their modem to > virtually ignore call-waiting signals if that is what they want to > do. But how do you get the modem on the other end to go along with > the momentary disconnection caused by call-waiting? Most error correcting modems should have the parameter that deals with this (time, loss of carrier to disconnect, set by S10) set high enough so they won't disconnect. The default on most modems is '14' which is 1.4 seconds, and it can be set 1-255 (255 means 'never disconnect'). Folks who WANT to disconnect usually set it to 1. Zero isn't valid for my modem, although some may accept it. On a PROPERLY DESIGNED modem this should cause retries or retrains, and if the disruption continues during the retrains might cause a disconnect, although it could take a long time, and the caller might be gone by the time the modem hangs up. Also, on many systems only the path to YOU is broken for the call-waiting beep, and the person/modem on the other end hears only a click or two, if anything. I suppose this varies, exchange type to exchange type. > I can tell my modem to stay off hook and 'sit it out', and it will > presumably go back to normal operations once the call waiting signals > are gone. But what prevents the other end from seeing that I am gone, > even for the split second and dropping the carrier from that end > instead? If the distant modem senses for a half second that my > carrier is missing, won't it terminate the session anyway? So what > good does it do me to ride it out -- ignoring for the moment the > likelyhood of errors in the data coming across, which may or may not > be very critical, depending on what it is without the ability to set > the other modem for the same liberal tolerance? PAT] It may never see that you're gone, or the default setting should be enough for it to 'ride it out' too. puma@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: chris@loncps.demon.co.uk (Christopher Salter) Subject: Re: Call Waiting 14.4 Modems Organization: TBA Reply-To: Chris@loncps.demon.co.uk Date: Wed, 23 Nov 1993 21:24:54 In article weberdd@macc.wisc.edu writes: > In a previous message, Thomas Neudeker writes: >> [most deleted] Does anyone know of a modem init string >> to let call waiting and the modem work as I wish? > If it is important to be able to reach you when data calls are in > progress, I recommend a second telephone line. Not exactly the tip of the century but I my have my phone set up to divert on busy to my cellular phone. The drawback is that I pay for the diverted call but as I have the cellular phone anyway it's cheaper than a second line. Chris Salter London England Internet : chris@loncps.demon.co.uk Compuserve : 73064,357 ------------------------------ From: hpa (H. Peter Anvin N9ITP) Subject: Re: Compression With ISDN Reply-To: hpa@nwu.edu (H. Peter Anvin) Organization: Hierarchial directory structure Date: Wed, 23 Nov 1993 01:09:25 GMT In article of comp.dcom.telecom, oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov writes: > Since I don't use terminal adapters, I really don't know. But Combinet > ISDN Ethernet Bridges do data compression just fine. The area of > standardization is fuzzy, but V.42bis seems perfectly wel suited for > ISDN and is already a standard. Since V.42 is LAP-M (Link Access Protocol -- Modem) and I think ISDN uses LAP-B (Link Access Protocol -- B-channel) it seems like V.42bis is the way to go, especially, as you say, it is already a standard. /hpa INTERNET: hpa@nwu.edu FINGER/TALK: hpa@ahab.eecs.nwu.edu IBM MAIL: I0036073 at IBMMAIL NeXTMAIL: hpa@speedy.acns.nwu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Nov 93 01:50:55 EST From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: Local Detail Records NYTel does keep local detail records which I found out about during a dispute with them over calls to one exchange used by the Suffolk County government (long story, I won). One of the people in the business office stated that even though I received a listing of who I called if it was a toll call, I don't see the local ones which I pay for with a monthly charge (best deal going if teenagers are in the house). How else can harrassing callers be traced if complete records aren't kept especially if they're in your local calling area? I suppose that if I wanted to I could press the telco to release a list of all calls, local or not, so that I could know how much the phone is really used in my home. Naah, my blood pressure would rise just that much further after I get done reading the bill. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Nov 1993 00:52:43 -0500 From: Katarina Wong O'Gara Subject: Re: Special Report: Telecom Strife in Venezuela If you get indignant that Colombian union leadsr are being prosecuted for their role in the Telecom strike, just ask yourself whether it would be appropriate to pursue criminal charges in the U.S. against, say, striking AT&T personnel who poured water and sand into switches and otherwise scrambled the entire telephone network (in Colombia there is only one; that is part of the problem) such that no international calls could be made for an entire week. It seems intuitively obvious to me that prosecution would be in order. There. I've done it. In one paragraph I've punctured that incredibly wordy piece from the "Progressive Economist's Network," whatever that is. Cheers, James F.X. O'Gara kkw@wam.umd.edu ------------------------------ From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 20:35:09 GMT In article lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) writes: > A couple of years ago, Pacific Bell moved a considerable portion of > their customer service numbers into "811" service. > On my return from Europe, I find that the numbers to dial for various > Pacific Bell offices are almost all on 1-800 numbers; I can't find a > single reference to an "811" number. > Did Pac*Bell give them up voluntarily, or were they ordered to by the > PUC or a court or Bellcore? In either case, why? I asked Pa Bell the same question, and the reason they gave me was that the 811 numbers could only be called from within California, and they had increasing numbers of people needing to call from out of state. For example, company A located in CA is merged or bought by company B in another state. All telcom related calls for A are now handled by B's telcom dept located in (say) New York. Rich Greenberg Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA 310-348-7677 N6LRT TinselTown, USA Play: richgr@netcom.com 310-649-0238 I speak for myself only. Canines: Chinook & Husky ------------------------------ From: jay@coyote.rain.org (Jay Hennigan) Subject: Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Date: 23 Nov 1993 18:58:53 -0800 Organization: Regional Access Information Network (RAIN) Of note, the 811-xxxx Pacific Bell numbers can also be dialed at no charge from GTE territory in Santa Barbara. Either GTE doesn't know any better or they don't mind hauling traffic for their neighbor/ competitor. [Moderator's Note: It would be their neighbor -- not their competitor. Any place you go there will have one telco or the other; never both in precisely the same location. Most telcos have agreements with the other telcos in the immediate vicinity for how traffic between them is to be handled and/or billed. GTE customers can probably call their business office from the Pac Bell side at no charge also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jgb@mcm.com (Jeff Bennington) Subject: Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Reply-To: jgb@mcm.com (Jeff Bennington) Organization: Mellon Capital Management Corp., San Francisco Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 17:38:23 GMT In article lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) writes: > Did Pac*Bell give them up voluntarily, or were they ordered to by the > PUC or a court or Bellcore? In either case, why? According to Pacific Bell people I've spoken with, many customers were confused by the 811 availability *only in Pacific Bell areas*. Imagine people trying to contact Pac Bell from a GTE-based pay phone or at a friend's house, and instead of hearing a phone ringing, they'd hear an intercept? I presume it is easier for PacBell to alias 800 number service to their private 811-xxxx (fiber optic) net than convince GTE (and others) to program switches for 811 service back to Pac Bell. I personally liked the 811 number system. 811-6222 still works in San Francisco for residential customer service. Jeff Bennington, Systems Administrator jgb@mcm.com [Moderator's Note: But Jay Hennigan in the message before yours says that 811 does in fact work from GTE territory, or at least some of their territory. PAT] ------------------------------ From: flinton@osprey.wcc.wesleyan.edu Subject: Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 23:50:20 GMT Organization: Wesleyan University Here in SNET land, just dial 811 -- no prefix, no suffix -- and you get one of SNET's state-wide-distributed residential customer service folks. Yes, the person you'll be speaking with will probably *not* be located in the town your home phone is nearest to; and yes, (s)he will probably bemoan that fact as forcefully as you. This "improves" an earlier scheme whereby each local phone book told what local number would ring up your local business office :-) . Fred ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 19:49:41 -0500 From: shri@sureal.cs.umass.edu (H.Shrikumar) Subject: Re: Finally Got REAL Phone Service Organization: UMass, Amherst MA + Temporal Systems Bombay India In article ao944@yfn.ysu.edu wrote: > It has been almost a year since I moved into GTE land, and some of you > may recall that when I got my phone service, it was provided via some > obsolete (no longer manufactured) subscriber carrier equipment that > has given me all sorts of problems over the past year (on no less than > five occasions, it has gone out completely). At one point (after I > complained to the Michigan Public Service Commission) GTE even gave me > a credit ($25 plus the equivalent of three days' service) on my phone > bill in compensation for the problems I had experienced. I need some information about this and similar subscriber carrier equipment. 1. What is the on-hook voltage it would deliver (15 V .. I think)? 2. What is the on-hook current? 3. What is the ringing voltage RMS it could deliver? 4. Was a distance limitation on how far you phone could be from the unit? I am trying to make an estimate of how badly one can deviate from the -48VDC, 90Vrms, 26mA standard that POTS uses, for limited use in a a "home" situation, where the instuments connected will be cheap $5 plastic phones with peizo chirp ringers and DTMF, on short cable runs. Sincere thanks for all replies in advance ! shrikumar (shri@cs.umass.edu, shri@shakti.ncst.ernet.in) ------------------------------ From: williamsk@postoffice.agcs.com (Kevin W. Williams) Subject: Re: Finally Got REAL Phone Service Date: 22 Nov 1993 14:37:28 -0700 Organization: This variable implies that we ARE organised In article , ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) writes: > 6) And finally, the new unit still will not accept dial pulses at 20 > pps. When I mentioned this originally, I was told that this was a > design limitation of the GTD-5 switch in my central office ... that 20 > pps was NOT considered a standard dialing speed, and even though some > AT&T and other switches may support it, the designers of the GTE > switches didn't feel they should. Now, what I do not know is whether > the new remote unit (the crew out here keeps referring to it as a MUX) > actually provides dial tone itself, or simply relays dial tone from > the CO downtown. I had sort of hoped that it would provide its own > dial tone, and would therefore support 20 pulses per second, but no > such luck. I'd still like to know where the dial tone is really > coming from. I did retain my same phone number, if that's any clue. MUX is a colloquiallism for the Lenkurt/Siemens 914E. Dial Tone comes from the base unit, as does all call processing control. Digit Collection does come from the MXU itself. Its all proprietary stuff, but inherently similar to TR-303 Model 2 or the protocols used between AT&T and Northern base units and remotes. 20 pps dialing is a trunk standard, not a line standard, and the GTD-5 does not support it for lines. Kevin Wayne Williams williamsk@agcs.com AGCS is a joint venture betweeen AT&T and GTE, and is the supplier of the GTD-5. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 21:09:01 PST From: Mathew Englander Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized > [Moderator's Note: Obviously instead of relying on Bellcore to get you > the information in a timely way, you need to read this Digest for the > latest news on area code splits, etc. :) We were talking about 905 > long before it occurred. We were even talking about 905 back in the > days when it used to be an 'area code' for Mexico. PAT] This is news to me. Does this mean that residents of Thornhill, St. Catharines, etc. can expect to get calls from people trying to phone Mexicans? Mathew Englander [Moderator's Note: Well, I don't think so unless the caller is using a very, very old areacode map/index. How long has the code been gone where Mexico is concerned? Five years perhaps ... PAT] ------------------------------ From: dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) Subject: Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes Date: 24 Nov 1993 00:38:43 GMT Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] John R Levine (johnl@iecc.com) wrote: > Also, Mexico has a mixture of six and seven digit numbers, so they'd > have to renumber to match NANP numbers. But, there were once TWO area codes for Mexico, 905 and 705 (I think); whatever, there was a regional difference in phone number length and a caller from here who wanted to call a six-digit phone number added an extra digit to make it seven. [Moderator's Note: Yeah, the funny thing is 905 and the other one were never technically 'area codes'. A business office rep once insisted to me those two were actually 'access codes'. Supposedly the code was '90' with the 5 added to flesh out the phone numbers to seven digits. PAT] ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 11:35:46 GMT John Nagle (nagle@netcom.com) wrote: > Anyone remember that Saudi Arabia used to have a US area code? A > convenience for the oil industry, before international direct dialing. Never heard of it before. Do tell! Did any other places outside the NANP proper have area codes in days of old? Linc Madison, [one of the many] resident area code freak[s] LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 21:33:08 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Saudi Arabia (was Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes) I don't know about an area code being used in Saudi Arabia for the convenience of the oil industry. But this topic came up with respect to Kuwait (I guess at the time it was invaded August 1990 by Iraqi forces), and no one had an answer for that. [Moderator's Note: Yes, Saudi Arabia had an international country code like all other countries, but it also had an 'area code' which could be dialed from the USA for the administrative convenience of some people. The oil industry? I dunno. Anyone remember the 'area code' number, and does it still work today? PAT] ------------------------------ From: lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: PC Pursuit; Also Inexpensive 14.4k FAXmodem Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 19:51:59 GMT In article ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) writes: > My gut feeling from my reading of the messages (and this is my OPINION > only) is that SprintNet would be more than happy at this point if the > remaining PC Pursuit customers would quietly drop their accounts with > the service and leave. Our Esteemed Moderator noted: > in line for the scrap heap: when Telenet began in the middle to late > 1970's, it was a service for businesses only -- large businesses -- > which wanted to transfer data between locations at a rate much less > expensive that the public phone network could provide. TELENET was an X.25 network; the dial-in PADs providing access for asynchronous access were an afterthought to bring the volume up, and a convenience for customers of the host sites taht were the real subscribers. PC Pursuit was a creative was to use those resources after hours, but as an appendix on a secondary feature, it could not have been very interesting to those that retained the original vision of the service. Today, X.25 is not the primary protocol of the network. SprintNet has become a true multiprotocol network. More and more host sites are contracting to build virtual private networks in Frame Relay link protocol (with T-1 access rates) and there is a fair bit of frame relay access to Internet Protocol service. Today, I think they would be better off changing those dial-in points from X.25 PADs to Internet terminal servers. If the outdial capability were lost in the process, I doubt that they would see this as a big deal. The hosts should be getting the connections in packet mode anyway. In accordance with this view, I too would expect PCP to fade away; maybe even rather fast. Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@CMC.COM CMC Network Products Phone: (011-) +45-31 49 81 08 Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B Telefax: +45-31 49 83 08 DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK Internets: designed and built while you wait ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: Re: PC Pursuit; also inexpensive 14.4k FAXmodem Date: 23 Nov 1993 23:36:50 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC I met a guy who works for Telenet/Sprint at a cigar shop last Friday, and he told me PC Pursuit is no longer accepting new customers as a result of security problems with the network. Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com ------------------------------ From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: PC Pursuit; also inexpensive 14.4k FAXmodem Date: 23 Nov 1993 14:56:39 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) There were a few replys from someone in SprintNet that stated they were looking at the service as been said with the other posts. Global Access uses Sprint's network at more per month but has started switching over to Tymnet (BT) which has more indials as well as outdial plus a few 9600 outdials, but they don't support MNP above 4. I have PCP and am looking at the new service since it would expand the areas I want to call. The $99.00 modem is well worth it. I have ones that cost double that and work the same. They have both bundled for the Mac from MacWherehouse and the PC from their sister company. I got one and it works fine on my Epson, Apple Powerbook and all of my Apple II's with the proper cables software and init strings. ------------------------------ From: JOHN.D.GRETZINGER@sprint.sprint.com Date: 22 Nov 93 13:22:22-0500 Subject: Correction: Re: Bad FAX number [Moderator's Note: Carl Moore had written to say there was an error in a fax number given here. John responded to Carl's private note which had been cc'd to me, and John cc'd his answer also. The original message was 'Sprint Ugrading Network Backbone' in issue 766. PAT] ------------- That's strange since the phone number is pulled from a signature file (equivilant for DOS) that is correct. Anyway, to answer your question, yes, please change it. The correct FAX number should be +1.310.430.1187. Thanks, John D. Gretzinger Network Engineer +1.310.797.1187 +1.310.430.1761 (FAX) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #780 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa20474; 24 Nov 93 15:36 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA29162 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Wed, 24 Nov 1993 12:00:31 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA05914 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 24 Nov 1993 11:59:45 -0600 Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 11:59:45 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311241759.AA05914@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #781 TELECOM Digest Wed, 24 Nov 93 11:59:45 CST Volume 13 : Issue 781 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: GSM Interference (Stewart Fist) Re: GSM Interference (Laurence Chiu) Re: GSM Interference (Klein Gilhousen) Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Bruce Linley) Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems (Bill Mayhew) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (Lars Poulsen) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (Christian Weisgerber) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Ken Hoehn) Earthquake/Disaster Thread - Gopher Info (Richard I. Sambolec) Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications (Matt Healy) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 24 Nov 93 06:23:44 EST From: Stewart Fist <100033.2145@CompuServe.COM> Subject: Re: GSM Interference Problems What appears to be happening with GSM, is that, as Dave Londel says,the transmitter switches on and off to provide the TDMA function. It does this 217 times a second, and in analog circuits nearby, this generates a 217Hz audio tone, plus a couple of harmonics. In hearing aids this comes through as a loud buzz if the GSM transmitter is within a few metres, and can be heard in all hearing aids at distances up to 20-30 metres. They've decided to reduce the problem in Australia by shielding the inside of the hearing aid and adding a condensor across the microphone. This seems to be reasonably effective with most of them -- but there's still the question of who pays for modifying 300,000 hearing aids in the country. The analog tone is also found in telephones, cassette recorders, etc. which is annoying, but not a dramatic problem (mainly since only 1500 GSM handsets have been sold Australia-wide in six months!). What is more worrying is the suspicion that this 217Hz pulse is intruding into digital control circuits, and appearing as a random byte. GSM has eight slots to a frame, so the pulsing of the transmitter is equivalent to a byte of 1000 0000 if the slot being used is number one in the frame, and any other possible variation if other slots are in use, or other nearby GSM handsets are contributing to the effect. Furthermore, since this is an ELF-type effect, not an R/F effect, if half a dozen GSM handsets are operating in an area, with a few of them using slot one (but on different frequencies) the pulse effect is cumulative, and can be read at quite a distance. In effect, one or more GSM handsets working near to each other (say in an office) is a giant random number generator -- and it is almost impossible to duplicate conditions that you suspect may have created problems. Added to this 'regular' pulse generation, there are two more influences. GSM has a frequency hopping system, so handsets are jumping in and out of various frequency bands. They also switch off the transmitter when the vocoder isn't active (Digital Speech Interpolation), and so DSI adds a random effect to the primary tone-buzz, and makes the digital effects even more difficult to duplicate. The known interference effects with GSM into digital circuits is with desktop computers, Mac Powerbooks (they seem to be hard hit), modems within about three metres, multiplexers, and laserprinters (reset to factory default values.) There are also persistent stories from Germany about cases of car air-bag firings -- but I haven't been able to confirm this, and it still sounds suspiciously like an urban myth. What's more, GSM seems to be very polluting in the 900MHz R/F frequencies. New Zealand has had to leave a 3MHz guard band between the GSM handset transmit band and the AMPS analog receive band, because GSM was knocking the AMPS handsets out. There's something more here also, since it seems to be scattering a lot of interference into TV broadcast bands with quite a separation from the basic 900MHz. The real problem here, is that the European ETSI and the GSM manufacturers knew about all these problems back in 1989 (I have a UK lab report) and yet they hushed it up, and released the system anyway. They've been telling the hearing associations that they can solve the problem -- which they can with analog circuits only, and then only with retrofitting -- but they can't solve the digital circuit problem. DCS1800 (GSM in the 1.8GHZ band) just released in the UK has all the same failings, and is likely to be even more of a problem, because Mercury intends to introduce thousands of the things to act as radio local-loop links into its network. DECT, the office portable phone system from Europe, also has the same problems -- as do all TDMA systems. But DECT's danger, is that it is designed specifically for use in the office. I guess this is why the release of DECT is constantly being delayed. The American TDMA has a frame rate of only 50 Hz, which might be low enough to create ELF interference below the audible (or annoyance) range (however it should have 100Hz and 150Hz harmonics), but it certainly has a lot of the R/F interference -- 'spurious emissions' -- which are causing problems in the old AMPS bands. The splatter of R/F is raising the background noise levels in the 800MHz band seriously. CDMA doesn't switch its transmitter off and on in a regular way, but it does have a vocoder-controlled DSI function, and this seems to generate some 'pink noise', but since the power levels of CDMA transmissions are much lower than GSM, this doesn't appear likely to create analog problems, and it is unlikely to cause digital problems or R/F interference out-of-band.CDMA works below the background noise level. Currently, N-AMPS is looking good for 3:1 capacity increase in analog, and CDMA is likely to be the best of the digital systems for the above, and other reasons. It is also a more secure system. Stewart Fist (I've got no connection with anyone) ------------------------------ From: lchiu@crl.com (Laurence Chiu) Subject: Re: GSM Interference Date: 23 Nov 1993 18:05:35 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access In a article, Dave@llondel.demon.co.uk had the following to say about GSM Interference: > In article erik_ramberg@SMTP.esl.com > (Erik Ramberg) writes: >> Huh?!? GSM uses GMSK, i.e. MSK with a Gaussian window. TDMA uses >> DQPSK, or a quaternary form of phase shift keying. Both of these >> formats are designed to fit within the channel bandwidth and are very >> different from the AM that you discribe. Though I'm sure nobody >> really knows what's to blame for the interference, if anything it's >> some strange intermod problem rather than directly attributal to the >> move to a TDMA type system. I don't pretend to understand all this technical stuff about TDMA, GSM or CDMA but does this mean if various companies decided to implement different standards for digital cellular, then is roaming, which is pretty hard already, going to be that much harder as the poor user is going to have to know if his phone is compatible in the area he is roaming in? As an aside, are TDMA and CDMA implementations of a technology known generically as digital AMPS? Laurence Chiu Walnut Creek, California Tel 510-215-3730 (work) Internet: lchiu@crl.com ------------------------------ From: kleing@qualcomm.com (Klein Gilhousen) Subject: Re: GSM Interference Date: 23 Nov 1993 19:08:39 GMT Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA In article erik_ramberg@SMTP.esl.com (Erik Ramberg) writes: > In article , dave@llondel.demon.co.uk > (David Hough) wrote: >> As any radio amateur worth his salt will know, 100% amplitude >> modulation of a signal with what amounts to a square wave is bound to >> cause problems. Still, look at it the other way: now we have something >> else to blame when the TV picture breaks up into a mass of >> interference :-) > Huh?!? GSM uses GMSK, i.e. MSK with a Gaussian window. TDMA uses > DQPSK, or a quaternary form of phase shift keying. Both of these > formats are designed to fit within the channel bandwidth and are very > different from the AM that you discribe. Though I'm sure nobody > really knows what's to blame for the interference, if anything it's > some strange intermod problem rather than directly attributal to the > move to a TDMA type system. You should not forget that GSM is TDMA system. This means that its transmitter is only turned on one-eighth of the time. Thus, there is a regular pulsating waveform with a pulse rate of 217 Hz and with a 1/8 duty cycle. This is the amplitude modulation being referred to in the first posting. Also not that the peak to average power is 8 to 1, i.e., the peak power for GSM is eight times as high as the average power. It is the peak power that determines the interference potential. The remarks about GMSK, etc, are irrelevant in this context. All that it takes to cause interference is a strong enough AM modulated signal and a diode. Diodes are found everywhere, even dissimilar metal contacts or even oxidized metal can for a diode. In the case of the hearing aid, we have some rather good diodes -- the transistors that form the amplifier. So, a pulsed waveform such as GSM will cause the diodes to detect (i.e., extract the waveform envelop) and then amplify it to annoying proportions. The GSM waveform's 217 Hz pulse rate makes a signal that travels very well through the hearing aid amplifier. We do not expect our CDMA system to cause a problem for hearing aid users. The interference problems that have been noted with GSM arise from the simultaneous existence of the 1) high power; 2) pulsating signal; 3) in close proximity to the interference sensitive devices. If any of these aspects of the problem are reduced or eliminated, the problem can be eliminated. In the case of GSM, the high peak power is necessary to obtain adequate range and cannot readily be reduced. The pulsation is inherent in the TDMA structure of the system and cannot be changed. Close proximity can be eliminated by the "fig leaf" of a placard advising against operation near or by a hearing aid wearer but a real world solution is not available. Similarly, rules against GSM operation in interference sensitive areas such as hospitals are only band-aids. Finally, the hearing aids (and other sensitive devices) of the world can all be replaced by interference insensitive devices. CDMA inherently uses much lower power than GSM because of its continuous duty cycle transmission, because of its much more effective use of power control, and because of it's more energy efficient waveform design. At CDMA's high data rate of 9600 bps, there is no pulsation. It is true that the CDMA signal begins to pulsate when the user is not speaking. However, a tone is not produced in the hearing aid as in GSM, but rather a noise that sounds like sea-surf which is much less annoying. Mobiles that are at their extreme range and therefor transmitting a their maximum power could be altered to transmit the high bit rate continuously, thus avoiding the generation of pulsating signals. Hearing aid wearers who own CDMA phones might desire to select such a mode of operation in their own phone. Such a modification is not available to GSM phones. Thus, for CDMA two of the conditions required for generating interference are either eliminated or can be greatly mitigated. Note that the GSM solution is to rely entirely on the third and fourth aspects, i.e., have fig-leave rules and redo all the world's hearing aids and other sensitive devices. CDMA solves the problem by not causing one in the first place. Laboratory testing gives results completely in accordance with the theoretical considerations. Klein Gilhousen QUALCOMM Incorporated ------------------------------ From: linley@netcom.com (Bruce James Robert Linley) Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Organization: UCLA Alumni, B.S. Computer Science & Engineering Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 09:20:42 GMT In ye olden post mpd@anomaly.sbs.com spake... > Why is it not illegal to listen to cordless phone conversation then? > [Moderator's Note: Why? Because the industry association which represents > cordless phone manufacturers does not have the same political pull > with Congress that the cellular phone companies have. If they would > offer cash bribes -- only they call them gifts to the congress person's > campaign fund -- the same as the cellular carriers did, then they could > have a stupid law passed on their behalf also. PAT] Yeah, eventually every group will want their little slice of the spectrum protected by law. In the old Soviet Union, listening to certain parts of the spectrum was cause for incarceration or worse. It's really scary to see the same thing starting to happen here. I've always believed that if a radio signal passes through my skull, I have a right to tune in to it. It you want radio communications to be private, scramble them. Certain government agencies (FBI, SS, etc.) use DES encryption on all their radios. Since the scrambliimg chips are already out there, there's no financial excuse not to build 'em in to cellular phones. "Use a radio, go to jail" What kind of law is that? I mean, how does stuff like this get by the judiciary? Sheesh. Bruce James Robert Linley linley@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu (Bill Mayhew) Subject: Re: Wanted: Info on Cellular Phone Monitoring Systems Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 13:51:13 GMT What is interesting is that the agreements I have with the two cellular carriers I use have language in the contract that say that I have to comply with FCC regulations that I not use profane, indecent language, etc. etc. via my cellular phone because it is a *radio device*. Note that this differs from the FCC regulations governing my cellular unit as a *telephone*. Hmmm, so it is private, or is it not? If my cellular call is so darn private, than why should anybody care what I say? ... hmmm. Seems to be at least a tacit acknowledgement that that the ECPA of 1984 is so much silliness. Bill Mayhew NEOUCOM Computer Services Department Rootstown, OH 44272-9995 USA phone: 216-325-2511 wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu amateur radio 146.58: N8WED [Moderator's Note: An aquaintence of mine lives about two hundred feet from a Cellular One transmission tower in Chicago. There was some tech- nical problem with that tower which caused the cellular transmissions to bleed all over his television set for a month or so; anytime he watched a certain channel on television, he'd get lots of cellular conversations for audio. He called Cellular One to complain, got nowhere with them, wrote them a letter of complaint and threatened to go to the FCC. Guess what? He got back a letter from Cellular One's attorney threatening *him* with legal action unless he quit 'monitoring and listening to' the cellular calls made by the carrier's subscribers. No one at the carrier, least of all their attorney, understood the problem at all. I guess he had a long, very nasty phone conversation with their attorney and wound up having *his* technical expert send a registered letter to the attorney advising him what actions they were going to take if Cell One could not get its act together. The problem finally cleared up, but my friend put a formal copy of the whole thing in writing and filed it with the FCC. By the way, when it was all over, Cell One wound up paying *him* for his expenses in the matter including fees to his technical expert. PAT] ------------------------------ From: lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK Date: Wed, 24 Nov 93 06:48:23 GMT In article jebright@magnus.acs.ohio- state.edu (James R Ebright) writes: > BTW, I believe the new V.fast spec is at about 34-38 kb raw, > uncompressed. And it runs over POTS to any phone now :) $599 from Your belief is wrong. 28800 bps is the highest speed supported by V.34 -- or for that matter by the several incompatible preliminary "V.fast" codes from diverse vendors. At least 10% of the phone lines in the USA will NOT support the full speed of V.34 (or "V.fast"). > Then he realized customers cared more about 'the tariff structure', > ie. COST, than they did almost anything else. > Why do you think X.25 is used in Europe and not here ... compared to > Europe, leased lines are CHEAP! > I still say Market 1 ISDN 0. There are two cost elements that are very different in Europe versus the US; neither are clearly the result of market forces, but can equally be ascribed to regulatory influence: - the US tradition of making flat-rate local calling available to at least residential subscribers covering a rather large metro area. - the ability of business to lease raw bit pipes at near the cost of provisioning them. I am not aware of any place outside of the US and Canada, where "free local calls" are available. Here in the greater Copenhagen area, local calls within the metro area are DKK 0.32/minute (USD 2.85/hour) from Mo-Fr 0800-1930 and half of that outside that interval. This is twice as expensive as the measured business rate in Santa Barbara, CA where I came here from. (And measured is all that GTE makes available to business there now.) Here in Copenhagen, there is no distinction between business and residential service. If it were to occur to them to make a distinction, the general feeling is that residences should subsidize business, in order to make the local businesses more competitive internationally. (Many Danish laws and regulations include that bias.) I agree that flat rate calls at V.32bis or V.34 speeds are better than measured ISDN calls. But if you are paying five cents a minute either way, ISDN with a half-second call setup time and a 64 kbps data rate beats 14.4 or 28.8 kbps with a 35-second call setup time (including training) any day. The unbundling of raw bit pipes was a fortuitous accident of the AT&T breakup. And wherever raw bit pipes are available, the prices are inching towards the equivalent of about 1.5 to 2 hours of calls per business day. As this is happening, X.25 begins to fade. But on the other hand, the successor to X.25 -- Frame Relay -- is gaining ground in the US, too. Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@CMC.COM CMC Network Products Phone: (011-) +45-31 49 81 08 Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B Telefax: +45-31 49 83 08 DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK Internets: designed and built while you wait ------------------------------ From: naddy@mips.ruessel.sub.org (Christian Weisgerber) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1993 21:56:02 +0100 oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: > Besides which, the fundamentally asynchronous nature of V.32++ > modems is ever-so-slightly less efficient in the time domain than a > synchronous link. V.32++ (in fact, V.22++) modems are *fundamentally synchronous*. It's just that all the common "consumer modems" feature async<->sync conversion (yes, even in direct mode) and cheap ones even lack the clock port signals which would be necessary to use them in a synchronous environment. Christian 'naddy' Weisgerber, Germany naddy@ruessel.sub.org ------------------------------ From: kenh@w8hd.org (Ken Hoehn) Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications Date: 24 Nov 1993 10:10:48 -0500 Organization: The w8hd Group bonomi@eecs.nwu.edu (Robert Bonomi) writes: >>> From a possibly unreliable source, I heard that in >>> downtown San Francisco, the phone exchanges actually have JET engines >>> running turbines to provide power during emergencies. (Locally, the >>> phone company uses diesels, but I do not know the capacity). >> I've heard from techs who work/worked in CO's that some do indeed have >> "jet" engines for backup power. I suspect that they are generators >> powered by turbine engines of some sort. Gas turbine engines, which could be referred to as 'jets' by the general public (jet engines are characterized by a bypass airflow system; gas turbine engines do not use such a system) have been in use as standby power systems at virtually every large central office, microwave station, and systems control location in the country since the sixties. The specialty is high horsepower/size, durability, operational and repair simplicity, and the ability to handle a fairly steady load without difficulty. Fuel economy is excellent, and the fuel itself (#1 Kero) is abundant. One of the most popular telco units is made by Solar Corp; their 250KW unit is the size of a large side by side refrigerator, laid on it's side. Nothing new. kenh@w8hd.org Ken Hoehn - Teletech, Inc. Compuserve: 70007,2374 N8NYO P.O.Box 924 FAX: (313) 562-8612 Dearborn, MI 48121 VOICE: (313) 562-6873 ------------------------------ From: sambolec@sfu.ca Subject: Earthquake/Disaster Thread - Gopher Info Date: Tue, 23 Nov 93 22:28:26 PST Folks: Afraid I haven't been keeping up on my TELECOM Digest reading, but noticed a short while ago that there was a thread on "Earthquakes" and other disasters. I am working with a professor here at S.F.U. that has developed a comprehensive gopher that deals with just this subject. It has only been available for the last six weeks. Details: Gopher to: disaster.cprost.sfu.ca. 5555 I believe there is also information available on hoshi.cic.sfu.ca 1 Hope this helps those of you who are interested -- it really is a very good gopher service and I urge you to check it out. Regards, Richard I. Sambolec Internet: sambolec@sfu.ca [Moderator's Note: Thanks for passing on the tip of this new resource on the net. Maybe people who try it out will report back with their impressions, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: matt@wardsgi.med.yale.edu (matt healy) Subject: Re: Earthquakes and Telecommunications Organization: Yale Med School--Genetics Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 04:01:35 GMT Gas turbines have one main advantage: fast start-up. Diesels take longer, and steam turbines really take time. There is a tradeoff between operating cost and startup time, so every utility has a range of plants from "base load" to "peaking." There is one application where rapid and reliable startup is even more critical than for a telco: nuclear power plants. Normally an operating nuke gets its power from its own generators; when shutdown it gets its power from the local grid. If a reactor emergency happened to coincide with a blackout of the local grid, the consequences could be disastrous! The emergency generators had _better_ start! The Chernobyl disaster resulted from a complex series of design faults and operational mistakes, but the immediate trigger was a test run that _should_ have been done before the plant was allowed to operate. In the event of a reactor emergency that coincided with loss of outside power, it would take a certain number of seconds to start the emergency power. During an emergency shutdown without outside power, power was to be drawn from the generators themselves as they slowed-down, while backup generators stated. There was a special device called a "rundown unit" that was supposed to maintain field excitation in the turbogenerators as they slowed down. This device was not ready when the plant was scheduled to begin operation. Due to political pressure, the plant operated for many months with a rundown unit that was known to be incapable of functioning as intended. The disaster took place during a test of a new rundown unit. A couple years ago, the Chancellor at my father's University was part of a group of Western nuclear experts visiting a number of sites in the FSU*. The Chancellor told my father none of his reading before the visit prepared him for what he saw. The general level of everything -- design, construction, maintenance, operator training and morale -- was much, much worse than anything he had read about. There are still a number of reactors of the RBMK1000* model operating; they all suffer the same basic design flaws. Another Chernobyl can certainly not be ruled out. They know this, but their economy is at present unable to sustain the consequences of shutting them all down. Incidentally, the radiation release of an RBMK1000 during _normal_ operation in a _normal_ week vastly exceeds the entire amount released to the environment by the Three Mile Island accident. *FSU = "Former/Fubar Soviet Union" *RBMK: a Russian acronym for "Reactor, High Power, Channel type." the 1000 in the model name is the design capacity in megawatts. RBMK1000 reactors now operate at about 85% of rated output because of certain changes in operating rules intended to reduce the risk of another disaster. Even by the most conservative calculation, the economic costs of the Chernobyl disaster exceed by a considerable margin the value of all electricity produced by the entire RBMK series of reactors. Matt Healy matt@wardsgi.med.yale.edu ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #781 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa00411; 25 Nov 93 23:27 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA24577 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Thu, 25 Nov 1993 19:31:58 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA12413 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 25 Nov 1993 19:31:02 -0600 Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 19:31:02 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311260131.AA12413@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #782 TELECOM Digest Thu, 25 Nov 93 19:31:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 782 Inside This Issue: Happy Thanksgiving Day to You! CFP - SIGCOMM'94 (Patrick Dowd) Windows Telephony SDK Available for Download (Toby Nixon) Book Review: Motorola Cellular Subscriber Tech Training Manual (Greenberg) AT&T's New Facility (Dave Niebuhr) Guess Whose ADAD Called Me (Tony Harminc) Sprint Speeds Internet (Telephony Magazine via Delisle) Experience as Interop Volunteer (Mark Allyn) Syllabus Available for Library School Telecom Course (Nigel Allen) New Archives Files (TELECOM Moderator) Administrivia: Another of Those Vote Thingies (TELECOM Moderator) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dowd@acsu.buffalo.edu (Patrick Dowd) Subject: CFP - SIGCOMM'94 Reply-To: dowd@eng.buffalo.edu Organization: State University of New York at Buffalo Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 14:13:18 GMT Call for Papers ACM SIGCOMM'94 CONFERENCE Communications Architectures, Protocols and Applications University College London London, UK August 31 to September 2, 1994 (Tutorials and Workshop, August 30) An international forum on communication network applications and technologies, architectures, protocols, and algorithms. Authors are invited to submit full papers concerned with both theory and practice. The areas of interest include, but are not limited to: -- Analysis and design of computer network architectures and algorithms, -- Innovative results in local area networks, -- Mixed-media networks, -- High-speed networks, routing and addressing, support for mobile hosts, -- Resource sharing in distributed systems, -- Network management, -- Distributed operating systems and databases, -- Protocol specification, verification, and analysis. A single-track, highly selective conference where successful submissions typically report results firmly substantiated by experiment, implementation, simulation, or mathematical analysis. Papers must be less than 20 double-spaced pages long, have an abstract of 100-150 words, and be original material that has not been previously published or be currently under review with another conference or journal. In addition to its high quality technical program, SIGCOMM '94 will offer tutorials by noted instructors such as Paul Green and Van Jacobson (tentative), and a workshop on distributed systems led by Derek McAuley. Important Dates: Paper submissions: 1 February 1994 Tutorial proposals: 1 March 1994 Notification of acceptance: 2 May 1994 Camera ready papers due: 9 June 1994 All submitted papers will be judged based on their quality and relevance through double-blind reviewing where the identities of the authors are withheld from the reviewers. Authors names should not appear on the paper. A cover letter is required that identifies the paper title and lists the name, affiliation, telephone number, email, and fax number of all authors. Authors of accepted papers need to sign an ACM copyright release form. The Proceedings will be published as a special issue of ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review. The program committee will also select a few papers for possible publication in the IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking. Submissions from North America should be sent to: Craig Partridge BBN 10 Moulton St Cambridge MA 02138 All other submissions should be sent to: Stephen Pink Swedish Institute of Computer Science Box 1263 S-164 28 Kista Sweden Five copies are required for paper submissions. Electronic submissions (uuencoded, compressed postscript) should be sent to each program chair. Authors should also e-mail the title, author names and abstract of their paper to each program chair and identify any special equipment that will be required during its presentation. Due to the high number of anticipated submissions, authors are encouraged to strictly adhere to the submission date. Contact Patrick Dowd at dowd@eng.buffalo.edu or +1 716 645-2406 for more information about the conference. Student Paper Award: Papers submitted by students will enter a student-paper award contest. Among the accepted papers, a maximum of four outstanding papers will be awarded full conference registration and a travel grant of $500 US dollars. To be eligible the student must be the sole author, or the first author and primary contributor. A cover letter must identify the paper as a candidate for this competition. Mail and E-mail Addresses: General Chair Jon Crowcroft Department of Computer Science University College London London WC1E 6BT United Kingdom Phone: +44 71 380 7296 Fax: +44 71 387 1397 E-Mail: J.Crowcroft@cs.ucl.ac.uk Program Chairs Stephen Pink (Program Chair) Swedish Institute of Computer Science Box 1263 S-164 28 Kista Sweden Phone: +46 8 752 1559 Fax: +46 8 751 7230 E-mail: steve@sics.se Craig Partridge (Program Co-Chair for North America) BBN 10 Moulton St Cambridge MA 02138 Phone: +1 415 326 4541 E-mail: craig@bbn.com ------------------------------ From: tnixon@microsoft.com (Toby Nixon) Subject: Windows Telephony SDK Available for Download Organization: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond WA, USA Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 20:04:48 GMT Windows(tm) Telephony 1.0 Software Development Kit Now Available The Windows Telephony 1.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) is now available for all interested developers. The SDK includes an implementation of the API you can redistribute with your products, complete documentation, and sample code for both a driver and an application. The Software Development Kit is available electronically on CompuServe, the Internet, and the Microsoft Download Service BBS (+1 (206) 936- 6735). On CompuServe, GO MSL and search for the keyword "S14400". On the Internet, use anonymous ftp to ftp.microsoft.com and look in the directory "/devtools/tapi". On the MSDL BBS, look for the file "TAPISDK.EXE". (Please note that the files may not become visible for download from CompuServe for approximately 24 hours after the posting of this message due to normal upload processing delays). There is no charge for obtaining and using the SDK except for the cost of connect time for downloading (approximately 3.4 megabytes). The components necessary to run Windows Telephony applications may be redistributed by developers at no cost (no license fees to Microsoft). Developers attending the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (December 13-17 in Anaheim, CA) will receive a copy of the SDK on CD-ROM; call 1-800-233-1729 or +1 (314) 827-5614 for more information about the conference. The SDK will also be included on the January issue of the new Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Level II platform. This is a set of four CD- ROMs that contains all Microsoft SDKs, DDKs and operating systems. This quarterly offering for developers accompanies the MSDN Level I Development Library, which contains all documentation for the development platform (but no code). For more information, call 1-800- 759-5474 in the US or Canada, 05.90.59.04 in France, (0130) 810211 in Germany, (060) 222480 in the Netherlands, (0800) 960279 in the UK. For any other country in Europe call +31 (10) 258 8864. For other countries outside of Europe or the US and Canada, call +1 (402) 691 0173. Questions or feedback about Windows Telephony can be sent via the Internet to "telephon@microsoft.com" (on CompuServe, send to ">INTERNET: telephon@microsoft.com"), or via fax to "Windows Telephony Coordinator" at +1 (206) 936-7329. Windows Telephony API discussions can be found on Section 3 of the Windows Extensions Forum on CompuServe (GO WINEXT). (Windows is a trademark and Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.) ------------------------------ From: edg@netcom.com (Ed Greenberg) Subject: Book Review: Motorola Cellular Subscriber Technical Training Manual Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 14:40:32 GMT I promised a review of the Motorola "Blue Book" or "Cellular Subscriber Technical Training Manual." This book is the companion material for a two day course required of technicians in an authorized Motorola cellu- lar service shop. After a discussion of installations safety, the book opens with a Cellular Overview in which AMPS and NAMPS are explained in 23 pages. In block diagrams, flowcharts and text, the processes for going on the air, making calls, receiving calls and processing handoffs are presented. Band plans and channel layouts are also described. Next, Section 2 presents a detailed look at the Motorola line of cellular phones, both past and present. Model identification is presented, as is a look at the accessory lines for the telephones. Section 3 is probably the section in which most readers of this review have interest. Section 3 presents programming information for virtually every field programmable Motorola telephone including the 8000 series, 9000 series (Ultra Classic) and all forms of Micro-TAC Flip-Phones. Programming via the "security code method" is taught, and also entry into "Test Mode" and the steps for programming the phone this way. The implication here is that the holder of a Blue Book, who is manually dexterous enough, and has sufficient ingenuity, to get the phone into test mode, can get past the security and lock codes to program mode, read and change those codes. Another interesting feature explained in Section 3 is the Test Mode display. The test mode display, when first started, displays the cell's control channel number and signal strength (RSSI) are displayed. This alternates with (or on large displays is displayed with) a set of seven status bits for the phone's settings. If you are interested in knowing where the cells are and which cells are used in what locations, ride around in test mode for a while. Note that Test Mode will drain a portable's batteries in a few hours since the lamp and display never go out, and any power saving features of the Microprocessor are not enabled. Use a power adapter in the car, or carry extra batteries. Section 4 discusses installation of mobile telephones in vehicles. Section 5, Troubleshooting and Repair, is another gold-mine for the interested end user. While you won't want to open or adjust your phone, an understanding of the various signalling methods can be obtained by reading the tuneup procedures. At the end of this section is a complete list of Test Mode commands, which includes such things as opening the receiver on any channel, putting the transmitter on the air manually (a violation of many FCC regulations for the end user, I'm sure) and completely resetting the phone. Such a reset will clear the call counters (including the cumulative counter, I believe) and also the three (or fifteen) time programming counter. Section 6 descibes procedures for moving ESNs from one phone to another when loaners and spares are issued. There is a lot here that is _not_ said, but it seems that special loaner and spare phones are issued to shops that can receive the ESN of another similar phone. Note that the original phone is rendered useless until returned to the factory, so this is NOT a procedure that allows two phones to share one ESN, which would not be a proper setup according to the cellular carriers. Finally, Section 7 concerns requirements for service shops and warrantee exchange programs. The book concludes with five appendices and an index. The appendices are: Corrective Service Bulletin Index Tools and Parts Glossary of Terms Cellular Frequencies Warrantee Requirements The question arises whether a person should order this book. If you want to understand how cellular systems work, a good technical bookshop may be a better bet. If you have a burning desire to be able to active all the modes of your phone even if they are useless, then you are like me and will want this information. If you want to drive around tracking cell sites, you'll enjoy test mode, but I strongly recommend using a mobile telephone rather than a portable for about five good reasons. Ordering Info: Call Cellular Subscriber Service at 1-800-331-6456 (US Only) or fax to 708-523-3402. Asia-Pacific customers may fax to +1 708 523-8060. Order part number 688A60 (Training and Orientation Manual). The price is $30.00 and there was $5 shipping added for UPS Ground. Motorola also charged me sales tax, and the total was $37.48. Enjoy. PS: Another neat thing to ask for is the Cellular Accessory Catalog, which is free. Ed Greenberg edg@netcom.com Ham Radio: KM6CG ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 11:05:05 EST From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: AT&T's New Facility AT&T announced in yesterday's {Newsday} that it will begin laying fiber optic cable from Shirley, Long Island, New York (one mile from my home) to France (I forget the place). This cable will travel underground from the AT&T site to the Great South Bay where it will be buried in a one-step operation, thence across Fire Island, and on out to the 30 foot contour. From there another method will be used out to the ocean contour and from there to France by another method. Long Island again enters into the communications picture. RCA had a transmitting site at Rocky Point (10 miles NNW from home) for decades and a receiving site in Riverhead (14 miles NNE) also. I can remember seeing the receiving antennae as I drove by them in the '70s. The late G. Marconi (I can't spell his first name :-( ) had his transmitting station in Rocky Point prior to RCA taking it over. South of Riverhead is the David A. Sarnoff County Park which sits on land also formerly owned by RCA. South of that, on Bald Hill (one of two), is a tower used for telephone microwave transmissions. Also formerly RCA property. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 00:59:31 EST From: Tony Harminc Subject: Guess Whose ADAD Called Me I got home and found a two-minute-long message on the machine: in French: "...improvements to your service" in English: "Please hold while we try to connect you" alternating several times between French and English "an agent will be with you in just a moment" French: "if it is not convenient to hold, please call us at 279-4434" English "if it is not convenient to hold, you may call us back at 1-800-668-3901" more "please hold" then "we apologize for not being able to connect you at this time - goodbye!" pause "Hello ? Hello?? Hello!" click!. OK -- calm down, Tony. But at least their wretched machine did leave a number -- well curiously one 800 number and one presumably local one. Try the local one. It's a FAX. Try the 800 number. "Bell Canada - how may I help you?". "What department of Bell Canada have I reached?" "The Telpro(?) office." "What exactly is the Telpro office ?" "Well, uh -- we do various things." "Various things!?" "What is your phone number, sir?" "The number your machine left a message on was nnn-nnnn." "Oh yes, that was a courtesy call asking how you like the call waiting we installed on your line last month." "I don't like it. That's why, when you sent me the letter telling me about the free trial I immediately phoned and told you under no circumstances to install call waiting on my line. That's why, when you installed it anyway, I called to have it removed. That's why, when it wasn't removed from the second line for several days, but call forwarding, which I have had installed on this number for 16 years, was removed, I convinced repair service to do the business office's dirty work and remove it for me. Then you have the nerve to have a machine in your telemarketing centre leave junk calls on my answering machine demonstrating that your clerks' time is worth more than mine." "I'm sorry you're offended, sir. I can remove your name from the list we call if you like." "I wrote long ago to the address listed in the front of the white pages asking that you remove my name from telemarketing lists." "Oh yes sir, but we don't use that list. We call our subscribers even if their names are on that list! But I can add you to *our* list and then we won't call you again." Sigh. It's all going into the CRTC letter. You read it here first ... Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: delisle Subject: Sprint Speeds Internet Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1993 23:10:41 -0800 I saw this in {Telephony Magazine} the other day and I thought to pass it along. *// Telephony \\* *// November 22, 1993 v225, n21, Page 9 \\* Sprint Speeds Internet -- SPRINT will upgrade its SprintLink transmission network to accommodate 45-Mb/s speeds by the first quarter of next year. The upgrade anticipated the transmission of Internet traffic from the National Science Foundation Network to commercial service providers, which is expected to begin early next year. The network upgrade will include a cooperative test with the NFS, the U.S. bacbone of Internet, to transfer some of its global transit services across the new Sprint backbone. Sprint will also replace existing routers with Cisco 7000 routers as part of the project and will embed Silicon Graphics' Indigo workstations within its network hubs to manage service to various user groups. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 10:03:46 -0800 From: allyn@netcom.com (allyn) Subject: Experience as Interop Volunteer Pat: Last fall (1992), when I posted a question about volunteering for the Interop trade show, you have suggested that I post a summary of my experience after the show. Now that I have volunteered for two Interop shows, I would like to discuss my experiences. First of all, please accept my apology for taking over a year to follow up on your suggestion. I felt some things during the first show that I wanted to confirm with another show. The shows I volunteered for were the Fall 1992 and the Summer 1993 shows in San Francisco at the Moscone Center. My experiences at both shows was generally positive with some reservations. First of all, I would like to point out that the volunteers were treated VERY WELL as far as hospitality (housing, food, and etc.). Those from out of town were housed and fed. The only thing that was not covered was the airfare to and from San Francisco. We were housed in various hotels near Moscone or in Union Square. Both areas were safe and desirable areas of town. Food was provided for us in Moscone during setup before the show. We were given vouchers for a near by restaurant during the three days of the show itself. The experience was a very good learning experience especially for people who were never exposed to networking. Many of the mysteries of the field were removed. Concepts of the cabling, concentrators, routers, etc were very well explained. Tasks such as assembling RJ-45 connectors and cables were well demonstrated. Use of basic network test equipment was demonstrated. For a total neophyte, the experience was VERY informative and educational. My reservations were in my ability to learn the more technical details of networking. These include configuring routers; setting up network management systems; setting up and operating the remote sniffer systems; to name a few. In my opinion, the core of this problem lies in the structure of the Interopnet team. There were two layers of people. One layer was the group of volunteers like myself. The second layer was the Network Operations Center (NOC) team. The NOC team ran the show. The network was run during the show from the NOC. The problem is is that the NOC was off limits to all the other volunteers. A special badge was required to enter the NOC and there was a security guard posted at the entrance of the NOC to keep everyone else out. Most of the very technical work was done in the NOC. This is where routing, management, and enterprise wide troubleshooting was being done. If one wanted to learn these things and watch them being done, they had to be in the NOC. Since I could not go into the NOC, I could not watch these things being done. I would like to point out that I was allowed into the network management center at the company where I work to watch them on occasion with no problem. This is the center for a multi-billion dollar corporation. I saw no need for the security system they had for the Interop NOC. They could have at least allowed all of the volunteers access to the NOC with the understanding that nothing is to be touched without permission. Coincident with the issue of access to the NOC was the fact that much of the very technical and innovative things being done at the show were done by NOC team members. There were a few instances where I wanted to be in on some things but I was told to leave the area. This problem was more acute during the August 1993 show. Another problem which was more acute during the August 1993 show was idle time. There were too many volunteers and not enough work. During the August 1993 show the volunteers were broken up in three groups. Each group had a four hour shift to be at Moscone. During off shift, you were on your own. For those who were from out of town, this was a good opportunity to play tourist, but for those who were from the Bay Area, there was no desire to do sight seeing. They went to Interop to learn, like myself. Starting in 1993, the show will be Las Vegas and Atlanta (at least the stateside shows). Due to distance and time considerations, I do not plan to be at any more shows unless they come back to the Bay Area. I hope that someone else who plans to go to Vegas will provide a summary for the Digest after the May 1994 show is over. Best regards! Mark Allyn allyn@netcom.com [Moderator's Note: Thanks for your followup. It is too bad the volunteers were not allowed to learn more about what was going on. To heck with the hotel reservations and food. I'd have been happy being able to see the inner workings of the whole thing, wouldn't you? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 11:39:17 EST From: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: Syllabus Available for Library School Telecom Course Organization: The National Capital FreeNet, Ottawa Reply-To: ae446@freenet.carleton.ca You can obtain the syllabus for the course in Telecommunications offered by Greg Newby (gbnewby@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu) of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by sending the following command to Comserve@vm.its.rpi.edu (Internet) or Comserve@Rpitsvm (Bitnet): Send Telecomm Syllabus The file is about 24k. Compserve describes it as follows: This file contains a course outline and bibliography for a course entitled "Telecommunications," whose goal is to provide the student with conceptual and practical expertise as an information networker. For more information about locating resources in Comserve's database of over 3,400 files, send this message to Comserve: Help Topics Database Nigel Allen ae446@freenet.carleton.ca [Moderator's Note: This file has been added to the Telecom Archives as well, so you can pull it from there instead if you wish. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 18:09:47 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: New Archives Files Several new files have been added to the Telecom Archives today. These include three articles by George Gilder filed in the /reports sub- directory, and the UIUC telecom course syllabus mentioned in this issue of the Digest. In addition, the glossary references used by the 'glossary' command in the Email Information Service has been updated with a couple new entries. Visit the Telecom Archives soon. If you do not have an index to the archives dated later than 6:00 PM Eastern time Thursday, I suggest you pick one up. If you need help in using the Email Information Service or anonymous FTP, just ask! The purpose of my being here is to present a quality Digest on telecommunications topics and to help educate the growing number of readers who want to learn about telecommunications in general, and voice telephony in particular. I hope your holiday is pleasant. Pat ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 18:58:39 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Subject: Administrivia: Another of Those Vote Thingies Following this issue of the Digest, another special mailing designed to brighten your Thanksgiving holiday: the next in a seemingly endless series of calls for votes for an unmoderated telecom newsgroup on Usenet. The proposed group is to be known *officially* as comp.dcom. telecom.tech, and its *official* purpose is to discuss technical matters relating to telecom. Topics that most of you would not know anything about, you understand. As former Digest participant John Higdon has noted, this Digest (that you are reading now) has become far too 'dumbed down' to be of any value to himself. In an article in alt. dcom.telecom he once pointed out this Digest was not 'worth the powder it would take to blow it up ...' And so the new unmoderated group is going to have only correct answers to technical questions. There won't be any errors there, because the people who will post there don't make, create, permit or tolerate errors in technical messages on Usenet. Meanwhile the rest of us here will have to struggle along learning as we go, and discerning truth from falsehood by open-ended discussions as we have been doing. Some of you have written me to complain that you received in email a letter concerning your earlier vote (if you voted) or a solicitation to vote 'correctly' this time around. Please be assured I am not giving out the mailing list names. What's going on is your names are being compiled from the articles you send to the Digest. Given the option of not printing net addresses with articles (which would stop the letter writing) or continuing to print the net addresses in an effort to encourage readers to correspond with one another directly, I opted for the latter. The trade-off of course is that you get 'junk mail' from the same people who protest my 'abuse' of the net. Once again, the voting criteria: if you are a mailing list reader without Usenet newsgroup access, then you should not vote. Mostly this would be people with compuserve or mcimail.com addresses. If you are a mailing list reader by choice -- even though you could read comp.dcom.telecom via news then you are entitled to vote. One vote per person, not per account. Follow the instructions given in the CFV which follows to the absolute letter, or your vote may not get counted. Also note that when the election is over, your votes will be published in conspicuous ways such as this newsgroup and others. Those are the guidelines. If you have not yet voted in this *second* comp.dcom.telecom.tech debate, then please do so today. I'll leave it to you to vote the 'correct' way as you believe that to be. You vote YES to establish the new, unmoderated group, or you vote NO if you wish to maintain the status quo. There is just a few days left for voting. Pat ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #782 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01128; 26 Nov 93 1:45 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA25807 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Thu, 25 Nov 1993 21:08:45 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA28076 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 25 Nov 1993 21:07:47 -0600 Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 21:07:47 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311260307.AA28076@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #783 TELECOM Digest Thu, 25 Nov 93 21:07:30 CST Volume 13 : Issue 783 Inside This Issue: Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day! Book Review: "Gigabit Networking" by Partridge (Rob Slade) 5ESS CentraNet Question (Bonnie J. Johnson) Mystery Telecom Equipment Needs ID (Sharif Torpis) 1A ESS Switch Revisions Wanted (Dr. Tre' Molo) Radio Shack 'Complete' Beeper System (Bill Pfeiffer) Is UK IDDD Changing 4/94? (Zarko Draganic) CCITT=>ITU-TS? ITU-TSS? (Andy La Varre) Accessories For Motorola Flip Phones (Glenn Wiltse) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (Will Estes) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk (R. Kevin Oberman) Re: Demodulating Modem Conversations (Bob Bosen) Re: Demodulating Modem Conversations (David Jones) Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (Paul Robinson) Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (andy@hmcvax.ac.hmc.edu) Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (Steve Cogorno) Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (Bill Mayhew) Re: GTE/AT&T Executives Arrested in Venezuela (Ken Hoehn) Re: Association For Contingency Planning (Peter M. Weiss) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Nov 93 12:28 -0600 From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Gigabit Networking" by Partridge BKGIGNET.RVW 931028 Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. P.O. Box 520 26 Prince Andrew Place Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 or Tiffany Moore, Publicity 72203.642@compuserve.com John Wait, Editor, Corporate and Professional Publishing johnw@aw.com 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867-9984 800-822-6339 800-527-5210 617-944-3700 5851 Guion Road Indianapolis, IN 46254 800-447-2226 "Gigabit Networking", Partridge, 1994, 0-201-56333-9, U$46.25 craig@bbn.com craigp@world.std.com As the preface states, most improvements in computing are incremental, and only appear significant once the aggregate change brings new capabilities and applications. So it is with this book. The data communications professional may feel a vague sense of disappointment that the changes and new technologies are not as esoteric as expected. Basically, the concepts are the same as they always have been. The scaling imposed by improvements in communications and processing speeds, however, make some concepts more important, and render many current "standards" obsolete. This is amply demonstrated in chapter two with an illustration of trying to run Ethernet over high speed fiber, and finding that the minimum packet size is a substantial portion of the size of this review. Chapter two is possibly the most interesting for computing professionals covering as it does the what, why and how of fiber optics and high speed (or, rather, high bandwidth) communications. There is a terse but generally clear explanation of multi-mode and single-mode fiber. Partridge does not deal with variable index fiber, considering it to be a special case of the attempt to deal with dispersion in multi-mode. The "gigabit" networking of the title encompasses a host of advances in the speed of communications, networking and processing. These are the latest "hot" technologies, and a glance over section headings will find the latest in buzz- words, phrases and acronyms. Most, such as SONET, ATM and FDDI, are of the type that everyone recognizes, but almost nobody "knows". If you are suddenly called upon to work in these areas, this book is a very valuable introduction. First it defines and explains the various protocols and technologies (while giving useful technical details). Secondly, it provides directions for further readings in all the various areas. (A welcome change from many such works is the fact that not only the individual sections, but also the full bibliography is briefly annotated. As well, an effort has been made to ensure that books listed are available. The very costly CCITT standards references, in particular, seem to be studiously avoided.) Thirdly, the work provides a context and perspective for the various improvements. As it notes, a mismatch in communications speed versus processing power means that one or the other will be wasted. An initial look at some of the pages of mathematics may scare off non-technical readers. This would be a shame. While the book is undoubtedly technical, it is also eminently practical. Most sections, if read carefully, are accessible by the intelligent reader with limited background. As noted above, this work deals with some of the most sought-after technologies under development. Non-technical managers and CEO's would do well to gain the background and perspectives that this book provides *before* making costly decisions. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKGIGNET.RVW 931028 Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 16:18:36 EST From: Bonnie J Johnson Subject: 5ESS CentraNet Question We are now migrating from two 4600 GTD switches (owned) to a 5ESS version 8 release. This for background. Presently we can have Call Waiting on No Answer Diversion but NOT on Busy Diversion. The 5ESS apparently (?) can not, using Call Forward Variable (their rendition of Diversion), pass the call waiting party on no answer to let's say a voice mailbox. Can any one out their with experience as a user CentraNet or a techie give me some guidance? Many thanks, bj ------------------------------ From: storpis@kaiwan.com (Sharif Torpis) Subject: Mystery Telecom Equipment Need ID Organization: KAIWAN Internet Access (310-527-4279, 714-539-0829) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 21:42:10 GMT I am trying to identify three wall mounted pieces of equipment. Each is 2 in. high and 18 in. long. "BFI Communications" appears on them. So does "System 4000". There are also two ports labeled "serial in" and "serial out" with RJ31x jacks. Can anyone help me identify these? Sharif Torpis Senior Consultant storpis@kaiwan.com Black Lodge Engineering ------------------------------ From: tremolo@kaiwan.com (Dr. Tre' Molo) Subject: 1A ESS Switch Revisions Wanted Organization: KAIWAN Internet Access (310-527-4279, 714-539-0829) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 19:04:26 GMT Does anyone have handy any revision notices referring to any/all the updates made to the original 1A ESS switch? I'm particularly interested in any modifications GTE might have made. E-mail is *MORE* than welcome. Dr. Tre' Molo / Research and Development for UGH! Research Corp. Inet: tremolo@kaiwan.com ------------------------------ From: rrb@deja-vu.aiss.uiuc.edu (Bill Pfeiffer) Subject: Radio Shack 'Complete' Beeper System Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 10:34:18 CST Does anyone have knowledge of the Radio Shack paging system offered in their last catalogue? It consists of a transmitter console which claims to have 7 watts of power, and a number of 'pagers' which can be individually activated by the console and can display one of several pre-programmed messages on their LCD display. The base has a rather long telescoping whip antenna with a plastic bead near the center to simulate a center-load. What I would like to know is, what frequencies do these use and how reliable are they? The stated power is too high for CB, yet the antenna seems to indicate a low VHF frequency somewhere near CB (27 mhz). Does anyone have any info on this unit? William Pfeiffer - Moderator/Editor rec.radio.broadcasting - Airwaves Radio Journal - Internet email - Article Submission: articles@airwaves.chi.il.us Subscription Desk: subscribe@airwaves.chi.il.us ------------------------------ From: zarko@genmagic.genmagic.com (Zarko Draganic) Subject: Is UK IDDD Changing 4/94? Date: 25 Nov 1993 09:01:05 GMT Organization: General Magic, Inc. I heard that the international direct dialing scheme will be changing in the U.K. on Easter 1994. Can anyone confirm this? Right now I believe you dial 010 +1 to reach the USA from London. What's it changing to? Why? How long is the phase-out period? Thanks, Zarko Draganic General Magic, Inc. zarko@genmagic.com ------------------------------ From: alavarre@paperboy.ids.net Subject: CCITT=>ITU-TS? ITU-TSS? Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 07:52:19 PST Organization: IDS World Network Internet Access Service, (401) 884-9002 GUEST I see in the literature that CCITT has become the ITU Telecommunications Standards Sector. What is the official name and Acronym - ITU-TS or ITU-TSS? When did this happen? What is the authoritative document making it so? TIA, Andy La Varre alavarre@ids.net ------------------------------ From: iggy@utopia.merit.edu (Glenn Wiltse) Subject: Accessories For Motorola Flip Phones Date: 25 Nov 1993 13:10:11 GMT Organization: Merit Network, Inc. Ann Arbor, MI I recently bought a cellular phone from a local dealer. They practicly gave me the phone, in exchange for signing up for two years of service with them. Well I think it was a pretty good deal and got a nice Motorola flip phone for $99. Well now what I need are some accessories, like an extra battery, a Intellicharger, etc. I was told that there are mail order places that sell cellular phone equipment, but I have been unable to find any information about any such places. I hope that someone here can give me some information about where I can get some accesories for my Motorola phone, at reasonable prices. The prices they have on the accessories at the cellular phone center where I bought the phone are way too high in my opinion. Thanks for you help. ------------------------------ From: westes@netcom.com (Will Estes) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Organization: Mail Group Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 02:45:41 GMT James R Ebright (jebright@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) wrote: > In article john.eichler@grapevine. lrk.ar.us (John Eichler) writes: >> oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) wrote: >>> I should think that New York Telephone, which fills the front pages of >>> every telephone directory with glowing talk of up-to-date digital >>> technology, would be embarassed at its apparent failure to deploy ISDN >>> beyond a handful of Manhattan exchanges. >> It's almost a 'catch-22' proposition. The phone companies are slow to >> implement ISDN because there is little demand for it and the demand is >> waiting for the service to become available. > Huh? ISDN was originally a way to get 56KB service ... but modems on > regular analog lines can almost do this today. ISDN vs market forces. > ISDN 0, Market 1. I think you are missing the big picture here. Within one year, people are going to be able to buy unlimited 10 Megabit per second connections to the net via existing cable TV cable, with a V.FAST or similar channel going upstream. This is going to cost $99/month or less for unlimited network use. Some companies that will offer this capability are Hybrid Networks and PSI, to name just two. If you don't think is true, call up the VP of R&D at almost any cable TV company, and most will tell you that they either already have a relationship with one of these companies or are in negotiations to offer such a service by the second quarter of 1994. Hybrid's technology is pretty neat. You stick an IP router they have developed onto the TV cable, and it channels upstream requests from your home ethernet through a modem, and reads downstream data from the cable TV wire at 10 Mbps. If the phone companies had even the slightest bit of technology vision, they would understand what a serious threat to their future market growth this really is, and they would be offer ISDN at or below cost until they can get the fiber optic cables in. But they aren't doing that. And what is going to happen is that people are going to flock to these high-speed cable systems in large numbers, and that is going to allow the cable TV companies to achieve a critical mass and foothold in what will be one of the fastest growing telecommunications markets ever. By making ISDN cheap and widely available the telephone companies would have a shot at holding down the growth of cable-based Internet access. V.FAST is a slower dialup technology, and it doesn't send compressed data at 56Kbps. I have a hard time seeing it compete effectively against 10Mbps read-access. Given the choice between a $50 monthly bill for V.FAST access and a $99 bill for 10Mbps access, a large number of people are going to go for the cable-based solution. Will Estes Internet: westes@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: 25 Nov 1993 05:27:07 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA USA Well here I am, posting my first note over my BRANDY-SPANKIN' NEW ISDN RESIDENCE LINE! I had an ISDN line before as part of a trial, but this is a genuine tariffed line provisioned by New England Telephone from my local central office, the same one that provides analog dial tone to the analog home phone. The CO was upgraded a month ago so anybody within 18kf can get ISDN on request. They even have a number in Boston at NETel HQ where they are trained to take ISDN orders, and they've trained the Residence Service Centers to refer callers there when they say the magic word. ISDN costs $8/month above analog. Second B channel (data bearer only) adds $5/month. I don't even have it. Now, it has been asked, how much does USAGE cost? I'm currently dialing into the office PBX 20 rate-miles away. (For billing purposes, every prefix code is assigned V&H coordinates; these are used for billing, not actual site-to-site mileage.) I'm not paying a penny for the call. Since residence lines here are allowed flat-rate calling options, I'm using one. New England Telephone's residence options are bizarre. A fraction of the state, with no particularly obvious pattern, is allowed an option called "Circle Calling", which allows free calls out to 20 rate miles. My home to office just makes it. The towns that surround mine don't get this option. NET also offers Metropolitan Service, which allows free calling within the (fairly narrow) Boston Metro area, but in some towns on the fringes, this allows calls to a larger extended-metro area. These tariffs go back decades and could use a good review, but hey I just take advantage. So anyway, this is for voice only, right? If you use the DATA bearer service of ISDN, it's always measured (1c/call + 1.6c/minute for local within 8 miles, 5.5c local beyond 8 miles; toll same as voice). No special tariffs (circle, metro, Bay State East, etc.) apply. But who uses it? Data bearer is 64k within a switch but only 56k between switches. (You need PRI into long distance carriers for international 64k. Someday this may get fixed.) The voice network, on the other hand, is all digital, uncompressed, un-echo-cancelled, etc., WITHIN the LATA. So it's just as good as "data" for NETel-territory data calls! So I use "data over speech bearer service". I get the flat voice rate, but can go 56k. Bonus: I dial in to a non-ISDN PBX, using its vendor-specific 56k data unit. This just happens to work fine for terminating such calls. Of course the PBX trunks need to be T1 from a digital CO but that's getting to be pretty common too. Of course it needs DID service to select the destination; you can't talk to an operator or use touch-tone, using any ISDN gear I've found so far! (Those work for voice calls, not data-over-speech calls. Of course a little more software....) Fred R. Goldstein k1io goldstein@carafe.tay2.dec.com Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission ------------------------------ From: oberman@ptavv.llnl.gov Subject: Re: No ISDN Despite Big Talk Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 17:17:55 GMT Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory In article news@cbnews.att.com writes: > You have yet to factor in the cost of ISDN with POT line access. I > would love to have an ISDN line to transfer data but the cost are > prohibitive. Locally I can get a POT line with unlimited local > calling (99% of my traffic) for $20/month. My line is off hook about > 22hr/day. An ISDN line cost me $40/month plus minute charges. 4-5 I > double my charges at a minimum. Granted I have greatly enhanced my > speed capabilitys, but if its a choice of $20/month and 22hr/day or > $40/month +time my $ go for the POT line. The cost of ISDN varies tremendously. It's really quite cheap for my home service in California tied to my employer's Centrex service. Clearly more expensive elsewhere. Your usage patterns have a significant impact on the cost/benefit analysis. Don't forget that a faster line may mean you get your wook done with less connect time. ISDN call setup times are typically > one second, so dropping and restarting a line is much more practical than with POTS. As to the perfomance issue, I received the following from Vernon Schryver. (Posting with his permission): "PPP over ISDN will use any of several, mutually negotiated compression algorithms. Two of them are lisense free, "Predictor" and "BSD compress." Predictor is unpatentable but not overly effective. Say only 1.2X. BSD compress is good old LZW, and I trust free for all workstation vendors who are already shipping the `compress` commands. (TCP/IP/PPP/ISDN can't be much different than netnews/UUCP.)" "I hope drafts of RFC's reasonably close to the final forms of the protocols will be out in a month or two." R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internet: koberman@llnl.gov (510) 422-6955 ------------------------------ From: bbosen@netcom.com (Bob Bosen) Subject: Re: Demodulating Modem Conversations Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 17:59:28 GMT gardnern@spot.Colorado.EDU (T*P) writes: > I am stumped with how I can demodulate modem communications > in-progress. My project includes displaying the originating AND > answering data, though not both at the same time. I envisioned > recording it, and piping it into my modem. Not so. How would I go > about convincing a modem to listen to a tape recorded conversation or > "tapped" in realtime. (Problems there include messing up the current > conversation). > If two passes are made into the local modem, one forcing it to > listen to the originating modem's data, and another listening to the > answering modem's data, how would I synchronize them together? > (Assuming the answering host did NOT echo the keys typed, I would not > know when what was typed! [??] :) John: How sophisticated are the modems in question? I fear that if you are trying to listen in on modern (V.32 or later) modems, you have bitten off a difficult challenge, because the two modems have negotiated optimal use of the bandwidth available between their two ENDPOINTs, and each has analyzed the echoes the line sends back to it and is subtracting these echoes out of the data it receives so it can compensate for them. As a "third party", you cannot participate actively in this negotiation and so you don't have all of the information the sender and receiver have that permits them to move data as fast as possible. Although I believe supersophisticated government agencies could achieve such a wiretap by throwing a lot of computational firepower at it via a whale of a digital signal processor (they might also need to monitor the call setup negotiation between sender/originator) I fear this is probably beyond the capabilities of the typical corporate research lab. If you are successful, though, I'd like to hear about it. Bob Bosen Enigma Logic Inc. 2151 Salvio St. #301 Concord, CA 94520 USA Tel: + 510 827-5707 Internet: bbosen@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: dej@eecg.toronto.edu (David Jones) Subject: Re: Demodulating Modem Conversations Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 16:44:42 -0500 In article gardnern@spot.Colorado.EDU (T*P) writes: > I am stumped with how I can demodulate modem communications > in-progress. My project includes displaying the originating AND > answering data, though not both at the same time. I envisioned I assume you have a legitimate reason for doing this. First, if the connection is V.32bis or better, you can't do it. At those rates, both modems use the same frequency band for data, and you can't tell here from there. If the connection is V.22bis or worse, then one modem sends on a "high" band and the other on a "low" band. You can use bandpass filters to break out these bands. Now, if you're using V.42bis, this gets messy. Otherwise, it's a nice hack: Assume that M1 is the originating modem and M2 is the answering modem that you want to listen to. Use bandpass filters to isolate the signals from each modem. Now get another modem, and connect it to the received signal of the modem you want to listen to. You may need to use hybrid transformers, etc. to put the signals together right. Now, pray. Have your modem enter the training sequence when M1 and M2 establish the call. Your modem will train along with M1 and M2, but since its transmitter is connected to nothing, its presence will not be felt. I've never tried this (have never had a reason to), and I'm not sure of all the technical details. The basic idea is you must separate the frequency bands. David Jones, M.A.Sc student, Electronics Group (VLSI), University of Toronto email: dej@eecg.utoronto.ca, finger for more info ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 07:04:36 -0500 (EST) Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: What Happened to "811" Numbers? From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Linc Madison , writes: > A couple of years ago, Pacific Bell moved a considerable portion of > their customer service numbers into "811" service. For example, > for new service inquiries, I would dial 811-7600. That was a > number specific to a particular area of the East Bay, but I could > dial it toll-free from any Pacific Bell phone in California, even > in a different LATA, without any prefix or anything -- just dial > 811-XXXX. > On my return from Europe, I find that the numbers to dial for > various Pacific Bell offices are almost all on 1-800 numbers; I > can't find a single reference to an "811" number. > Did Pac*Bell give them up voluntarily, or were they ordered to by > the PUC or a court or Bellcore? In either case, why? Sone of the California readers might have closer and more accurate explanations, but I can offer one: cost and trouble. Putting in an 800 number means you can terminate one number anywhere using an ordinary telephone line; having the 811 prefix assigned to specific numbers means if you have to change something, you have to have the switches in every LATA reprogrammed, and the numbers might not be reachable from GTE sites. It's also probably more expensive to have a dedicated prefix in every exchange than to set up their own 800 numbers and route them internally, which would cost them nothing. For example, even using a commercial 800 number provider, a private party can get an 800 number tacked onto their line for perhaps 16c a minute and $5 or $10 a month per number; I'll bet long odds that the internal cost of running a single statewide dedicated prefix is more than than the internal cost of running a bank of 1-800 numbers. And those 811-xxxx numbers probably still have to be terminated in standard pots circuits, so they still have to provide the internal circuits to accept these calls. Also, the 811 number thingy might have been an experiment to see if it was worth offering the same type of service to customers who might want something different from an 800 number, but was found to not be cost effective in comparison. Paul Robinson -- TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM [Moderator's Note: I would not think of it as an 'experiment' simply because experiments usually go on for shorter periods of time. '811' was around for years and years and years. PAT] ------------------------------ From: andy@HMCVAX.AC.HMC.Edu Subject: Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Date: 25 Nov 93 00:26:26 PST Organization: Harvey Mudd College > [Moderator's Note: But Jay Hennigan in the message before yours says > that 811 does in fact work from GTE territory, or at least some of > their territory. PAT] This, if true at all, is only partly true. I am in a GTE area but I am also a PacBell customer. How so? I have T1 service to a PacBell area with "meet-point" billing. -->>> I cannot call the PacBell 811- number printed in my phone bill <<<--- This was a real jaw-dropper when I first observed it. Think about it. How more effectively could they say to me: Your business NOT welcome here! ?? A breathtakingly stupid move on the part of PacBell, the second worst telco in California. Andy [Moderator's Note: Who is in first place, and how many choices are there to pick from where 'worst telco' is concerned? :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 13:05:33 PST In article lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) writes: >> I asked Pa Bell the same question, and the reason they gave me was >> that the 811 numbers could only be called from within California, and >> they had increasing numbers of people needing to call from out of >> state. The version I was told was that the California PUC ruled that using 811 numbers was an unfair business advantage, because no other company could apply for/receive a state-wide toll-free prefix. The 811 numbers still work (I use them all the time), but the bills give 800 numbers. Steve cogorno@netcom.com #608 Merrill * 200 McLaughlin Drive * Santa Cruz, CA 95064-1015 ------------------------------ From: wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu (Bill Mayhew) Subject: Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 17:26:44 GMT Another reason to do away with 811 numbers is the similarity to 911. While I have not personally experienced it, it is my understanding that some switches are programmed with heuristic rules so that numbers "sufficiently close" to 911 will be intercepted to 911. According to local folklore that is why cordless phones were mysteriously dialing 911 as thier batteries went dead. As the line relay chattered as it went dead, it would outpulse x11, which would be interpreted as 911. I haven't heard much about cordless phones mysteriously dialing 911 lately, so maybe it was felt it would be better off without said heuristic applied. Anyone know? Bill Mayhew NEOUCOM Computer Services Department Rootstown, OH 44272-9995 USA phone: 216-325-2511 wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu amateur radio 146.58: N8WED [Moderator's Note: If x11 does the job and calls the police, then how do you account for 411 and 611, both used in many places? PAT] ------------------------------ From: kenh@w8hd.org (Ken Hoehn) Subject: Re: GTE/AT&T Executives Arrested in Venezuela Date: 25 Nov 1993 13:13:31 -0500 Organization: The w8hd Group Interesting post ... a proper response would be to say fine, we will go away, and your Venezuelan phone company can go back to using cord boards and tin cans to talk from one village to another. Third world justice is literally amazing. kenh@w8hd.org Ken Hoehn - Teletech, Inc. Compuserve: 70007,2374 N8NYO P.O.Box 924 FAX: (313) 562-8612 Dearborn, MI 48121 VOICE: (313) 562-6873 [Moderator's Note: Don't be quite so hasty. The *way* the governments in South America go about things -- and BTW, Venezuela is not really a third world country -- are different, but if it is detirmined that the telecom administration was responsible for the explosion which killed over fifty people, then don't you feel some compensation for the victims or punishment for the directors of telecom, as the persons who instruct their employees in their duties is in order? Prison terms may be too harsh if it was an accident and being held awaiting trial under the circumstances is not the way we would do it here, but don't you think telecom owes an accounting to someone or more people because of this incident? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 17:44:23 EST From: Peter M. Weiss Subject: Re: Association For Contingency Planning Organization: Penn State University Though not necessarily devoted to telecom disasters, the following LISTSERV-based lists might provide leads for the inquiry posed here recently. Excerpt from the LISTSERV lists known to LISTSERV@PSUVM on 21 Nov 1993 17:43 Search string: DISASTER Network-wide ID Full address List title DISASTER DISASTER@UTXVM Disaster Plans and Recovery Resources DRP-L DRP-L@MARIST Disaster Recovery Plan - Computing Services UDRAG UDRAG@ULKYVM University Disaster Recovery Analysis Forum Pete (pmw1@psuvm.psu.edu) -- co-owner LDBASE-L, TQM-L, CPARK-L, et -L Peter M. Weiss "The 'NET' never naps" +1 814 863 1843 31 Shields Bldg. -- Penn State Univ -- University Park, PA USA 16802-1202 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #783 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02076; 26 Nov 93 3:45 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA19259 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Thu, 25 Nov 1993 23:17:14 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA10241 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Thu, 25 Nov 1993 23:16:12 -0600 Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 23:16:12 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311260516.AA10241@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #784 TELECOM Digest Thu, 25 Nov 93 23:16:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 784 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? (Jay Hennigan) Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? (Arthur Rubin) Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? (Glenn R. Stone) Re: Sprint Modem Offer :-( (Don Davis) Re: Sprint Modem Offer :-( (Chris Ambler) Re: Sprint Modem offer :-( (Stan Hall) Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? (Russell Sharpe) Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? (Lars Poulsen) Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? (Steve Dum) Re: Telecommunications in the Year 2020 (Peter M. Weiss) Re: Mnemonic For Wire Colors (Jeff Hakner) Re: CA Tax Regulations for LD Providers (Aaron Woolfson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jay@coyote.rain.org (Jay Hennigan) Subject: Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? Date: 25 Nov 1993 18:19:27 -0800 Organization: Regional Access Information Network (RAIN) In article smlamont@hebron.connected. com (Steve Lamont) writes: > I heard someone say that if you (1) call your local telephone company > (i.e., your LEC) and tell them you don't want your phone slammed > (which means you want to freeze any changes to your long distance > carrier) and (2) cash the check at the bank, the carrier pays you the > money but their change order for their long distance service does not > get processed. You could say you get to take the money to the bank! > [Moderator's Note: I would suggest that to deliberatly connive and > structure things in that way amounts to fraud even though all you > are doing is taking advantage of flaws in the system. Anyway, to > be 'slammed' means to process the change without your signature. The > carrier has your signature on the back of the check you signed, and > if your signature is not sufficient to dictate your choice of carrier > then I don't know what would be. Actually, if the local telco froze > changes on your account on the basis of your phone call alone, in > effect you 'slammed' yourself. Slamming by definition means the > undocumented change or confirmation of carriers. Your signature is > adequate documentation. PAT] One could try depositing the check (via an ATM machine) without endorsing it. Most banks will not object. Then you've got the money, and they don't have your signature. A bit sneaky, but it could work, especially if the LEC has a "don't slam" order on file. [Moderator's Note: But if the carrier objects to the lack of signature then they have the right to charge it back to the bank and have the transaction reversed right back to your account. If they want to ... PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? From: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) Date: 25 Nov 93 01:47:26 GMT Organization: Beckman Instruments, Inc. FWIW, Sprint is paying (me) $10/month against long distance charges for five months for remaining a long distance customer. They also have a strange offer which gives 25,000 points on their "Callers Plus" system (equivalent to $2,500 in phone calls) for remaining with them for another year. 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. [Moderator's Note: I got those five coupons of ten dollars each also, along with a couple of five dollar coupons. That was in addition to the modem they sent me. Supposedly the coupons are to be sent in once each month, but I sent through all seven (!) of mine (five at ten dollars and two at five dollars) with my last bill which I paid in person at the IBT payment agency near me. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 20:25:41 -0500 From: taliesin@netcom.com (Glenn R. Stone) Subject: Re: Check From MCI; What to Do? In Volume 13, Issue 775, the Illustrious Moderator noteth: > [Moderator's Note: At which point, after you refuse to sign, the > carrier could reverse the transaction through the banking system, > calling upon the original (your) bank to pay based on its guarantee > of endorsement. Your bank would then debit your account and take > the money back. It can happen that way legally, although I don't know > who would bother for the amounts of twenty to fifty dollars, which > is typical for the carriers seeking your business. None the less, it > is fraud to manipulate the system as you suggest. I think people who > do it go on a list the carriers maintain of petty chiselers who are > not to be tempted with any further bonuses or premium offers. PAT] Uh-uh, Pat. That would be like annotating the endorsement space with "Endorser acknowleges that this instrument is payment in full of any and all debts owed endorser by payer" and making out the check for two bucks as payment on a four-figure credit card tab. I don't think so. What shows up in my PO box unsolicited is mine, dammit, free of any encumbrance. That's federal law. Now, if I *call* deathstarco and say "I wanna take you up on your switch-and-get-fifty-bucks offer," then I have *asked* for the check, and the switch that goes therewith. If the idiots in marketing are doing stupid things like sending actual checks thru the mail unsolicited, they deserve what they get. As for the ethical high ground w... take the Kantian approach. If everybody does it, the company makes a bit less profit, it stops the campaign, and chooses something else to waste trees on. Meanwhile the big guys are a bit less rich; the little guys who think, a bit more. Sounds good to me. Besides, if it's deathstarco, the high and mighty supporters of the Clipper Chip (a prima facie threat to my right to privacy), they deserve to be chiseled, petty or not. I'll start worrying about minor ethical issues when they start acting like they *really* respect my privacy. Six bits says PAT won't print this sans some form of comment/editing. Glenn R. Stone (taliesin@netcom.com) [Moderator's Note: Well I won't print something that I know is patently wrong without attempting to clarify/correct it if that is what you mean. You have two misunderstandings: first of all, 'satisfaction and accord' has been, as you point out, ruled invalid by a few courts when the reduced payment is tendered without any context for such. That is, you owe a thousand dollars, you have never disputed it and you send ten dollars in a check marked 'payment in full' via a mass-processing remittance lockbox in the hopes a minimum wage eighteen year old clerk will toss the check in the combination microfilm machine/ check endorser along with ten thousand other checks that day without reading it. The courts have ruled that is unjust enrichment on your part. You'll get sued and you'll lose and you'll pay the difference. On the other hand, you have previously refused to pay your bill for a thousand dollars and now you are corresponding with an attorney or collection agency. In the exchange of correspondence, the attorney or agency has their client's permission to accept less than the full amount originally claimed. They agree that your complaint is valid or they agree in order to close the file ... whatever. You now prepare your check for the agreed upon amount and mail it to the attorney or the collection agency. *If they endorse it and cash it they are bound by the settlement*. Whether 'satisfaction and accord' carries any legal weight or not is in the context of the entire transaction. Now regards 'unsolicited merchandise which arrives in the mail', let's get that one straightened out also. This law was passed about forty years ago because of a company which, IMHO was just plain scum: they read the obituaries daily from hundreds of newspapers all over the USA, specializing in places where they deemed the citizens to be, um, less educated ... and they probably were correct. They would then use gold engraving to imprint the deceased person's name on a Bible; one of those big, old-fashioned ornate 'Family Bibles', the kind with empty pages in the middle for the family genealogical tree, etc, and with a nice leather cover, thumb indexing on the side, the whole bit. ** And they would send it with an invoice to the deceased person ** including cover letter, "Dear Mr. Jones, here is the lovely Family Bible you ordered for your children and grandchildren to record the histories of their families and study together from The Word of God ....". Naturally when the package arrived in the mail, old Mr. Jones was dead -- they knew that when they sent it -- but the family would see it, get tears in their eyes at the wonderful present Grandpa had planned on giving them, and out of respect for the old fellow, they would pay the invoice -- always overpriced by a factor of ten -- to honor the memory of Old Grandad now passed away. And the company was so nice about it! They even let the family pay on monthly terms if they did not have the hundred dollars to send all at one time. And there were others like this: the Indian Children who send you the cheesy name and address lables or pencils in the hopes you will send them an X-mas gift more to their liking; their literature fifty years ago used to *demand* either pay for this merchandise or return it. They should have gotten a frequent flyer award the way they sent so many people on guilt trips. And our very own Missionary Fathers here in Chicago, operating out of the same post office I use (60690) would send crapola trinkets made by 'the heathens in Africa who the Fathers are trying to convert ...'. The Fathers wanted a token of your sincer- ity and cash is best because checks are hard to get cashed in Africa. The Congress of the United States, for once to its credit, finally said 'ENOUGH'!! Now all those people have to put on their literature somewhere in small print at least, "This is a gift. Under the law you are under no obligation to acknowledge, return or pay for it." The 'unordered merchandise can be treated as a gift' law was never intended to apply in any situation where the sender had some basis for sending something of value where 'basis' is defined as a telephoned or written order from a customer; a specific business offer to trade one thing for another, i.e. my fifty dollars in exchange for your written promise to use my services for some period of time, etc. A company sending money and contracts in the mail is not sending 'merchandise'. The law was intended and is enforced against companies who send you something of value out of the blue with no prior relationship with you (while acting as though they did), then expecting you to pay for it. And would you believe the Bible people actually placed their unpaid accounts with collection agencies who would harass and harangue these poor, (yes, admit it -- ignorant, frequently illiterate) people in America a half century ago. That is why we have the 'unordered merchandise is a gift' law, Mr. Stone ... not so that you can go stiff on Sprint with impunity. I guess you win your six-bits don't you? PAT] ------------------------------ From: ddavis@dgdhome.meaddata.com (Don Davis) Subject: Re: Sprint Modem Offer :-( Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 12:32:40 EDT Organization: The Dayton Home for the Chronically Strange In article , Stan Hall said: > Well it seems that every step of the way Sprint has screwing > everything up. [description of difficulties omitted] > So last night I finally found some time to sit down and call the > number that Ms. Worthy had given me and left a message telling her > what software I wanted for each of my two modems. I get a call this > morning from Ms. Worthy telling me that I am only to receive one > modem and asking what software I would like for that modem. When I >argued with her that I wanted both of the modems I had been promised > she told me that the offer was limited one per household. [more omitted - bandwidth conserved] > [Moderator's Note: *Who* told you that you would get two modems? Really, > I can't see what your beef is about. 'One per household' is one of the > most common phrases in business promotional offers I have ever heard. > Time and again you hear it, 'one per household, not good when combined > with other offers or special promotions, etc ...' Probably a U.S. Sprint sales or customer service representative told him. The U.S. Sprint sales representative I spoke with told me almost exactly what Mr. Hall indicated: that if I switched several different lines, I could receive several modems. As I recall, she had to go ask her supervisor, but that's what she told me. I did not see the televised advertisements, and I said as much to the sales rep. I never heard the words "one per household" uttered by any Sprint representative, but they offered to switch all four of my lines in exchange for four modems. I declined, saying that I'd like to see how it goes with just one line using Sprint. If that restriction wasn't made clear to Mr. Hall at the time he placed his order, then it looks as if U.S. Sprint is taking the position that it can obtain relief in consumer disputes by asserting that the weasel words were simply spoken elsewhere, perhaps out of Mr. Hall's hearing. To paraphrase Sean Slatter, who has also posted to Usenet on this issue, Sprint is expending a very valuable commodity on this issue: the good will of the consumer base. Don Davis | Internet: dgdhome!ddavis@meaddata.com | Tel: 513-235-0096 ------------------------------ From: cambler@cymbal.aix.calpoly.edu (Chris Ambler - Fubar) Subject: Re: Sprint Modem Offer :-( Organization: The Phishtank Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 19:37:25 GMT > [Moderator's Note: By the way, did you *sign* for the packages they > sent you? Have you opened the packages and installed/used the modems? > Sorry to make it rough for you guys, but under the Uniform Commercial > Code -- which will be the prevailing law -- you may have waived any > further claims. You may have accepted Sprint's offer, or settlement > or whatever. If you refused to accept the packages, or lacking the > ability to refuse (i.e. you came home and found them by your door) > have kept the sealed packages in your safekeeping waiting for Sprint > or the modem factory to pick them up or authorize their return, then > you may still have a more solid case ... maybe ... but that isn't what > happened, is it? ... you eagerly ripped open the boxes with > your new toys as soon as they arrived; you have played with them > frequently since that time and now Sprint does not have to take the > 'incorrect merchandise' back. In summary, if you fellows have been > playing with your new toys and have them installed in your computers > then you haven't helped your case any, and may have damaged it. PAT] Actually, Pat, No. And I'm surprised at you for thinking so. The boxes were signed for by another housemate who did not know what they were (there was no identification on the package at all). We opened the big boxes, saw that they were the modems, did a count of the modem boxes, and immediately re-sealed the box. The modems have never been removed from their individual boxes. And yes, Sprint guys reading this, this is not my opinion, this is the cold hard facts. I'd be happy to ship it right on back, but the only address on the box is Best Products, and I have a feeling they wouldn't know what was going on. I'm bringing them with me to my court date to surrender them to the Sprint rep. ++Christopher(); // All original text is strictly the opinion of the poster Christopher J. Ambler, Author, FSUUCP 1.41, FSVMP 1.0, chris@toys.fubarsys.com [Moderator's Note: Very good, Christopher. You've done the right thing so far. You are holding the merchandise aside out of general use and protecting it/keeping it safe for its owner, who you contend is Sprint and/or Best Products and not yourselves. Very good. Keep us posted as this progresses. You are smart; maybe you will win this. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Sprint Modem Offer :-( From: kilgore@wuntvor.pillar.com (Stan Hall) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 22:36:17 CST Organization: The Eternal Apprentice BBS, Oklahoma City, Ok > [Moderator's Note: *Who* told you that you would get two modems? Really, > Time and again you hear it, 'one per household, not good when combined > with other offers or special promotions, etc ...' I should have been informed of this when I called to switch my second line not 1.5 months later. The first thing I heard about it was from Ms. Worthy. When I called Sprint, I told them that I had heard about the Dvorak offer, that it was supposed to be for a free modem, that was all I knew and could I have more information. I was then told that the modem was a 9600 baud* modem with FAX. I asked if it was internal or external and was told external. I was also told that they would pay for my switchover and that I would receive certificates in 60 days. Well this wasn't quite true, the certificates they sent paid for about 45% of my switchover fee and when I called about that they gave me a credit and it appears that they will pay 85% of the switchover fee. * [This should have given me a clue that the rep didn't have any clue, but even though *baud* is incorrect, it does seem to common usage.] From what I have seen posted here it seems that the orginal radio commercial was reasonably clear as to what the offer was. If the Sprint rep had a copy of the orginal promo and read it verbatim it seems that there would not be a problem. At least in my case. I guess if I have any further dealings with Sprint that I will need to ask for a copy of the details of the offer in writing for our mutual protection. > I got my modem several days ago. It installed easily and is working > fine for sending faxes from my 386. If you honestly think you are > going to get two modems, you are quite mistaken. At least their are some people coming out of this offer with what was expected and are happy with it. I am quite glad. I switched each of my lines for this offer so I should receive the modems. Other readers have posted that Sprint told them that the offer was good for more than one line. The certificate for the switchover fee is good for up to ten lines (though not with any other offer?) so why not with this offer. > Diane Worthy has done a great job of getting this mess straightened > out; I'm sure she is sorry Sprint even decided to have such a generous > promotion. PAT] I am sure she is sorry. Though, my guess is that she is trying to cover someone's backside for not working out the details of this promotion before it exploded in their face (IMHO of course). kilgore@wuntvor.pillar.com (Stan Hall) The Eternal Apprentice BBS, Oklahoma City, OK -- +1 405 942 8794 ------------------------------ From: sharpe_r@jethro.wcc.govt.nz (Russell Sharpe) Subject: Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? Date: 25 Nov 1993 09:49:49 GMT Organization: Wellington City Council, Public Access Reply-To: sharpe_r@jethro.wcc.govt.nz In Message-ID: , nathan@seldon. foundation.tricon.com wrote: > I want to establish a "double hunt group". The scenario goes as follows: > User calls in on high speed modem line and gets the "main" hunt group for > high speed users. User two calls in on "alternate" low speed hunt group. > BUT, if user one calls in and all of the main hunt groups are busy, then he > is forwarded to the alternate, low speed hunt group. > The reason I ask is because my main, high speed hunt groups have been busy > lately and when I asked about a dual hunt-group, the local phone person had > no idea what I was talking about. You want to specify *Hunt Start* for your _Low Speed_ group. Line 1 _Pilot Line Line 2... Line 9... Line 10 Hunt Start Line Line 11 ... Line 12 Last trunk When a Caller calls Line 1 number, they will step through to the last trunk, i.e they will also step to the low speed lines. If a low speed caller calls the Line 10 number he will only step to the last trunk. Russell Sharpe UseNet: sharpe_r@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz FidoNet: 3:771/370 & 3:771/160 Voice: +64 4 5639099 snailmail: 171 Holborn Drive Stokes Valley 6008 New Zealand ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 10:47:10 +0100 From: lars@eskimo.CPH.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? Organization: CMC Network Products, Copenhagen DENMARK Hi Nathan. Greetings from cold Copenhagen. In article you write: > I want to establish a "double hunt group". ... > Oh, one more thing ... the low speed callers should ALWAYS get the low > speed lines. The low speed lines go to a different host computer. This is not an uncommon requirement. > [Moderator's Note: The reason they do not understand is because (a) you > are using the wrong phraseology and (b) hunting does not work the way > you want it to. What you want to do is ask for another (how many? two, > five, ten?) lines in your existing hunt group. What you with them on > your end is your businesses, so when the lines are delivered, you send > them to your low-speed machine. So now let's say you have lines 1 --> 75 > in hunt. That is, one hunts to two which hunts to three which hunts to > four ... > 75. Lines 1 to 49 are the high speed modems; lines 50-75 > are the low speed modems. When 49 (high) is busy, it will hunt to 50 > and subsequent (low), which is what I think you want. This is not a satisfactory solution. For a large hunt group, you need uniform call distribution in order to prevent a sick modem (or a sick computer port) from disabling all the higher-numbered lines. There are two halves to the story: A technical part, and a regulatory part. Tariffs tend to distinguish between "hunting" and "call forward on busy" features. ALthough these are basically the same thing, they come with different prices and different descriptions and different restrictions as to what class of service they are allowed on, and what other features they may coexist with. I believe the regulatory part can be plastered over by applying both hunt group and call forward on busy to the lines. But satisfying the tariff of course won't help, unless the switch can actually do the job. For this, you need to talk to someone who actually knows the switch software. Of course, GTE won't let you near someone like that. Is this a residential installation or a business installation ? If it is residential, you may just be out of luck; it is not always possible for residential subscribers to get past the front desk. For business, you should be able to get through the front desk to "special services" which is set up to do this. If you can't get to someone competent any other way, try to go through "data circuits" sales staff. If all else fails, you can always do what Patrick suggests, but it is not as stable. Here is Copenhagen, there is no distinction between residential and business service. A POTS line is USD 195 (DKK 1300) installation and USD 16.17 (DKK 108.33) per month (billed quarterly in advance). Local calls in the Copenhagen metro area are USD 0.0477 (DKK 0.32) per minute (Mo-Fr 0800-1930; half that nights and week-ends). Calls to the USA are USD 1.50 (DKK 10) per minute day or night. And there are no itemized phone bills. Imagine getting a phone bill that says: Line charges: $ 48.50 Call charges: $493.37 Total bill: $541.87 <--- pay this amount ISDN is readily available. Caller-ID is available to ISDN subscribers only (and only for calls originating on ISDN lines). Itemized billing is available to ISDN subscribers only (and even so, the last 2 digits are xx-ed out). The phone company sells small panasonics-like PBXes (1 x 5 and 2 x 8) at very competitive prices. Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@CMC.COM CMC Network Products Phone: (011-) +45-31 49 81 08 Hvidovre Strandvej 72 B Telefax: +45-31 49 83 08 DK-2650 Hvidovre, DENMARK Internets: designed and built while you wait ------------------------------ From: sdum@sdum.mentorg.com (Steve Dum) Subject: Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 18:20:30 GMT Organization: Mentor Graphics I had a similar problem about seven years ago. The order processing clerk knew that what I wanted wasn't in her vocabulary, but while talking to the installer, he thought it was possible, so he called the switch programmer, who said sure we can do that. The only problem was figuring out how to get order processing to understand. We set up a three way call with everyone concerned, and we had it. Basically, what I wanted was two hunt groups of six lines each, which did not start over from one each time, and then if the first group of six was full, the call went to the second hunt group. This was the same situation as you described (except reversed). The high volume was still on the low speed modems, so if the low speed bank filled up I wanted it to drop onto the high speed group. I suspect what you want is possible, although it may be impossible to get the order written. Stephen Dum steve_dum@mentorg.com (503)-685-7743 Mentor Graphics Corp. 8005 S.W. Boeckman Rd. Wilsonville, Or 97070-7777 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 17:52:35 EST From: Peter M. Weiss Subject: Re: Telecommunications in the Year 2020 Organization: Penn State University You'll want to find the documents on the National Information Infrastructure, available at better Gopher Servers. Try a Gopher Veronica Search, or perhaps a depository library. Pete ------------------------------ From: hak@alf.cooper.edu (Jeff Hakner) Subject: Re: Mnemonic For Wire Colors Organization: The Cooper Union ( NY, NY ) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 22:41:59 GMT In article , Steve Runyon says: > I am looking for an easy way to memorize the wire colors in 66 wire. > The colors are blue, orange, green, brown, gray, yellow, ... > I was hoping that there might be a sentence with each word starting > with the same letters as the corresponding color. I know of two such mnemonics for the band-stripe color code: PRIMARY: White We Why Red Rape Run Black Beautiful Backwards Yellow Young You'll Violet Virgins Vomit SECONDARY: Blue But Bell Orange Only Operators Green Girls Give Brown Beyond Better Slate Sixteen Service Use either one, as appropriate. Bonus points for clever combinations! ------------------------------ From: awoolfso@unix1.cc.uop.edu (Aaron Woolfson) Subject: Re: CA Tax Regulations for LD Providers Date: 25 Nov 1993 16:21:20 -0800 Organization: University of the Pacific The tax structure that the State of California mandates is the following for Public Utilities, besides the respective municipality taxes that must be accounted for. Unfortunately, for long distance carriers like I work for, Delta Telecom, it is a headache. To take an excerpt from our Tariff, it states the following: TAXES AND SURCHARGES A. Applicable Taxes In addition to the charges specifically pertaining to Delta Telecommuniations services, certain federal, state, and local surcharges, taxes and fees will be applied. These surcharges, taxes and fees are calculated based upon the amount billed to the end user for Company's INTRAstate services. Such charges include, but are not limited to, the surcharges and fees ordered by the CPUC and set forth below: CPUC Reimbursement Fee (PUCURA) 0.1% Universal Lifeline Surcharge (ULTS) 6.0% D.E.A.F. Surcharge (DEAF) 0.2% [Moderator's Note: Yep, it goes on and on. The bureaucrats glory in it ... they know it means whatever other changes there are in telecom by the year 2020, there will still be work for them. :) PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #784 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03300; 26 Nov 93 6:40 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA04014 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Fri, 26 Nov 1993 01:21:18 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA06741 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Fri, 26 Nov 1993 01:20:18 -0600 Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1993 01:20:18 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311260720.AA06741@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #785 TELECOM Digest Fri, 26 Nov 93 01:20:15 CST Volume 13 : Issue 785 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (John R. Levine) Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? (Mathew Englander) Re: Automated Checking of Phone Bill Balance (A. Alan Toscano) Re: Automated Checking of Phone Bill Balance (Tom Watson) Re: Query for Network Designers ... [Answers!] (Dean Pentcheff) Re: Best 900mhz Cordless? (Michael O'Brien) Re: Best 900mhz Cordless? (Steve Norton) Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes (Al Varney) Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized (David Esan) Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes (Carl Moore) Re: What is the Future of Electronic Mail? (David A. Kaye) Re: Prodigy Access From Europe? (Linc Madison) Re: Monitoring Cellular Calls (Eric N. Florack) Re: Carrier For 800 Number? (Gerry Palmer) Re: Mnemonic For Wire Colors (Robert Hettmansperger) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 10:11 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Organization: I.E.C.C. > Here in SNET land, just dial 811 -- no prefix, no suffix -- and you > get one of SNET's state-wide-distributed residential customer service > folks. Yes, the person you'll be speaking with will probably *not* be > located in the town your home phone is nearest to; and yes, (s)he will > probably bemoan that fact as forcefully as you. It's not just SNET. When I wanted a phone line installed at my camp in Vermont, I called the New England Tel business office number which is in Burlington (the largest city in Vermont.) But the person I got on the phone said during the conversation that she was actually in Maine, so she had only the vaguest idea where Morgan, Vt., actually is. But she was perfectly nice about it. (Her: "Will you be using a phone that generates tones?" Me: "If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you about it." She thought that was pretty funny. No $1.55/mo touch tone charge for me.) On the other hand, she quoted me a rate with no milage charge, which I told her was probably wrong, considering how far from town we are, so far, in fact, that we have an Island Pond phone number, the next town farther east, but she said that's what the computer said so who are we to argue? NET has an 800 number for that office, but it seems to have too few trunks or something because the 800 number is always busy while a direct toll call to the Burlington number gets right through. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 15:46:55 PST From: Mathew Englander Subject: Re: What Happened to "811" Numbers? Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada In Vancouver, BCTel uses 811-XXXX numbers for their customer service. I don't know whether these work free throughout the province, but I suppose they do. Mathew Englander ------------------------------ From: atoscano@attmail.com (A Alan Toscano) Date: 25 Nov 93 14:02:05 GMT Subject: Re: Automated Checking of Phone Bill Balance In TELECOM Digest V13 #774, Carl Moore writes: > There is a three-digit number (after my phone number), printed on my > phone bill, which is apparently the key to my getting access to my > account-balance information. and our Moderator notes: > [Moderator's Note: The three digit number at the end of your phone > number is for the RAO, or Regional Accounting Office. PAT] Perhaps Ameritech handles its billing differently, but *generally* this is a Customer Code which distinguishes a subscriber's account from those of previous holders of the same telephone number. It is normally derived by taking the last three digits of the New Service Order number, assigned at the time new service is requested, and has no relation to one's Revenue Accounting Office. On the other hand ... many years ago, residential calling card numbers consisted of seven-digit phone numbers (no Area Code) followed by the appropriate three-digit RAO number as well as an easily hacked "check-letter" which varied by phone number and calender year. A Alan Toscano EMail: atoscano@attmail.com - Voice Mail: +1 713 415 9262 [Moderator's Note: Well now you see what an Ancient Old Thing I am ... I still thought that was the Regional Accounting Office code. Silly me ... :( PAT] ------------------------------ From: tsw@cypher.apple.com (Tom Watson) Subject: Re: Automated Checking of Phone Bill Balance Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 18:23:00 -0800 Organization: Apple Computer (more or less) In article , Carl Moore wrote: Quite a bit deleted, to which the Moderator noted: > [Moderator's Note: The three digit number at the end of your phone > number is for the RAO, or Regional Accounting Office. PAT] No, it is not. I get three phone bills, all from the same RAO (which is 293 in this case) and the three number thingy is different. Two of the bills are for the same prefix. Early credit card numbers had the first 3 digits as the RAO, which is why I know what it is. Out here in Pacific ding-a-ling land, all the bills go to two places (Sacramento, or Van Nuys) now so I don't think they use RAO's any more. I think they stopped in the 70's sometime. Tom Watson Not much simpler!! tsw@cypher.apple.com [Moderator's Note: Oh my ... PAT] ------------------------------ From: dean2@tbone.biol.scarolina.edu (Dean Pentcheff) Subject: Re: Query for Network Designers ... [Answers!] Date: 25 Nov 1993 22:16:44 -0500 Organization: Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia A week or so ago I posted a query for help on thinking about how to design a network to link secondary schools with the Department of Biology at the University of South Carolina. I have been _extraordinarily_ impressed by the kindness and generosity of the respondents from this group! You people are wonderful. Numerous respondents who consult on these subjects for a living volunteered their time to write a reply, and many volunteered their ear as well. We've been buried in trying to assemble our application, so I haven't had time to send our individual thank yous -- please accept this as a collective thank you. For those interested in the responses, I've collected them into a single file. It's available using anonymous FTP from the host tbone.biol.scarolina.edu in directory /pub, file network-help. Once again, thanks _very_ much for your generous help! N. Dean Pentcheff Biological Sciences, Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia SC 29208 (803-777-8998) Internet addresses: pentcheff@pascal.acm.org or dean2@tbone.biol.scarolina.edu [Moderator's Note: No problem, Dean! That's what this group is here for; to provide help and advice on telecom matters. If I don't know the answer (and there is quite a bit I don't know these days it seems, especially where the really new technology is concerned), then a bunch of others jump right in the discussion as you found out, and they may anyway if my answer is wrong or incomplete. Write again anytime. PAT] ------------------------------ From: obrien@aero.org (Michael O'Brien) Subject: Re: Best 900mhz Cordless? Date: 25 Nov 1993 22:06:47 GMT Organization: The Aerospace Corporation In article , Rich Skrenta writes: > I'm interested in opinions on 900mhz cordless phones. I've seen the > old and new Tropez models, as well the "Quantum Leap" 900mhz phone. > I recall a review of the first Tropez model that said there was a > problem with the volume. Does anyone know if this is fixed in their > new one? > [Moderator's Note: Have you checked out the Radio Shack 900 mhz phone? > I've seen one demonstrated here and they seem to work quite well. The > range is much further than a regular cordless phone. PAT] I tried two different Tropez units and my girlfriend couldn't understand what I was saying on either of them. Receive audio was great, transmitted audio was terrible. Back they went. Escort has a spread-spectrum 900MHz digital phone. This costs about $400 and is probably the best one available on the market. I purchased the AT&T 9100. There's evidence that it is made by Vtech (the folks who make the Tropez) but the audio quality is fine in both directions. Handset ergonomics are also somewhat better than the Tropez, which feels like holding a slab of wood up to your head. For price/ performance this was my choice. I haven't tried the Radio Shack model. Mike O'Brien obrien@aero.org ------------------------------ From: steve@interaccess.com (Steve Norton) Subject: Re: Best 900mhz Cordless? Date: 25 Nov 1993 09:45:10 -0600 Organization: The second InterAccess INN server Rich Skrenta writes: > Features I'm interested in: > o Security. If it's all-digital, doing some simple scrambling > should be easy. Going digitial is enough to weed out the > neighbors with scanners, but I don't want someone to be able > to plug in another 900mhz phone and hear my calls. Dont be too impressed by the 'security' -- most of these systems merely break the signal into five or ten channels and then perform frequency inversions. Its almost trivial to reassemble the conversation. Steve Norton 708-671-0111 (voice) 708-671-0237 (data,login guest) InterAccess Co. steve@home.interaccess.com Chicagoland's best public access Internet provider ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 11:21:38 CST From: varney@ihlpe.att.com Subject: Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes Organization: AT&T, Lisle, IL In article dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) writes: > John R Levine (johnl@iecc.com) wrote: >> Also, Mexico has a mixture of six and seven digit numbers, so they'd >> have to renumber to match NANP numbers. > But, there were once TWO area codes for Mexico, 905 and 705 (I think); > whatever, there was a regional difference in phone number length and a > caller from here who wanted to call a six-digit phone number added an > extra digit to make it seven. > [Moderator's Note: Yeah, the funny thing is 905 and the other one were > never technically 'area codes'. A business office rep once insisted to > me those two were actually 'access codes'. Supposedly the code was '90' > with the 5 added to flesh out the phone numbers to seven digits. PAT] PAT, never question a business office rep ... :) They REALLY WERE access codes, disguised as area codes. And it's simple to confirm that: Just look at any telephone book from the 1980s (pre-1984). You did save a pre-divestiture book, didn't you?? So you could recall how Ma Bell once treated you?? ($.43/minute Chicago to Denver, day rate). I'll quote from 1983's Evanston (Illinois Bell) book: "To Call Mexico Most locations in Mexico can be reached by using the international dialing (011+) instructions {reference to another section}. If you cannot use international dialing from your phone, some cities can be dialed using special access codes with city codes. Mexico City: Dial 1+90+5+local number Northwest Mexico: Dial 1+70+city code(2 or 3 digits beginning with "6")+local number The full day rate is in effect 7am to 7pm, Monday through Friday. {... other rate info ...}" Note that "day rate" for intra-USA and Canada long distance calls was 8am to 5pm, so Mexico really was treated differently. NPA 809 "day rate" was 7am to 4pm (shifted because of time zones). It's pretty obvious the 905/706 access codes were a temporary kludge waiting for full deployment of IDDD direct-dialing in the Bell System. And the kludge worked only for Mexico City (city code = 5) and Northwest Mexico (city codes starting with 6, but code + local number was always eight digits). Such bending of the rules will be difficult without the old Bell System in place. The 706/905 numbers were officially declared "unassigned" on 2/1/1991. One could hope all the toll network(s) kludges to convert 905 to 011 + 525, etc. have been removed as well. Al Varney ------------------------------ From: de@moscom.com (David Esan) Subject: Re: NPA 905 Not Universally Recognized Date: 25 Nov 93 13:23:10 GMT Organization: Moscom Corporation, Pittsford NY In article de@moscom.com (David Esan) writes: > [Moderator's Note: Obviously instead of relying on Bellcore to get you > the information in a timely way, you need to read this Digest for the > latest news on area code splits, etc. :) We were talking about 905 > long before it occurred. We were even talking about 905 back in the > days when it used to be an 'area code' for Mexico. PAT] Pat - I was here when we talking about 905 in Mexico (not to mention 706 and 903). I was here when you weren't the Moderator. I do rely on this group for advance warning on new NPA's and new country codes. My point was that while I may do these things, the local operating companies do not. They rely on a tape or floppies from BellCore. And BellCore was late in getting this information into the system. The 905 NPA went live on 15 October, the pages were not filed until 22 November. I don't know when the tapes went out, but I suspect it was well after the cutover date. I don't think this is a plot of the evil Americans to shame and humble our Canadian colonies, err neighbors, but rather is just sloppy work on the part of BellCore. I have seen similar problems in the past with other splits. I have also seen the 201 split (hint: where is BellCore?) in the books 12 months in advance of its split. David Esan de@moscom.com [Moderator's Note: Yes David, you have been reading TELECOM Digest for a good many years now. There are a handful of readers who have been around since the beginning in 1981, and a few of those came over when telecom was split from 'Human-Nets' ... now that is going back awhile, eh? I was a reader of telecom for a couple of years before I became moderator, and you were around then. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 10:34:54 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: NPA 905, NAFTA and Mexico Area Codes No, that was 706, not 705. The history file has 706 and 905 being discontinued (for calls to Mexico) Feb. 1, 1991. [Moderator's Note: If readers have not seen Carl's very informative file on the history of area codes and how old codes were split in two or more parts to form new codes, then I recommend you get a copy of it from the Telecom Archives. Look for the 'history.of.area. splits' file in the areacodes and/or history sub-directories. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) Subject: Re: What is the Future of Electronic Mail? Date: 25 Nov 1993 00:58:36 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest] David R Johnston (drjohnst@uoguelph.ca) wrote: > It seems to me that right now there is limited access due to the cost > of access, as well as many people that I would like to communicate > with are not on-line. Depends on whom you ask. My cost is $19.50 a month. I was putting posters around for a "How to use the Internet" training thing I'm planning to do, and this 18 or 19 year old girl was watching me. "You mean people PAY you $40 to show them how to use the Internet? That's stupid." When I told her that companies like Novell are charging $400 for it she was incredulous. "All you have to do is log on and play with it!" For people under 30 the Internet is here. For people over, well, let's see. ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Re: Prodigy Access From Europe? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 12:07:38 GMT Scheidl (scheidl@lezvax.arz.oeaw.ac.at) wrote: > We do research on telecommunication services and I just wanted to know > an access number of Prodigy. Can I use it with simple terminal > session? For testing, I can also do a long distance call to the US. > Where do I get a test-account? Is there an email adress to obtain this > information (support@prodigy.com ??). Prodigy uses customized access software, currently available for Windows, MS-DOS (I think), and Macintosh computers. They have recently upgraded some of their access to 9600bps, which should be a welcome relief with the PAINFULLY slow videotext-style interface they use. I don't know of any test accounts, but you can get a "free one-month trial offer" for doing little more than existing on the planet. They're very much set up for US-only, though, so I don't know what they'll say about a request coming from Europe. You can also order their software (including the trial subscription) from any of the U.S. PC or Mac mail-order houses. There have been files posted around the Internet in the past speculating about possibly connecting up to Prodigy using generic comm software in place of their custom application, but I have never tried it. Linc Madison * Oakland, California LincMad@Netcom.com, >formerly< GVHX00A on Prodigy Disclaimer: I am quite happy to no longer have any connection to Prodigy, even as a subscriber. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 05:54:24 PST From: Eric_N._Florack.cru-mc@xerox.com Subject: Re: Monitoring Cellular Calls > Mr. Fischer, you obviously have no respect for a individual's privacy. > Is business that bad that you must "prostitute" your product on the > "net"? I can only hope that your privacy is invaded in a sufficiently > grotesque manner to educate you on it's value. ...-...-...- > [Moderator's Note: It sounds to me like you are unhappy with the idea > of people listening to your cellular calls. PAT] Indeed it does, Pat. And I can understand the position. I tend to agree that such listening devices, meaning those sold specificly to listen to cellular calls, are somewhat less than ethical. At the same time, perhaps it`s time we started looking at this in a more realistic light. The communications act of 1933 lays all this out, in living color: The EM spectrum is the property of all the people ... and anything that is broadcast `in the clear' is fair game for reception, by ANY citizen. At the same time, it`s a crime to make use of any information gleaned from listening to things not intended for public consumption... Business transactions conducted over business radio are an example of such. I raise some of these issues in an extended post I wrote about a year or so ago in response to the paranoia being spread by the CPSR and the EFF, regards cryptography and the government ... and, if I`m not mistaken, people can find it in the Telecom and RIsks archives by searching on the keywords "C.P.S.R.' and 'paranoia'. The short version of the argument is this: We create more damage, giving the impression that a 'line' is secure (by means of mere law) than we do by making people on Cell phones aware /up front/, that they should watch what they say, since the technology is such that the call can be monitored by anyone with a mind to. Matter of fact, given that about anyone with a mind could tap even a hard-wire phone without even a direct connection ... (inductance pickups ...) Perhaps no such system is secure, regardless of any law. Clearly, the law prohibiting listening to cellular calls is at best ineffective, and is, perhaps, counter-productive, to say nothing of it being in direct violation of the intent of the communications act of 1933. The government, by giving the impression that such law IS effective, is doing a dis-service to the public, and is perhaps creating more of a security problem than it`s solving. Perhaps we should educate the public that anything said on any electroninc path, particularly on a public access network, is /by nature/ not secure. That education process, and that shift of responsibility away from the government, and law, and back to the comm circuit user, where it belongs, is the biggest, and least expensive security boost our telecommunications system could ever have. What we have here is a case where our lawmakers have no idea what it is they are regulating, but they have to do SOMETHING to justify their positions of power. The result is predictable. /E ------------------------------ From: Gerry Palmer Subject: Re: Carrier For 800 Number? Date: Thu, 25 Nov 93 15:05:17 -0500 Organization: ION Publishing Systems > Is there any way left to easily tell what carrier "owns" a given > 800-number? I'm trying to find out who is carrying 800-950-3535, and > have been unable to get any assistance either my local carrier (Bell > of PA) or my preferred IXC (Sprint). Ideas, anyone? I know that my 800 number (which is with Sprint) is not listed in the AT&T 800 directory. If this is true, you could try to find out the carrier by calling each company's 800 information number and asking for the owner's 800 number. When someone gives it, you've found the carrier! Gerry Palmer Phone: 301-718-8857 ION Publishing Systems, Inc. Fax: 301-718-6586 4915 St. Elmo Ave. #500 Bethesda, MD 20814 "The opinions expressed herein are unquestionably those of someone." [Moderator's Note: The problem with your solution is there is no such thing as 'each company's 800 information number'. There is a single number for 800 directory assistance (800-555-1212) which is operated by Southwestern Bell under contract to Bellcore I think, or maybe to AT&T. It is for anyone with an 800 number who wants to have the number published *at an additional fee*. Unlike regular numbers where the default is a free listing and non-pub costs extra, with 800 it is the other way around. So far as I know, only AT&T has a *printed* directory of their 800 subscribers. None of the others bother with it, and AT&T only does it because they always have from back in the days when they were the sole supplier of 800 service even after divestiture for a few years. If the others have printed directories, what happens if the number our correspondent is checking out is non-pub, like most 800 numbers? It won't be in the published directory of that company either. No, to find out what carrier handles a given 800 subscriber's traffic you have to ask the subscriber, however you can make certain presump- tions based on the old table in our archives and be right probably about half the time, maybe more often. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1993 09:15:27 +0100 From: bobh@cc.bellcore.com (Robert Hettmansperger) Subject: Re: Mnemonic For Wire Colors Organization: Bellcore In article , is written: > For instance, to memorize the color codes of resistor bands, my father > taught me "Blackie Brown rapes our young girls but Violet gives > willingly." This translates to black, brown, red, orange, yellow, > green, blue, purple, gray, white. Sorry I can't help with your original question, but I would like to suggest a different mnemonic for resistor bands: "Bad beer rots out your guts, but vodka goes well". It works without the racist overtones or the original (which, incidentally, was taught to me as starting with "Black boys..." which is even worse). Just my opinion. Bob [Moderator's Note: But in a politically correct Digest like this one, I have to censor out speech which might be offensive to people who go to Alcoholic's Anonymous meetings. I can't run messages suggesting people drink vodka or beer. Perhaps a good way for Usenit-wits to remember the code would be by arranging their crayons in the proper order each time they prepare to send me a letter complimenting me on the fine way in which I commmercialize the net. On being a Martyred Moderator: A couple hours ago I sent out the Second Call for Votes on c.d.t.t. and I would appreciate it if people would quit sending *me* your votes. Read the instructions! Well on the other hand, don't read them; they say 'you can reply to this message', and of course, in a moderated journal you cannot reply, you have to send email. I've already written back to a dozen people telling them they have to send email to Mr. Maynard directly, and I have returned their vote to them to be mailed correctly. The distasteful part was that about half of them were YES votes! :) So send your votes where they belong by email (NOT via reply) and do not 'cc' me on the ballot. They are already feeling very put upon that I am still sitting here doing my thing; please don't give them any more to bellyache about. Have a nice holiday ... catch 'ya around here over the weekend once or twice. ! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #785 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa15614; 28 Nov 93 12:32 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA11868 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Sun, 28 Nov 1993 09:38:33 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA13630 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Sun, 28 Nov 1993 09:38:20 -0600 Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1993 09:38:20 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311281538.AA13630@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #786 TELECOM Digest Sun, 28 Nov 93 09:38:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 786 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson AT&T 9100 Phone Review (Bill Seward) 900 Mhz Cordless Protocols? (Benjamin McLemore) 603-43x-xxxx Switch? (Steve Hutzley) Where is Simtel20? (Amer Neely) Local Loop Deregulation in California (Pushpendra Mohta) 811 and 911 (Tad Cook) Long Distance Calling Volumes in Europe (Christer Lundin) Call Rating Service Bureaus (Morris Galloway Jr.) Automated FAX Delivery (Jan Ceuleers) Metromedia Advertisement (Carl Moore) Echo Cancellation (Deneire Luc) Internet/SLIP Connections in the UK (Mary Anne Walters) Stats Wanted: AT&T 3DO (Roy G. Bivins) Qualcomm Tech Report Wanted (Jae-Soo Kim) COCOT Blocking/Splashing (Alan Boritz) FCC: No! GTE!!! (vantek@aol.com) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1993 21:19:23 EST From: Bill Seward Subject: AT&T 9100 Phone Review Since a lot of net.folks have been asking about 900 MHz phones, I thought I'd share my experiences with my new AT&T 9100. First, this little jewel is not exactly cheap -- expect to pay in the area of US$280 or so, depending on your local sales tax situation. They are also in rather high demand, at least in my location. I had to keep checking back over a period of several weeks in order to catch them in stock. The phone is a digital, 900 MHz unit. It does not use spread spectrum technology. Thus it is not as absolutely secure as it could possibly be. However, I don't count this as a drawback. It should be secure enough against the casual evesdropper, which is my big concern. If I thought the NSA was after me, I just wouldn't use the phones at all. ;-) A brief rundown of the advertised features: Ten channels; automatic channel changing; 65,000 security code combinations, combination changed after each use; ten number memory (up to sixteen digits); programmable ringer types; four level handset volume adjustment; page from base unit; out of range notification; low battery alert; hold, mute, last number redial and flash; user replaceable battery; tone/pulse switch; one year warranty. Special technical stuff: Crystal controlled dual PLL synthesizer; handset transmits in the 925.07 - 927.75 MHz range; base transmits in the 902.3 - 905.0 MHz range; handset weighs aprox. 1 lb.; base aprox. 1.5 lb; battery life is four hours talk, 72 hours standby; base and handset have external antennas. The unit setup is pretty much standard for cordless phones. I mounted mine on the wall, about five feet up. Charge the battery for 16 hours and go. I have tested it for range with the following results: I can get about 250 feet from the base with no noticable signal degredation on either end. I can get about 300 feet with acceptable degredation (the occassional lost syllable). At 375, I lose about every other syllable. All of these distances are with one frame wall between the base and the outside world. As a comparison, my kid's baby monitor, which I am told operates with the same characteristics as your standard 40-something Mhz cordless, is lucky to make 75 feet and remain usable. It also has a lot of noise at that range, too. Sound quality is very good, but not up to wired standards, IMHO. But there are no rice crispies. You either hear or you don't hear. The volume control works, but notndset is designed so that is is not really cradleable in the crook of your neck. Physically, it resembles a cellular handset in dimensions -- and I suspect they are not cradleable for a reason. By and large, I consider it a good buy, and would be comforable recommending it to a friend. Bill Seward ------------------------------ From: analyst@netcom.com (Benjamin McLemore) Subject: 900 Mhz Cordless Protocols? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1993 01:17:12 GMT Having recently read an article in the {Economist} partially explaining the basis of the new Escort 900 Mhz digital cordless phone from Cincinnati Microwave, I had a number of questions I wished to ask of more knowledgable folks here: 1: Are any of the digital cordless phones direct-sequence spread spectrum? What advantages does this actually have over frequency-hopping (AT&T, Tropez)? 2: Given that Cylink manufactures the spread-spectrum chip for the Escort phone (from the Economist article), and that Cylink is recently in the news as a manufacturer of the Clipper chip, what does this mean for the security of the new cordless phones to law enforcement scanning? Were they designed to be easily broken from the beginning? 3: Just how much information can be digitally spread out into the 900-928 frequency range? Given Metricom 56Kbps modems and cordless phones, when will the error rates get too high for this band to be useful? Thanks, Benjamin McLemore analyst@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: hutzley@ranger.enet.dec.com (Steve Hutzley) Subject: 603-43x-xxxx Switch? Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1993 16:38:12 GMT Recently, I saw an ad in the (Manchester, NH) {Union Leader} about New England Telephone offering Caller ID. GREAT! At the bottom of the 3/4 page ad in the paper was a list of exchanges that had this service. It would have saved them page space if they would have listed the exchanges that DIDN'T have the service. They listed towns in NH I didn't even know existed. (FYI - NET was waiving the $9.95 install cost if you ordered before 12/11/93, and monthly charge is $4.95. Call Waiting is 3.81/mo, Call forwarding is 3.81/mo, Three-way calling is 4.51/mo, speed calling [8 numbers is 2.98/mo-30 numbers is 5.94/mo]). I'm curious, if anyone knows what switch I might be connected to, and if this switch has the capability to handle Caller ID . the list of exchanges that I am interested in are: area code 603: *421, *425, *426, 432, 434, 437. The three exchanges marked by '*', are brand new, and have just appeared in the last two years. If anyone really wants the list of exchanges that 'DO' offer caller ID, I will post them. I *ASSUME* that I am connected to the CSO on Broadway St. In downtown Derry, NH -- simply because I am about one mile from that switch. (I know, that is a loose assumption). For all I know, I could be connected to the Salem, NH area, Nashua area or to the Manchester area. Very likely since NET has been installing fiber all over the place, but those may be used for inter-exchange trunks. I am a little miffed by the fact that Derry/Londonderry doesn't have this feature (yet), but has all the other features (call forward/speed dial/call waiting ...). I was going to call NET and get thier side of the story -- but thought that I would get some 'ammuntion' information up front. I have been told -- that NH has some of the newest phone equipment in the Northeast, because, (are you ready for this) of the presidental primaries. With NH holding the first, and Dixville Notch, NH being a town of eleven registered voters being the first to have counted the votes, NET caters to the television and radio networks, who pay a premium for good lines and/or fiber (which I find a little hard to believe with the current use of satellite technology). Thanks, Steve ------------------------------ From: aneely@toth.uwo.ca (Amer Neely) Subject: Where is Simtel20? Date: Sat, 27 Nov 93 21:48:09 GMT Hi everyone, A while ago in this Digest there were a lot of messages about the closing of Simtel20. That has apparently come to pass (back in September?). However, does anyone know if a site was found to move the archives to? That address is no longer valid and I am trying to subscribe to a mailing list which had that as the address. So I guess this is a two question query: 1: Where is Simtel20 (or its equivalent -- I know about oakland & wustl); 2: Does anyone know how I could subscribe to Info-IBMPC. Many thanks in advance ... Amer Neely ------------------------------ From: pushp@nic.cerf.net (Pushpendra Mohta) Subject: Local Loop Deregulation in California Date: 27 Nov 1993 22:40:11 GMT Organization: CERFnet On what date will multiple telcos be able to provide the local loop in California? [Moderator's Note: To the best of my knowledge, there is no scheduled date for this where residential or small/medium size businesses are concerned. In some cities, large businesses have a service called Metropolitan Fiber available to them and they can justify the cost. This is a bypass to the local telco. It is not all that common, and I don't know if Metropolitan Fiber is operating in California or not. Your local cable company may someday announce this service, but there is no date set for that either. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: 811 and 911 Date: Sat, 27 Nov 93 15:37:04 PST From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) wtm@uhura.neoucom.edu (Bill Mayhew) writes: > Another reason to do away with 811 numbers is the similarity to 911. > While I have not personally experienced it, it is my understanding > that some switches are programmed with heuristic rules so that numbers > "sufficiently close" to 911 will be intercepted to 911. According to > local folklore that is why cordless phones were mysteriously dialing > 911 as thier batteries went dead. As the line relay chattered as it > went dead, it would outpulse x11, which would be interpreted as 911. > I haven't heard much about cordless phones mysteriously dialing 911 > lately, so maybe it was felt it would be better off without said > heuristic applied. Anyone know? > [Moderator's Note: If x11 does the job and calls the police, then how > do you account for 411 and 611, both used in many places? PAT] Actually, this wasn't done on purpose. In old step type central offices in rural areas they often had a limited number of levels for the first selector. (There was one "level" for each different possible digit in the first digit of the phone number dialed from that office. The "first selector" handles the first dialed digit). Why a limited number of levels? Cost. If you can only dial one local prefix, say 524, then why have a level 6, 7, 8 or 9 built into the this mechanical CO? Now a problem shows up when you want to put basic 9-1-1 into this office. The usual way to do it is to take a trunk (such as the Proctor 71911) and wire it to the ninth level of the first selector. But if there is no ninth level? Then anyone dialing 1-1 after the first digit would reach the 9-1-1 PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). Or another variation in our example has the first 1-5 levels configured, but anything dialed beyond that is wired together. So anyone dialing 6-1-1, 7-1-1, 8-1-1 will do that same thing as dialing 9-1-1. Another common problem with basic 9-1-1 in step offices is when the ninth level isn't used for anything else, but then a trunk that doesn't really decode any digits (or maybe just one) is wired to the ninth level. So if the trunk decodes one digit one before routing the call to the 9-1-1 PSAP runs into trouble when you come home from work and are used to dialing long distance calls on a PBX. Without thinking, you dial 9 for an outside line, 1 for a toll call, the first digit of the area code, and you reach the PSAP by mistake, even though you have not dialed 9-1-1. I have never heard of a switch being programmed to route numbers "close" to 9-1-1 to a PSAP, but there are lots of ways that basic 9-1-1 can be set up in a rural step-by-step exchange that result in wrong numbers getting to 9-1-1. Tad Cook tad@ssc.com Seattle, WA KT7H ------------------------------ From: clundin1@worldbank.org (Christer Lundin) Subject: Long Distance Calling Volumes in Europe Organization: World Bank Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1993 03:13:26 GMT I'm very intersted in long distance and international telecommun- ication calling volumes in Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain and Sweden. If anybody have any information I would appreciate it. ------------------------------ From: mmgall@cs1.presby.edu (Morris Galloway Jr.) Subject: Call Rating Service Bureaus Date: Sat, 27 Nov 93 17:43:19 GMT Organization: Presbyterian College, Clinton, South Carolina USA I'm interested in hearing from people using a service bureau to rate calls. Our environment: Southern Bell ESSX (Centrex), SMDR-P DMS-100 Central Office 900 students use C.O. based authorization codes 200 faculty and staff do not use auth codes Bell processes these SMDR records at a remote center, then returns them is semi-real time to our site. Some calls have only one record. Those with an auth code have two: the call detail, followed by the auth code (in a second record). The service bureau polls a collection device on site, rates the calls, and returns them to us on a diskette. If you have a similar setup, and are using a rating service bureau, I'd love to hear from you. If your setup is different, but you are very happy with your rating service bureau, I'd still like to hear from you very much. Ditto, if you are doing the rating yourself, with a PC-based setup. Thanks in advance. Morris Galloway Jr. Internet: mmgall@presby.edu Dean, Administrative Services Phone: 1-803-833-8217 Presbyterian College 503 S. Broad St. Clinton, SC 29325 USA ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Nov 93 04:28:25 PST From: Jan.Ceuleers@f857.n292.z2.fidonet.org (Jan Ceuleers) Subject: Automated FAX Delivery I quote Luis Delgado (lmd@cayman.inesc.pt): > - All fax calls would be received by the local company PABX, > that would redirect all calls to the same FAX card installed > in a PC, for example. Then the FAX Software on the PC would > decide based on the last three digits of the # specified by > the sender, to which person to send the fax in an electronic > mail message format. The written mail services of the Alcatel 4300 and 4400 ranges of PBXs solve this problem entirely on their own (i.e. without any PC-based software). The weak spot in your proposed implementation is the transmission of the DDI number to the PC. In the A4300L, there are several ways to send someone a written message: - by faxing it straight into his mailbox - by calling the PBX' modem pool (or X.25 PAD) and typing it into the on-line message editor - by sending a sub-addressed telex - via X.400 > I'm not saying this should be the best way to implement, and > I even don't know if there are automated systems like this. > I know however that it its possible (correct me if I'm > wrong) to specify, something like a destination in the fax > message it self, but I don't what this solution, because it > isn't completely transparent to the sender. Specifying the recipient in the fax message itself would require some sort of OCR software if the message is to be routed automatically. In the A4300L, this is not done. Any fax messages received by the PBX' central fax number are routed to an operator who can view them on-screen and then print them or re-route them to the correct mailbox. Jan Ceuleers -- uucp: uunet!m2xenix!puddle!2!292!857!Jan.Ceuleers Internet: Jan.Ceuleers@f857.n292.z2.fidonet.org ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Nov 93 11:39:57 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Metromedia Advertisement Ad says: ONE MONTH FREE LONG DISTANCE With Metromedia's Dial-1 Home Service. SAVINGS UP TO 20% SURCHARGE-FREE CALLING CARD 24-HOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE NO RISK GUARANTEE If you are not satisified, Metromedia will pay the local telephone company's charge to switch you back to your previous carrier. Call for details to learn how the free month plan works: 1-800-929-7200 Offer expires 3/31/94. Savings may vary. Other restrictions apply. Metromedia Communications Corporation The Fourth Largest National Long Distance Company [Moderator's Note: Any number of long distance companies claim to be in fourth place. None of them make any claims to first, second or third, but fourth sure is crowded. Metromedia makes that claim, as does LDS (the carrier for the Orange Cards) and others. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Nov 93 09:47:28 +0100 From: deneire@montefiore.ulg.ac.be (Deneire Luc) Subject: Echo Cancellation For an end of semester work, one of our students searches for information on echoes on the telephone network, in fact, he would like to get impulse responses of the telephone lines on two and four wires. Thank you, deneiremontefiore.ulg.ac.be Phone : +32-41-562793 Fax : +32-41-562620 Address: Dept. de Telecommunications (Professeur Fawe) Institut Montefiore, B28 - Universite de Liege B-4000 Liege Sart-Tilman ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Nov 93 06:23:26 -0500 From: Mary Anne Walters Subject: Internet/SLIP Connections in the UK I am interested in information on Internet connections in the UK. Since there is a charge per minute for even local calls, what kind of charges are we talking about for SLIP, if the modem is hooked up all day? I've been told there is some kind of dialback option offered from Internet providers (as an aside: who else other than PSI offers connectivity in Britain?) and would like specifics on that. I was also told "no one" has more than one phone line over there. Is this true? And if so, how do people hadle internet access from home and still be able to use the phones? Thanks in advance for any help. Mary Anne ------------------------------ From: spoof@u.washington.edu (Roy G. Bivins) Subject: Stats Wanted: AT&T 3DO Date: 28 Nov 1993 02:17:28 GMT Organization: University of Washington I would be greatful to anyone who has the stats or any information on this seemingly fine machine to post or mail this information to me, like cost, and specs and stuff. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: jkim@acsu.buffalo.edu (Jae-Soo Kim) Subject: Qualcomm Tech Report Wanted Organization: UB Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1993 02:46:48 GMT Is there any FTP site for the Qualcomm Tech Report or its list? Thanks in advance. Jae ------------------------------ Subject: COCOT Blocking/Splashing From: drharry!aboritz@uunet.UU.NET (Alan Boritz) Date: Sun, 28 Nov 93 09:06:43 EST Organization: Harry's Place BBS - Mahwah NJ - +1 201 934 0861 lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) writes: > A few weeks later, I got my bill, showing the $2.11 charge for a > one-minute call from Kingman to Oakland, so I called AT&T. My > non-subscriber card is billed to my credit card, so I didn't have > anything on the bill telling me whom to call. I got bounced around to > three different AT&T "800" numbers (only one of which is open 24 > hours) before I landed at the right one. After checking with a > supervisor, they agreed to re-rate the call (to $0.97). I asked them > what I should do to report this illegal phone. Funny you should mention AT&T overpricing calling card calls. I discovered that NJ Bell was billing my employer for some direct-dial and premium rate calling card calls that were not appearing on our "Customnet" billing. Since the telephone session AT&T began with the smartass AT&T rep explaining that the charges appeared on the bill because, "someone picked up the phone and made a phone call," it was pretty logical that they'd keep me on the phone for almost a half-hour, not return my call, and not send the customer service records I requested. The big surprise about AT&T, Customnet, and calling cards, is that AT&T calls billed to "Phone-In," or "Call-Me" cards are NOT billed under the negotiated rate, but at a PREMIUM rate. It seems that since AT&T discontinued issuing the restricted cards, they will not handle billing for RBOC-issued restricted cards, even if AT&T handles billing for the phone number to which the cards are billed. I think it's terribly misleading for AT&T to entice customers into subscribing to what is marketed as a "complete" discounted long distance service and billing product, and then not pick up ALL of the billed AT&T traffic. Perhaps it's also misleading for NJ Bell to be marketing a calling card product that they know will always result in inter-LATA charges at a premium rate, rather than at any negotiated discounted rate. I asked an AT&T Customnet CS rep for someone to contact me about a product that would be functionally the same as the restricted calling card, but apparently our LD business isn't sufficiently important to rate a return call. What restricted reverse-charge products, compatible with a switched-access WATS product are offered by some reputable OCC's? aboritz%drharry@uunet.uu.net or uunet!drharry!aboritz Harry's Place BBS (drharry.UUCP) - Mahwah NJ USA - +1-201-934-0861 ------------------------------ From: vantek@aol.com Reply-To: vantek@aol.com Date: Sun, 28 Nov 93 08:12:30 EST Subject: FCC: No! GTE!!! This little blurb was included in the November 15, 1993 edition of {Advertising Age Magazine}: GTE ORDERED TO QUIT CALIF. INTERACTIVE TEST STAMFORD, Conn.- The Federal Communications Commission last week ordered GTE Corp. to end its involvement in a troubled test of interactive TV services in Cerritos, Calif., effective next March. The FCC gave GTE a special waiver in 1989 from rules barring one company from providing both cable and phone service in a community, but cited a court ruling that questioned the original decision in rescinding the waiver. The move creates further confusion about the implications of growing ownership ties between phone and cable companies. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #786 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa22277; 29 Nov 93 14:27 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA08685 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Mon, 29 Nov 1993 10:23:19 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA30534 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Mon, 29 Nov 1993 10:23:01 -0600 Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 10:23:01 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311291623.AA30534@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #787 TELECOM Digest Mon, 29 Nov 93 10:23:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 787 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson GM Hughes Wins U.S. Foothold In Cellular Deal With BellSouth (Alex Cena) Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D (Scott D. Fybush) AT&T Refund Check (Laurence Chiu) Mobile Radio List Announcement (Paul Robinson) The Superhighway and Telco's (John Antypas) Possible Layoffs at Bell Canada (Nigel Allen) We're Going to Start Using X400 (Dave Niebuhr) Bell Canada Uses Fax-on-Demand for News Updates (Nigel Allen) Information Needed on UPT (Phil Price) Book Review: Free Electronic Networks (Bill Shefski) Case Studies For Faxback/Fax on Demand (Jim McCormack) Paper in Signcomm'93 (eewales@uxmail.ust.hk) Request For Information on Long Distance Carrier (David Wade) Wireless Audio LAN Technology (Rayan Zachariassen) International Calls via Cable or Satellite (Bill Garfield) Re: 811 and 911 (Carl Moore) Country Code for St. Pierre et Miquelon (Jack Hamilton) Gary Moore of "I've Got a Secret" Dies (Joe Kubasha) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 11:07:06 EST From: Alex Cena Subject: GM Hughes Wins U.S. Foothold In Cellular Deal With BellSouth From {Wall Street Journal} 11/29/93 By Jeff Cole LOS ANGELES -- Hughes Aircraft Co., securing a foothold in the U.S. cellular-transmission market, is expected to announce that it won a contract valued at nearly $400 million to provide cellular switching equipment and technology for BellSouth Corp., The Wall Street Journal reported. Hughes, a unit of General Motors Corp., had to discount heavily to dislodge entrenched providers of cellular technology such as Motorola Corp., according to people familiar with the terms. And the contract gives it only a tiny slice of the $10 billion-a-year U.S. market for cellular systems and services. With the contract, however, defense giant Hughes is poised to make further inroads in the U.S. cellular market for current and emerging systems. It also brings credibility for a drive by Hughes to boost growing cellular-system sales in developing regions such as China, the former Soviet Union and Southeast Asia. The award by BellSouth, which is expected to be announced today, was confirmed by officials of both Hughes and BellSouth Cellular Corp., the BellSouth unit serving 1.8 million cellular customers in 15 states. A spokesman for Motorola, based in Schaumburg, Ill., couldn't be reached to comment. Other providers of the equipment and services include American Telephone & Telegraph Co. and Sweden's L.M. Ericsson. People familiar with the agreement said it will total close to $400 million for equipment and services over a five-year period through 1999. Under the deal, Hughes will provide 54 cities in the Southeastern U.S. with its GMH2000 cellular network, including placement of wireless transmission equipment at 450 sites. The Hughes system, which uses switching technology provided by Alcatel SEL of Germany, includes advanced mobile-switching centers that link wireless calls to traditional telephone company lines. The equipment can accommodate both analog and highly compressed digital signals. That flexibility was a central factor in the award to Hughes. Rick Clawson, a vice president for BellSouth Cellular, said the Hughes contract systems will give many customers "the most technically advanced network systems." While Hughes had to cut prices to land the deal, its managers nonetheless were crowing over the win. Hughes efforts to prove its system included a 22-month test in cooperation with BellSouth in Mobile, Ala. Other major cities to be served by Hughes equipment include New Orleans; Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla.; Memphis and Nashville, Tenn.; and Richmond, Va. "We've been doing quite nicely internationally," said Jack Shaw, chairman of Hughes Network Systems, which is based in Bethesda, Md., but the BellSouth contract "lends all sort of new credentials. It just ups your credibility 100%." Hughes also is advancing in development of equipment for the new cellular digital packet data network, or CDPD, which transmits data messages in electronic envelopes. CDPD, which was developed by McCaw Cellular Communications Inc. and a consortium that includes International Business Machines Corp., is scheduled to be completed next year. Paul Callahan, a senior analyst with Forrester Research Inc., says CDPD should play a major role in expanding the nascent data transmission market. Buoyed by innovations like CDPD, the wireless data market could hit $600 million in revenue by 1995, estimates Herschel Shosteck, a cellular consultant in Silver Spring, Md. Even so, data will still represent a relatively minuscule part of the overall market. ------------------------------ From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) Subject: Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 05:40:23 GMT According to radio ads being heard by a friend in Rochester NY, Rochester Tel will change over this week from 1 + 7D for long distance in 716 to just 7D. This poses a few problems. First, almost any LD call from the Rochester exchanges is inter-LATA. 716 is divided into two LATAs. The Buffalo LATA encompasses all of 716 except the Roch Tel areas and a few other areas inside the Roch Tel zone which are still served by indies (including Ogden Telephone and a few Contel exchanges.) I suspect LD carriers will be upset about this one ... especially if Roch Tel tries to default customers to its own RCI long-distance service. More to the point, it's difficult for the average Rochester customer to know at a glance what's LD and what isn't. The Rochester-area exchanges are strewn roughly evenly across the numbering space, and so (just to give one example), 282-XXXX is Niagara Falls, while 288-XXXX is a local Rochester call. Rochester has been adding NXXs (actually still NNXs) right and left ... to the degree that I can't even keep up with it when I go home. One other thing that will have to go: Rochester has toll-free dialing to a few points in Wayne County, in the 315 NPA. A few, 315-524 Ontario and 315-986 Macedon, are still dialed with only 7D. (Others that have been added more recently are dialed 1 + 315 + 7D.) Presumably Roch Tel will have to change all these over to 1 + 315 + 7D. Does anyone in the NY Tel half (ie the Buffalo LATA) of 716 know what the dialing method will be there? -=Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com=- -now living in 617, where there are only 8 NXXs that are LD to me!- ------------------------------ From: lchiu@crl.com (Laurence Chiu) Subject: AT&T Refund Check Date: 28 Nov 1993 09:57:11 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access I just got a postcard from AT&T saying that I needed to call them and say how I wanted my refund check. Apparently I was enrolled in a plan that offered me one month free LD by refunding the average LD bill for the last six months. I had a choice of either a check to be used as I wish or AT&T LD certificates. Although the choice would be made via an automated phone menu system I requested an operator to find out how much my refund was. To my pleasant surprise it was going to be $92! When asked by the AT&T operator did I use AT&T for all my LD requirements, I replied I guess I must if my average was $92. Anyway not a bad deal. By way of a postscript I had been having all kinds of problems with PacBell actioning my requests to AT&T to enroll me in their Reach Out World plan. For three months all my international LD calls were rated at normal rates, not at the ROW rates and I had to call each month for the bill to be re-rated (sometimes I would have > $200 for LD!). I suspect my average is based on the amounts prior to re-rating :-) Laurence Chiu Walnut Creek, California Phone(Work) : 510-215-3730 Internet: lchiu@crl.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1993 09:17:37 EST Reply-To: 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM Subject: Mobile Radio List Announcement From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA land-mobile-radio@stat.com The purpose of the Land Mobile Radio list, land-mobile-radio, is to promote technical conversation regarding commercial land mobile two-way radio communications and associated systems and accessories. In addition to conversation buying, selling and trading of commercial land mobile equipment is allowed. To add yourself to this list, please send electronic mail to listserv@stat.com and include the command: subscribe land-mobile-radio as the first line of your message. To send mail to be distributed to all subscribers mail to land-mobile-radio@stat.com and send normal subject and text. To remove yourself from this server, please send electronic mail to: listserv@stat.com and include the command: Unsubscribe land-mobile-radio as the first line of your message. For more information contact the owner listed below. Owner: land-mobile-radio-request@stat.com ------------------------------ From: jantypas@netcom.com (John Antypas) Subject: The Superhighway and Telcos Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1993 21:40:31 GMT Just a thought I thought I'd throw out to the net. With the SuperHighway concept being pushed as if we don't have many of the pieces already, I noticed a potential problem in the deployment. Right now, the Internet providers above a certain user mass (Netcom, UUNet, PSI, et al) are all attempting to cover the country in POPs for obvious reasons. If this continues, one could assume that one day, every city would have a PSI, Netcom, Alternet, et al POP in it. Surely that won't help anyone. We'd all like OUR Providers POP to be in OUR city, but the phone line load would be MUCH too high! 1. Has any provider ever thought of expanding the CIX concept for POPs? At some point, why not share the dialin lines in cities for PSI, UUNet Netcom and Cerfnet? More cities covered, same costs (maybe). There a lot of work to be done here. 2. If not, the Baby Bells are trying to get into this too. They DO have the phone lines in regional areas, they can provide the web across the country. However, at least in the past, they have shown themselves incapable of providing a price structure anywhere NEAR that of the Internet providers for the SAME level of service (or worse). PacTel can't provide me with 14.4Kb data for anywhere near the cost of what Netcom is providing it to me. If this is correct, how are the providers going to cope with the RBOC issue. John Antypas / 21st Century Software Walnut Creek CA jantypas@soft21.s21.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 07:07:11 -0500 From: ndallen@io.org (Nigel Allen) Subject: Possible Layoffs at Bell Canada Organization: Internex Online (io.org) Data: 416-363-3783 Voice: 416-363-8676 Bell Canada's request for federal unemployment insurance money to finance a reduced work week for some of its unionized employees has been turned down, according to a recent report in Toronto {Globe and Mail}. Bell Canada had proposed to cut its workers hours and wages by 20%, so that they would be working and paid for a four-day work week, but they would also receive 57% of their lost wages from the unemployment insurance program. Layoffs now seem likely. (There are some areas where Bell is already short-staffed, such as the repair answer bureaus and the tellers in the public office.) Bell Canada blames the cutbacks on the recent CRTC decision rejecting a proposed general rate increase. But Bell has won several other recent applications to the CRTC, including one to impose charges for long distance directory assistance and another to make all new subscribers pay extra for a TouchTone line. As well, "upgroupings" continue to increase Bell's revenues. (Rates for basic monthly telephone service from Bell Canada are determined both by the category of service -- residential single-party, say, or business metered -- and the rate group for the exchange, which is a function of the number of telephone numbers that the subscriber can make as a local call, which is increased by a distance-related weighting factor in the case of suburban exchanges that can call a neighbouring city as a local call. As the number of telephone numbers increases, communities are moved from a lower rate group to a higher one, and their monthly phone rates increase correspondingly.) Bell Canada is a subsidiary of BCE Inc., which has made some unsuccessful investments in the real estate business and the banking industry. There has been considerable speculation that BCE Inc. will sell Montreal Trust for rather less than what it originally paid for the trust company. (Most Americans would call Montreal TRrust a bank, but Canadian law distinguishes between regular "chartered" banks and trust companies.) Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ndallen@io.org ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 07:53:06 EST From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: We're Going to Start Using X400 I received this last Wednesday in response to a question posed about CCMAIL by a user. Problem Statement| User says the all DOE offices use CCMAIL to directly | send email between them and wanted to know if the lab | should or could be connected directly to this mailing | system without going through a gateway. Left voice message for the user. When he calls back, I'll tell him that BNLnet mail is primarily smtp; DOE-wide backbone of near-future is X.400; cc:mail is an application that can be used for mail carried over X.400 via gateways. The plan here is to establish our own gateway(s) to X.400; will certainly include X.400 <--> smtp; may also include X.400 <--> ???. ------------ DOE is the United States of Energy, and BNL is one of its research labs operated under contract to Associated Universities, Inc. which is composed of nine northeastern universities: Brown, Columbia, Cornell Dartmouth, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, MIT Priceton, and Yale. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 09:07:36 -0500 From: ndallen@io.org Subject: Bell Canada Uses Fax-on-Demand for News Updates Organization: Internex Online (io.org) Data: 416-363-3783 Voice: 416-363-8676 Bell Canada is using a fax-on-demand service to provide moderately up-to-date information on the CRTC hearings into telephone company regulation. To receive a fax with the latest news about the hearings, people can call 1-800-663-8536 from a touchtone phone and follow the voice prompts. This probably only works from phones in Canada, and possibly only within Bell Canada territory. Even so, it's a neat idea, and it will be interesting to see whether any U.S. telephone companies adopt fax-on-demand technology for marketing material or internal staff newsletters. Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ndallen@io.org ------------------------------ From: pprice@qualcomm.com (Phil Price) Subject: Information Wanted on UPT Date: 29 Nov 1993 06:43:24 GMT Organization: Qualcomm Inc. Does anyone have any information on UPT? I am currently looking at the problem of international roaming (in a mobile environment). The problem is that if a mobile roams internationally, then any calls to that mobile will cause a circuit to be set up to the home system, and another circuit to wherever the mobile is currently located (this can cause the 'tromboning' effect that is usually described in the literature). Currently, numbering plans are used to identify mobile stations (and avoid the circuit setup), but this is not particularly useful. UPT is a system designed to address this problem, but I don't know anything more than that. If someone could send me some information, or tell me where I can find out moe I would be very grateful. Thanks, Phil ------------------------------ Subject: Book Review: Free Electronic Networks From: bill.shefski@pics.com (Bill Shefski) Date: Sun, 28 Nov 93 22:20:00 -0500 Organization: Pics OnLine MultiUser System - 609-753-2540 Reply-To: bill.shefski@pics.com (Bill Shefski) ***Special to Telecom Digest*** November 28, 1993 The first ever paper-and-ink book on the subject of the relay messaging networks that connect privately owned and operated electronic bulletin board systems (BBS) hit the stores this week. _Free Electronic Networks_ is written to help get a novice up and started on their first tentative steps into the most accessable area of cyberspace, but has hard information for the veteran, including a history of telecommunication and a meaty directory of BBS phone numbers all over the world. Free Electronic Networks by William J. Shefski Prima Computer Books, Rocklin CA 496 pp. Table of Contents 1. Webs in Cyberspace - geography, history and sociology of computer-mediated communication. 2. Who Echoes - profiling several actual regular people one might encounter on the echo nets. 3. Echo Tech - outlining the various relay-style networking technologies. 4. Tools for Echoing - survey of software from the user end, including evaluations of communication and offline mail reader programs. 5. How to Echo - a basic, hand-holding walk-through from behind the eyes of a hypothetical new user. 6. What Echoes - interesting phenomenon -- and nonsense -- one encounters while cruising the nets. Appendix - including a glossary; a listing of the names of mail reader software for many computing platforms; a directory containing the phone numbers of BBSs attached to 70 different echo networks; and an index of their discussion area topics. Wide distribution of this title in the English-speaking world is anticipated, but if your bookstore does not stock it, and/or if you'd like to have a reduced-price, author-inscribed copy, you can be part in an ongoing "virtual booksigning party" by using the form below. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Please send me one copy of _Free Electronic Networks_. I saw the information in TELECOM Digest. Enclosed is my money order for $23 (U.S. funds only please). My Name _____________________________ My Address _____________________________ _____________________________ _____________________________ Name for Inscription ----------------------------- (if different than above) Send to: Bill Shefski P.O. Box 233 Clementon, New Jersey 08021 USA North American postage included. Outside North America please include suitable return postage estimated for 500-page soft-bound volume. NJ residents include sales tax. Thank you. See you on the nets.........BS Pics OnLine MultiUser System 609/753-2540 HST 609/753-2605 (V32bis) Massive File Collection - Over 45,000 Files OnLine - 250 Newsgroups ------------------------------ From: as965@yfn.ysu.edu (Jim McCormack) Subject: Case Studies for Faxback/Fax on Demand Date: 29 Nov 1993 03:23:20 GMT Organization: Youngstown State/Youngstown Free-Net I'm doing a paper on Fax on Demand applications and I am looking for any case studies in this area. If anyone has any information on where I might find any I would greatly appreciate you passing it on. Thanks in advance for your help. Jim McCormack 617-935-4850 X352 617-932-9939 Fax mccorm4_jame@eos.bentley.edu ------------------------------ From: eewales@uxmail.ust.hk (Desperate Submarine) Subject: Paper in Signcomm'93 Organization: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 13:17:34 +0800 I am currently looking for a paper in the Proceeding of ACM Signcomm'93. Unfortunately, I cannot get access to it in my Univerisity Library. Therefore, I would like to ask you to give a helping hand. Can you give me the library that has the described paper? The details are as follow: Title: On the Self-Similar Nature of Etherenet Traffic Author: Lelard, Willinger Thanks in advance :0 Submarine ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 08:48:18 MST From: djw@aerie.LANL.GOV (David Wade) Subject: Request For Information on Long Distance Carrier So, against my better judgement, I finally got another phone. I live up in the Mountains of New Mexico, and I am in the process of buying a new house. While having the phone switched over, the "Service Rep" asked me which long distance service I wanted ... I couldn't remember the "Orange" one described on here awhile back, and so I ended up with "the default". Does anyone remember the particulars on that "Orange" telco? [Moderator's Note: The Orange Card is an independent long distance calling card. The rates are 25 cents per minute and there is no surcharge for its use. It works like any other calling card in the way calls are dialed, etc. It bills in six second increments after the intial thirty second minimum. Write for details if you want the brochure and service application: ptownson@townson.com. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rayan@utcc.utoronto.ca (Rayan Zachariassen) Subject: Wireless Audio LAN Technology Organization: University of Toronto Computing & Communications Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 02:43:04 -0500 Hi, I'm looking on behalf of my dad for a telephone-quality (or much better) wireless audio technology with the following characteristics: - There is a mobile wireless lightweight unit with a headset or equivalent. - Useable both indoors and outdoors. - Density of dozens or hundreds of active mobile units on different channels within a room, and/or thousands within a building. - Continuous signal while unit moves around within reach of any base unit. - Automatic location tracking. - Bandwidth is primarily *to* the mobile unit. A very low bandwidth backchannel is required (12 codes (DTMF) is probably sufficient). - Has a concept of "session" (conversation). - Cheap (its a non-profit high-volume application). - Sessions are likely to last 30 minutes to 2 hours. - Multiline LCD display on mobile unit is desirable. I can imagine a few possibilities, but would rather hear from people without injecting my own bias. If you know of products that might fit the bill, or come close, or could be modified, or you want to manufacture it, I'd appreciate a vendor name and city/phone number. Thanks, rayan ------------------------------ Subject: International Calls via Cable or Satellite From: bill.garfield@yob.sccsi.com (Bill Garfield) Date: Sun, 28 Nov 93 13:04:00 -0600 Organization: Ye Olde Bailey BBS - Houston, TX - 713-520-1569 Reply-To: bill.garfield@yob.sccsi.com (Bill Garfield) I remember someone telling me once that when placing international calls -from- the US that it was possible to -force- the call to take the undersea cable path as opposed to routing via satellite and that there was also some valid reason why a person might want to do this, like for fax or modem calls f'rinstance. Seems there was another reason also, having something to do with the broadcast media.(?) Alas I have lost my notes but recall that the magic was supposedly a two-digit "access" code that you simply inserted ahead of the country code. Can anyone share this info and/or enlighten us as to its possible uses? Bill Garfield Ye Olde Bailey BBS 713-520-1569 (V.32bis) 713-520-9566 (V.32bis) Houston,Texas yob.sccsi.com Home of alt.cosuard ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 9:44:38 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: 811 and 911 Some switches have allowed local calls within that exchange to be dialed with less than seven digits (thinking of the example where you have local service only to one prefix). BUT ON SECOND THOUGHT: many if not all of the cases of less-than-seven-digit-local-call would have been before there was a 911. ------------------------------ From: jfh@netcom.com (Jack Hamilton) Subject: Country Code for St. Pierre et Miquelon Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 01:45:24 GMT Why is St-Pierre et Miquelon (country code 508) listed with the South American countries? It's several hundred miles farther north than that other South American country right next to it, Canada. Jack Hamilton POB 281107 SF CA 94128 USA jfh@netcom.com kd6ttl@w6pw.#nocal.ca.us.na [Moderator's Note: It is not listed with the North American country code '1' because it is a territory of France rather than being part of Canada or the USA. It could be in '1' if it were an independent country. This relates back to the politics of how country codes were assigned originally many years ago. France has always kept a tight control on their telecom things. It's a long story, and too involved for this issue where space is already running short. Anyway, the choice was '1' for North America or 5xx for anything south of Del Rio or Brownsville, Texas, and they opted for the latter. PAT] ------------------------------ From: KUBASHA@engvax.picker.com (JOE KUBASHA) Subject: Gary Moore of "I've Got a Secret" Dies Organization: PICKER INTERNATIONAL Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 14:27:06 GMT A few weeks back there was some discussion in this group about the cast of "I've Got A Secret." I just heard on the news last night that the host, Gary Moore, passed away over the weekend. Joe ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #787 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa05844; 30 Nov 93 17:33 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA21773 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Tue, 30 Nov 1993 13:32:19 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA14446 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 30 Nov 1993 13:32:02 -0600 Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 13:32:02 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311301932.AA14446@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #788 TELECOM Digest Tue, 30 Nov 93 13:32:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 788 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Summary: T1 Equipment With Modem Banks etc. (Aninda Dasgupta) Research Assistantship - High Speed Networking (Joseph B. Evans) TIME Puts Internet Population at 20 Million (Philip Elmer-DeWitt) AC 520 for Arizona in March 1995 (Steve Grandi) Digital Mobile Radio Mailing List (Peter Decker) Roaming, CDMA, TDMA etc. (was Re: GSM Interference) (Phil Price) NPA For Saudi Arabia (Marita A. O'Brien) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 14:00:31 EST From: add@philabs.Philips.Com (Aninda Dasgupta) Subject: Summary: T1 Equipment With Modem Banks etc. A number of people from the net asked me to forward whatever information I have received regarding equipment needed to connect 24 modems to a T1 line. Below I have described the main features of each. All this information is what I have assimilated from market-speak and brochures of the vendors. Summary of my application's needs: I want to provide two kinds of services to my geographically distributed salespeople; both services are to be provided from a workstation-based server. Service 1: Salesperson dials in from his laptop and on my end I want to dump some ASCII and graphics messages on his laptop screen -- pretty much like a remote terminal server. Service 2: Salesperson dials in from a POTS telephone, uses DTMF keys to choose a service and gets messages played back and/or a fax sent to a fax machine -- very much like voice-mail systems, banks offering credit card balance information and fax-back systems. I need the two services to be served off one workstation because the information accessible via the two services (using modems or telephone sets) is identical and because I want to aggregate my incoming lines onto a single T1 so that I can get good LD rates from my LD provider. Vendors that have products that allow offering such services are listed below. 1) US Robotics - Total Control WAN Hub This is a rack-mount product, with a chassis and various options offered on cards. They have a dual-T1 card with drop-insert capabilities, frac. T1 enabled, accepts ANI/DNIS and requires no external CSU. The DSP-based quad-modem cards have built-in fax-modem (V.32bis) capabilities, can access DNIS, can load DNIS-dependent modem configuration, will (someday) route the data to LAN adapters (instead of RS-232 ports) and can originate and terminate fax/modem calls. USR also talks about having LAN adapter cards being available in early '94, which will allow direct connections to a a Token-ring or Ethernet. The description of this feature is quite confusing in the glossies as they keep talking about a PC'based software module that acts as the LAN gateway (I suppose they have a proprietary link from the chassis to a PC-based adapter and then software on the PC routes the data to the PC's LAN adapter card for delivery to the LAN). The LAN transport protocol to be used can be anything of your choice. USR will also have X.25 and Frame Relay cards that go in the same chassis. The chassis and some of the cards are controllable/monitorable using SNMP, either from a PC (with software available from USR) or from any other SNMP host on the LAN. Some of the cards are also controllable via RS-232 dumb terminals. They will also have a terminal server card (I don't know how many terminal ports, or what protocol e.g. TCP/IP, will be supported). Although the USR product looked the most attractive, I found that none of their technical people were very knowledgeable about this product. This may be because this is a very new product, with seemingly no known installations. Efforts at reaching someone who is actually developing the system or is sufficiently familiar with the features of the product proved futile. In talking with various people at USR I got the impression that many of the cards and software they describe in their brochures are still not available. One major drawback I found in their offerings is the lack of voice support. If I want to turn any of the incoming DS0 channels on my T1 into a voice grade service, (service 2 in my summary above) they don't have any cards that will do just the PCM demodulation and give me POTS voice lines with RJ11 jacks. I guess one could program one of the modem cards to not do the V.32bis handshake and simply shutup on an incoming voice call, but these modem cards don't seem to have RJ11 ports off which I could hang telephone sets (or my workstation's voice response card). If I remember right, someone at USR promised such voice cards in early '93. For more (and perhaps accurate) information, contact US Robotics at (800) 342-5877. The gentleman I spoke to was Michael Cashman, Ext. 5636. 2) Primary Access I found out about Primary Access from, among other, its founder, Jim Dunn. They are reachable by email. They seem to have a larger installed base of their product as compared to the USR product described above. This prouduct is also a chassis based system. The single-T1 card has drop-insert capabilities, is not capable of frac. T1 (from what I could gather from their glossies), needs an external CSU (but only for loop-back testing) and accepts ANI/DNIS. However, the ANI/DNIS is accessible to a host computer only if you use an X.25 link between the chassis and the host. This means, in order to get the ANI/DNIS, you need to buy an X.25 card for the chassis and an X.25 card and software for the host. The dual-modem cards are V.32bis compatible, can do DTMF decoding, can originate and terminate modem calls, and they promise routing of modem data to LANs within the next year. These cards don't seem to be as feature rich as the USR cards (e.g. on the fly, DNIS-dependent configuration download, etc.). They offer X.25 cards and Frame Relay too. Network management is done using CMIP. All software on the cards can be downloaded for upgrades. Voice call support is provided using their eight-port FXS cards (something that is lacking in the USR offering at this time). They have promised Ethernet support in about a year. They assured me that they can price their products very aggressively. For more information call: (619) 536-3000 Fax: (619) 693-8829 3) Dialogic This is a all-in-a-PC solution. Dialogic offers a T1 interface card for the IBM PC bus. This card provides access to ANI/DNIS, has drop-insert capabilities and requires an external CSU for loop-back testing. They have various versions of the T1 card, offering various options for the number of T1 ports. Also offered is a PC-based four-channel Voice card that does DSP-based call processing. Combined with Dialogic's voice-processing software (PCM encode/decode API) and DTMF recognition capabilities, this card provides an excellent way to implement voice-based services. Dialogic also offers fax boards that will allow you to send out faxes from the PC. The PC, equipped with a LAN adapter card can, via the application software route all data to a network. I am not aware of network monitoring features (SNMP or CMIP). Also missing is any V.32bis modem capabilties. One attraction of going the Dialogic way is the elimination of any cabling which is needed to connect the USR or Primary Access products to any host system (e.g. RS-232, twisted-pair etc.). All the cards use Dialogic's PEB bus for internal data transfers. For more information call Dialogic Sales and Technical Support: (201) 334-1268. 4) IBM's CallPath Line of Products: IBM offers a uniform API to interface to phone systems, independent of the the PBX vendor and the host system platform. e.g. one could use the same programs to implement CallPath-based applications on MVS, AS/400, OS/2 and AIX based systems and interface to PBXs from Rolm, NT, etc. One requirement is the PS/2 based CallPath SwitchServer/2, which seems to be a system that has hard-wired links to the PBX and sits on the LAN and serves all requests for operations from the CallPath host. The host to SwitchServer link is supported using SNA LU6.2 (yuk!!). They support DID, DNIS, CLID, ANI etc. and have T1 boards for the RS/6000 (I am not aware if they have boards for the PS/2 and mid to main frame systems, but I assume they do). Although an interesting product with a seemingly rich API to perform all kinds of call routing etc, the main drag is the PS/2 requirement to interface to a PBX (what if I don't have a PBX?). For more information call: (800) IBM-CALL and ask for information on CallPath line of products. Summary and Wish List: The Primary Access and USR offerings look equally attractive. I wish the USR product line had a POTS voice card with RJ11 jacks. And I wish they would actually have products for sale instead of promising me everything next year. I wish Primary Access delivered ANI/DNIS without X.25. I wish both USR and Primary Access had LAN adapters for their chassis so that I wouldn't need to run 24 RS-232 cables from the modem cards to my workstation. (Getting a workstation equipped with 24 serial ports is quite difficult.) The Dialogic product can be neatly packaged in a PC, but I don't trust a PC to do my important call processing and service providing functions. And Dialogic doesn't provide V.32bis modem-banks in their PC solutions. Finally, I wish the IBM product didn't need a PBX and a PS/2 to interface to it. I DO NOT GUARANTEE the accuracy of any of this information. As I said, this is what I have understood or guessed from whatever information I was able to gather directly from the vendors. I might have misunderstood some deficiencies, or unknowingly embellished some features. If so, this is surely unintentional. If anybody familiar with these products finds any inaccuracies, I'd appreciate being told about it. If anybody knows of any other such products, I would like to hear about them too. Thanks to all those who responded to my queries on this forum. 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 ------------------------------ Subject: Research Assistantship - High Speed Networking From: evans@hamming.uucp (Joseph B. Evans) Date: 30 Nov 93 07:01:03 CDT Organization: Elec. Eng. & Comp. Sci., Univ. of Kansas Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) for High Speed Wireless Networking Research University of Kansas Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Telecommunications and Information Sciences Laboratory (TISL) Lawrence, Kansas TISL is looking for qualified, creative individuals with a desire to pursue graduate research and education in high speed wireless link and networking technologies. The position requires an undergraduate or MS degree in EE, ECE, or CS with credentials for admission to the University of Kansas Graduate School. Good communication skills, strong self-motivation, and the ability to work as part of a team are required. A background in communications systems and/or networking is desired. The individual will join a team of faculty and students pursuing sponsored research in high speed wireless communications networks and in the hardware and software development of a prototype high speed wireless Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) system. This position is an opportunity to develop the telecommunications technology of the future. TISL has state-of-the-art communications and computing facilities. We are a founding member of the MAGIC gigabit testbed and have experiential ATM and long distance SONET facilities. Within TISL, faculty and students address challenging research issues in various aspects of telecommunications, ranging from high speed networks to wireless communications systems and advanced spread spectrum techniques. The interaction between the laboratory and the other EECS faculty contribute to the stimulating intellectual environment. The University of Kansas is located in Lawrence, a city of about 75,000 people, which is situated in the rolling hills of eastern Kansas, about an hour's drive from Kansas City. The city of Lawrence has a long history and retains may interesting reminders of its colorful past. The community has 1,257 acres of public parks, indoor and outdoor community swimming pools, an arts center, an historical museum, and an active community education and recreation program. Interested applicants should submit two copies of both a resume and cover letter requesting application forms to: Dr. Victor S. Frost Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Director, Telecommunications and Information Sciences Laboratory University of Kansas 2291 Irving Hill Road Lawrence, KS 66045-6929 Phone: (913) 864-4833 FAX: (913) 864-7789 e-mail: frost@eecs.ukans.edu ------------------------------ From: ped@panix.com (Philip Elmer-DeWitt) Subject: TIME Puts Internet Population at 20 Million Date: 29 Nov 1993 22:16:49 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In a three-page article in the TIME Magazine issue dated 12/6/93, the authors estimate the population of the Internet, including dial-up users, at about 20 million. The relevant paragraph: How big is the Internet? Part of its mystique is that nobody knows for sure. The only fact that can be measured precisely is the number of computers directly connected to it by high-speed links -- a figure that is updated periodically by sending a computer program crawling around like a Roto-Rooter, tallying the number of connections (last count: roughly two million). But that figure does not include military computers that for security reasons are invisible to other users, or the hundreds of people who may share a single Internet host. Nor does it include millions more who dial into the Internet through the growing number of commercial gateways, such as Panix and Netcom, which offer indirect telephone access for $10 to $20 a month. When all these users are taken into account, the total number of people around the world who can get into the Internet one way or another may be 20 million. "It's a large country," says Farber of the Internet population. "We ought to apply to the U.N. as the first nation in cyberspace." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 07:34:55 +0700 From: grandi@noao.edu Subject: AC 520 for Arizona in March 1995 US West announced yesterday that an area code split will take place in Arizona in March 1995. The Phoenix metro area will retain AC 602 while the rest of the state (Tucson, Flagstaff, Yuma, etc.) will switch to 520. Steve Grandi, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Tucson, Arizona USA Internet: grandi@noao.edu +1 602 325 9228 (after March 1995, +1 520 325 9228) ------------------------------ From: dec@dfv.rwth-aachen.de (Peter Decker) Subject: Digital Mobile Radio Mailing List Date: 29 Nov 1993 19:52:54 +0100 Organization: Communication Networks, Aachen U of Technology Ladies and Gentlemen, This is an annual announcement for the cellular-mailing-list, a ======== mailing list about digital mobile radio. ======================================= The mailing list was created here at Aachen University of Technology (Gemany) in November 1991. Up to now there are more than 650 subscribers from all over the world. Technical topics of digital mobile radio communication are discussed in this group including the following topics: - digital cellular and future phone systems e.g. GSM, PCN, DECT, UMTS, FPLMTS, TETRA, ... :-) - radio channel models - channel coding, FEC, ARQ protocols - source coding, speech-codec, data compression - signal processing - modulation technics - media access protocols (... TDMA <-> CDMA) - higher level protocols and internetworking (... mobile Internet) - short message exchange applications - wireless LAN and PABX If you would like to be considered, or if you know someone who would like to be considered, please let me know: dec@dfv.rwth-aachen.de ====================== Kind Regards, Peter Decker - Communication Networks, RWTH Aachen (University), Kopernikusstr. 16, 52074 Aachen, Germany e-mail - dec@dfv.rwth-aachen.de ,Telephone: +49-241-807916 (DG1KPD) Telefax: +49-241-84964 ------------------------------ From: pprice@qualcomm.com (Phil Price) Subject: Roaming, CDMA, TDMA etc. (was Re: GSM Interference) Date: 29 Nov 1993 23:37:19 GMT Organization: Qualcomm Inc. In article , lchiu@crl.com (Laurence Chiu) wrote: > I don't pretend to understand all this technical stuff about TDMA, GSM > or CDMA but does this mean if various companies decided to implement > different standards for digital cellular, then is roaming, which is > pretty hard already, going to be that much harder as the poor user is > going to have to know if his phone is compatible in the area he is > roaming in? Roaming problems are really unrelated to whether the phone uses AMPS, TDMA, E-TDMA, GSM or CDMA (I'll explain these later). Roaming between systems requires a supporting infrastructure and intersystem protocols. These protocols have been standardised, but are still evolving. The N.American standard is IS-41, and the European standard is GSM (more precisely, the MAP protocols). These protocols define the messaging and procedures for exchanging information between systems to allow roaming. Most of the new phones will be dual-mode -- AMPS plus one of the others, so you should be able to use it just about anywhere (without having to know about the system that you are currently using). Roaming is already available in Europe, and is rapidly being implemented in N.America. On a related issue, you should start seeing information about 'roaming' systems fairly soon. One company has just released a system claiming coverage over the whole of N.America (MobiLink?), but I think that is a PCN system. There are also several projects under way to provide global (i.e. world-wide) roaming -- the front runners in this are Qualcomm's Globalstar, Motorolla's Iridium and TRW's Odessey systems. These systems are all satellite-based but have fundamentally different operating strategies. I know the most about Globalstar, and I'm probably biased in my views, but I'll try to summarize them: Globalstar - has 48 low earth orbiting satellites covering 70 degrees north and south of the Equator. The satellites act as a communications link to ground stations (called gateways) that connect the user to the land network. the satellites have a very large coverage area on the ground (roughly 2000 miles radius, I think) and so can be used as an 'extension' facility e.g. for rural or undeveloped areas. The user terminals will generally be dual mode (though single-mode phones are planned), where one mode is Globalstar and the other mode is that of the local system that you choose (AMPS, CDMA, GSM etc.). The idea here is that a user will use the local system when coverage is available, or Globalstar coverage when it is not (i.e. when roaming) -- since the satellite covers the temperate regions all around the globe, this means that global roaming is potentially possible (when you get into it, the problems become political or commercial in nature, rather than technical). Iridium -- has lots (76? whatever the element number of Iridium is) of low-earth orbit satellites in polar orbits (I don't know what happens if a few of them get close to each other at the poles!?). The funky thing about Iridium is that the satellites do the switching in space between themselves and then sends the signal down to earth at some point close to the destination of the call i.e. it bypasses the terrestrial systems (but apparently they are discussing an option to interface to the terrestrial systems also). The advantages of this is that it doesn't depend upon the terrestrial network (especially if there isn't one!). The disadvantages are complexity (imagine all of that hardware and software in space) and cost. Odessey -- this is a TDMA-based system utilising Medium-earth orbit satellites (i.e. you don't need as many satellites, but the user terminals have to be much more powerful and there is more delay). I don't know anything more about this system. Maybe someone from Motorolla or TRW could clarify this a little? > As an aside, are TDMA and CDMA implementations of a technology known > generically as digital AMPS? All of the cellular technologies (except N-AMPS) are basically digital AMPS in that they are digital, use the AMPS call setup model and are based upon the original AMPS model (the architecture anyway). Just FYI, the main systems that are being pushed as successors to AMPS are: N-AMPS -- This system is based upon FM waveform (as is AMPS), but splits up the bands into sub-bands (three, I think) and also carries signalling data overlayed on the voice signal. This provides a 3:1 capacity gain over AMPS, but still has all of the old fading and error-correction problems of the old system (this is probably a biased opinion, since I have worked on both E-TDMA and CDMA ;-) TDMA - Known in the standards as IS-54, this uses a TDMA approach where each frequency band is divided into six repeating timeslots (frames). A user will be assigned two of these slots for conversation (or data etc.) i.e. there is a capacity gain of 3:1. Call setup is achieved using AMPS and then 'handed-off' to TDMA. E-TDMA -- Enhanced TDMA, developed by Hughes Network Systems, is an extension of TDMA where a 'pool' of (TDMA) frequencies are used to support many mobiles. The technology uses half rate vocoders (i.e. doubles capacity) and digital speech interpolation (i.e. slots are only assigned when needed). GSM -- the European equivalent of TDMA, but with a much more strongly defined architecture (on the network side) and a more integrated system. The system is fairly similar to TDMA, but doesn't rely on AMPS for call setup and has lots of other features built into the standard (data, FAX, messaging etc.). CDMA -- Code Division Multiple Access -- the relevant standard is IS-95. CDMA is a spread-spectrum technology i.e. instead of dividing the data into timeslots, the data is 'spread' across a wide band of frequencies using some pretty fancy coding tricks. All users can transmit on the same frequencies at the same time -- the signals are distinguished from each other by the coding schemes. Using this scheme, the number of users is limited by the coding, rather than the number of timeslots. I think the capacity gain is about 10:1 or more (over AMPS), but there have been plenty of articles in the trade magazines comparing CDMA to TDMA (and I'm no expert). Hope this helps, Phil ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 17:17:44 MST From: Marita A. O'Brien Subject: NPA for Saudi Arabia Several weeks ago there was talk on the Digest about a separate NPA that had been assigned for oil companies in the US to access Saudi Arabia directly. so I asked a former NANP administrator at Bell Labs about this. He said that he'd never heard of one of these existing, but it sounded similar to an issue they did have with private numbering plans a while ago. Some companies with overseas tie lines originally designed their private numbering plans to correspond with the NANP so that the system would be familiar to users. Of course, the users did not realize that these NPA's to access the tie lines were completely internal and were frusrated that they did not work on external phones. After complaints to the Bell operators when the calls didn't go through, the NANP administration decided they needed to start encouraging private network administrators to develop unique plans. I guess these have all been updated. Marita ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #788 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa06190; 30 Nov 93 17:52 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA07109 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Tue, 30 Nov 1993 14:40:25 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09356 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Tue, 30 Nov 1993 14:40:06 -0600 Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 14:40:06 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199311302040.AA09356@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #789 TELECOM Digest Tue, 30 Nov 93 14:40:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 789 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Termcap and Terminfo" by Strang/Mui/O'Reilly (Rob Slade) Blue Boxing (schmiede@hermes1.econ.uni-hamburg.de) Voice Mail Cards For Home PC (Chris Elmquist) COCOT Question (Matthew J. Miszewski) 416/905 Split Problems (David Leibold) CD-ROM Telephone Directory (Joe Bergstein) Programming Information Wanted on Audiovox CTX-3200E (John R. Levine) Researching Phones and Privacy (Vernon B. Seniva) Passive Radiating Cellular Antennas? (David Fiedler) Gouging University Students on Long-Distance Service (P. Calvert) What About 510 678 5670? (John Shaver) Low $ Text->Speech, DTMF Wanted (Rod Regier) Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (Tom Crawford) Re: Experience as Interop Volunteer (Craig R. Watkins) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 29 Nov 93 13:06 -0600 From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Termcap and Terminfo" by Strang/Mui/O'Reilly BKTERMCP.RVW 931102 O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. 103 Morris Street, Suite A Sebastopol, CA 95472 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 info@ora.com "Termcap and Terminfo", Strang/Mui/O'Reilly, 1991, 0-937175-22-6 I remember a certain federal government EDP office being very smug about the fact that they were able to allow us to use WordStar on a Turbo DOS system, with VT100s, as well as whatever oddball terminals they had. Of course, we had to invoke the program with "WSVT100" since the program files were completely different, compiled with two different drivers. (For those of you who find it difficult to install WordPerfect, you would have *hated* early MS-DOS versions of WordStar, with many settings required during the installation process harking back to the various terminal options of previous systems.) I also recall getting the (then) brand new VT320 terminals in another VAX shop. Well pleased with having the latest technology, I hooked it up, logged on, started All-in-1 ... and was presented with the TTY menu. The VT320 was so new at that time that the All-in-1 driver had not yet been completed. Such is life in the technological fast lane. Some programs simply print line after line of information, seeing the screen as an infinitely long roll of typewriter paper. Most of the more interesting applications, however, want more than that. They want to be able to "paint" a screen, use areas of it for windows, change text depending upon the user's interaction, allow choices by highlighting items from a menu, and so forth. To do this, the program needs to know the functions and commands for the terminal. Therefore, you need a different program, or a different driver, for each terminal type to be used. The vi editor is now considered to be difficult, awkward and unfriendly. When Bill Joy first wrote it, though, it was a remarkable advance on what was available. Therefore, there was a great demand to port it to different systems ... and *many* different terminals. In true UNIX community "roll your own" fashion, Joy developed a system whereby a library of terminal capability subroutines could be linked to a database describing the commands for each terminal. This system, because it dealt with *ter*minal *cap*abilities was referred to as termcap. Termcap is used in BSD versions of UNIX; a slightly variant version called terminfo is used in System V. Curses, a more modern subroutine library, can also use termcap terminal database entries. Although intended for use by system administrators, this book is so very well designed and written that it makes termcap and terminfo accessible to reasonably computer-literate users as well. Writing device drivers is hard, but the difficulty tends to lie in the availability of tools, and the time needed to cover all the bases. This book points to, and explains, the tools, and allows users to experiment with what is important to them on their own time. Part one, chapters one to six, is a tutorial covering the basic concepts, syntax, environment variables and basic commands. Part two, chapters seven to sixteen, is basically the termcap language reference. Appendices cover vi capabilities, access from C programs, and a cross-reference. You may be fortunate enough to have a full and debugged terminal database. If not, and particularly if your users insist on a variety of PC terminal emulators of questionable "accuracy", then you need this book. If nothing else, you can give it to the user who insists on "Joe's Modem Supreme Program" and tell him to figure it out for himself. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKTERMCP.RVW 931102 Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of the TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ From: schmiede@hermes1.econ.uni-hamburg.de Subject: Blue Boxing Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 16:45:44 GMT Organization: University of Hamburg, Department of BA and Economics Hello everybody, Does somebody know something about emulating Telecom's frequencies in Germany? Is there a program existing doing something like this? Help wanted. Thanks a lot. Send mail! [Moderator's Note: If anyone wants to help this German phreak do his thing, then be! my! guest! Please don't bother writing me with your answers to him. Now, if he had entitled his message 'Doing Research Project in Phone Networks' I might take more interest. PAT] ------------------------------ From: elmquist@MR.Net (Chris Elmquist) Subject: Voice Mail Cards For Home PC Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 22:48:30 GMT Organization: Minnesota Regional Network Can anyone recommend (for/or against) a voice mail card for a home system? I have heard of Watson, Big Mouth, The Complete PC, Tysin, etc. Here's the features I'm looking for: Several mailboxes (most support hundreds or thousands so this isn't likely a problem). I want to call a different pager (potentially) for each mailbox when vmail has arrived for that mailbox. I want to access the thing from any phone in the house (so it's likely wired between all of my phones and the CO which is not a problem). Do any of them produce "stutter dialtone" like a Centrex voice mail would? Can I even hook them up this way? The PC I'm intending to run this from would not be easily accessible (it's under the basement steps) so looking at the screen to determine if messages are waiting would not be possible ... so, I need to do it with DTMF from any of the phones. A real gee-whiz would be to be able to remotely connect other stuff to the phone line under DTMF control ... so, for example I access a certain mailbox and enter some codes which switch my FAX or my modem onto the line. I would expect that this requires some other "stuff" connected to the PC, but it might be as simple as some relays hooked to the parallel port. The key would be that the vmail card and associated software would allow this. This might require a "developers package" for the vmail card, so maybe I'm just asking which ones support end-user development. Any and all info appreciated. Thanks, Chris ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 08:55 CDT From: Matthew J Miszewski Subject: COCOT Question I came across a COCOT the other day that had an interesting feature. You could call the cab companies for free. I know they work on a local loop, but how are certain numbers allowed out? I tried to dial numbers with the same prefix but it wanted the quarter? I'm curious as to how a COCOT owner could add this kind of end user functionality to what I always thought was a pre-packaged package. Matt [Moderator's Note: There are lots of COCOTS which allow restriction to seven or ten digits. Whoever owns the phone you used had it programmed to allow certain seven digit numbers to go through for free, and he probably either owns the cab company he sends calls to as well, or else he and the cab company have a deal of some kind. PAT] ------------------------------ From: djcl@io.org Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 23:57:39 -0500 Subject: 416/905 Split Problems From Wireline Communications conference on PCPN, a U.S. view of the 416/905 area code split and how MCI is handling it ... [start of article text] Msg # : 527 of 527 - Ref 115/1374 From : SCOTT MACLEAN To: MIKE FELLHAUER Posted : 1850h on 19-Nov-93 * CONF 130 Subject: 905 MF > It has nothing to do with Bell Canada forgetting to activate it. It | MF > does however have to do with Bell either not telling other phone | MF > companies in the world about 905, or those phone companies not caring | MF > about Canada. | I called MCI the other day to adjust my account, and when I asked about 905, they told me it was "Mexico City." Scott MacLean - Sysop Node 115 * Horizons Artificial Horizons - Gaithersburg, MD * Node 115 [end of quoted post...] via David Leibold [Moderator's Note: So he got some ignorant MCI service rep who was working out of a *very old* copy of the AT&T Area Code directory. What is strange about that? MCI *is* putting calls through to 905 correctly when the local telcos are handing the calls over. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joe.Bergstein@p501.f544.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Joe Bergstein) Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 11:46:51 -0500 Subject: CD-ROM Telephone Directory Regarding discussion of CD-ROM directories, I have noticed that Bell Atlantic is now joining the club. BA recently advertised a new service offering their entire white pages for their seven states on CD-ROM, with monthly updates available. ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Programming Information Wanted on Audiovox CTX-3200E Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 0:29:10 EST I have a spiffy new Audiovox CTX-3200E car phone. Does anyone have the programming info on it? It appears that I can just key in a new phone number and system number without changing any parameters, but that seems too easy to be true. Also, you can program the phone not to use particular system numbers, and my phone, which I bought from the local B carrier, has the local A carrier locked out. (Funny about that.) Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: senivav@iastate.edu (Vernon B Seniva) Subject: Researching Phones and Privacy Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 05:49:08 GMT I am researching privacy in phone conversations for an English paper. I would appreciate any help anyone can offer including personal observations and good sources(specific) to find such information. In order to include this information in my paper I will need it on or before December 7. You can e-mail if you wish or post it to this group. Thank you in advance, senivav@iastate.edu [Moderator's Note: The main reason I ran this message was I thought it provided a great lead-in to what I really wanted to say, which is to welcome Len Levine as the new Moderator of Computer Privacy Digest and comp.society.privacy as of this week. He is taking over from Dennis Rears who maintained the form admirably from its beginning until the present time. Our reader will want to put his request in Professor Levine's e-journal as well as here. I don't know what changes if any are being made to the mailing list address but Len will probably announce all that soon if he has not already. For convenience here, I include his signature from a recent letter to me for those who want to contact him or inquire about Computer Privacy Digest. > Leonard P. Levine Professor of Computer Science > Moderator of Computer Privacy Digest and comp.society.privacy > UUCP: levine@cs.uwm.edu USPS: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee > Phone: (414) 229-5170 USPS: Box 784, Milwaukee WI 53201 Best of luck with the Digest, Len, and to Dennis, thanks for a job well done! PAT] ------------------------------ From: fiedler@netcom.com (Dragon (David Fiedler)) Subject: Passive Radiating Cellular Antennas? Organization: InfoPro Systems: Writers, Consultants, and Dragons Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 06:42:30 GMT I tried the archives; I tried the seemingly defunct Cellular mailing list, but there didn't seem to be anything about passive cellular antennas. Personally, I doubt that they work, but I just wanted to know if there is any hope whatever that they do anything useful, since I am often in fringe areas in my car and have a flip phone. Any suggestions, anecdotes, etc welcome. Thanks in advance, David Fiedler UUCP:infopro!david Internet:david@infopro.com or david@ost.com USMail:InfoPro Systems, PO Box 220 Rescue CA 95672 Phone:916/677-5870 FAX:-5873 ------------------------------ From: calvert@eos.ncsu.edu (P. Calvert) Subject: Gouging University Students on Long-Distance Service Date: 30 Nov 1993 12:32:17 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway A friend of mine lives in a university-owned apartment. A few months ago the university took over the phones and now he has to pay the university for long-distance calls instead of being able to select a long distance company. He is forced to use AT&T, and the school charges a rather exorbitant mark-up over AT&T's rates. And to force you to use their system, access to other networks (like MCI and Sprint) is blocked. Does anyone now of any legal alternatives to get around this? One idea is to use a calling card and call a toll-free access number. However, the usual calling cards would probably be too expensive -- unless there exists some competitor's card that has reasonable rates. Any suggestions? Phil Calvert [Moderator's Note: Well I hate to commercialize the net on a day by day basis (once a week or so is usually enough for me!) but there does exist the Orange Calling Card which has a flat rate of 25 cents per minute of use with no surcharge. It is a better deal than the other calling cards until/unless your call exceeds about ten minutes, at which point the surcharge on other calling cards has been spread across the total minutes in such a way that the costs are about equal. Then from about 13-15 minutes outward in the call, cards with high surcharges but low per minute rates become a better deal. So if your friend makes mostly short calls, suggest he try Orange. For a brochure, send your mailing address to ptownson@townson.com. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 10:24:39 MST From: John Shaver Modernization Office Subject: What About 510 678 5670? Any notion what the two bips mean when you dial this number? I dialed it accidently and got the funny response. ------------------------------ From: Rod Regier Subject: Low $ Text->Speech, DTMF Wanted Date: 30 Nov 93 15:38:42 AST Organization: Dymaxion Research Limited, NS, Canada We at Dymaxion are looking for a low cost PC voice response solution (text-to-speech, voice synthesis, DTMF phone interface, serial). We hope to allow patrons to order media library material from a computerized inventory control system. Multi-line capability such as Dialogic's D41/D four line card is desirable. We'd appreciate hearing from anyone out there having experience (good or bad) with such hardware/software products. Rod Regier, Software Development bus: (902)422-1973 Dymaxion Research Ltd., 5515 Cogswell St., fax: (902)421-1267 Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 1R2 Canada Internet: rr@dymaxion.ns.ca ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 08:01:35 -0800 From: Tom Crawford Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? In article , David Boettger responds to my earlier comments: >> "GROSSLY UNFAIR COMPARISONS" ARE HARDLY AN ACCURATE WAY TO DESCRIBE >> CLEAR ADVANTAGES. QUALCOMM'S CAPACITY IS 10X TO 20X AMPS CAPACITY > Get real! 20X has only been demonstrated on paper (e.g., W. C. Y. Lee) > or, perhaps (now I am guessing), in a Qualcomm laboratory. I am afraid you are misinformed. Using PacTel's cells in San Diego, CDMA has been demonstrated up to 31X AMPS capacity in an isolated cell and sector configuration. The test was conducted with live mobiles in cars. While this is NOT what would be expected in a normal configuration of contiguous cells, it does demonstrate that 20X is not some theoretical maximum. The results of these tests and other tests have been shared with many carriers and manufacturers, including Motorola, AT&T, Northern Telecom, PacTel, Bell Atlantic Mobile, Nynex, U S WEST NewVector, Ameritech and GTE. You need not depend on QUALCOMM for these figures. Contact any of these companies as they participated in the design, conduct and analysis of the tests and results. >> QUALITY COMMUNICATIONS LINK USING A HALF RATE VOCODER. IF WE ARE >> WRONG AND A GOOD HALF RATE VOCODER IS AVAILABLE, QUALCOMM CAN ALSO USE >> IT IN A VARIABLE RATE IMPLEMENTATION (AGAIN THROTTLING DOWN DURING >> PAUSES) TO ACHIEVE AN ADDITIONAL FACTOR OF 2 IN CAPACITY GAIN, IE NOW >> 20X TO 40X AMPS. ALSO, ETDMA'S USE OF DIGITAL SPEECH INTERPOLATION >> ABOUT 12X OR 15X, ASSUMING EVERYTHING WORKS WELL). CDMA, WITH A >> HALF RATE VOCODER WILL THEN BE AT 20X TO 40X (EVEN WITHOUT BETTER >> USE OF SECTORIZATION). > Wrong again. The relationship between source coder rate and absolute > channel capacity (I am using "capacity" not in an information theory > sense, but in a "number of telephone conversations" sense) is not > linear. Using a half-rate coder in CDMA does not automatically double > the number of conversations that can occur, even under ideal > conditions. In CDMA the number of telephone conversations that can be transmitted is dependent on the total amount of power transmitted by all the other users using the channel. Thus if everyone uses a vocoder that transmits half as many bits/second (ie, power), the number of conversations that can be transmitted in the CDMA channel will double. Now your point is well taken. CDMA continues to transmit at a low bit rate even when the person is not talking. It does this because true background "noise" from the caller's side is important in maintaining a sense of connection to the receiving party. Note that ETDMA, which gives up the channel timeslot during a pause, will not be able to accommodate this correct background noise and will be forced to generate an artificial noise at the receiver. The current IS-96 vocoder goes from 8 kbps all the way down to 1 kbps). If the peak rate is reduced by a factor of 2 but the lowest rate is not changed the average will not go down by exactly half. For example, if we assume that the time spent at 4 kbps and 2 kbps is a small fraction (it is) and use the a 40% voice activity factor, then the current vocoder will average 40% x 8 kbps + 60% x 1 kbps = 3.8 kbps. Now if the peak rate was reduced to 4 kbps without changing the 1 kbps, the average is 40% x 4 kbps + 60% x 1 kbps = 2.2 kbps. Thus the increase in capacity is 3.8/2.2 = 1.73 Thus this would provide a 17X to 34X increase over AMPS instead of the (proven) 10X to 20X capacity increase over AMPS currently available with the IS-96 vocoder. >> RECEIVER IF FILTER WOULD BE UNABLE TO DO. THE WHOLE POINT OF CDMA >> IS THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SEPARATE THE SIGNALS OVER THE CHANNEL BY >> FREQUENCY OR TIME. DIFFERENT CODES PERMIT YOU TO PICK OUT YOUR >> CONVERSATION. > True enough. >> "TRICKS" IMPLY DECEPTION. CDMA'S TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE AND >> BENEFITS HAVE BEEN WELL TESTED AND PROVEN AGAIN AND AGAIN IN NUMEROUS >> TRIALS. > How many commercial cellular CDMA systems are deployed and stable? > Approximately zero. "Well tested and proven" is a bit of a stretch, > but then again, Mr. Crawford is in marketing. I also have two degrees in electrical engineering and have been willing to read the test results from the numerous tests and trials. I believe the facts speak for themselves regarding the superior performance of CDMA; I would be happy to provide you with results from some (not all the tests have yet been released to the public) of the tests if you are genuinely interested in CDMA's capabilities. As far as I am able to determine, CDMA's test results have been more widely publicized than those of TDMA or ETDMA. Perhaps Mr. Boettger has detailed results on TDMA and ETDMA testing with respect to capacity, quality, handoff, range, transmit power and other important parameters that he is willing to share. THOMAS R. CRAWFORD DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, DIGITAL CELLULAR AND WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY QUALCOMM tcrawford@qualcomm.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 00:13:32 EST From: Craig R. Watkins Subject: Re: Experience as Interop Volunteer Mark Allyn writes: > Pat: > Last fall (1992), when I posted a question about volunteering for the > Interop trade show, you have suggested that I post a summary of my > experience after the show. ... and I replied to your question back then and I'll try add to your summary. > The shows I volunteered for were the Fall 1992 and the Summer 1993 shows > in San Francisco at the Moscone Center. I only attended the Fall 1992 show (did not volunteer for it) but I did volunteer for the two US shows this year. > My reservations were in my ability to learn the more technical details > of networking. These include configuring routers; setting up network > management systems; setting up and operating the remote sniffer > systems; to name a few. The things you mention are mostly done before the network arrives in the show city. They are done at the Hot Stage Facility located in Sunnyvale during the weeks before the show. While in the past these tasks tend to be done by experts in their fields, other volunteers have been welcome. > In my opinion, the core of this problem lies in the structure of the > Interopnet team. There were two layers of people. One layer was the > group of volunteers like myself. The second layer was the Network > Operations Center (NOC) team. The NOC team ran the show. I agree. I wish there wasn't so much obvious division. Though remember that members of the NOC team are volunteers just like you are. However, they have some additional duties and requirements, such as attending the Engineering Hot Stage in Sunnyvale and they are ultimately responsible to Interop for running a very complex network. > The network was run during the show from the NOC. The problem is is > that the NOC was off limits to all the other volunteers. A special > badge was required to enter the NOC and there was a security guard > posted at the entrance of the NOC to keep everyone else out. There were a number of volunteers that were not on the NOC team that needed and obtained badges for access to the NOC in order to perform their assigned tasks. Everyone that needs access to make the network work gets in. > Most of the very technical work was done in the NOC. This is where > routing, management, and enterprise wide troubleshooting was being > done. If one wanted to learn these things and watch them being done, > they had to be in the NOC. Since I could not go into the NOC, I could > not watch these things being done. I would disagree; I think most of the technical work done at the show was done at the dozens of racks of equipment in the exibit halls and in the terminal and PC clusters. A very small percentage of the network equipment was actually in the NOC and what was there was not unique to the NOC, except for a few network management workstations (which were literally drawfed by the number of management workstations which vendors had running in their booths). Also a main network management workstation in the NOC was viewable by everyone on the floor via a large screen display. There are a lot of excellent technical sessions and tutorials at Interop. As a volunteer which qualified for housing, you were also probably qualified for complementary access to these. These provide a great place to learn. If you haven't taken advantage of these you might want to consider them in the future. > I would like to point out that I was allowed into the network > management center at the company where I work to watch them on > occasion with no problem. This is the center for a multi-billion > dollar corporation. I saw no need for the security system they had for > the Interop NOC. They could have at least allowed all of the > volunteers access to the NOC with the understanding that nothing is to > be touched without permission. In August there were well over one hundred volunteers. The NOC consisted of two medium livingroom-sized rooms which were usually quite filled with volunteeers working their assigned tasks. I'm not really sure that your suggestion would work well even if (or particularly if) everyone asked permission to touch things. > Coincident with the issue of access to the NOC was the fact that much > of the very technical and innovative things being done at the show > were done by NOC team members. There were a few instances where I > wanted to be in on some things but I was told to leave the area. This > problem was more acute during the August 1993 show. Most innovative things are done before the actual show by whoever is at the hot stage. I certainly can't speak to the exact instances to which you refer, but if you were asked to leave, I suspect the reasons might have been more political than technical. Some meetings of the NOC team are held under (signed) non-disclosure. Proprietary vendor information is strictly protected. > Another problem which was more acute during the August 1993 show was > idle time. Agreed. That has always been a problem which a lot of effort has gone into solving. Looking back at past shows, I think it's getting better, but there's definitely a way to go. > There were too many volunteers and not enough work. That's sometimes the problem. At the August show there were also times when there were not enough volunteers and too much work! > [Moderator's Note: Thanks for your followup. It is too bad the volunteers > were not allowed to learn more about what was going on. To heck with the > hotel reservations and food. I'd have been happy being able to see the > inner workings of the whole thing, wouldn't you? PAT] I would strongly suggest that anyone attending the show take part in one of the free network tours given by volunteers. It visits some of the more interesting parts of the network, reveals amazing facts, and relates interesting anecdotes. In August, racks of equipment on the floor were unlocked for questions and discussions, and the tours visited a viewing area for the NOC and were given a description of what was going on inside. Of course, this is all my own personal opinion and I don't work for or speak for Interop or its volunteers; just one of them: Me. Craig ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #789 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10720; 1 Dec 93 4:56 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA09572 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Wed, 1 Dec 1993 02:07:26 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA31096 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 1 Dec 1993 02:07:11 -0600 Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1993 02:07:11 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199312010807.AA31096@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #790 TELECOM Digest Wed, 1 Dec 93 02:07:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 790 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "The Modem Reference" by Banks (Rob Slade) Land-Mobile-Radio Mailing List Started (David Dodell) Gopher for Telecom (was Re: New Archives Files) (Peter M. Weiss) Rig PC For Phone ID Check (Jeff Gates) USA Phones Online? (Jeff Gates) Re: Is UK IDDD Changing 4/94? (Clive D.W. Feather) Re: Is UK IDDD Changing 4/94? (Carl Moore) Re: Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D (John R. Grout) Re: Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D (Jack Decker) Re: Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D (Brett Frankenberger) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 30 Nov 93 12:19 -0600 From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The Modem Reference" by Banks BKMDMREF.RVW 931101 Prentice Hall, Inc./Brady 113 Sylvan Avenue Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 (515) 284-6751 FAX (515) 284-2607 11711 N. College Ave. Carmel, IN 46032-9903 15 Columbus Circle New York, NY 10023 800-428-5331 ?@prenhall.com "The Modem Reference", Banks, 1992, 156686027X, U$29.95/C$37.95/UK#27.93 The blurbs for this book are effusive, glowing, positive ... and all written by authors rather than technical people. Many refer to the sheer volume of material here, which is certainly impressive. Not all correct, perhaps, but impressive. The presentation is a bit less impressive. The organization mentioned in the introduction is quite good: five chapters on the basics, five on basic data communication functions (which Banks refers as "telecomputing"), five on online services and systems, and the remaining chapters devoted to specialty and miscellaneous topics. Unfortunately, that organization, while adhered to in the topics, is not mentioned either in the table of contents or as a part of chapter divisions. In part one, chapter one is the usual promotion for the benefits of online services. It is, however, structured a bit better than most and gives a reasonably good overview of the basic functions. In fact, it tends to undersell somewhat, since there is no discussion of the various online components in a "pro and con" comparison with their non-data communications counterparts. Chapter two purports to be a general overview of the basic components you need for computer communications. It is somewhat disorganized, and, with frequent references to the real information to be found in other chapters, could have been easily dispensed with. Chapter three, entitled, "How Telecomputing Works," begins to show some of the necessary technical details -- and the limits to Banks' knowledge. Someone probably explained phase shift keying to him sometime -- obviously he didn't fully understand. No one bothered to tell him that the RS-232 standard has been RS-232D since before he wrote the first edition. (Nor that it is now more properly known as EIA-232). And, of course, he confuses baud rates with "bits per second", equating them on page 79 (although correctly going into detail on pages 82-85). Chapter four, dealing with modems, is a similar mixture. While all the bases are covered (eventually) there are inconsistencies, anachronisms, and no particular order. The various points are trotted out one after the other, with no attempt to weight the more important, or to guide the user in the types of applications under which a certain function might become important. The same holds true for the discussion of communications software in chapter five. Part two deals generally with the basic functions of online systems. Chapter six discuses signing on to a remote system. Although the statement is made that you should try a local BBS first to get used to the idea, Banks' commercial service bias shows through in his advocacy of "7E1" over "8N1". Most public data networks (which Banks refers to as "packet networks") use the seven data bits, even parity, one stop bit parameter settings. Nor does Banks offer any troubleshooting assistance should you choose the wrong settings. Chapter seven discusses menus and commands for online systems. I have always found these chapters to be examples of Slade's Law of Computer Illiteracy: there is no such thing as computer illiteracy, only illiteracy, itself. Most menus are self-explanatory. On the other hand, Banks' listing of common command synonyms could be very helpful. Chapter eight discusses public, private and real time communications. The material tends to be repetitive and not really say much of consequence. Online etiquette is mentioned in a number of places, but only boils down to "don't be rude" and "give references". There is a whole book to be done on online socialization, and we keep seeing these same trivialities. Chapter nine deals with file transfers and ten with "other activities". (Mostly games.) Part three discusses BBSes, online services, communications services (which, oddly, contains a section on fax boards), database and information services and a reprise of commercial online services under the name "Full Service Consumer and Business Networks". From chapter sixteen on, we have a melange of topics such as benefits (the hardsell this time), portable communications, Windows, security (very bad) and the future. Appendices include troubleshooting, various commercial and BBS numbers, cabling and a files listing for the included disk. Unfortunately, for all its flaws, this may be the "only game in town" at this level. However, I would venture to suggest Gianone's "Using MS-DOS Kermit" and LeVitus and Ihnatko's "Dr. Macintosh's Guide to the Online Universe" (BKUMSKMT.RVW and BKDMGTOU.RVW) in preference to it. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKMDMREF.RVW 931101 Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of the TELECOM Digest and associated newsgroups/mailing lists. DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca ------------------------------ Subject: Land-Mobile-Radio Mailing List Started From: david@stat.com (David Dodell) Reply-To: david@stat.com (David Dodell) Date: Wed, 01 Dec 93 00:06:13 MST Organization: Stat Gateway Service, WB7TPY Welcome to the Land Mobile Radio Mailing List! The purpose of this sig is to promote technical conversation regarding commercial land mobile two-way radio communications and associated systems and accessories. In addition to conversation buying, selling and trading of commercial land mobile equipment is allowed. To Send Mail To Be Distributed To All Subscribers: land-mobile-radio@stat.com And Send Normal Subject And Text. To Add Yourself To This List, Please Send Electronic Mail To: listserv@stat.com And Include The Command: subscribe land-mobile-radio As The First Line of Your Message. To Remove Yourself From This Server, Please Send Electronic Mail To: listserv@stat.com And Include The Command: Unsubscribe land-mobile-radio As The First Line of Your Message. Requests For Help Should Be Sent To: land-mobile-radio-request@stat.com Editor, HICNet Medical Newsletter Internet: david@stat.com FAX: +1 (602) 451-6135 Bitnet : ATW1H@ASUACAD ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 09:50:53 EST From: Peter M. Weiss Subject: Gopher for Telecom (was Re: New Archives Files) Organization: Penn State University I don't recall (for sure) seeing it posted here, BUT there is a GOPHER server at cns.cscns.com that contains among other things, the Telecom archives. When entering CNS's gopherspace, select the first item (CNS MAIN Gopher on the menu, then scroll/search for telecom. Click on that item, and voile! you're there. Pete (pmw1@psuvm.psu.edu) -- co-owner LDBASE-L, TQM-L, CPARK-L, et -L Peter M. Weiss "The 'NET' never naps" +1 814 863 1843 31 Shields Bldg. -- Penn State Univ -- University Park, PA 16802-1202 USA ------------------------------ From: jrg8@cornell.edu (jeff Gates) Subject: Rig PC For Phone ID Check Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 17:20:34 Organization: cornell univ While commercial devices for identifying the phone number of incoming calls (before you answer) exist in certain states (where legal), is there some software for PC-modem to function the same way (with maybe some programability added for PCers)? JRG [Moderator's Note: Yes there is, and in fact there are modems out now which are equipped with Caller-ID circuitry in them which can be used for a variety of processes involving identifying your callers. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jrg8@cornell.edu (jeff Gates) Subject: USA Phones Online? Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1993 07:25:24 Organization: cornell univ I've accidently bumped into a database in Switzerland that gives the PCer searchability access to all public phone numbers in the country. Do we in the USA have such an online database? Any states otherwise? I am aware of the CD-Rom products, but have not encountered online access. JRG [Moderator's Note: Compuserve offers something similar but there are a lot of complaints about its accuracy and completeness. I'm going to see if it is possible to get a decent database of this from somewhere and install it on a dialup line at a cost to the user of whatever it costs me to maintain it. So far though, there is not much here other than the CD-roms, Compuserve and a couple other commercial services which offer this. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Is UK IDDD Changing 4/94? Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1993 00:54:48 GMT From: Clive D.W. Feather Quoth Zarko Draganic: > I heard that the international direct dialing scheme will be changing > in the U.K. on Easter 1994. Can anyone confirm this? Right now I > believe you dial 010 +1 to reach the USA from London. What's it > changing to? Why? How long is the phase-out period? Last I heard, it's been put back to Easter 1995. The IDD code 010 is changing to 00 to bring it into line with most countries, and at the same time a 1 is being prefixed to all fixed area codes (so +44 923 ... becomes +44 1923) but not special area codes like 831 (allocated to my mobile carrier) or 800 (free calls). There is no phase-out period -- it's a straight cutover. Clive D.W. Feather | Santa Cruz Operation clive@sco.com | Croxley Centre Phone: +44 923 816 344 | Hatters Lane, Watford Fax: +44 923 817 688 | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom [Moderator's Note: Seeing Clive's name here reminds me to remind you that Clive was the person responsible for the software which is used in the Telecom Archives Email Information Service. So if you have used the 'tel-archives@lcs.mit.edu' address to obtain files and help with telecom, he's the person you should thank for making it possible. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 11:12:03 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Is UK IDDD Changing 4/94? I believe that is 1995, not 1994. I intend to mail directly to you (zarko@genmagic.genmagic.com) the beginning of the archive file listing UK city codes. ------------------------------ From: grout@sp96.csrd.uiuc.edu (John R. Grout) Subject: Re: Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D Reply-To: j-grout@uiuc.edu Organization: UIUC Center for Supercomputing Research and Development Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 00:41:21 GMT fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) writes: > According to radio ads being heard by a friend in Rochester NY, > Rochester Tel will change over this week from 1 + 7D for long distance > in 716 to just 7D. > This poses a few problems. First, almost any LD call from the > Rochester exchanges is inter-LATA. 716 is divided into two LATAs. > The Buffalo LATA encompasses all of 716 except the Roch Tel areas and > a few other areas inside the Roch Tel zone which are still served by > indies (including Ogden Telephone and a few Contel exchanges.) I > suspect LD carriers will be upset about this one ... especially if Roch > Tel tries to default customers to its own RCI long-distance service. > More to the point, it's difficult for the average Rochester customer > to know at a glance what's LD and what isn't. The Rochester-area > exchanges are strewn roughly evenly across the numbering space, and so > (just to give one example), 282-XXXX is Niagara Falls, while 288-XXXX > is a local Rochester call. Rochester has been adding NXXs (actually > still NNXs) right and left ... to the degree that I can't even keep up > with it when I go home. There are a number of useful parallels between the 609 and 716 area codes. LATAs Serves 7D calling 1+7D area Delaware Inland central and All 609 Not supported Valley southern NJ (local unmeasured/ (sic?) intra-LATA toll/ inter-LATA toll) Atlantic Coastal central and All 609 Not supported Coast southern NJ (local unmeasured/ (sic?) intra-LATA toll/ inter-LATA toll) After divestiture, NJ Bell chose to continue to support the abbrevia- tion of 7D (instead of the full 1 +609 + 7D) to place a DD inter-LATA call, now with one's default LD carrier ... of course, to support equal access, they also had to implement 10xxx + 1 + 609 + 7D (I am guessing that Bellcore decided from the beginning to never permit seven or eight-digit abbreviations after 10xxx). Also, to implement the new NANP, the 609 area code must have gone (or will have to go) to 0+609+7D for all operator assisted calls to numbers in the 609 area code (both intra-LATA and inter-LATA). Now, I'll discuss points specific to Rochester Tel's service area within the 716 area code: Exchanges Serves 7D Calling 1+7D area "Rochester" City + roughly Almost the Usually inter-LATA 10 miles (or less) whole LATA toll from the city limits (local unmeasured) Outlying Other areas in Nearby + Often either intra or Monroe County and "Rochester" inter-LATA toll other counties in (local Rochester Tel unmeasured) service area The planned changes would collapse the Rochester LATA into something very much like either of NJ Bell's LATAs in the 609 area code ... and similar changes in the Buffalo LATA would make the situations essentially the same. Since RCI is a nominally separate LD company which provides _general_ inter-LATA service, I would think that New York's PSC and/or the FCC would only allow Rochester Telephone to either default _all_ inter-LATA calls to RCI (if that's the customer's default LD carrier) or none (if it isn't). > One other thing that will have to go: Rochester has toll-free dialing > to a few points in Wayne County, in the 315 NPA. A few, 315-524 > Ontario and 315-986 Macedon, are still dialed with only 7D. (Others > that have been added more recently are dialed 1 + 315 + 7D.) > Presumably Roch Tel will have to change all these over to 1 + 315 + 7D. Not necessarily ... there are a fair number of LATAs which contain more than one area code with a boundary with a relatively small percentage of its exchanges (e.g., < 20%) being in seven-digit dialed local calling areas which cross the boundary ... for such areas (e.g., North Jersey, metro Kansas City), 7D across area code lines is implementable by not assigning the seven-digit dilled exchanges along the boundary in the other area code). However, when there are many exchanges on one side of the boundary and only a few remote ones on the other, it might be easier to allow the many exchanges to call with seven digits and require the few on the other side to use 1+10D (e.g., let Rochester call Macedon with 986 + xxxx but require Macedon to call Rochester with 1 + 716 + 7D) ... that would require only that 986 be unassigned in 716 without requiring the many Rochester exchanges to be unassigned in 315. In other areas, so many exchanges would be on the boundary (in NYC, among other places, all of them would be) that the telco requires 1 + 10 digits instead (which, of course, can still mean a "local" call ... 1+ doesn't have to mean "toll"). Should multi-LATA area codes _require_ 1 + 10D "toll" dialing or not? Well ... since telcos implemented decided to implement banded local service with 7D, it seems consistent to support 7D for inter-LATA calls too ... or to require 1 + 10D for both. John R. Grout INTERNET: j-grout@uiuc.edu ------------------------------ From: ao944@yfn.ysu.edu (Jack Decker) Subject: Re: Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D Date: 30 Nov 1993 02:11:38 GMT Organization: Youngstown State/Youngstown Free-Net On Mon Nov 29 00:40:23 1993, fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) wrote: > According to radio ads being heard by a friend in Rochester NY, > Rochester Tel will change over this week from 1 + 7D for long distance > in 716 to just 7D. [.....] > More to the point, it's difficult for the average Rochester customer > to know at a glance what's LD and what isn't. The Rochester-area > exchanges are strewn roughly evenly across the numbering space, and so > (just to give one example), 282-XXXX is Niagara Falls, while 288-XXXX > is a local Rochester call. Rochester has been adding NXXs (actually > still NNXs) right and left ... to the degree that I can't even keep up > with it when I go home. Scott, I hope you have written your state PUC to let them know of your displeasure with this arrangement. Michigan Bell once tried to pull this in Michigan and the state Public Service Commission nixed the idea. While some people don't seem to care that other people can't easily determine whether a call is local or toll (because they don't want to be HORRIBLY inconvenienced by having to dial four extra digits on a toll call [1 + area code] ;-) ), you make a very valid point. Without the requirement for "1" to preface a toll call, there is simply no reliable way to know in advance whether a call is local or not... and before anyone asks, yes, this DOES matter to some of us. I, and most others I know, will opt not to place some calls that are toll in at least some circumstances, and will limit the length of the conversation on others. I do not let my children make toll calls (at least not without permission). I have found that there are a disproportionately large group of people on the Internet (especially in the "other" telecom group) that, for whatever reason, don't seem to care whether a call is toll or not, but I can assure you that there are a large number of us in the "real world" who are not so wealthy that we can make calls at will without worrying about the bill. Also, telephone directories don't always contain an accurate list of exchange prefixes in one's local calling area. For example, my GTE North phone book tells me that calls from Whitehall, Michigan to Muskegon, Michigan are local, but nowhere does it give me a list of which prefixes are Muskegon prefixes. Instead, in the white pages, it indicates that calls starting with 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, or 79 are Muskegon numbers... but that would only be true of numbers listed in the white pages of the Muskegon directory. There are many other prefixes in the same area code that are neither in Muskegon, nor in the Muskegon local calling area. For example, 773 and 777 are Muskegon prefixes, but 774 (to name one I know of offhand) is a Grand Rapids prefix. And even if the book did contain an accurate prefix list (which it SHOULD, IMHO), that would not help identify new exchanges put into service after the book is printed. I've also found that some directories that DO list local prefixes don't list "special" prefixes (such as cellular or pager exchanges) that are in fact dialable as local calls (or else they list them as "Cellular", which doesn't give you any clue at all as to whether the call is considered a toll call or not). With the requirement to dial "1" for a toll call, this isn't a problem. If you try to dial a call that's out of your local calling area, you get a recording saying you must dial a "1" first, and then you know that the call is going to cost you (or at least that it MAY cost you ... if you subscribe to an optional calling plan, you may get some of these calls included in your calling plan, but at least you're made aware that the call is either going to appear on your bill, or count against your calling plan allowance). I've seen messages that say that Bellcore and the LEC's want to have one universal dialing plan that requires just seven digits for calls within one's own area code, but the fact is that state PUC's can (and DO) disallow this if they want to. So if you are really opposed to this, it's worth a letter to the PUC (and perhaps your state representatives) to let them know. Calling your local phone company won't help, THEY certainly aren't going to communicate your displeasure to the PUC ... after all, they're probably going to make a ton of money on calls that people THOUGHT were local! Jack ------------------------------ From: brettf@netcom.com (Brett Frankenberger) Subject: Re: Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 16:52:17 GMT fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) writes: > According to radio ads being heard by a friend in Rochester NY, > Rochester Tel will change over this week from 1 + 7D for long distance > in 716 to just 7D. The change of a dialing plan is just that. Nothing more. Anything that uses to be carried by an IXC (LD carrier) will still be, and anything carried by the local telco (LEC) (i.e. intralata stuff) will still be. 1+ really has nothing to do with the routing of a call (and hasn't since the days of machanical switches). It just either (1) tells the switch how many digits to expect, or (2) tells the caller that the call is long-distance. No routing will change, no and all calls will default to the same carrier that they did before. Brett (brettf@netcom.com) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V13 #790 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa11163; 1 Dec 93 5:48 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA32139 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for telecom-recent@lcs.mit.edu); Wed, 1 Dec 1993 02:50:27 -0600 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu id AA16513 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for /usr/lib/sendmail -oQ/var/spool/mqueue.big -odi -oi -ftelecom-request telecomlist-outbound); Wed, 1 Dec 1993 02:50:11 -0600 Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1993 02:50:11 -0600 From: TELECOM Moderator Message-Id: <199312010850.AA16513@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V13 #791 TELECOM Digest Wed, 1 Dec 93 02:50:00 CST Volume 13 : Issue 791 Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? (David Boettger) Re: Roaming, CDMA, TDMA etc. (was Re: GSM Interference) (Michael Sullivan) Re: Roaming, CDMA, TDMA etc. (was Re: GSM Interference) (Erik Ramberg) Re: International Calls via Cable or Satellite (Curtis Bohl) Re: International Calls via Cable or Satellite (John R. Levine) Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? (Mike Morris) Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? (Steve Forrette) Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? (Paul S. Malone) Re: Country Code for St. Pierre et Miquelon (Clive D.W. Feather) Re: Country Code for St. Pierre et Miquelon (Carl Moore) Re: Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D (Carl Moore) Re: Roch Tel 716 Goes From 1 + 7D to 7D (John R. Levine) Re: Nation-Wide Electronic Phone Book on Internet? (Les Reeves) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 18:48:00 +0000 From: david (d.) boettger Subject: Re: TDMA vs. CDMA = Betamax vs. VHS? In article , Tom Crawford writes: > In article , David Boettger > responds to my earlier comments: >>> "GROSSLY UNFAIR COMPARISONS" ARE HARDLY AN ACCURATE WAY TO DESCRIBE >>> CLEAR ADVANTAGES. QUALCOMM'S CAPACITY IS 10X TO 20X AMPS CAPACITY >> Get real! 20X has only been demonstrated on paper (e.g., W. C. Y. Lee) >> or, perhaps (now I am guessing), in a Qualcomm laboratory. > I am afraid you are misinformed. Using PacTel's cells in San Diego, > CDMA has been demonstrated up to 31X AMPS capacity in an isolated cell > and sector configuration. The test was conducted with live mobiles in > cars. While this is NOT what would be expected in a normal > configuration of contiguous cells, it does demonstrate that 20X is not > some theoretical maximum. What is the capacity of a multi-cell CDMA system operating with a reuse factor of "1" (as is supposedly possible) in co-existence with AMPS cells? The last I heard, the capacity was 15X AMPS. I understand that a single AMPS carrier (inerferer) can cause a CDMA channel's capacity to drop by 50%. Discussions of isolated cells are pointless. What if one built an isolated AMPS cell which used all 832 channels per sector? >> Wrong again. The relationship between source coder rate and absolute >> channel capacity (I am using "capacity" not in an information theory >> sense, but in a "number of telephone conversations" sense) is not >> linear. Using a half-rate coder in CDMA does not automatically double >> the number of conversations that can occur, even under ideal >> conditions. > In CDMA the number of telephone conversations that can be transmitted > is dependent on the total amount of power transmitted by all the other > users using the channel. Thus if everyone uses a vocoder that > transmits half as many bits/second (ie, power), the number of > conversations that can be transmitted in the CDMA channel will double. First, there is non-deferrable overhead built into the CDMA traffic channel. Voice data are not the only things being transmitted, so halving the vocoder rate will not automatically double the capacity. Second, I believe that IS-95 provides for 64 traffic channels per CDMA RF carrier, so even if one could build a decent 1/100 rate vocoder, capacity is capped at 64 traffic channels per RF carrier unless some clever multiplexing scheme is used. >> How many commercial cellular CDMA systems are deployed and stable? >> Approximately zero. "Well tested and proven" is a bit of a stretch, >> but then again, Mr. Crawford is in marketing. > I also have two degrees in electrical engineering and have been > willing to read the test results from the numerous tests and trials. My intent was not to offend; I apologize if I did. > publicized than those of TDMA or ETDMA. Perhaps Mr. Boettger has > detailed results on TDMA and ETDMA testing with respect to capacity, > quality, handoff, range, transmit power and other important parameters > that he is willing to share. Hey, I'm just playing devil's advocate; I don't believe that any of my posts have championed TDMA. CDMA is unquestionably a viable cellular technology. I'm simply trying to separate fact from fiction. David Boettger boettger@bnr.ca I don't speak for my employer. ------------------------------ From: mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) Subject: Re: Roaming, CDMA, TDMA etc. (was Re: GSM Interference) Date: 30 Nov 1993 23:54:09 -0500 Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA pprice@qualcomm.com (Phil Price) writes: > Roaming problems are really unrelated to whether the phone uses AMPS, > TDMA, E-TDMA, GSM or CDMA (I'll explain these later). Roaming between > systems requires a supporting infrastructure and intersystem > protocols. These protocols have been standardised, but are still > evolving. The N.American standard is IS-41, and the European standard > is GSM (more precisely, the MAP protocols). These protocols define the > messaging and procedures for exchanging information between systems to > allow roaming. Most of the new phones will be dual-mode -- AMPS plus > one of the others, so you should be able to use it just about anywhere > (without having to know about the system that you are currently > using). Roaming is already available in Europe, and is rapidly being > implemented in N.America. A bit oversimplified, in that GSM has no connection with AMPS, and GSM phones are not available in a "dual-mode" configuration; no GSM phone will work on a U.S. system (i.e., AMPS), and no U.S. phone (AMPS, or AMPS dual-mode with N-AMPS, TDMA, E-TDMA, or CDMA) will work in Europe. > On a related issue, you should start seeing information about > 'roaming' systems fairly soon. One company has just released a system > claiming coverage over the whole of N.America (MobiLink?), but I think > that is a PCN system. Mobilink is an organization that facilitates roaming, automatic call delivery, and intersystem handoff among B-Block ("wireline") cellular systems. Most of the major B-Block providers are members, and there has already been a substantial degree of roaming transparency developed. The corresponding organization on the A-Block ("non-wireline") is North American Cellular Network, organized primarily by McCaw. Michael D. Sullivan | mds@access.digex.net avogadro@well.sf.ca.us Washington, D.C. | 74160.1134@compuserve.com mikesullivan@bix.com ------------------------------ From: erik_ramberg@SMTP.esl.com (Erik Ramberg) Subject: Re: Roaming, CDMA, TDMA etc. (was Re: GSM Interference) Date: 30 Nov 1993 20:46:56 GMT Organization: ESL Inc. In article , pprice@qualcomm.com (Phil Price) wrote: > Odessey -- this is a TDMA-based system utilising Medium-earth orbit > satellites (i.e. you don't need as many satellites, but the user > terminals have to be much more powerful and there is more delay). I > don't know anything more about this system. > Maybe someone from Motorola or TRW could clarify this a little? I'll try ... Odessey is a CDMA system, not a TDMA, and the medium earth orbit (MEO) is at 10,600 km. in circular orbits (coverage should extend to CONUS, Offshore U.S., Europe, and Asia/Pacific). Full services are available including voice, positioning-RDSS, paging, messaging, and data transfer. There will be handhelds, transportables, and vehicular models with phone prices of ~$250-350 apiece and the charge per minute should be $0.60. The phone output a half a watt (and thus batteries should last a bit) and the uplink is on the L-Band and the downlink on the S-Band. Erik Nothing that I say can be construed as the opinion of my employer. ------------------------------ From: EXTMO4H@mizzou1.missouri.edu (Missouri 4-H Youth Development Programs) Subject: Re: International Calls via Cable or Satellite Organization: University of Missouri Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 15:06:20 CST In article bill.garfield@yob.sccsi.com (Bill Garfield) writes: > I remember someone telling me once that when placing international > calls -from- the US that it was possible to -force- the call to take > the undersea cable path as opposed to routing via satellite and that > there was also some valid reason why a person might want to do this, > like for fax or modem calls f'rinstance. Seems there was another > reason also, having something to do with the broadcast media.(?) Some broadcast media use units made by Comrex or Rood that use two POTS lines to give a better quality broadcast. The audio is split into a high frequency and low frequency sections, and each is sent separately over the separate phone lines, then combined on the other end. If the dialup lines take separate paths, one by undersea cable and one by satellite, you'll get a annoying echo because of the different signal delay times. This happened last year when our basketball team was in Hawaii. The problem was that sometimes the circuits would be switched in the middle of the broadcast, so that the lines would have to be redialed during commercial breaks to solve the problem. Curtis Bohl Computer Programmer/Analyst extmo4h@mizzou1.missouri.edu 4-H Youth Development Alternate: bohlc@ext.missouri.edu Programs (314) 882-2034 University of Missouri-Columbia ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 21:22 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: International Calls via Cable or Satellite Organization: I.E.C.C. I'm not aware of any access codes you can use here in the U.S. to affect any call routing, domestic or international, other than 10XXX to select a long distance carrier. But I would also opine that any trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific call that you make will almost certainly be carried by cable, not by satellite. With the advent of fiber optic cables, cable has orders of magnitude more bandwidth than satellites. I'd expect to find in the near future that the only calls that go by satellite are those to mobile stations (INMARSAT now, Iridium and its ilk later) and broadcast applications. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl ------------------------------ From: morris@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Mike Morris) Subject: Re: Double Hunt Group - Possible? Organization: College Park Software, Altadena, CA Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1993 03:26:08 GMT sharpe_r@jethro.wcc.govt.nz (Russell Sharpe) writes: > In Message-ID: , nathan@seldon. > foundation.tricon.com wrote: >> I want to establish a "double hunt group". The scenario goes as follows: >> User calls in on high speed modem line and gets the "main" hunt group for >> high speed users. User two calls in on "alternate" low speed hunt group. >> BUT, if user one calls in and all of