Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa10704; 16 Feb 95 18:56 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA00777; Thu, 16 Feb 95 12:55:04 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA00770; Thu, 16 Feb 95 12:55:01 CST Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 12:55:01 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502161855.AA00770@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #101 TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Feb 95 12:55:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 101 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC (TELECOM Digest Editor) Security of Cordless Phones? (Jeffrey A. Porten) Area Code/Prefix Trivia (mstrandrew@aol.com) Is Origin Cell of Cellular Call Logged? (Chuck Cairns) Re: MCI Bureaucratic Blunder (Richard Wildman) Re: LD Termination Fees to RBOCs (Lars Poulsen) Re: Local Calling Areas (Linc Madison) Re: New Motorola Micro-tac Elite AMPS Cellphone (Marcus Lee) Directory Assistance Direct Connections (Kevin Bluml) US-MA-Boston Principal Technology Consultant, Recruiter (Beverly Kahn) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 11:59:10 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC Kevin Mitnick, who had earned the unofficial title of 'America's Most Wanted Computer Hacker' was arrested Wednesday morning at his home in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mitnick had managed to evade authorities in both Los Angeles and Seattle during the past two years. He was caught through the efforts of one of his latest victims, computer security specialist Tsutomu Shimomura of the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Shimomura was robbed of security programs he had written when his computer was broken into on Christmas Day, about two months ago. But one thing Mitnick apparently had not forseen was that the programs he stole -- and then used -- would be used to help track him down. Shimomura was able to detirmine this past weekend that Mitnick, 31, was connecting through a modem attached to a cellular phone somewhere near Raleigh. Through the cooperation of telcos and cellular companies, authorities were able to track Mitnick to his home early Wednesday morning. Authorities say they hope this latest arrest brings to an end the career of a man who began hacking and phreaking when he was in high school. At one point Mitnick broke into a North American Air Defense Command computer in Colorado. Referring to Mitnick as a 'dangerous computer terrorist', Justice Department spokesman John Russell said the raid was conducted at 1:30 am on the apartment in Raleigh in which Mitnick was living alone under a false name. "His obsession was his downfall," said Deputy United States Marshall Kathy Cunningham in Los Angeles. "His obsession to hack and phreak using cloned cellular phones left us a good trail to follow." Mitnick, who is known by the hacker name 'Condor' says he took that alias after seeing the movie 'Three Days of the Condor' starring Robert Redford as a man on the run from the government. He grew up in Los Angeles, and was convicted there in 1988 after a series of phreaking and hacking incidents which included disconnecting the phone service to Hollywood stars and others. Although initially he was given just a short prison term followed by federal probation, he continued to act out in his self-destructive ways and when his probation officer threatened to revoke his probation and send him to prison, he disconnected her telephone to get even and then ran off! And he is supposed to be a smart guy? In 1989, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles portrayed Mitnick as a brilliant young man 'obsessed with junk food and computers' who infiltrated computer networks and telephone switching systems in the United States and England. Although federal authorities suggested that he had broken into National Security Agency computers, he was never charged with that crime. At one point however, they considered him so dangerous they got a judicial order denying him any use of telephones at all, for fear he would call up a computer and access it using the touchtone buttons on the phone. In the earlier 1988 case, Mitnick agreed to plead guilty to hacking the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) computer network and stealing a program. He also pleded guilty to theft of sixteen MCI long distance access codes and using them to make long distance calls. For this, the court's imposition of punishment included several years imprisonment with all but one year suspended, to be followed by federal probation for the remainder of his term. After release from prison, Mitnick began his probation. When his probation officer suggested she would revoke his probation because of his behavior and return him to the penitentiary, his response was to hack the appropriate computer and disconnect her phone service ... he then fled. In the fall of 1992, Mitnick was working for a private investigative firm in Calabasas, California when the FBI was conducting an investigation into the break-ins of Pacific Bell computers. Realizing they were about to close in on him, he fled again ... to surface only yesterday when a man he decided to trifle with -- Tsutomu Shimomura -- decided not to get mad, but instead to get even! Shimomura cooperated very closely with the government to pinpoint Mitnick's whereabouts. On Wednesday, February 15, 1995, Mitnick was taken before a Magistrate in Raleigh, North Carolina where he was arraigned on the charge of violating the terms of his probation in 1988, and new charges of computer fraud in North Carolina. Assistant United States Attorney David Schindler in Los Angeles said additional charges pertaining to Mitnick's actions in San Diego, Seattle and Colorado would also be presented. Citing its belief Mitnick was a danger to the community and likely to flee again if released, the court ordered him held without bail, and once again restricted his unsupervised use of telephones. Mitnick may be a smart man, but he seems to lack some common sense. One does not ever screw around with one's federal probation officer; you don't play with her telephone to get even; you don't run off when she calls you. And when you are on the lam or otherwise, you don't steal from someone like Tsutomu Shimomura. Speaking of whom, Shimomura attended the proceedings in Raleigh on Wednesday. At the end of the hearing as he was being led away, a handcuffed and shackled Mitnick turned to Shimomura, whom he has never met or seen before and said, "Hello, Tsutomu, I respect your skills." Shimomura nodded, then turned his back and walked away. It must be remembered that in the United States, our constitution requires a presumption of innocence on the part of Kevin Mitnick until his guilt is proven to the satisfation of a judge or jury in a court of law. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: jporten@mail2.sas.upenn.edu (Jeffrey A. Porten) Subject: Security of cordless phones? Date: 16 Feb 1995 17:38:49 GMT Organization: University of Pennsylvania Having just gotten a new cordless phone (BellSouth 46mHz), and living in the paranoid environs of Washington, DC, I find myself wondering just how likely it is that the world is listening to my calls. The phone has ten channels, and a security code feature which, so far as I understand, exists mainly to prevent another cordless handset from tapping into my base unit, but does nothing to scramble the signal from the handset. I live in an apartment building, with a few others nearby, so consider this a high-density area. Should I go on the assumption that people are always listening in? Sometimes? Almost never? I have a corded set that I keep hooked up for confidential calls; as a stopgap, I sometimes scan channels on my cordless so any eavesdropper will at least have to fiddle to find me again. Does this help, or am I kidding myself? Thanks, Jeff [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Corded or cordless, the assumption should be that your telephone calls are never secure. In actual practice, it may not matter to you; if you are just in idle chatter with someone you aren't going to bother with the trouble of special precautions. My personal belief is the use of scanners to listen to cordless phones is still a relatively rare thing; how many people do *you* know that own scanners who are within range of your cordless phone? And of those, how many are sophisticated enough to know how to program the scanner for cordless? So my feeling is generally its not a big deal, and if you do have something very important and personal to say, you might want to go to a payphone anyway. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 11:26:45 -0500 From: MSTRANDREW@aol.com Subject: Area Code/Prefix Trivia A friend of mine recently sent to me some notices from the news group regarding changes in area code assignments. I observed that some trivia notes were also included regarding NPA assignments. I wanted to make you aware of another example pertaining to Port Roberts, Washington. Point Roberts is a six square mile section of land located on a penisula south of Vancouver, Canada. The Point is in the United States because the portion is south of the 49th. For many years, the local prefix 946 was assigned to the 604 area code and local coin phones were desinged to accept Canadian currency. Sometime in the early 1980s, the 946 prefix was reassigned to the 206 area. I have not been there since, so I cannot offer an update if the coin phones were transfered to accept US currency. I thought you would enjoy this. My friend asked that I reference his homepage for your reference. http://www.america.net/~mikef/mikef.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The last I heard, which was some time ago, 604-946 and 206-946 both got you the same thing in Point Roberts. I think directory assistance via 206 or 604 were both available also. Did you know it is impossible to travel from Point Roberts to anywhere else in the United States by automobile without going through Canada? School kids there go to school 'around the bend' in a nearby area in Washington State, but to do so, their school bus has to enter Canada, drive a few miles east, then drive back into the USA again, the same as anyone else wanting to drive to the next (USA) town over. PAT] ------------------------------ From: chuckc@hpfcla.fc.hp.com (Chuck Cairns) Subject: Is Origin Cell on a Cellular Call Logged? Date: 16 Feb 1995 16:52:46 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Site Is the origin cell on a cellular call logged? Best Regards, cc [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To find out the answer to this, I turned to our resident expert, Kevin Mitnick ... ... he says they are, unfortunatly. Uh, I know this is a rude question to ask, but have you some reason to wish they were not? PAT] ------------------------------ From: rich@hpfcla.fc.hp.com (Richard Wildman) Subject: Re: MCI Bureaucratic Blunder Date: 16 Feb 1995 16:24:13 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Site Here are two updates. After my original posting I received about 14 responses, most of which had similar horror stories to tell about MCI billing problems. As I mentioned previously, the bill was paid in full by credit card in January. This week (of 2/5), we had a phone call from MCI where we were told we had not paid our bill -- I interrupted and told the woman, "Yes, we had, by credit card." "We already have the credit card billing with the MCI payment on it" -- the exact amount she was saying we still owed! She hesitated a moment, and then said, oh yes, I see it now! Makes one wonder just how complicated a form she is looking at, and what is wrong with their programmers if such a field is not checked before the bill is flagged as not paid! In addition, yesterday, Feb. 9, we received notice in the mail warning us that our bill would go to a collection agency if we did not pay. [This is the second mail from MCI in the past week -- we did receive a listing of calls made, though it did not appear to be a bill -- my guess is that this resulted from an emailing to an MCI employee whose address I pulled off of a news group, and who faxed the original posting to MCI's Consumer Executive Customer Relations (Residential).] In any case, my wife called this time. She got ahold of a woman and explained the situation to her. But no, the woman said, her records did not show we had paid. She, in turn, called another office, who then told her, yes, we had paid! The woman assured my wife that the problem would be cleared up. We are not holding our breath. And the second update. We received a nice letter of apology from MCI's Denver office yesterday (2/14), along with a $25 check for local or MCI phone service! Unfortunately, also yesterday, two MCI bills arrived, both for the same exact amount we paid by credit card in January. And sure enough, one bill was to our old address (old by five years) -- the Post Office evidently caught it and delivered to our current address. My wife, glutton for punishment that she is, called the MCI number listed on the bills. Again, it was not clear to the woman she talked to that we had paid the bill. The MCI employee did say our account was being transferred. This did jive with what was stated in the apology -- that U.S. West had sold out their rural service (we have a cabin) to PTI, and that this had happened last October (fits month problem started), and then (MCI) had made a series of errors that we had been experiencing. It is interesting that MCI thinks they are transferring our service, since we terminated their service after paying the bill. The woman said she was going to flag our account so that we would not keep getting mail and phone calls (where have I heard that before). This situation must be an example of the notorious "corner case". Life goes on, RW ------------------------------ From: lars@spectrum.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: LD Termination Fees to RBOCs Date: 16 Feb 1995 10:07:46 -0800 Organization: Rockwell International - CMC Network Products In article Mikeboyd@voyager.cris.com (Mike_Boyd) writes: > .... Because of the way that the costs are separated jurisdictionally, > and given the subsequent wide discretion of the PUC in setting rates, intra- > state and interstate access charges for a given LEC may vary greatly. For > example, terminating a minute of switched traffic from IXC "A" to end > user "Z" may cost the IXC 3 cents if the call is interstate and 8 cents if > it is an intrastate call. I have always been amazed at the complexity of ratemaking. Looking from high above, the local access part of a long distance call is a local business call, and should be billed as such by the LEC. (Strictly speaking, if the call originates from a residence, the originating access segment is a local residential call.) Of course, this originating segment should be paid by the caller on the LEC bill. The IXCs do get some specialized services provided on their trunks, and they probably should be charged for those; obviously it is simpler for the IXC to get a validated originating billing number handed in with the call than to have to do their own subscriber authentication, but it seems to me that it should be optional for the IXC do make this "make or buy" decision. Since the cost of a timed local business call is about one or two cents per minute, the access charges should be in the range two to four cents. If that is what FCC sets for interstate access fees, it seems to me that they are staffed with people who can add and subtract. We should all lobby for some improved sanity in this area as we move into the "open network" where many subscribers want to get the same types of processing options that carriers have been getting. Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@RNS.COM Rockwell Network Systems Phone: +1-805-562-3158 7402 Hollister Avenue Telefax: +1-805-968-8256 Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Internets: designed and built while you wait ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Re: Local Calling Areas Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 22:23:37 GMT Mark Rudholm (rudholm@aimla.com) wrote: > Here in the Los Angeles area, GTE and Pacific Bell offer flat-rate > calling to residential customers for "Zone 1" and "Zone 2." > Basically, if you are calling anywhere inside about 18 miles from a > flat-rate line, the call is free and unmetered. If you live on or > near the shoreline, you could theoretically only have 50% the "free" > calling area of someone who lived at least 18 miles from the ocean, > since half of your 18 mile radius could be out on the Pacific. Well, first of all, it's approximately 12 miles, not 18. 0-8 miles is Zone 1, 8-12 is Zone 2, and 12-17 is Zone 3. Over 17 is "local toll," until you cross your LATA boundary. The distinction between Zones 1 and 2 is no longer meaningful. > Since the "basic monthly fee" is in theory supposed to cover those > "local" calls, aren't those of us on the shoreline getting cheated, > since we pay the same basic-rate? Should unmeasured service therefore > cost less if you live near the ocean? > I'm curious to know what everyone thinks of my idea. Well, in a word, dream on. There are other factors that you have neglected, like population density. Lots of people live near the coast, in far denser concentration than most places 24 miles inland. There's also the fact that even with half or more of your calling area consisting of open water, you still have more people within 12 miles than in the entire eastern half of the state. Besides that, if we gave you credit for the so-called useless open water in your local calling area, we would then have to charge you toll rates to call the local dolphins, porpoises, and whales when they get cell phones. Besides that, you get to have the pleasure of watching guys with unbelievable tans walk up to one another and say, "Duude, like, your surfboard is ringing. Are you gonna answer it?" Linc Madison * Oakland, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ From: e9321452@student.uq.oz.au (Marcus Lee) Subject: Re: New Motorola Micro-tac Elite AMPS Cellphone Date: 15 Feb 1995 05:13:31 GMT Organization: Prentice Centre, University of Queensland king@wildebeest.cig.mot.com (Steven King) writes: > aj.knox@auckland.ac.nz (Andrew Knox) publicly declared: >> Motorola New Zealand is apparently about to launch a new AMPS cellphone >> called the Microtac Elite. >> I would be quite interested to know whether anyone has any details >> about this phone or about pricing of it throughout the world. Motorola's MicroTAC Elite is the latest entry into the competitve pocket phone category and is one of the lightest phones available today throughout the world. At a mere 113 grams, the MicroTAC Elite actually weighs less than a D-cell battery. The MicroTAC Elite uses the new lithium ion battery technology offering great talk time from very small batteries and an optional headset jack to provide handsfree operations. The recommended retail price is between $1500 and $2000 AUS (Prob be $1500 when it is released here in Aust by the end of the 1st quarter, looking at how much I bought my GSM International 8200 for). "Only 113grams (with slim Lithium Ion battery). Revolutionary battery technology gives longer talktime Menu with icons for easy use. Data capable." "When the first MicroTAC went on sale in 1989, it was the smallest and lightest portable phone ever. The crown for lightest phone has rested on a variety of heads since then but Motorola intends to wrest it back. The contender is the 113g MicroTAC Elite. Although it's an analogue phone, the little Motorola has an optional digital answering machine which greets callers with your voice and allows them to leave short messages." LiIon Standard Battery LiIon XT Battery Weight: 113grams 163grams Batteries Standard LiIon Talk Time: 60mins Standby Time: 10hrs LiIon XT Talk Time: 120mins Standby Time: 20hrs Power Watts: 0.6W Battery Strength indicator: YES Charger: Internal fast charger, Two Pocket IntelliCharge rapid charger is incl. Memory Features/Positions Scroll search (list of no.'s): YES Alphanumeric: YES 99 locations Numeric: YES Scratchpad memory: YES Dialing Keypad: Large well spaced tactile keys. Selectable tones. Last number recall: YES remembers last 10 Auto Redial: YES on system busy Any Key Answer: Flip activates call Display Screen size: 2lines x 7 characters Call in absence display: YES Signal Strength Indicator: YES Other Features Data Capabilities: Can accept a variety of Motorola data acc. Ring volume control: YES Vibrating Capabilities: YES Extras Nine selectable ring tones to differentiate your phone from others Answering machine and internal charger, optional handset adaptor Security Lock: YES Heeeh. That was taken from a variety of publicatons. If you want more info, just ask, I've got more detailed details about the phone. Marcus Lee Ph: +61-7-395-1479 University of Queensland Australia +61-41-119-5358 Internet: e9321452@student.uq.edu.au Fax:+61-7-843-2937 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 10:24:29 CST From: kevin@carina.cray.com (Kevin Bluml) Subject: Directory Assistance Direct Connections USWest now has an offering in MN where a business can set up to pay for the dialing of their number from 411 type services. I believe they also offer the usual caller pays to have them dial for you. I heard an ad the other day saying businesses could set this up and pay 35 cents to have the call connected directly to them when someone called for the number. Also saw MCIs new ad for 1-900-Callinfo (or whatever the letters were..) But it is now 900 and there is a note saying it is from MCI and I believe they even mentioned MCI in the voiceover. Still 75 cents and basically the same commercial otherwise. From: Kevin V. Bluml - Cray Research Inc. 612-683-3036 USmail 655 - Lone Oak Drive, Eagan, MN 55121 Internet kevin.bluml@cray.com UUCP - uunet!cray!kevin ------------------------------ From: ndt@world.std.com (New Dimensions in Tech.) Subject: US-MA-Boston Principal Technology Consultant, Recruiter Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 15:39:49 GMT PRINCIPAL TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT JOB #00695 Our client, a very successful business/financial organization, located in the BOSTON area, is searching for a Chief Scientist/Principal Technology Consultant. S/he will have a very heavy background in all areas of COMMUNICATIONS: *High Speed Fiber Optic LANS *High performance Internetworking Routers *Frame Relay *ATM *Internet *FDDI *TCP/IP This position reports to a very senior person. We are searching for an executive who also has the ability to manage a small group of engineers. This position is RELOCATABLE. Salary in the six figures. All of our positions require that you have three or more years of professional working experience and that you be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident. At the current time, we have no entry-level part-time, or contracting positions available. If your qualifications match the above specifications, please forward your resume immediately, referencing Job #I00695, via fax, U.S. mail or email (ASCII only please) to: Beverly Kahn New Dimensions in Technology, Inc. tel: 617-639-0866 74 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 101 fax: 617-639-0863 Marblehead, MA 01945 email: ndt@world.std.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #101 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa12920; 16 Feb 95 21:45 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06428; Thu, 16 Feb 95 15:23:09 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06422; Thu, 16 Feb 95 15:23:06 CST Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 15:23:06 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502162123.AA06422@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #102 TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Feb 95 15:23:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 102 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Details on NPA 888 Selection (Jeff Buckingham) Here's the Story on GETS (gbouwka@allnet.com) Re: FCC/PCS Market Numbers (Bob Keller) Re: Scam at UC Berkeley (Carl Moore) Re: Messaging Software for Windows (Rudy Rawlins) Re: Telco Signaling Requirements (Gene Delancey) Re: GTE PCS/Global Roam (Sam Spens Clason) Re: BA Files Waiver to Prevent Higher ISDN Costs (John Levine) Re: Numbers Numbers Numbers ... (Steve Coleman) Re: 256Kbps Overseas Circuits at 56Kpbs Costs (Tom Coradeschi) Last Laugh! Re: How I Fooled Caller-ID (Gordon L. Burditt) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 10:28:26 -0800 From: jbuckingham@wynd.net Subject: Details on NPA 888 Selection Reply-To: jbucking@callamerica.com Here are the notes from the group that helps to make decisions such as what the next toll free NPA will be. Readers may be interested in what goes on behind the scenes with a complex selection such as this. 800 Expansion The question of the individual company's position regarding opening the "D" digit was asked. Sprint and MCI supported opening the "D" digit. USTA opposed, and noted that PBX software as well as end office software would have to be modified in order to permit this to occur. Bahamas Telephone stated that they had no difficulty either way, but that there could be a problem for PBXs. A poll was taken and opening of the "D" digit as a method for expansion was not accepted. Bob Hirsch noted that the OBF message processing committee requested that codes in the 88 range not be used because they are being used for billing purposes. MCI noted that they had asked their MSG committee rep., and they knew nothing of that concern. Of those present, none knew anything about the billing concern raised in the OBF letter. MCI proposed that we open an ERC, 888, for expansion. GTE asked for their rationale. MCI's response was that 888 was what their marketing organization asked for. GTE proposed that we start with 822. NANPA proposed that we start with 833 because it is consistent with the reservation of 533 that has already taken place for PCS 500, and that it would make administration easier for them. Bernie Murphy, SRCI, proposed that we start with 880. In response it was noted that 880 is not an ERC. GTE proposed that 888 not be used because it is unique and has special value because it has the same three digits. Madeline Bogdan asked what we were going to do with the OBF Message Processing committee concern about their current use of 88X codes for billing purposes. The option of starting with 888, then 877, 866, etc. was selected. USTA proposed that the expansion code is to be available for in service use on 4/1/96. AT&T pointed out that their marketing people would want to know with some certainty when the services would be opened, as certain of the numbers would be more desirable than others. AT&T also proposed that, if there was a problem meeting the 4/1/96 date the resource be opened as a non-portable code initially as a back-up to insure that the industry is not caught without resource to fill customer needs. It was noted that, based on current 800 number fill and demand rate, exhaust will occur on 4/1/96, so the industry has to be ready to go by that time. Bell Atlantic noted that they had checked this and could not be ready before 5/1/96. SBC noted that they'd be pushing it to make 6/1/96. Proposed recommendation to resolve the 800 exhaust: 1. 888 is assigned for resource expansion, and 877, 866, 855, etc. Are reserved for expansion. (recommendation) 2. 888 should be available for assignment on or before the 800 resource exhausts, but no late than 4/1/96. It is acknowledged that some networks may not be able to support the 888 relief plan until later than 4/1/96. (recommendation) 3. This date (4/1/96) is based on current available exhaust projections which indicate exhaust of 800 by the end of 1Q96. (concern) 4. Some 800 service providers stated that lack of 800/888 line numbers for any period of time is unacceptable. (concern) 5. Due to the potential for 800 exhaust prior to 888 availability, the industry must immediately consider reasonable steps to be taken to extend the life of the 800 resource and accelerate availability of the 888 resource. (Recommendation) It was proposed that following letter be sent to the CLC: Attached is an agreement reached at INC 13 concerning 800 resource exhaust and relief. This agreement is scheduled for final closure at INC 14. During our deliberations several significant issues were identified that require the industry's immediate consideration. These issues include but are not limited to: Implementation of the new numbering resource for toll free calling and the need to extend the life of the current 800 resource through review and possible modification of the existing 800 number administrative guidelines. Due to the confusion regarding forum responsibilities on the topics there is an immediate need for CLC to clarify where 800 assignment guideline changes and 888 implementation should be addressed. Several issues were submitted at INC 13 that outline more specifically the work that is suggested. Absent your direction, the INC believes these issues may not be resolved as expeditiously as possible and may result in exhaust of the 800 resource prior to the implementation of the 888 NPA. C.C. ICCF Participants OBF Participants 800 Ad Hoc C0-Chairs David Hanna, Bahamas Telephone, made a presentation on behalf of the 809 NPA administrations. In his presentation the Caribbean nations are requesting assignment of an N00 code for paid 800 traffic from the Caribbean, as a first alternative, with 880 as the second alternative. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 13:57:37 EST From: GBOUWKA@ALLNET.COM Subject: Here's the Story on GETS Pat, Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) is a service offered by the Office of the Manager National Communications System (OMNCS) to meet the national security and emergency preparedness (NSEP) requirements of the defense and other federal telephone networks. GETS provides emergency access and specialized processing in local and long-distance telephone networks. GETS uses three types of networks: major long distance carriers (the big three); local carriers (Bell, independent, and cellular); and government leased networks such as the FTS2000 and Defense Information System Network (DISN). GETS uses a simple dialing plan and personal identification number (PIN). GETS is accessed through 1-710-NXX-XXXX from a phone presubscribed to ATT/MCI/Sprint (or 10XXX), or through FTS or DISN. The real value to the system is the fact that GETS traffic receives priority treatment through controls such as trunk queuing, exemption from network management controls used during network congestion, and enhanced routing to assure a higher probability of completion. The slogan of the GETS program manager is "When the going gets tough, GETS keeps you going". Wouldn't you like to have a GETS PIN the next time you want tickets to a special concert and you can't get through to Ticketmaster? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, a PIN like that would be useful when trying to get through to the Skokie bus station for the Greyhound schedules, that's for sure. So it seems GETS and 'area code 710' are basically just new versions of the old ABCD keys (for various levels of priority) which were used in the old AUTOVON days. I assume one's phone has to be specifically turned on; you won't be able to access 710 until a flag is toggled somewhere in your central office which says to allow your use of it. Thanks for your answer, you are the first person here in my couple years of asking who has submitted an answer about 710. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 11:51:15 EST From: Bob Keller Subject: Re: FCC/PCS Market Numbers In TELECOM Digest V15 #99 alan.rp@ix.netcom.com (Alan Petry) asked: > Does anyone have a list of the FCC designated markets as listed in > the fcc.gov gopher for the PCS Auctions. Here is the numbering scheme as well as the population figures for each of the PCS MTAs as reported by the FCC in its September 19, 1994 Public Notice (Report No. AUC-94-04, Auction No. 4) announcing the auction for Broadband PCS Frequency Blocks A and B. (All population figures are 4/1/90 U.S. Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.) Market Major Trading Area Population ------ ------------------ ---------- M001 New York 26,410,597 M002 Los Angeles-San Diego 19,145,232 M003 Chicago 12,069,700 M004 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose 11,891,177 M005 Detroit 10,001,009 M006 Charlotte-Greensboro-Greenville-Raleigh 9,752,317 M007 Dallas-Fort Worth 9,694,157 M008 Boston-Providence 9,452,712 M009 Philadelphia 8,927,748 M010 Washington-Baltimore 7,777,875 M011 Atlanta 6,942,084 M012 Minneapolis-St. Paul 5,986,039 M013 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Orlando 5,417,788 M014 Houston 5,190,849 M015 Miami-Fort Lauderdale 5,136,581 M016 Cleveland 4,945,749 M017 New Orleans-Baton Rouge 4,925,269 M018 Cincinnati-Dayton 4,716,665 M019 St. Louis 4,663,926 M020 Milwaukee 4,541,432 M021 Pittsburgh 4,102,766 M022 Denver 3,880,637 M023 Richmond-Norfolk 3,846,210 M024 Seattle (Excluding Alaska) 3,827,175 M025 Puerto Rico-U.S. Virgin Islands 3,623,846 M026 Louisville-Lexington-Evansville 3,556,648 M027 Phoenix 3,510,140 M028 Memphis-Jackson 3,465,226 M029 Birmingham 3,244,076 M030 Portland 3,059,948 M031 Indianapolis 3,017,475 M032 Des Moines-Quad Cities 3,006,139 M033 San Antonio 2,986,524 M034 Kansas City 2,913,304 M035 Buffalo-Rochester 2,777,046 M036 Salt Lake City 2,573,372 M037 Jacksonville 2,274,933 M038 Columbus 2,145,561 M039 El Paso-Albuquerque 2,113,890 M040 Little Rock 2,051,667 M041 Oklahoma City 1,877,478 M042 Spokane-Billings 1,863,335 M043 Nashville 1,767,391 M044 Knoxville 1,721,911 M045 Omaha 1,659,273 M046 Wichita 1,124,174 M047 Honolulu 1,108,229 M048 Tulsa 1,096,396 M049 Alaska 550,043 M050 Guam-Northern Mariana Islands 176,000 M051 American Samoa 47,000 The FCC's MTAs are based on Rand McNally Major Trading Areas, but the Commission made some minor modifications and some major renumbering. Thus, don't expect these numbers to match what you find in any Rand McNally business atlas. If you want to see a detailed county-by-county consolidated listing of all PCS Regions, MTAs and BTAs as well as cellular MSAs and RSAs, check at: http://www.clark.net/pub/rjk/ and select the anchor pointing to information of PCS and cellular markets. Bob Keller (KY3R) Email: rjk@telcomlaw.com Law Office of Robert J. Keller, P.C. Telephone: 301.229.5208 Federal Telecommunications Law Facsimile: 301.229.6875 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Feb 95 12:43:47 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Scam at UC Berkeley Where would the transfer go? Within the campus exchange? I don't understand how the transfer can result in result in long distance charges against your number. The closest I can think of is call forwarding, where your phone incurs message unit charges or toll as the case may be, as if you yourself dialed the number which you are forwarding to. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In one instance, they ask to be trasferred to the local PBX operator who then 'sees' it as an inside call coming to her for assistance. The caller then asks the operator to assist in making connection to a long distance number; the operator sees no reason no to since it is 'obviously' a company employee. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 18:03:44 GMT From: rudy rawlins Subject: Re: Messaging Software For Windows Organization: Nothern Telecom Toronto Lab. Toronto, Ontario Canada. In article , Bob Baxter writes: > Ideally, a call would come in, the receptionist would take down the > message, and file it in the software. Later, when someone calls in to > check their messages, the receptionist would simply call their name up > and read the listing. > Ideally, the software should also have report capabilities, i.e. print > out all unanswered calls, number of callbacks, etc. I have had > absolutely zero luck in locating such a package. Any help would be > appreciated. Have you considered voice mail? Here comes the plug, Northern Telecom Meridian Mail, or (gasp!) any of the competitors can allow your receptionist do this, but using the callers voice rather than a written message. The merits of which I don't have to explain. If you need help with this send me some private email. Rudy Rawlins Northern Telecom Toronto Lab ESN 416-597-7403. rudy@bnr.ca ------------------------------ From: anadigicom@aol.com (Anadigicom) Subject: Re: Telco Signaling Requirements Date: 16 Feb 1995 14:18:16 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: anadigicom@aol.com Anadigicom Corporation is a manufacturer of a broad range of interface (Anadigicom) products including signaling converters covering the types you described. Your request for per country specifications is an intensive task as we have been in this business for ten years and we get new signaling requirements almost on a weekly basis. There are core specifications such as those mentioned and they are generally specified in the CCITT recommendations but each country and perhaps switch manufacturer, customizes the signaling standard for their own use. There are variations for national and international links as well. We have demonstrated considerable success with companies using a standard interface protocol running into our signaling converters to support the wide variation present within the world domain. This allows existing network products to be supplied world wide. The Anadigicom products also support a wide range of physical interfaces including the analog two wire or four-wire applications and the digital T1 and E1 links (with conversion between the two all inclusive). Please send us your mailing address and/or fax number for additional information or contact the below: Anadigicom Corporation Attn: Gene Delancey Ph-703-803-0400 FAX-703-803-2956 EMAIL: anadigicom@aol.com ------------------------------ From: d92-sam@black29.nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) Subject: Re: GTE PCS/Global Roam Date: 15 Feb 1995 18:42:17 GMT In johnmark@tigger.jvnc.net (John Mark) writes: > CO/NY has already launched a similar service (January 1995). CO/NY > customers get a SIM card (they call it a CellCard) for $49.99/year. > They can then purchase or rent a GSM phone and can roam in 23 GSM > countries. The agreement is with Vodaphone in the UK. Incoming calls > must be routed through the customer's NY cellular number. The cost of > roaming is a flat $2.49/minute for outgoing calls regardless of > destination (local or international) and $2.49/minute + toll from NYC > for incoming calls. In the original announcement there was something about "dual mode phones" and roaming between technically different systems. An American subscriber can roam a GSM (or DCS) net because his SIM card tells the GSM operator all it needs to know. There is however one catch here. The other way around doesn't work as smoothly. I suppose you've read the horror stories about US-Australian AMPS roaming here in the Digest. Intersystem roaming would be very easy if there only were some standard for SIM cards. Or at least if all new systems used some sort of subsriber ID-card. Questions: 1) Are any of the proposed American PCS systems going to use SIMs? 2) Are there any global standards been proposed for SIMs? Sam Sam Spens Clason ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Re: BA Files Waiver to Prevent Higher ISDN Costs Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 16:48:14 GMT Bell Atlantic is all hot and bothered that the FCC has ordered telcos to charge a subscriber line charge per ISDN channel rather than per line. I agree that the FCC's move is stupid, but I don't see why it's such a big deal. The fee goes straight into the telco's pocket. If the FCC wants them to collect $7 rather than $3.50 as the SLC, they can drop the nominal rate by $3,50 and collect the same actual amount of money that they would have otherwise. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" ------------------------------ From: stevecoleman@delphi.com (Steve Coleman) Subject: Re: Numbers Numbers Numbers ... Date: 16 Feb 1995 10:19:14 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation > idea, I can't help the feeling of being manipulated by a bunch of > startup companies (most of whom probably won't even exist five to ten > years from now) by having to dial 11 digits to call my upstairs neighbor. The dial plan is being manipulated by a bunch of startup companies?? I don't think so! I am responsible for routing the calls for one of the smaller LD companies. The dial plan "problems" that I have encountered are with the LECS. For example, Pacbell in Los Angeles requires seven digits on FGA within the home NPA. USWest in Phoenix requires seven digit for "local" calls but you must dial 1+10 for toll calls within the home NPA. Ameritech in Chicago allows seven digits within the home NPA of 312. I don't even want to *talk* about SWBell in Dallas. These are hardly "startup" companies. We'll see how the "startup compaines" deal with the local dial plan when local dial tone competition really takes off. I would *love* to see some kind of consistency from the LECS. The same applies for FGB/D termination. Some LECS require seven digits sent to the tandem, others require ten. It just makes my job a little more challenging! Steve stevecoleman@delphi.com ------------------------------ From: Tom Coradeschi Subject: Re: 256Kbps Overseas Circuits at 56Kpbs Costs Organization: Electric Armaments Division, US Army ARDEC Picatinny Arsenal NJ Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 14:58:17 GMT In article , routers@halcyon.com wrote: > For how to have 256Kpbs lan to lan thruput on overseas circuits at > 56Kpbs cost, contact routers@halcyon.com. We also can piggy back > seperate asyn or sync low speed (up to 19.2) applications at no charge > on the same circuit. For dial up overseas lan to lan transmissions we > have a V.34 product that has a V.35 interface with SDC (sync data > compression) with a thruput of 85Kpbs sync. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why don't you tell us a little more > about it right here, rather than requiring people to write to you > about it? You might have a very good product we should all hear about. > When sending in messages like this, more specifics, please. PAT] [TELECOM Digest Reader's Note: Why don't you let him leave it as it is. He gave a simple announcement, asking people to contact him for further info. On mailing lists *I* run, that's considered good etiquette. Anything more becomes an advertisement, which I (and most of my readers) dislike intensely. TJC] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well you raise a good point where the ongoing -- and getting worse on this net -- problem of balancing advertise- ments versus infomercials versus solid information is concerned. I dislike very much running straight advetising here (especially when they don't pay me! ) and generally don't do it. If someone has the common courtesy to put their message together so it looks more like an infomercial then the line I draw is a bit more ragged. Some of them are more 'info' than 'mercial', and if it looks interesting I use it. What I am getting a lot of -- and I wish it would stop, but it won't -- are the notes from people saying 'gee, I found this great new long distance company, and it is really a bargain. Write to me and I will tell you all the details'. What they mean to say of course is they are an agent for the company; they don't have the brass bedsprings needed to just say so and float yet another advertisment on the net (what's the difference these days, one more or less), so they play tricks and *pretend* like they want to have a real discussion of LD carriers when what they do in return to your response is send you the canned file they have prepared. Now in the case of 'routers', I get more than I feel comfortable with of his messages ... let's put it that way. He seems to have the solution to everyone's problems in telecom, whatever they may be, in his office. When I run his articles, then I get messages from people saying 'well, that's the fifth one of his *commercials* you have run this month. ... etc'. So I have decided with some of these people if they want to send an infomercial I can run and talk about if it suits me, then okay, I will do it perhaps. But if they want to do a hit and run, quick and dirty thing about 'gee, I have the solution here, just write me', then I am going to put my foot down and say this platform cannot be used for advertising. I admit it is a judgment call. You are correct etiquette says don't advertise on the net; at the same time I would rather see an informative, well prepared infomercial which might benefit some readers than either an outright blatant commercial or a 'sneak one past the moderator' type which says 'I have all the answers, just write me'. In the latter case, they use my bandwidth to send a selected message to a few people that none of the rest of us (hopefully) benefit from. I see the onrush of commercial advertising on the net as something that is going to be very hard for even experienced moderators to keep in check as the advertisers grow more sophisticated in *how* they submit their material. I've had people write to me with deliberatly drummed up questions that were dumb as could be, and in good faith I would have published them and answered them -- albiet perhaps in my cranky, snotty way -- had not they then changed user names and sent me the *answer to the question* as a 'Re;' even before the original was published. Merely a coincidence of course that the answer involves products their company sells. Yeah ... they are doing that. Having discovered the question and answer, give and take format of the newsgroups, they use shills, or straight men to pose the initial commentary, seeking the advice of the net to solve whatever needs to be solved. Then bingo, here comes the answer from someone else at the same company, pretending like all we are doing is having an honest exchange of ideas, etc. "Oh gee, you mean fifty thousand people saw the answer I gave him about our product X ... gosh!" There is room for everyone on this net, including the .com sites and the numerous commercial enterprises which have came aboard in recent months, **but they have to play by the rules**. Yes, we want to hear about new products and servces which may be beneficial or solve problems, but no, we don't want blatant advertising. We don't want cross posting to thousands of news groups. We don't want you to cook up your own problems in order to have an entrance to present your own solutions. Just be part of us and participate in an intellectually honest way. In fact, the commercial enterprises on the net these days can be very valuable parts of this process we go through here, *if they will just cool it and follow netiquette.* Thank goodness this has not been as much of a problem here in telecom as it has been in some of the other newsgroups. We have for the most part a spendid bunch of people here sincerely interested in the unimpeded flow of information; and sometimes that information deals with commercial products. Thanks for writing, Tom, and good luck with your e-publishing endeavors. There aren't many easy answers on the net these days, are there? PAT] ------------------------------ From: gordon@sneaky.lonestar.org (Gordon Burditt) Subject: Last Laugh! Re: How I Fooled Caller ID Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 05:49:16 GMT [Ahem! I have asked Gordon Burditt to pronounce the benediction for us today. Let us Bray! PAT] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Remember the book and movie a few > years ago called 'Tandem Rush'? The sick phreak sits at home and dumps all > this very high current on the phone line causing the phone on the *other end* > to catch fire and/or electrocute the recipient ... yet it goes unnoticed in > the central office ... balogna! Can I get the central office to perform this service for me? Please? I just dial *86 (somehow this code seems appropriate) instead of using Call Block when I detect that a telephone solicitor has called, and it melts his phone. (It doesn't have to work on outgoing calls.) It might even make a lot of money for the RBOCs if marketed as "Call Block With Extreme Prejudice". Gordon L. Burditt sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #102 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa13103; 16 Feb 95 21:51 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA09007; Thu, 16 Feb 95 16:37:52 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA09001; Thu, 16 Feb 95 16:37:50 CST Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 16:37:50 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502162237.AA09001@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #103 TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Feb 95 16:37:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 103 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Mexican Union Lodges Complaint Against Sprint (D Shniad) California Local Prefixes Database Wanted (John J. Henderson) Book Review: "Computer Networks" by Black (Rob Slade) Ameritech Announces TT Charge Reduction in Confusing Way (Bradley Bittorf) T1 Test Equipment Wanted (E.M. Sullivan) PCS Survey; Please Participate (Prakash Hariramani) Re: Cellular Fraud: How Much of it is Real Money? (John S. Maddaus) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 13:03:29 -0800 Reply-To: pen-l@ecst.csuchico.edu From: D Shniad Subject: Mexican Union Lodges Complaint Against Sprint Mexican union lodges NAFTA complaint against U.S. company: TELECOM UNION BLASTS SPRINT'S LABOR PRACTICES MEXICO CITY, February 9 -- In the first formal complaint by a Mexican union against a U.S. corporation under the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Telecommunications Workers of the Republic of Mexico charged the Sprint Corporation with violating "basic norms of labor rights" in the U.S., declaring: "We do not want this to happen with Sprint in Mexico." Today's filing by the union's General Secretary Francisco Hernandez Juarez cited Sprint's mass firing of 235 Latino telemarketers in San Francisco on July 14, 1994. Juarez noted that the shutdown of Sprint/La Conexion Familiar, a subsidiary that sold long distance phone service to Spanish-speaking customers in the U.S., occurred one week before a vote on representation by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Sprint committed "more than 50 violations of the law" during the workers' union campaign, as determined by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board, Juarez stated. The charges were filed with Mexico's National Administrative Office (NAO) for the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation, the side agreement to NAFTA dealing with labor policies in Mexico, Canada and the U.S. The Mexican union represents employees of Telefonos de Mexico, the national phone system with which Sprint is trying to form an alliance to create a telephone network throughout North America. Juarez charged that the slow judicial process under U.S. law, and the absence of a prompt remedy to the violation of workers' rights at La Conexion demonstrates "the ineffectiveness of the U.S. law to comply with the principles contained in (the NAFTA labor side agreement) to which the U.S. is now obligated." The union leader called on the NAO to "declare that Sprint will not be allowed to establish itself in Mexico given its track record of abuses against workers until the company reinstates the fired U.S. workers and declares that it will "respect the rights of workers" and recognize unions in both countries when a majority of workers in a Sprint enterprise seek to unionize. The Mexican union also urged the NAOs of the three NAFTA countries convene a forum this year "attended by government, labor and management representatives from the telecommunications industry to explore ways to collaborate and discuss appropriate standards concerning workers' rights ... good paying jobs, as well as other important matters." The NAFTA labor side agreement provides for consultations among representatives of the U.S., Canada and Mexico up to the level of the secretaries of labor to resolve disputes over the lack of compliance with labor standards guaranteed in the agreement. The Sprint/La Conexion Familiar affair also has drawn concern from Sprint's prospective German business partner, Deutsche Telekom AG. The board of the German phone system, which is negotiating a 10-percent stake in Sprint, valued at $2 billion, cited Sprint as the inspiration for a new policy "ensuring that employer-employee relations customary in Germany are recognized and complied with" where the company "operates jointly with its global partners." Sprint's shutdown of La Conexion Familiar was the subject of a month-long trial prosecuted by the NLRB's Region 20 in San Francisco before an administrative law judge. A ruling is expected this spring. -- Communications Workers of America For further information, contact Jeffery Miller, CWA Public Affairs Department, 202-434-1163 ------------------------------ From: John J. Henderson <70733.731@CompuServe.COM> Subject: California Local Prefixes Database Wanted Date: 16 Feb 1995 21:24:19 GMT Organization: Valley Infosystems I recently contacted Pacific Bell here in California and asked them if a database was available where you would put in your area code (say 916 for Sacramento) and then your prefix (say 851 for Ranch Cordova, a suburb of Sacramento) and it would give you back all the prefixes that are local, non- toll calls. This information is available for just your local are in the front of the Pacific Bell white pages, but I'd like this information for the whole state ... plus I don't look forward to typing in all those prefixes and their cross references. The person I talked to at Pac Bell said that the information was not available from them, except of course if I wanted to get every phone book for the state of California and do it myself. She said that they use an in house program that tell them that infromation, but it wasn't available to the public. Does anyone have any ideas? Or is this database available somewhere? John J. Henderson Valley Infosystems Sacramento, CA 70733,731@COMPUSERVE.COM ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 14:28:03 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Computer Networks" by Black BKCMPNTW.RVW 950109 "Computer Networks", Black, 1993, 0-13-175605-2 %A Uyless Black %C 113 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 %D 1993 %G 0-13-175605-2 %I PTR Prentice Hall %O (515) 284-6751 FAX (515) 284-2607 beth_hespe@prenhall.com %P 436 %T "Computer Networks" This is a very complete and well organized text on data communications. The intent of the work is to address the components of a computer network system, and this succeeds quite well. (Those interested in network specific topics, such as routing, should look elsewhere.) Areas covered include introductory material, layered protocols, polling protocols, satellite networks, local area networks, packet switching, X.25, digital networks, a brief look at TCP/IP, personal computers, PBX and upper layer protocols. Additional reference material is included in the appendices. Occasionally, the material becomes too specific and shows signs of age. The chapter on personal computer networks uses concepts and jargon which will be quite foreign to those familiar with the micro field. By and large, however, this is an excellent source not only for a general overview, but as a reference in a number of data communications areas. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKCMPNTW.RVW 950109. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: bjb@petrel.cle.ab.com (Bradley J. Bittorf) Subject: Ameritech Announces Touch-Tone Charge Reduction in Confusing Way Date: 16 Feb 1995 19:42:09 GMT Organization: Allen-Bradley Company, Inc. I received an insert from Ameritech yesterday in my bill. In part, it read: "The monthly $1.80 Touch-Tone Service charge will be eliminated over the next three years. Starting January 9th, you'll pay $1.00 less per month. The remaining Touch-Tone charge no longer will be shown separately on your bill. Instead, the reduced monthly charge of $.80 will be included in your "access line" charge." My interpretation of this was that all customers would see their "access line" charge increased by $.80/month. However, I spoke to an Ameritech residential service representative, who told me the $.80 would be added to my "access line" charge. In other words, the "access line" charge will be $.80 more for those with Touch-Tone service. Then, sometime in the next three years, that will disappear too. (Probably the next time the "access line" service increases -- I predict by $.80!) In the meantime, Touch-Tone customers may not realize they are paying extra for it. Incidentally, the installation charge for Touch-Tone has been dropped (not sure if that's temporary or permanent), so I relented and finally got it. I guess the $.80 is within my threshhold of annoyance for having to switch my phones back and forth between tone and pulse. ;-) Bradley J. Bittorf | Phone: 216.646.4629 Allen-Bradley Company/Rockwell Automation | FAX: 216.646.4484 747 Alpha Drive, Highland Heights, OH 44143 | e-mail: bradley.bittorf@ab.com ------------------------------ From: EM Sullivan Subject: T1 Test Equipment Wanted Date: 16 Feb 1995 18:53:34 GMT Organization: Capital Area Internet Service info@cais.com 703-448-4470 Can anyone comment on a T1 test equipment manufacturer called Compression Techniques Corp? They make a T1 tested called the TStar. I'm looking for opinions from users as to how it compares with some of the other alternatives (like the TTC Firebird). ------------------------------ From: Prakash Hariramani Subject: PCS Survey; Please Participate Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 11:08:52 -0500 Organization: Information Networking Institute Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh PA We are graduate students at the Information Networking Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. We are doing research on Personal Communications Services commonly known as PCS. PCS could revolutionize the way people communicate. We could move from the current concept of one phone per location to one per person. We have designed a survey which can be accessed through a World Wide Web browser such as Mosaic or Netscape at the following URL: http://www.ini.cmu.edu/~ph2k/pcs/survey.html We wanted to ask readers of this newsgroup to participate in this survey, if they had the time. Trial runs indicate that the survey takes between 10 and 15 minutes to complete. Our survey focuses primarily on the following aspects of PCS: pricing, penetration, features for both residential and business users. Thanks! Andrew Scott Prakash Hariramani Paul Varley Information Networking Institute Carnegie Mellon University 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213 ------------------------------ From: jsm@mvulo.att.com Date: 15 Feb 95 00:06:00 -0500 Subject: Re: Cellular Fraud: How Much of it is Real Money? Organization: AT&T Pat: My $.02 worth in three parts, carrier perception now, what is wrong with that perception IMHO, and potential ramifications for future wireless offerings (purely prognostication on my part). This is merely intended to share my experiences in a related subject. I hope no one takes offense at anything I've said. No finger pointing intended, only opinions based upon customer feedback. Addressing fraud is an amazingly complex issue that requires numerous companies to work together jointly when in fact they are competing against one another in the very same businesses and constantly seeking leverage against one another. It is a credit to the standards bodies that standards addressing these issues have been agreed upon by such diverse companies. Implementing same, is another story. No one company can implement the existing fraud and security standards alone. At that point, the only option is proprietary, which is what is being done now. All in all, it was a thoroughly frustrating two years in an unbelievably dynamic environment, and by far the most enjoyable job I have held with my company. BACKGROUND: I spent the better part of the past two years traveling to various cellular providers to attempt to get them to distribute our cellular privacy/security products. I had the unique opportunity to meet with carriers and their customers. Although you may wonder what this has to do with fraud, there are in fact many similarities between the two. For instance, addressing both requires something on both the subscriber and switch ends, whether it be a user pressing a PIN sequence and the switch understanding the sequence or a phone with privacy/encryption built in and complementary adjunct at the switch or on a desk. Additionally, one could argue that what C1 did in NYC just pushes the fraud out a level to the user (i.e. the calling card number you just gave the operator is now being used to someone elses benefit at your expense) which then enters the realm of privacy. There was and is an interested user base but the carriers are not interested. Why? (NOTE - that these are not my opinions but those expressed to me by carrier personnel from engineering, marketing, product management, sales,etc. from regional VPs to engineers and sales execs): THE CURRENT VISION: 1) Cellular is still profitable despite fraud/security implications. Carriers sign up record numbers of users each year. If you were reporting positive financials up your management line, would you change and open up a potentially huge can of worms that could undermine your financials given enough press? There is little financial incentive to do anything about fraud if the bottom line looks good already. 2) Digital will take over and have fraud protection (and higher security) built in. Within two years, analog will no longer be an issue and security and fraud problems will disappear. 3) I know some of my customers need it but I have to make a business case and I don't think enough people care. 4) Our sales forces only know how to sell phones. They have lost the ability to sell services. 5) We can't admit to our customers that our services are insecure! 6) Costs too much money -- the user will never pay for it. 7) If it were in a Motorola flip phone, we'd buy it in a minute. 8) Most importantly, customers (including myself) continue to pay their monthly cellular bills, which cover the operating expenses for the carrier (including losses from fraud) and provide a tidy profit as well. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS VISION: 1) Analog subscriber growth continues at a record pace. What is not taking off is airtime for potential high usage business users. So, carriers are now looking for new services to offer (voice messaging, data, etc.) to attract same. None of these services (or for that matter the basic cellular service) offer enhanced security (that meet the standards of many corporate security instructions) or built in fraud protection that is an inherent part of the switch and phone and yes for many reasons, digital is just as insecure as analog (we can debate this in another forum if you like). I read a recent report (WSJ I think) that fraud in the NYC area cost the local carriers $60M alone last year. But if I had to guess, I'll venture that the financial picture for the NYC carriers show positive Economic Value Added as the numbers get passed up the corporate financial hierarchy. Fundamentally, I believe there are two reasons why business customers limit air time -- cost and security. Cost could be driven down if fraud could be controlled. Security could increase call-minutes (and therefore carrier revenue), and like fraud an optimal solution involves both your subscriber piece and the switch. There are implications here for PCS (see prognostications below). I have heard many stories how employees have been given cellular phones as perks and been told not to use them for business. 2) Two years ago, digital was going to replace analog by 1998. Thanks to multiple digital standards, analog now has a rosy future. In a recent quote in Mobile Phone News 12/12/94, Motorola says "Digital accounts for less than 5% of cellular growth in the U.S. As of October 1, there were 21.5 million analog users in the country, compared with 250,000 subscribers using TDMA..." I have been told by Motorola, Nokia and NEC personnel that the bread and butter for the subscriber equipment portion of their business will continue to be analog for the forseeable future. Actually, I would think that the thought of replacing 21.5 million analog phones would be an incentive for manufacturers to use any excuse to create a new analog version of existing phones with fraud and security built in. As an aside, when the Bar Associations in NY, MA, NH and other states rule it is unethical for an attorney to discuss client matters over a cellular phone, they are not differentiating between analog and digital. From this I could draw one of two conclusions; either the carriers have done a poor job of positioning the advantages of digital to the user or maybe there are none. Anyone offering odds that CDMA (with whatever security/fraud standards are decided upon) will be rolled out in a diluted version first sans some portion of those standards? 3) Financial responsibility is extremely fragmented in cellular. A good general rule is any addition to the MTSO needs to be cost justified for that MTSO. This affects fraud/security in two ways. First, it dilutes the business case by forcing the regional managers to look at each expense (not unreasonable). The net result is that corporate tends not to look at the problem as something it needs to be involved in because it is regional in nature. McCaw San Francisco certainly has more fraud potential compared to McCaw Oklahoma, so let San Fran fix their problem. Second, it removes the corporate clout required to implement a solution within subscriber equipment. Since corporate usually negotiates subscriber equipment purchases, regional managers have zero chance of independently approaching a major manufacturer such as Motorola, Nokia, etc. If they are allowed such independence, their numbers and therefore bargaining power are still reduced. 4) Just an excuse for asking your sales people to sell high priced basic service and higher priced enhanced services to a varied customer base. If my salary depended upon attaining a sales quota, you know I'd be concentrating on selling basic service and a Motorola phone to the "average" customer. It's the easiest sell. 5) I would assert that the press is doing an adequate job of this on the house. Also, isn't C1-DC's denial of roaming in NYC a tacit admission that they have no control over the fraud problem in NYC? Ditto for the Nynex, Bell Atlantic, C1-NY PIN deal. And you know your in trouble when publications such as {Woman's Day} (7/20/93) say things like "So, if you'd rather keep your personal conversations private, make and take them on an old-fashioned, wired telephone". Still, fraud and security are an extremely tough sell. There are Fortune 100 companies whose security departments routinely monitor executives cellular calls and provide them with transcripts. I have given equipment to CEO's of some of these companies, only to have it politely returned with a note indicating that they didn't see the need. Very likely, these same executives have appeared before Congress in the last couple of years to complain about their losses from foreign intercepts by the French, et. al. and they probably haven't addressed that problem yet either. Losses due to communications fraud and lack of security are too intangible to measure by the average user that has to date been left in peace (or at least is unaware of events to the contrary), let alone the carriers (the press seems to be doing OK with this though). Now if your carrier sent you a letter saying that effective immediately they were doubling your monthly rate and call charges to cover losses from fraud or told you that you would have to exchange your existing phone at your cost, would that get your attention? Not to worry, they wouldn't risk losing the profitable business that they have by being so rash. 6) Maybe true. Its amazing the excuses that people give for not buying products to protect them against fraud or intercept. It's too big, heavy, costly, don't like the voice quality, wanted blue instead of black, doesn't say Motorola on it, and on and on. However, the biggest excuse is that human beings tend not to take responsibility for the problems that occur, especially when their insurance does not cover the loss. When a user is "hit" (and they often don't know that they have been), they believe it is the responsibility of the "telephone company" to protect them or cover their losses (Ma still lives on in spirit). You need only look at the reaction to PBX fraud as evidence. To their everlasting credit (and the good of their financial picture) telcos/carriers are perpetuating this "feel good" spirit by continuing to cover the losses. The extra price of security and fraud control equipment is tangible, one can look at a purchase order and see the difference. The losses due to fraud or lack of security can disappear at many finance levels with creative accounting. If users were truly concerned, then there would be many more than 250,000 TDMA subscribers now. For all its shortcomings, TDMA does have better authentication, although initially this may not have been the case. By the way, this is only a guess but I'd bet that the PIN arrangement is required for both dual mode and analog phones. Can anyone confirm this? 7) It is very difficult if not impossible to get major phone manufacturers to make changes to cookie cutter subscriber equipment to add anti-fraud or enhanced security, even if it adheres to TIA standards. These pieces are produced in lots of hundreds of thousands at a clip. Carriers have painted themselves into a corner on subscriber equipment -- they have given it away at a loss for so long to get customers to sign up that customers have grown used to getting the equipment for free or minimal cost. Carriers are loathe to change this successful equation. My Motorla digital flip user guide clearly stated that enhanced privacy was only available for digital calls. Typical of the industry last year was the decision to move forward with digital and refrain from adding features such as enhanced privacy or authentication to the soon to be replaced analog system. I never did find an area where the switch supported the enhanced privacy feature that the phone had. Maybe the industry has changed its mind by now. But that still leaves a minimum of 21.5 million pieces of analog subscriber equipment that do not support any potential improvements to the switch, and those numbers increase by thousands every day. Sounds a bit overwhelming to me, but I am still of the opinion (eternal optimist that I am) that it could be done by any of the carriers if managed properly. 8) Well, I guess that says it all. I still pay my monthly bill but I don't turn the phone on much any more. I used to be able to take care of business while driving between Phoenix and Tucson. It made me much more efficient. My cellular bills used to range between $300 and $600 a month (and I didn't violate Corporate Security Instructions because I had an attached encryption device that I used faithfully). Then I made that one clear phone call (sheer convenience) to make my travel arrangements to show my equipment to BellSouth in Atlanta. Amazing how on a direct flight from MHT to ATL my luggage was broken open and five cellular phones, a scanner, and an ESN reader were left untouched, only the encryption/privacy equipment was destroyed. Since I changed jobs and gave my encryption devices back, I no longer travel and have a need to stay in touch and be more efficient in my new job (at least my new management probably isn't interested in paying that much for more efficiency). Now I try not to turn the phone on near Boston to let the ESN readers and scanners pick up someone else. I don't even like to call home and find out my kids are home alone much less let the world know it. I use the phone for directory assistance and calling stores. Makes me a much more efficient shopper. Still its hard to pass up a $.10 pay phone (still have it here in NH) for three minutes knowing it will cost me $1.50 on the cellular. Come to think of it, why do I need cellular service? It's not as useful as it used to be. PROGNOSTICATIONS (my favorite): 1) Carriers need to get analog right. If you attend a regional C1 wireless expo, you will hear that PCS is already here today, and the speaker will hold up a dual-mode phone and describe all of the nice services available, meant to make your deskphone expendable. In reality, that analogy is based upon the ubiquity of analog service. The concept of communications any time, anywhere is only available now because of analog infrastructure. To date, carriers have shown no propensity to strengthen the notion that the wireless "deskphone" as it exists today is as secure and fraud resistant as the wired one (which is already on my desk and costs a lot less to operate). They have already entrenched in customers minds the standards for PCS; expect more of the same. They have made PCS sales much more difficult. PCS sales people will have to overcome the weaknesses of analog, something digital has not been able to do to date. 2) Note several disturbing trends in the carrier responses to fraud. First, every carrier that attempts to deal with fraud is implementing its preferred method and they are dissimilar. I have to wonder if the Nynex and C1-NY PIN strategies are compatible. Second, anti-fraud efforts are concentrating on local territories. Your Nynex PIN is probably worthless on the West Coast where you probably stand at least an equal chance of being cloned. Third, all the "fixes" are user impacting and represent a step backward from direct dial capabilities. In an age where cell phones are now being sold with dial tone (ostensibly to get users to transition more easily from the deskset), we are now faced with the probability that we either have to enter a PIN or talk to an operator (none of which I have to do from my deskset). These are interim steps for an analog system that will continue to be much more than an interim system. This interim analog system is the test market for enhanced PCS services and the response will not be "knock the door down, let me get this thing" if the price of these services are lack of security and increased exposure to fraud. There is at least one district director whose carrier employer is committed to enhanced services that recognizes the risk he takes every time he powers his current generation PCS vehicle (aka cellular phone) up, places or receives a call. 3) The entire concept of the Wireless PBX is doomed unless security and fraud are addressed and solved both in the Campus environment and with the particpating carrier. Too many corporate security instructions exist which preclude discussion of proprietary business over cellular phones. Keep in mind also that with the winding down of the cold war, many ex-government security folks are now being hired by major corporations to address the security weaknesses of these companies, and they do know the score. John S. Maddaus jmaddaus@attmail.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you very much for such an interesting inside view on the cellular fraud problem. Your article was one of the best on the topic I've printed since this thread began. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #103 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa14492; 16 Feb 95 23:50 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12621; Thu, 16 Feb 95 18:11:06 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12615; Thu, 16 Feb 95 18:11:04 CST Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 18:11:04 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502170011.AA12615@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #104 TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Feb 95 18:11:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 104 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Does AT&T 7506 TAD 03A Pass CID to RS232 of Original Caller? (A Varney) Re: How I Fooled Caller ID (Anthony Chor) Re: Who Belongs to 10732 Five-Digit Access Code? (Walter Turberville) Re: Who Belongs to 10732 Five-Digit Access Code? (David Breneman) Re: Emergency Cellular Phone (Brad Hicks) Re: Apple, Data-PCS, Canadian PCS Services (Elizabeth Bonkink) Re: Security of Cordless Phones? (Mark R. Wilkins) Re: MCI Bureaucratic Blunder (Chris Hardaker) Recommendations Wanted For Caller-ID Capable Modem (Tim Petlock) Happy Haleyville, Alabama 911 Emergency Call Day! (Steve Brack) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: varney@usgp2.ih.att.com (Al Varney) Subject: Re: Does AT&T 7506 TAD 03A Pass CID to RS232 of Original Caller? Organization: AT&T Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 00:02:29 GMT In article , wrote: > An early reply would be appreciated ... Oops ... > Today I'm ordering my AT&T 7506 TAD 03A and ISDN service with NYNEX. > Does this particular 7506 pass the CID of each caller to the RS232? I > want to plug my computer in and have it look into my customer database > and pop up the record for the customer before I even know the phone is > ringing. > I'll program it. I just want to know if the firmware allows it, and how. The firmware allows it. Without the manual (or the hint below), you'll never figure out how to get it. (No fair tracing the firmware....) Anyway, the firmware you need is Feature Package 3 (FP3) or later, with an ADM-2. With phone powered up, hit SELECT and then TEST. After the neat self-test finishes, the display will show the FPx.y level and firmware date. (It will also emit this annoying "BEEP" until you hit SELECT and TEST again.) If you are at FP3.0 or later, you should have the "ISDN ADM FP3 Users Guide," 555-021-729 to tell you how to use it ... but the real power user also needs "ISDN API Programmers Reference Manual", 533-705-200. FP3 supports: - D or B-channel data (X.25 or "raw" on the B-channel) - a basic monitor capability for voice or data calls (see below), - a version using Hayes(tm) AutoStream(tm) / to monitor for both, - a range of Human Interface monitor capabilities that will report button presses, switch-hook, key presses, lamp status, volume, sound/alerter status, etc. - a "control" capability that allows the ADM to actually break the Human-to-CO interface and control calls, sound, buttons, etc. (The alerter will play tunes within reason....) - AutoStream also allows the ADM EIA-232-D port to intermix data (D or B-channel) with these controls. (There is also a NETBIOS modified interface from EXCELLTECH available to support up to 4 7506's from a PC. Never tried it myself ...) Anyway, to get the most basic voice monitor capabilities, set the 7506 Data capabilities (SELECT, then DATA) to: - 9600 or higher (the ADM will autosynch unless you block it) - "EnhAT" mode (not "AT" or "CMD") - Parity and Data Mode shouldn't matter. Now hook up your terminal/emulator to the ADM port -- type "at" and it should say "OK". If not, see Users Guide .... Now enter "at&O1" (you want to monitor with ID 1) Then enter "at%A0=3" (you want to monitor VOICE with ID 1) Then enter "at&&X0,0,98" (this turns on Enhanced monitoring results) That should do it. Here's a captured stream from my work phone (7506). The PARTY, CAUSE and SCA lines will not appear except in Enhanced monitoring mode. Good luck. I didn't design this interface -- I just use it ... Al Varney - all typos mine vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv I've added these comments. at <- Just to ensure everything's working.... OK (I'm in non-AutoStream mode, logging the ADM port....) RING:01 <- New call on Call Appearance 1 (CA1) (This is an incoming call, RING is a poor term) SIGNAL:01,40 <- Turn on "Audible Ring - Pattern 0" tone PARTY:01,1,4,1,NXXXXXX <- CA1 incoming voice call information from SETUP 1 = Calling Party number 4 = Subscriber number (7-digit in NANP) (or 2 = 10-digit number and 1 = International #) 1 = E.164 numbering plan (ISDN/Telephone) (you may get private/screening codes added before the number if blocked/out-of-area, etc.) SCA:01 <- Call Appearance 1 associated with switch-hook DISPLAY:01,01 1 <- Display 01, Call Appearance 1 text ==> "a=" on 7506 DISPLAY:01,03708-NXX-XXXX <- Display 03, Calling Number DISPLAY:01,05MY BOSS <- Display 05, calling name (blank padded) DISPLAY:01,07InI <- Display 07, Call type 'InI' == Incoming, Internal DISPLAY:01,0A02-14 02:38pm <- Display 0A, Date/Time CONNECTED:01 <- Handset lifted, connect caller SIGNAL:01,4F <- Turn off Alerting tone DISPLAY:01,01 1 <- Refresh the display.... 7506 automatically starts a 'call duration' timer on the display in place of the Date/Time DISPLAY:01,03708-NXX-XXXX DISPLAY:01,05MY BOSS DISPLAY:01,07InI CAUSE:01,10,2 <- I hang up - 10 = Release cause 'normal' SIGNAL:01,4F,10 <- Turn off alerting(!) and show 'cause value' SCA:01 <- CO auto-selects CA1 when phone is idle CLEARED:01,10 <- B-channel idle, with 'cause value' indication (ISDN is littered with "cause values".) -------------------------------------- Here's the same stuff when I call myself (neat ISDN debugging tool) CALL:01 <- Pick up my handset, Call Appearance 1 (CA1) active SIGNAL:01,00 <- Turn on "dial tone" tone DISPLAY:01,01 1 <- Display CA1 text ==> "a=" on the 7506 PROMPT:01,0102 <- CO tells set to send more digits (the display automatically records these) SIGNAL:01,3F <- Turn off tones (after first digit) PROCEEDING:01 <- CO gets enough digits to process (this is a 'Centrex dial 9' type of access) PROMPT:01,0102 <- CO tells set to send more digits (the display automatically records these, after a ',') SIGNAL:01,00 <- Turn on "dial tone" tone again (dial POTS number now) SIGNAL:01,3F <- Turn off tones (after first digit) PROCEEDING:01 <- CO gets enough digits to process RING:02 <- New call on Call Appearance 2 (RING is poor term) (This is the incoming call) SIGNAL:02,40 <- Turn on "Alerting Tone - Pattern 0" tone PARTY:02,1,4,1,NXXXXXX <- CA2 incoming voice call information from SETUP <1 = Called Party number 4 = Subscriber number (7-digit in NANP) 1 = E.164 numbering plan (ISDN/Telephone) DELIVERED:01 <- The called party is being alerted PROGRESS:01,0208 <- Alerting in progress SIGNAL:01,01 <- Turn on "audible ring" tone DISPLAY:01,01 1 <- Display 01, CA1 text DISPLAY:01,02NXXXXXX <- Display 02, outgoing called number DISPLAY:01,07OuI <- Outgoing, Internal call DISPLAY:02,01 2 <- Display 01, CA2 text (This wipes out the CA1 display) DISPLAY:02,03708-NXX-XXXX DISPLAY:02,05AL VARNEY <- Hey, that's me!! DISPLAY:02,07InI DISPLAY:02,0A02-14 10:37am CAUSE:01,10,2 <- I'm not answering me, so hang up on CA1 (I could have hit CA2, putting the outgoing call on hold and answering the incoming one. The high- tech way to talk to yourself.) SIGNAL:01,4F,10 <- Turn off tones (audible ring) SCA:02 <- CO autoselects the CA2 button (little does it know that CA1 was the same call. This would allow me to answer CA2 by lifting the switch-hook but, of course, the incoming call is about to die.) CLEARED:01,10 <- B-channel idle on CA1 call CAUSE:02,10,0 <- Drop incoming call (0=unknown location?) SIGNAL:02,4F,10 <- Turn off tones (alerting) CAUSE:02,10,2 <- Drop incoming call, 2=local public network SCA:01 <- CO autoselects CA1 on idle 7506 CLEARED:02,10 <- Drop incoming B-channel ------------------------------ From: Anthony Chor Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 10:21:23 PST Subject: Re: How I Fooled Caller ID In TELECOM Digest #93, 0006718446@mcimail.com (John Combs) writes: > By the way, don't forget that all those new, be-here-any-day-now > voice and data-simultaneously modems working on analog lines are going > to have to do considerably better than a mere 4:1 compression ratio. > And, there ain't no way they'll connect through an AT&T SLC96 which > has channel compression turned on, but the ADSI phone will. > The point is, ADSI is a simple, cheap technology that provides Caller > ID on Call Waiting, and has an extra feature that also allows simple > text interaction between home and businesses. It is targeted at the > majority of the population that eyes a PC with suspicion/derision, but > has no qualms about using a telephone, even if it DOES have a screen. > And, it doesn't need Bellcore to champion it -- the RBOCs will take > care of the issue by offering to sell/lease the hardware at cost, > knowing they'll make their money by increased sales of calling > features on home phone lines. Bell Atlantic did this a couple of > years ago with simple Caller ID number-only boxes, and moved more than > a half-million in no time. (Of course, they regret that now, as they > are meeting resistance from those purchasers when they suggest trading > up for a fee to get a Calling Name and Number ID box.) > Until Bill Gates understands that sometimes dates DO matter, Microsoft > won't qbe replacing COs with super PC servers running NT. (Remember > that brag?) I'm not sure how this thread turned into a Microsoft-bash; I realize it's trendy, but it's not relevant to this discussion. The point of my posting was that ADSI is a non-scalable voice/data solution, obsolete before it ever reached widespread adoption. Rather than adopting an antiquated technology, we should be looking to newer, more flexible voice/data schemes. I was also not advocating a "pie-in-the-sky" solution, as John insinuates. However, it is important to see technology trends and build a plan which allows us deploy today and move toward the future with a minimum of fuss for users or providers. One approach may be to start with Radish's VoiceView, which DOES work on the ubiquitous analog line through any kind of switch and even from behind a PBX. The architecture that applications are built on to use VoiceView allows the transport to be replaced later with DSVD, ISDN, ATM, or whatever without changing the application. This is the kind of future we should be working toward -- ready today, ready for tomorrow. Furthermore, these technologies don't have to live in a box which looks like a computer. I totally agree with John that there are lots of people who "eye a PC with suspicion/derision." So for these people, there are companies building screenphones which support VoiceView and computer companies building devices which don't necessarily look like the computers we have today. As far as adoption goes, there are roughly ten million modems sold each year, most of which will be VoiceView equipped by this time next year. Contrast this to <1,100,000 screenphones (including proprietary non-ADSI phones) in TOTAL deployment by the end of the year (according to a Falkner&Gray report. What's more, since the PC industry enjoys a more favorable price curve than any industry, the price of PC-based solutions (including PC-based screenphones) should drop faster than non-PC based telephone hardware, thereby further widening the gap. Which user base do you want to develop for? (Hint: more is more.) Heck, I'll even bite on the Microsoft Windows NT in the back-office non-sequitor. NT is already being deployed in the network -- GeoTel makes an SS7 box built on NT. What's more, people like Octel and InteCom have already announced that their next generation systems will be built on NT. Over the next five years, you'll see NT moving into PBXs first and then into the CO (slower here due to inertia). I'll make a gentleman's wager with you, John, that by 2000, Windows NT will be commonplace in PBXs and CO's. ADSI is not a good solution, and, contrary to John's assertion, without Bellcore to advance it, it will never grow to support richer user interactions. Even with Bellcore's help, it will likely never grow up. In discussions we've had with folks in the telecom industry, it's clear that most of these people realize ADSI is a dead technology, so I'm not sure who will propagate and grow it. I think John's story about GTE giving away Caller ID boxes sums up my primary argument: if we take a heads-down-how-do-we-make-money-right-now approach without thinking about what the future brings, we will wind up screwing ourselves like GTE did. So before you think about deploying ADSI or building ADSI-based products, think about what your next step is what that step will look like for you and your users. You'll realize it's a doozy ... And, yes, Windows 95 will ship in 1995. Tony Chor, tonych@microsoft.com Program Manager, Telecom Products Unit, Microsoft Corporation ------------------------------ From: wturber@PrimeNet.Com (Walter (Jay) Turberville ) Subject: Re: Who Belongs to 10732 Five-Digit Access Code? Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 04:57:33 GMT Organization: Primenet In article tedwards@src.umd.edu (Thomas Grant Edwards) writes: > Recently an "urban rumor" has been going around: > If you want to know whether your phone has been tapped in the last six > months, dial in the following: > 107 321 404 988 966 4 > What you will get back is a digital recording consisting of (a) your phone's > area code; (b) your 7-digit phone-number; (c) the digit 8; (d) a pause of > a few seconds; (e) 9 zeroes in three groups of three -- 000 000 000; and > (f) a digit. If the digit (f) is a 2, your phone is clear. Otherwise, if it > is any other digit (usually it's a 1 in that case), your phone has been > tapped in the last six months. > OK - obviously this number is 10732-1-404-988-9664. Which provider is > the 5-d code 10732? Anyone know mroe details on the 1-404-988-9664? In my experience working for an RBOC, legal phone taps are not done via the switch. They are attached directly at some point to the tapped line. For the above scenario to be correct, there would have to be some universal "tapped phone database" which, if you think about it for a moment, is an absurdity. Walter (Jay) Turberville Phoenix, AZ wturber@primenet.com wturber@aol.com http://www.primenet.com/~wturber ------------------------------ From: daveb@dgtl.com (David Breneman) Subject: Re: Who Belongs to 10732 Five-Digit Access Code? Date: 16 Feb 95 20:43:02 GMT Organization: Digital Systems International, Redmond WA Thomas Grant Edwards (tedwards@src.umd.edu) wrote: > Recently an "urban rumor" has been going around: > If you want to know whether your phone has been tapped in the last six > months, dial in the following: > 107 321 404 988 966 4 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Gosh, what a mystery! > I don't know what the final digit is, but that bull about 'your phone > has been or is being tapped' is just exactly that: Bull! How would > AT&T know if some customer of Sprint (for example) had his phone > tapped by his local telco, at (for example) the request of law > enforcement. Whoever spreads these stories (you perhaps? 'urban > legend', indeed!) should stop it now. I don't know what the AT&T > private network uses that number for, but I can almost assuredly > advise you it has nothing to do with phone taps. PAT] I've heard this "wiretap" story myself. Most recently from a caller to a call-in show where the topic was the Clipper Chip. So, this rumor *is* circulating out there. In this case, the radio station called the number on-air and discovered that *their* lines were "tapped"! Scandal! A radio station's caller lines being *listened in on*!?! :-) David Breneman Email: daveb@jaws.engineering.dgtl.com Systems Administrator, Voice: +1 206 881-7544 Fax: +1 206 556-8033 Product Development Platforms Digital Systems International, Inc. Redmond, Washington, U. S. o' A. ------------------------------ From: /G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU1=0205465@mhs-mc.attmail.com Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 09:18:34 -0600 Subject: Re: Emergency Cellular Phone > I've been told that unactivated cellular phones in the PNW > region are able to dial 911, and 711 (cellular operator), unless the > phone has been flagged as stolen. Gee, I'd think they'd =want= stolen phones to be able to call 611, 711, or 911. After all, don't the police and the cellular phone company =want= to know what cell the stolen phone was located in? Could be pretty handy information! And who knows what other helpful information you could trick out of someone stupid enough to call the police on a stolen phone? J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad ------------------------------ From: bonkink@server.uwindsor.ca (Bonkink Elizabeth) Subject: Re: Apple, Data-PCS, Canadian PCS services Organization: University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 15:58:30 -0500 In article monty@roscom.COM writes: > Apple Hails FCC Frequency Allocation for Data-PCS > CUPERTINO, California -- February 15, 1995 -- The long-expected era of > wireless computing was given a solid boost last week when all five FCC > Commissioners unanimously voted to allocate 10 Megahertz of radio > spectrum for low-power, wireless data communications, "Data- PCS." > As a result of the FCC's allocating the new band without further > procedural or administrative delay, starting immediately, > manufacturers can produce radio modems so educators and other users > can set up their own wireless networks. The cost and complexity of > wireless computing devices can be substantially reduced and their > bandwidth (or data rate) can be significantly greater, allowing for > such applications as multimedia. Can anyone briefly explain how this affects Canadian wireless data services or the plans for them? I've heard precious little about CRTC/Dept of Industry PCS policy, and I do try to read the papers now and then. With a major player like Apple pulling for wireless computing, and the FCC making it viable as above, will these products be able to appear in Canada? Eh? Kirk Zurell Bumper-surfing on the info highway... Swerving to avoid a deltree. ------------------------------ From: mrw@cs.hmc.edu (Mark R. Wilkins) Subject: Re: Security of Cordless Phones? Date: 16 Feb 1995 21:14:00 GMT Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA In article , Jeffrey A. Porten wrote: > Having just gotten a new cordless phone (BellSouth 46mHz), and living > in the paranoid environs of Washington, DC, I find myself wondering ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > just how likely it is that the world is listening to my calls. [ stuff deleted ] > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Corded or cordless, the assumption should > be that your telephone calls are never secure. Very true. Actually, in Washington, D.C. I would guess that a large number of your calls are being automatically recorded by equipment owned by friendly and unfriendly nations. The "world" may very literally be listening to your cordless calls along with many others in the Washington area. Increasingly, also, government intelligence agencies in many countries around the world support their domestic industries by passing along relevant technical or business information they run across in the course of other collection efforts. A recent investigation at Vandenberg Air Force Base, at which I work, uncovered evidence that the French intelligence agency was systematically collecting such information on the activities of forty cont- ractors working in the area of commercial space launch services. This according to reports in the paper, of course. So even if you're not working for the government, it may be that your work-related conversations are of interest to a competitor who happens to be aided by a foreign government. :-) Just a dose of paranoia to liven up your day! Mark Wilkins SRI International, Vandenberg AFB ------------------------------ Subject: Re: MCI Bureaucratic Blunder From: hardaker@clear.co.nz (Chris Hardaker) Date: 16 Feb 95 11:11:29 EST IMHO ... I have been reading this journal now for over six months and find it totally enjoyable. I have been particularly impressed (depressed?) by the number of situations that arise for bureaucratic megalomania. Coming from New Zealand and having worked for both of the major players in the Telco arena, I can only remember our bad old days. I have had numerous 'pre-competition' experiences with the billing systems and general customer service ethic of the governmental monopoly. CLEAR Communications came along and just like MGM Magic (Wires, mirrors, that kind of thing..) suddenly 'I' was important. Very similar to Richard Wildman's MCI experiences, TELECOM NZ were forever cutting people off for non-payment and then having to re-instate their service after a 'clerical error' was detected. The worst bit was they did not even have the decency to be embarrassed. Now, if I don't like to look of my bill, I can choose between five different formats, I can receive the account at any one of four times during the month (handy when the relatives live overseas and the bill usually arrives at the same time as the mortgage). Chances are, if I don't feel I should pay for a call, they will credit it back. If they make a mistake and I am without service for 24 hours (even due to a cable fault), I will get $50 in phone cards or $30 off my next bill. If my call is not billed in 90 days or if it is billed incorrectly, I will not be billed for that call at all, and I may get the erroneous amount as a credit also. This generally applies to both carriers. In the specific instance of CLEAR, I can get a 45% discount off my calls, just by talking for more than 30 minutes, any time of the day. If I call another person who uses CLEAR, I get an additional 10% discount. If I get a friend to join CLEAR, we both get $10 credits on our next bill. etc etc etc Although I am not saying anything against the United States in general, sometimes I think that the Telco's there need to remember just who pays the bills. It is the guy who can't get his modem to work because the line if out of spec., or the person for whom they just can't get that second line right, or the person who is getting just a little bit frustrated with the companies inability to realise when it's made a mistake. It seems to be way past due for the employee to realise they are lucky to be working at all, and the only reason they are is because the company they work for hasn't gone bust due to the 'little' people paying money for 'service'. All of the above in in my humble opinion, of course. Chris Hardaker Network Management CLEAR Communications Auckland, New Zealand Ph +64 9 9124286 Fax +64 9 9124451 Email HARDAKER@clear.co.nz Snail 49 Symonds Street, Auckland, New Zealand ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 14:22:58 CST From: Tim PETLOCK Subject: Recommendations Wanted for Caller-ID Capable Modem Hello, I'm hoping the readers of TELECOM Digest can help me out. I work for the University of WI- Madison in a dean's office. Many of our phone calls are from students who want advice on how to go about transferring to the UW, which courses to take, how their courses at another institution would transfer, etc. What I want to do is have an internal modem inside my PC that takes the caller-ID information. The only modem I've been able to find that *for sure* does it is a ZyXel U-1496-B. However, the cost of it is more than I can justify to our department administrator. Which other modems have this capability? Am I being completely unrealistic in trying to find an internal modem with this capability for under $150? Secondly, what's available for software? My computer is infected with, or rather, runs (almost) under Windows 3.11. What I need is a pop up program that is always running. When the phone rings I want it to show me the ID, and if there've been any notes taken on a previous call from that number, to show me that as well. Furthermore, it's gotta be robust -- I don't want to see "General Protection Fault" messages! Any assistance that readers can provide would be fantastic. I tried calling just about all of the local computer stores and the responses could, for the most part, be boiled down to "Huh?!" The most pathetic one was Inacomp, whose representative insisted that Caller-ID was a "standard 1200-baud modem signal" and that all I needed was software. I referred him to this months article in {Byte} magazine and got off that call as quickly as possible!! The most informed sales rep I talked to knew what caller-ID was and that there were modems that could decode the signal, but said that there just wasn't any software available yet that could do what I was looking for. SAY IT ISN'T SO! Thanks for any assistance you can provide. Tim Petlock Undergraduate Student Services - UW Medical School 1300 University Ave Rm. 1070 Madison, WI 53706 tim.petlock@ccmail.adp.wisc.edu ------------------------------ From: Steve Brack Subject: Happy Haleyville, Alabama 911 Emergency Call Day! Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 18:13:58 EST Congress has declared today to be Haleyville, Alabama 911 Emergency Call Day, according to a report broadcast on National Public Radio this afternoon. According to NPR, the first emergency services call to use the (then) new emergency number, 911, was placed in Haleyville, Alabama, on this day in 1968. The 911 system in Haleyville was put into place by Bob Gallagher, of the Alabama Telephone Company, and, among the inaugural callers was the president of the Alabama Public Services Commission, "Bull" Connor, perhaps more famous for siccing dogs on schoolchildren. According to Mr. Gallagher, he ordered the activation of 911 in Haleyville in part because AT&T had planned to have the first 911 call placed in Huntington, Indiana one week later. He noted that the mayor of Haleyville (pop. 6,000 at the time), was quite proud of the 911 emergency number and ordered large signs put up at the city limits announcing that in his town, you could dial 911 for any emergency. Gallagher also said that the underlying motivation for 911 was to cut down on operators' non-revenue time, such as that spent handling emergency calls. That might have been his company's attitude, but it doesn't sound to me like the typical Bell System attitude of that time. Steve Brack, Consultant sbrack@eng.utoledo.edu Toledo, OH 43613-1605 sbrack@cse.utoledo.edu Tel: +1 419 534 7349 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Indeed it was not Bell's attitude in those days. Back then, they had huge amounts of money to waste; the customer *always* came first, and they were extremely public relations minded. Their first and probably only concern was seeing to it customers were accomodated however possible. They still do that a lot, but we can see things getting frayed around the edges. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #104 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa15057; 17 Feb 95 0:50 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15681; Thu, 16 Feb 95 19:32:33 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15675; Thu, 16 Feb 95 19:32:31 CST Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 19:32:31 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502170132.AA15675@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #105 TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Feb 95 19:32:30 CST Volume 15 : Issue 105 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Why Does AT&T Immediatly Supervise on 0-500? (Doug Reuben) Re: Scam at UC Berkeley (Jeff Box) Re: Directory Assistance Call Completer (Jeffrey William McKeough) Re: Odd Phone Calls (Jeff Box) Re: Telstra (Australia) Information Wanted (Anthony Spierings) Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery (Marcus Lee) Re: Caller-ID Questions (Seymour Dupa) Re: How to Revive Nicad Batteries (Steve Forrette) Re: Privately Owned Cables on Public Utility Poles (Jack Pestaner) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dreuben@netcom.com (CID Tech/INSG) Subject: Why Does AT&T Immediatly Supervise on 0-500? Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 04:52:39 PST On Thu, 9 Feb 1995 23:08:29 GMT, pritter@nit.AirTouch.COM (Phil Ritter) wrote: [In response to my post asking why AT&T opted to supervise 0-500 calls right from the start (as they do with all 0+ calls), thus resulting in airtime charges when I reprogram my 500/700 numbers from a cellphone.] > Actually, there is a reason for them to return supervision on 0-500 > calls. If they did not, it is unlikely that the cellular companies > would allow such calls at all! Odd that you say this ... almost every other LD carrier's calling card system, including Sprint, LDDS/Metromedia, and WilTel, do NOT supervise UNTIL the called party has answered. I can thus sit on the cellphone and enter calling card numbers all day to a busy number and NOT be billed (well, except in LA! :( ). AT&T is one of the ONLY carriers that I am aware of which starts 0+ billing BEFORE you even enter your card number. This is why I don't use AT&T from my carphone for calling card calls, and why I've obtained LDDS/Metromedia cards for everyone who works with me as well as other friends with carphones -- precisely so they don't have to pay to reach a no-answer or busy-signal as they do with AT&T Calling Card Calls. > While you may not "PAY" for the time that you spend programming the > service, I do not really want to give you free use of my most scarce > resource (radio channel time) while you are setting things up. Ok, fine. How about I write some software program which looks to the caller ID of a call from a cellphone. (You can get an 800 number to do this if your cellco doesn't send caller ID). When my Mac or PC gets this specific Caller ID or ANI, it goes into "ring detect mode". When it gets into the detectiom mode, it calls the carphone (or beeper) and rings it once. It then proceeds to count the number of rings which follow, with an allowance of maybe one ring either way. After "x" minutes, it stops looking for rings, and counts up all the rings with the given cell co's caller ID. I pre-program the software to know that 1 ring = forward my 500 to 555-1212 2 rings= forward my 500 to 555-4141 3 rings= forward my 500 to 555-6161 ...etc. So if the software received three rings with the cellco's ID (or one of the many cellco IDs), it says "Hmm ... three rings means forward the 500 number to telephone number 555-6161". My calls are now forwarded, I didn't pay a dime in airtime (except in LA, where pressing SEND costs airtime :( ), but I managed to use up a lot more system overhead than if I were able to reprogram the 500 at no airtime cost. Awkward? Yes, indeed. Time consuming? Yes, for both of us. And I have it up and running right now, and it works quite well. The software was simple enough to write, and the 800 service and configuration of the whole thing took a few hours more. So is this what you prefer? Is this REALLY preferable to allowing users to program -- not call anyone mind you, just program -- their 500/700/whatever numbers with no airtime charge? (And please, no arguments about how this is theft of service, etc. We went through this before, I thought both sides had interesting points, but I chose not to participate and do not wish to engage in that now. That is NOT the topic of this post.) The "You use our airtime, you pay" is a very narrow-minded approach. First off, the only reason I would *want* to access my 500 number for programming is to forward calls to the car while I am there. By charging customers airtime to call their 500/700 numbers to reforward them to their carphones, they are discouraged from doing so, and will receive fewer or no calls in the car. By being petty and cheap, the carrier is depriving itself of significantly higher revenues. Most people can reprogram their 500/700 numbers in 20 seconds or less. A single, one-minute incoming call can easily make up for that supposedly "lost" revenue, and after the initial minute, a cellular company which did NOT charge airtime for 500/700 programming (assuming AT&T did not preclude that option as they currently do) would gain a great deal more in airtime revenues for subsequent calls -- revenue that would otherwise have not been generated. As an example, frequently, I would like to have my 500/700 numbers forwarded to my car. They are usually forwarded to my pager. Instead of having an easy mechanism by which I can do this without charge, I need to use my software to do this, which is admitedly annoying, especially on short trips. So I normally just keep my 500/700 numbers forwarded to my pager or voicemail (which is then paged). If I get a page while in the car, I will almost always wait till I get to a landline phone, and return the call from there. Not because of any strong desire to "spite" the cell co. (I like my local cell co., actually), but just because I can say "Hmm ... ok, this guy can wait ... no need to talk this very second". However, if I were able to reprogram my 500/700 number(s) from the car with no charge, and a call came in, I'd be inclined to answer it, and thus generate revenue for the cell co. Secondly, as cellular and landline networks become increasingly integrated, the ability to control these "follow me"-type 500 services will begin to be incorporated into the combined functionality of the cellular and landline switches. As the distinction between the two becomes increasingly hazy, many of these services will be accessed in a similar manner to current "feature codes", such as call forwarding, which in most cases (Err ... Pac*Tel/LA and/or LA Cellular being the exceptions? ;) ) are not charged for. If AT&T wishes to have its 500 services maintain some sort of competitiveness with integrated landline/cellular services, it would be in its own interest to allow airtime-free 500 reprogramming, at least from its cellular properties, as well as to make haste in developing links to integrate its 500 services with its cellular services in a more seamless manner. Thirdly, the fact that other companies who have calling card services which do NOT supervise and which will not (generally) incur an airtime charge (again, let us forget about LA's cellular "services"), indicates that not only are people eating up "precious" airtime, but that they are "getting away with it" all the time. What happens when Sprint decides to add a few extra features to their calling card services, like the Time of Day, maybe? They don't need to supervise this to bill. Or what if they wish to provide ancillary services to their calling card system, like speed dialing? If they don't supervise while a user is programming their speed dial numbers into the calling card system, what is a cellular carrier going to do? Where do you draw the line and say "OK, at point 'x' you MUST supervise" to a given carrier? AT&T has IMHO foolishly opted to do that right from the onset, yet other carriers have more enlightened policies. The poster's notion of a cellular carrier dictating to the entire communications industry when *they* must offer supervision (prior to an actual answer, which should of course be supervised) smacks and such unmitigated arrogance that such a carrier's protestations are at best ignored. > It is not really AT&Ts place to chose for me which calls I bill for > and which I do not by selectively manipulating he return of answer > supervision. If the call is answered, even if answered by a machine, > AT&T needs to return supervision. The only exception to this is when > they return call routing exception recordings (which is certainly not > the case here). Really? Well, try telling Sprint, MCI, LDDS/Metromedia, et. al. this. I'm sure they will be very willing to cooperate with you ;). You know, when their calling card system picks up and prompts you for a calling card, well, that's a machine. Tell them that. See what they say. >> 5. Most cellular companies do not allow 1+500 billing (even those which >> AT&T owns), so you need to dial 0-500, resulting in an airtime charge >> to the caller even if no one answers or the line is busy. This was one >> of the biggest problems with ER700 -- no one wanted to call me from their >> carphones after about a month of using the service and seeing all these >> calls at 80 cents per minute to my 700 when I never even answered. > Actually, most cellular companies do not perform ANY form of casual > billing. This includes 900, 976, 800-chargeback, 10XXX billing, and > now 500. Its not clear when this will (or if it will, or if it even > should) change. Well, maybe Pac*Tel managed to get out of offering its customers 10xxx dialing by changing it's name to "Airtouch", but a good deal of carriers DO indeed offer this as a result of federal rulings. And with McCaw Cellular (unfortunately) being forced to offer Equal Access (one of the few cases where I have been opposed to this), I suspect that a MAJORITY of subscribers nationwide will have 10xxx dialing. My point was not to allow 500 direct billing (which could be manipulated to place international calls without the cell co. knowing -- see Pat's note at the end of a recent post regarding 500 numbers from hospitals). The point was that since the 500/700 services are designed to have inconsistent billing rates to allow for international forwarding (a difficult, but understandable compromise on AT&T's part), the only way that one SHOULD be able to access the 500/700, in order to PREVENT a cellular company from suffering an intentional or unintentional loss is to ALLOW access to 0+500 or 0+700 with NO AIRTIME CHARGE until the called party is reached. AT&T may wish to consider that their competitors' 500 numbers may work just like this: They will not supervise until they complete. Cellular customers, even those on it's newly acquired McCaw properties, may desert AT&T's 500/700 services for a service from an Ameritech or Bell Atlantic, for example, which allows a user to program and forward his/her 500 number without airtime charge, and which does not bill callers UNTIL the 500 number is answered. The main point was that AT&T has made a foolish move in this regard, and that hopefully other 500 providers will emerge who will not repeat these errors and provide a more "carphone friendly" service. It is ironic and sad that AT&T, which now owns the nation's largest cellular provider, was unable or unwilling to make the necessary adaptations to its 500 service to facilitate these goals, and it seems increasignly likely that another IXC or Bell will introduce a 500 service that is more "carphone friendly" than that offered by the AT&T/McCaw. > Phil Ritter pritter@la.airtouch.com Ahhh .... although I am not personally attacking Phil, and I do appreciate his taking the time to answer, if this signature file means "Airtouch Cellular in LA", then I can understand the response. The LA market has unquestionably the WORST cellular service of any large city in the nation. Calls are always dropped, coverage is incredibly poor, and on top of all this, both carriers have audacity to charge airtime from the moment you press send and the switch accepts your call. If you hit *350 to turn on call delivery with LA Cellular, there's an airtime charge! Or if you try to forward your calls on Pac*Tel, another airtime charge! There are airtime charges for busy signals, for calls which don't complete, for fast busy (non-switch) signals, for "Not in Service" recordings, etc. For just about anything you can dial, with the exception of maybe 611 and 911, there is an airtime charge. And what do LA Cell and Pac*Tel (err ... Airtouch ... don't want to get the DOJ involved...) say when one dares to ask them why they are the only two carriers who do have such a practice? "Well, it is because our channels are so saturated with callers that we NEED to charge this." Really? So how come both providers in NYC, a city more densely populated than LA, with similar traffic conditions (if not worse) can mange to get by without charging for incomplete calls, AND still build out their systems and expand? (In all honesty, CO/NY bills for incompletes over 40 seconds, NYNEX/NY doesn't bill for incompletes at all.) One of the carriers, Cell One, has excellent coverage just about everywhere -- from inside the lower, "RF-resistant" floors of buildings in Manhattan to the hills and valleys of Westchester and Rockland counties, topographically more challenging than anything in downtown LA or in any of the canyons of the San Gabriel or Santa Monica ranges. I recall what service was like before McCaw took over -- sort of like LA. Dropped calls, blocked outdial attempts, and the near impossibility of actually receiving a call. In a few years since, I can say that there is hardly an area in NYC where there is any significant dgree of prolonged static (compated to I-5 up in the hills, or on the I-405/Simi Valley Fwy JCT), let alone dropped calls, even right in the middle of the rush hour. So how does CO/NY manage to provide such excellent service, in an equally if not more complex service environment than LA, and yet not start charging from the second a user presses SEND? The fact of the matter is that LA Cell and Pac*Tel/LA are just greedy, petty dinosaurs of carriers who will do whatever they can to get airtime revenue, smugly convinced that they can sit on their licenses and that nothing will ever break up their nice little duopoloy. Pac*Tel is even arrogant enough to tell its users "When you roam out of LA, there are no incomplete call charges", as if they are taunting "We know no one else does it, and we just don't care. If you live in LA, you are stuck with us." Call their (hopefully free) roamer info number and you will hear this. Moreover, resentment of these two "carriers" doesn't stop at the customer level. I've spoken to a number of roam coordinators in New England and Mid Atlantic cellular properties, who have all told me that even if it weren't for fraud, they would not offer automatic roaming in LA because of the number of complaints they get regarding incomplete calls, which almost universally are written off as a courtesy credit. It is because of these two carriers that I and no doubt others are anxiously awaiting the time when alternate services, such as Nextel, develop sufficient coverage and RF saturation to adequately serve the LA Basin area. As a result of LA Cell's and Pac*Tel/LA's unbearably poor coverage, but more so as a result of their sickeningly duopolistic billing policies, I am sure that *any* alternative to these two will be enthusiastically welcomed. Doug Reuben dreuben@netcom.com +1 (203) 499 - 5221 / (500) 442-4243 CID Technologies*Interpage(TM) E-Mail/Internet Paging and Fax Services ------------------------------ From: jeffb65582@aol.com (JeffB65582) Subject: Re: Scam at UC Berkeley Date: 16 Feb 1995 19:25:27 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: jeffb65582@aol.com (JeffB65582) In my opinion, one of the worst places to let a call be transferred to is the AT&T Alliance Teleconference service at 700-458-1000. Once they (a hacker) can get a call through your switch to this numbber, they will receive voice prompts that let them add-on calls to about anywhere on the planet. Furthermore, they can use a long (1 second) pound key to let conference bridge add on and disconnect calls for up to five hours (according to the last brochure I received). Thus, the one call to the conference bridge can allow many more to be generated. The bill for all this calling will ultimately go back to the PBX owner. System administrators should be sensitive to this number that can easily result in a $1000 phone bill for a single slip-up. OTOH, if you're a legal user, its a pretty good conference facility. Jeff Box ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 19:40:23 -0500 From: marya@oitunix.oit.umass.edu (Jeffrey William McKeough) Subject: Re: Directory Assistance Call Completer Organization: Beet Cabal, New England Regional HQ TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > I hate [call completion] because instead of repeating the number > twice as they did before, now it is read once and the message about > 'you may have this call automatically completed at this time' > immediatly starts playing after the first recitation. You have to > listen to the spiel about getting it dialed automatically twice before > the number itself is repeated a second time in case you missed it the > first time. PAT] I solved that problem, as well as the problem of having people rack up $ .35 charges on my phone by requesting Directory Assistance Call Completion Blocking. I highly recommend it. Jeffrey W. McKeough marya@oitunix.oit.umass.edu ------------------------------ From: jeffb65582@aol.com (JeffB65582) Subject: Re: Odd Phone Calls Date: 16 Feb 1995 19:45:48 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: jeffb65582@aol.com (JeffB65582) I would call the phone company. From the symptoms you describe, you may be a victim of "clip-on fraud". This concept involves two phone lines and a device designed to answer a ring on one phone line and connect it to a second phone line. The idea is to dial one number, get dial tone from the second line and then place an outbound call from that point. The subscriber of the second line will eventually get the bill. For it to work, the normal users of the lines need to not answer the call. (like when they're out) I believe the term comes from the idea that the device "clips on" to the phone line at any point between the residence/business and the central office. Man holes, unlocked wiring closets and a zillion other points between the subscriber and the C.O. are possible points to add such a device. It was mentioned in the FCC requies for information on Toll Fraud that came out about a year ago. Jeff Box ------------------------------ From: as029@un.seqeb.gov.au ( ANTHONY SPIERINGS) Subject: Re: Telstra (Australia) Information Wanted Organization: SEQEB Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 00:27:58 GMT britos@scf.usc.edu wrote: > Looking for information on this company. Stock Analysis. Assets. > Prognosis. History. etc ... Telstra is 100% owned by the Australian Commonwealth (Federal) Government. Its trading name is Telecom (Australia). From my (poor) memory of a newpaper article it produced a profit for our Feds in the order of A$1,200M (someone will probable correct me on this). This does not include the various taxes and charges it has to pay to all three levels of government. Not a bad little earner :). For stocks, prognosis etc, perhaps you were thinking of OPTUS the introduced competion. Anthony Spierings as029@un.seqeb.gov.au SEBEB, (Power Utility), Brisbane, Australia. ------------------------------ From: e9321452@student.uq.oz.au (Marcus Lee) Subject: Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery Date: 16 Feb 1995 04:47:55 GMT Organization: Prentice Centre, University of Queensland mpd@adc.com (Matthew P. Downs) writes: > Erik P. Larson (larsone2@clunix.cl.msu.edu) wrote: >> Motorola ... flip phone ... does anyone know how to disable the low >> battery warning beep? It's really annoying > Use the quick charger, it drains the battery fully, before recharging. I don't think that was what he was asking ... No I haven't seen any way of disabling the beep, on any of the "Motorola flip phones." There hasn't been any menu option that I've seen on AMPS MicroTAC, TACII, GSM 5200, 8200 that I've seen. It sure can be annoying tho, if the battery doesn't go kaput for ages after it starts beeping! About the quick charger-which I presume is an Intellicharger -- it doesn't discharge, it just quick charges immediately to 90% of the battery's capacity, then goes to trickle charge to top it off. Marcus Lee Ph: +61-7-395-1479 University of Queensland Australia +61-41-119-5358 Internet: e9321452@student.uq.edu.au Fax:+61-7-843-2937 ------------------------------ From: grumpy@en.com (Seymour Dupa) Subject: Re: Caller ID Questions Date: 15 Feb 1995 09:50:45 -0500 Organization: Exchange Network Services, Inc. Mike Harris (michaeha@soul.tv.tek.com) wrote: > I'm interested in learning how Caller ID works. The data rate, how > the data is formatted, etc. Any explanations or pointers to books, or > standards would be appreciated. The best book I've found is: Principles of Caller I. D. International MicroPower Corp. 50 pages, $20 805-482-2870 805-482-5100 ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: How to Revive Nicad Batteries Date: 17 Feb 1995 00:12:28 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn In article , rwhite@manitou.cse.dnd.ca (Richard White) says: > I recall scanning some news in this newsgroup about a year ago, discussing > the technique of "shocking" nicad batteries: a technique used to give > new life to dead/old nicads. One of my MicroTac batteries died after > about 18 months service, and I'd like to restore it to life again if > possible. Although I've never tried it myself, I have a friend that swears by the method of momentarily connecting the nicad in series with a 12VDC car battery (using jumper cables) to revive a tired ni-cad. I'm not sure which is the proper polarity though. I'm sure that this method was used on the standard 1.25VDC ni-cad cells, and not a multi-cell one used for cellular (many are in the 6-9VDC range I believe), so your mileage may vary. I make no warranty as to the effectiveness or safety of the above. Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: jackp@telecomm.cse.ogi.edu (Jack Pestaner) Subject: Re: Privately Owned Cables on Public Utility Poles Date: 16 Feb 1995 03:17:17 GMT Organization: Oregon Grad. Inst. Computer Science and Eng., Beaverton > Telco Systems makes a T1 interface that will give us 48 2500 or > digital extensions from the Northern Telcom for $25,000 per end, but > couldn't I do that with just multiplexors? I would think so, especially > with 2500 sets. So don't forget that if you have voice mail and need message waiting lights for the remote location, youll probably not be able to pass the voltage necessary for MWI's. These are key for our operation. Our NEC has digital remote units that allow their digital phones to be used up to 50 miles away from the main site over a PSTN T1. You get 23 phones that act just like the ones in the office. A great solution if a tight integration is needed, but you still need to provide for fax/modem lines. Pretty low cost too -- about $7000 plus phones. Perhaps NT has something like this. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #105 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28906; 17 Feb 95 22:35 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03747; Fri, 17 Feb 95 16:31:12 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03709; Fri, 17 Feb 95 16:31:08 CST Date: Fri, 17 Feb 95 16:31:08 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502172231.AA03709@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #106 TELECOM Digest Fri, 17 Feb 95 16:31:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 106 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Caveat on Tech Training (William Wood) FCC Fines Commercial Realty $390,000 (FCC Daily Digest via Gary Bouwkamp) Wanted: Cellular Channel Measurements (Mark Douglas) What is DMS-100? (Stanley Tahara) What is Loop Start? (Paul Garfield) Telebit-InternetBlazer Press Release (Eileen Lin) How To Keep Business Phone Calls Short? (Alan Boritz) MCI Slams Again (Alan Boritz) Typical Rates for Campus Phone Systems (Anthony E. Siegman) Re: How to Revive Nicad Batteries (B.Z. Lederman) Re: How to revive NiCad Batteries (Mark Fletcher) Re: The Philosophy of CallerID (Dave Levenson) Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC (Charlie Mingo) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 10 Feb 1995 13:54:06 -0800 From: wewood@ix.netcom.com (William Wood) Subject: Caveat on Tech Training After seeing the recent rash of announcments, I would like to add to it and suggest that some of the folks who intend to attend some of the tech courses announced on this, and other, tech newsgroups might benefit from attending one of our introductory courses first. We have a two day on-site only intro course called Learning to Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk of Telecommunications which can supply a conceptual framework for more advanced courses. It is designed in three parts with a logical progression for easy understanding. Part 1 explains the Underlying Technology Basics, Part 2 is a Walk Thru A Telephone Call, and Part 3 is a Walk Thru a Data Call/Transfer. Because we only do on-sites our overhead is low and we can do our courses at prices that even very small companies can afford. Zap me an Email for more info. I am not making a value judgment on any of the other courses because I haven't seen most of them, and it's generally been my experience that tech courses with a lot of Ph.D. presenters can be very valuable. That is, if you already have an understanding of the underlying fundamentals. I do wonder though if the academic climb to Doctorism doesn't sometimes mean a loss of contact with things physical. An example: I was attending a class on networking being delivered by a noted Ph.D. Very knowledgeable, and a nice guy to boot. When he got on to the subject of transmission systems, it was obvious to me by his answers to audience questions that he had never actually worked on one. He gave out some erroneous information because of this. No lives hung in the balance because of these errors, so I did not correct him in public, but did discuss the issue after the session. My point is, no one else seemed to notice the errors because they too must not have had operational experience which would have given them a base from which to judge technical accuracy. More importantly from my perspective was his veracity on those subjects which I had no previous knowledge and thus had to simply trust as being correct. No one can be expected to know everything, but it sure would be nice if somebody could invent a B.S, M.S, PHD (BS, More of the Same, Piled Higher and Deeper) filter so we ordinary folk could separate facts from fictions. Someone once told me that the word EXPERT derives from X = unknown quantity and SPURT is a drip under pressure. I'm always cautious around unknown pressurized drips and advise others to be so too. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It is difficult at my position here also to separate fact from fiction at times, but I have found the majority of the conference announcements presented here to be very high-calibre in nature. Particularly good are the short course announements I receive regularly from Berkeley, one of the insitutions providing this Digest with computational facilities for newsletter distribution, etc. You do raise a good point though, and perhaps some of our readers will contact you about a course in the 'basics' to help them get a running start on the more difficult stuff which comes their way. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Feb 95 10:29:37 EST From: Gary Bouwkamp (gbouwka@allnet.com) Organization: Allnet Communications Subject: FCC Fines Commercial Realty $390,000 Pat, here is an interesting item from yesterdays Daily Digest. Looks like this guy never read the rules, and the FCC got pretty ticked off ... From FCC DAILY DIGEST Vol. 14, No. 32 February 16, 1995 Report No. WL 95-1 WIRELESS TELECOM ACTION February 16, 1995 COMMERCIAL REALTY ST. PETE NOTIFIED OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE OF $390,000 FOR VIOLATION OF IVDS AUCTION RULES The Commission has notified Commercial Realty St. Pete, Inc., that it is apparently liable for a forfeiture of $390,000 for abuse of the Commission's processes and violation of its rules in connection with the Interactive Video and Data Services (IVDS) auctions. In addition, Commercial Realty may be liable for penalties of not less than $1,237,500 as a result of its failure to tender the required down payment for licenses for which it submitted winning bids. Commercial Realty communicated with other bidders in violation of the FCC's anti-collusion rules, falsely certified that it was financially qualified to fulfill its bidding obligations and falsely certified that it was entitled to designated entity status as a woman-owned business. The Commission is also issuing a separate Order to Show Cause requiring Commercial Realty and its principals to show cause why, in light of their apparent misconduct in connection with the IVDS auctions and investigation of Commercial Realty, they should not be barred from participating in any future Commission auctions and why they should not be prohibited from becoming Commission licensees. On July 28 and 29, 1994, the Commission conducted auctions for 594 IVDS licenses in 279 markets across the nation. Winning bidders were required to pay 10 percent of their winning bids within five business days after the close of bidding. Commercial Realty submitted winning bids in 20 markets for a total of $41,250,000, requiring a total down payment of at least $3,266,750. Commercial Realty never tendered its down payment. Commercial Realty claimed designated entity status as a woman-owned business and claimed a 25 percent bidding credit in most of the markets in which it was a winning bidder. Commercial Realty was the successful bidder in Detroit-Ann Arbor, MI; St. Louis, MO; Miami, FL; Pittsburgh, PA; Baltimore, MD; Minneapolis- St.Paul, MN; Atlanta, GA; Denver-Boulder, CO; Seattle-Everett, WA; Milwaukee, WI; Kansas City, MO; Phoenix, AZ; Indianapolis, IN; Sacramento, CA; Greensboro, NC; Charlotte, NC; and Raleigh-Durham, NC; San Diego, CA; Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL; and Portland, OR. After the conclusion of the IVDS auction, it came to the Commission's attention that the Commission's rules and other IVDS auction requirements might have been violated by some of the participants. Therefore, the Commission ordered an investigation of the conduct of the applicants in the auction to determine whether misconduct had occurred. One target of the investigation was Commercial Realty. As a result of the investigation, the Commission determined that Commercial Realty willfully misrepresented its financial status to the Commission. A forfeiture of $10,000 for each of the 20 markets involved ($200,000) was assessed for this violation. Commercial Realty is a for-profit company incorporated in Florida on September 10, 1984. At that time, its sole director, President and Registered Agent was James C. Hartley. On February 17, 1984, Hartley's wife, Teresa Hartley, purchased all the outstanding shares of stock in Commercial Realty from a third party for $500. On April 15, 1994, she amended the corporation's bylaws to provide for a board of directors consisting solely of herself. The Commission's investigation revealed that James Hartley controlled the company and continued to make all the business decisions, including the decision to default on the down payments. Therefore, the Commission found that Commercial Realty had improperly claimed bidding credits as a woman-owned business and assessed a forfeiture of $10,000 for each of the 17 times it claimed the credit ($170,000). The investigation also revealed that Mr. Hartley engaged in prohibited discussions, or other communications, with another bidder on at least two occasions before down payments were due. The Commission assessed a forfeiture of $10,000 for each violation ($20,000). Action by the Commission February 15, 1995, by Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (FCC 95-58). Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness and Chong. News Media contact: Stacey Reuben Mesa at (202) 418-0600. Wireless Telecommunications Bureau contacts: Terry Reideler at (202) 418-1321 and Myron Peck at (202) 418-1310. ------------------------------ From: mdouglas@sol.UVic.CA (Mark Douglas) Subject: Wanted: Cellular Channel Measurements Organization: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada Date: Fri, 17 Feb 95 03:38:37 GMT I am teaching a university course on mobile communications and am interested in the following data of the received signal at a cellular phone: 1. The signal envelope over time (Rayleigh/Rician) 2. The time delay response (showing delay spread). 3. The power spectrum (frequency domain) Real measured data would be ideal, but simulated data is fine as well. I know that I can generate it myself, but if someone else already has the data, it's less work for me. Thanks, Mark Douglas University of Victoria Victoria, BC, Canada. ------------------------------ From: stahara@xlate.hsc.usc.edu (Stanley Tahara) Subject: What is DMS-100? Date: 17 Feb 1995 00:13:57 -0800 Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA Can someone give me some information? I just got a letter from Pac Bell stating that on 10 March they are going to install DMS-100 at the Los Angeles Central office and that my prefix would be affected. The letter also states: "... If you have other equipment connected to your telephone, such as an answering machine or a computer, you may want to contact the manufacturer or thee dealer from whom you purchased the equipment. Some devices need to be adjusted so they will function properly with our new switching equipment." What can I expect in the way of problems, if any, using a modem to send or receive call? Stan Tahara Dept. of Microbiology Phone: (213)-342-1722 USC School of Medicine FAX: (213)-342-1721 stahara@xlate.hsc.usc.edu ------------------------------ From: garfield@vanilla.cs.umn.edu (Paul Garfield) Subject: What is Loop Start? Organization: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, CSci dept. Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 19:57:18 GMT Long ago I remember terms like loop start and ground start as different protocols for handling signaling bits on a T1 line (although I didn't know the details). Recently I've seen the following terms applied to ANALOG lines: loop start, ground start, wink start, earth recall. What do these mean? I always thought all analog lines were the same. ------------------------------ From: eileen@telebit.com (Eileen Lin) Subject: Telebit-InternetBlazer Press Release Organization: Telebit Corporation; Sunnyvale, CA, USA Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 18:26:59 GMT TELEBIT CORP. Contact: DIRECT MARKETING DEPT. Tel: 1.800.835.3248 or 408.734.4333 Fax: 408.734.3333 Internet: info@telebit.com TELEBIT ANNOUNCES INDUSTRY'S FIRST AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET ROUTER SOLUTION WITH SPRY SOFTWARE InternetBlazer Incorporates SPRY's AIR Series Software, Enabling Users To Establish Cost-Effective Internet Facilities SUNNYVALE, CA -- Feb. 6, 1995 -- Telebit Corporation (NASDAQ: TBIT), a leader in the on-demand remote access industry, today announced the industry's first availability of a bundled Internet solution to incorporate a dial-up router with key applications of the AIR Series(TM) software from SPRY, Inc., a leading Internet software developer. The InternetBlazer, featuring renowned Telebit(R) dial-up router technology, enables small- and branch-office networks to quickly and easily establish Internet access, providing businesses the communications advantages of Electronic Mail, the World Wide Web (WWW), News and Gopher. "Too many companies have announced Internet access products that, to this day, haven't shipped," said Stephen Dick, vice president of marketing at Telebit. "Telebit, in contrast, is the first in the industry to ship an Internet access solution with AIR Series software. Now, with the InternetBlazer, businesses can immediately establish Internet access with Telebit's acclaimed dial-up router technology and SPRY's award-winning software." Immediately available through resellers, the InternetBlazer makes an organization's internal and external communications more cost-effective and efficient through the use of the Internet. It establishes multi-user, dial-up Internet access based on standard low-cost phone lines. The AIR Series applications that come with the InternetBlazer include: -AIR Mosaic, the fastest and most feature-rich Mosaic Web browser, giving Internet users access to the WWW; -AIR Mail, a mail application, providing users uninterrupted Internet electronic mail capabilities from the office; -AIR News, a news-access tool, allowing users to easily search through various categories within specific newsgroups on the Internet; -AIR Gopher, a search-and-retrieval application that includes an intuitive organization menu, giving users the ability to conduct data searches through the Gopher server on the Internet; "SPRY and Telebit raise the bar on Internet connectivity tools with the clear understanding that solutions must provide both hardware and software," said David Pool, president of SPRY. "By coupling key applications from our popular Internet software suite with Telebit's high-performance router, small- and branch-office networks can easily connect to the Internet." AVAILABILITY AND PRICING: The InternetBlazer is available immediately in the following configurations: -NetBlazer PN1 router, which includes a built-in V.32bis modem, an external modem port, an Ethernet connector and a 10-user license of the AIR Series software applications: $2949 suggested retail price (SRP) -NetBlazer PN2 router, which includes two external modem ports, an Ethernet connector and a 10-user license of the AIR Series software applications: $2749 SRP -A 10-user add-on license of the AIR Series software applications, for existing InternetBlazer customers: $899 SRP Telebit Corporation designs, manufactures and markets a family of remote network access products to enable cost-effective extension of LANs to remote users. Its popular NetBlazer product line is the recipient of many industry awards, such as PC Week Labs' Product of the Week, Communications Week MAX, PC/Computing MVP and was selected as Data Communications magazine's "Tester's Choice." The company has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia, and markets its products and services worldwide through value-added resellers, wholesale distributors and OEMs. SPRY, Inc. is the leading developer of Internet access applications for the office, home and publishing markets. Founded in 1987, the privately held company is based in Seattle, Wash. SPRY brings networked connectivity to the Windows desktop through three products: the AIR Series, Internet In A Box(TM) and Mosaic In A Box(TM). The AIR Series is a corporate network solution designed to provide PC to UNIX, mainframe and Internet connectivity through a full suite of applications. Internet In A Box provides the remote dial-up user with full Internet connectivity. Mosaic In A Box is an entry- level Internet access solution providing consumers with "plug and play" access to the Internet's World Wide Web. Telebit and NetBlazer are registered trademarks of Telebit Corporation AIR Series is a trademark of SPRY, Incorporated ------------------------------ Subject: How To Keep Business Phone Calls Short? From: drharry!aboritz@uunet.uu.net (Alan Boritz) Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 22:26:24 EST Organization: Harry's Place - Mahwah NJ - +1 201 934 0861 A friend is having some difficulty getting his employees (less than ten, in a trucking business) to manage their telephone calls reasonably. He doesn't want to create a hostile environment, but his inwats and outwats expense is getting out of hand. Has anyone found voice terminals with interval timers, or any other equipment features, to be helpful to accomplish that task? aboritz%drharry@uunet.uu.net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Radio Shack *had* (and maybe still has) such a thing along with other companies. It goes on the phone line and after a pre-set period of time you hear a litle tone in the background. You must then press a key on the phone to restart the timer. After you have done this often enough, you are supposed to take the hint I guess. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: MCI Slams Again From: drharry!aboritz@uunet.uu.net (Alan Boritz) Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 22:16:03 EST Organization: Harry's Place - Mahwah NJ - +1 201 934 0861 No sooner than the discussion ended about how to slap around a long distance carrier for slamming a relative's home phone, did it happen again. Someone in my office discovered that MCI just changed his PIXC without his permission. A relative who lives in Indonesia ordered a calling card with my associate's address in New Jersey (with his permission). MCI (again) didn't notice that the telephone account that served that address was not in the name of the person who ordered the calling card, and ordered the PIXC changed, anyway. You can bet that the NJPUC will be dealing with this issue soon, TWICE if MCI cancels the new calling card after changing back the PIXC at their expense. ------------------------------ From: siegman@EE.Stanford.EDU (Anthony E. Siegman) Subject: Typical Rates for Campus Phone Systems Date: 17 Feb 1995 04:24:28 GMT Organization: Leland Stanford Junior University University phone service fed into my campus office to handle a fax machine (for what would be a very small amount of traffic) led me to make the mistake of asking how much this would cost. The answer: $155 initial installation fee, $36/month for the line. Page A-5 of the Pac Bell phone book says that in any of the surrounding communities I can get dial tone for a $35 installation fee and $4.45/month for all-metered service or $8.45/month for unlimited local calling. This is partly an apples vs oranges comparison, because the campus system (a Northern Telecom switch, I believe) gives me on-campus extension dialing, a voice mail service, and various other stuff, but I'm still curious: what does phone service in other universities or similar large organizations cost? If Stanford out-sourced the operation of its campus phone systme to some private contractor, could we expect significantly lower rates? Is the Centrex type campus service really worth four times what the phone company could give me? Any comments or data points appreciated -- siegman@ee.stanford.edu ------------------------------ From: B. Z. Lederman Subject: Re: How to Revive Nicad Batteries Date: 17 Feb 95 08:44:57 EST Reply-To: Lederman@intransit_tsc.vntsc.dot.gov Organization: INTRANSIT (VNTSC) In article , rwhite@manitou.cse.dnd.ca (Richard White) writes: > I recall scanning some news in this newsgroup about a year ago, discussing > the technique of "shocking" nicad batteries: a technique used to give > new life to dead/old nicads. One of my MicroTac batteries died after > about 18 months service, and I'd like to restore it to life again if > possible. I didn't see this here, but I did see it described in one of the electronic hobby magazines MANY years ago. At that time a common failure mode for NiCd batteries was an internal short. A heavy discharge through the battery might clear the short and give the battery some more life. You charge a capacitor (I don't remember exact values, probably several hundred micro-Farads at ten or more volts) and discharge it though the cell in the forward direction (to prevent reversing the cell) and hope for the best. > Has anyone out there tried this technique with success? Could you tell > me how this is done, what precautions I should take when doing this, > prognosis for success, etc? I played with it a little. It seemed to bring some cells back to life for a while, but they're never really all that reliable afterwards. And it won't fix all problems or restore all cells. If you happend to have the parts on hand, you have little to lose by trying it, but don't expect much. Also keep in mind that the internal construction of NiCd cells differs a lot between manufactuers, and new cells are much different than old cells when the article was written. Standard precautions to prevent electrocuting yourself would apply. In addition, heavily overloading a NiCd cell could cause it to leak or explode. B. Z. Lederman. My personal opinions. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, BZ, I wish I'd had someone like you around a number of years ago to remind me about 'standard precautions' when this fellow brought me an old television set he wanted converted into a black and white monitor for one of his old Apple ][ computers. That's easy enough, you just get in there and feed the picture tube from the composite video out of the computer. You cut the RF part of the television out altogether. Since it isn't *quite* as good as an actual monitor or a terminal screen -- the resolution is a little lacking -- you can do a few things to tidy up the screen a little. My favorite is to wrap a piece of tin foil around the picture tube, from about the yoke on downward. It is hard to explain, but it keeps the picture looking sharper. Of course you adjust the yoke a little as well; it will work nicely as a poor man's video monitor, espcially since you can get used television sets out of garbage dumpsters for free if you walk down any alley the night before the village garbage pickup on that block the next day. The plug breaks off or a knob gets broken, the people don't know what to do so they junk the whole thing and go to Walmart and buy a new one. Well! You know and I know that old television sets hang on to their juice for quite a while (sometimes a week!) after they are unplugged. My favorite demonstration for the neighborhood kids years ago used to be to unplug the radio or television, take the case off and present a little show where I took my very long handled screw-driver, went in there from one of those big capacitors to the chassis ground and watch the fireworks. Boom! Boom! Boom! Sparks would fly and that old chassis would sit there and argue with you. Once it quit doing that, *then* you knew it was safe to get in there with your hands and touch anything you wanted. So the guy brings his television over to my place. I unscrew the case and take it off. We are sitting there talking and I *forgot to discharge those caps* first. Inside I go with my hands; start pulling a couple of wires to be stripped and connected elsewhere. Boom! I took that load myself and it knocked me on my keister! Afterward it was funny, but it wasn't at the time. Lesson for today: high voltage can kill. Even car batteries, when properly juiced up and you standing in a puddle of snow or slush trying to tinker with your car engine can give you quite a rude shock. Know what you are doing when you tamper with electricity -- of any sort, and especially DC (direct current -- that stuff *is* potent) or just don't do it. You've been advised. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 10:46:06 -0800 From: mfletch@ix.netcom.com (Mark Fletcher) Subject: Re: How to revive NiCad Batteries In V15#105 stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) > Although I've never tried it myself, I have a friend that swears by > the method of momentarily connecting the nicad in series with a 12VDC > car battery (using jumper cables) to revive a tired ni-cad. I'm not > sure which is the proper polarity though. I'm sure that this method > was used on the standard 1.25VDC ni-cad cells, and not a multi-cell > one used for cellular (many are in the 6-9VDC range I believe), so > your mileage may vary. NiCads form memory blocks mainly because a heavy crystal layer builds up at a certain point in the battery. The crystals at this level get very large, and wont disolve to produce the electricity, hence the memory effect. Also, if these crystals get big enough, they form spikes that can peirce the battery casing causing a short circuit in one or more cells in the battery. We have about 120 portable VHF 2-way radios in service at the resort, and they are constantly being mischarged. This past year we purchased a CADEX battery analyzer for about $1700 that took care of our problems completely. Although the unit is a little expensive, we would throw out about $600 worth of "good" batteries a year. The unit will analyze the battery, and discharge it to BELOW one volt per cell. This is extremely effective in breaking down those large crystal growths. With a simple battery maintenance program in place, all of the batterie come in for conditioning about four times a year, and end up lasting a lot longer. You also need to be careful not to "cook' the batteries when charging them. The CADEX monitors this for you also by keeping the eye on the temperature of the cells. If you don't want to invest $1700, most local 2-way shops have this or a similar unit, and will be willing to recondition your battery at a fraction of the cost of a new one. Personally, my Makita Drill battery was giving me about 15 minutes of service before dying out. The CADEX brought it from 27% capacity, to 104%. It's like a brand new battery now, and you can be sure it gets regular reconditioning. If you would like to call me at my office, I can give any one who is interested the specifications on the CADEX system, and their 1-800 number. Mark Fletcher -=+=- The Great Gorge Resort Vernon, New Jersey (201) 827-2000 Ext.404 ------------------------------ From: dave@westmark.com (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: The Philosophy of CallerID Organization: Westmark, Inc. Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 14:32:16 GMT Pat writes: : Look at me. What do I know about anything, yet I talk all the time. PAT] Which reminds me of one of my favorite movie lines: Dorothy: "How can you talk if you don't have a brain?" Scarecrow: "I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking." Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: uunet!westmark!dave Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 01:41:30 -0500 From: mingo@panix.com (Charlie Mingo) Subject: Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC Organization: 54 Barrow (via Panix) In article , telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) wrote: > Mitnick ...was caught through the efforts of one of his latest > victims, computer security specialist Tsutomu Shimomura of the San > Diego Supercomputer Center. Shimomura was robbed of security programs > he had written when his computer was broken into on Christmas Day, > about two months ago. According to yesterday's {New York Times}, Mitnick left voice mail for Shimomura during the original Christmas break-in, and Shimomura subsequently posted sound-files of these messages on the net. Does anyone know where those sound files might be found? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'll tell you this, Shimomura got into some *heavy* stuff locating Mitnick. He and an associate spent hours then days wending their way through one telco loop-around after another as they watched Mitnick over the next several weeks. I am told now by locals here Mitnick got into the Loyola University (of Chicago) network on his way to some place on the east coast. He may -- but I certainly cannot say for certain -- be the person responsible for the break-in we had a couple weeks ago here at eecs.nwu.edu which cause the modem indials to be taken off line for a few days while reapir hacking was done to SLIP and other stuff. Its good to see Mitnick captured. I hope they hang him, if he is found guilty, of course. I wonder how long he will be in prison before he has his own Internet connection set up on the sly? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #106 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa23485; 20 Feb 95 7:49 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18046; Mon, 20 Feb 95 02:07:08 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18040; Mon, 20 Feb 95 02:07:06 CST Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 02:07:06 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502200807.AA18040@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #107 TELECOM Digest Mon, 20 Feb 95 02:07:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 107 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC (Mike Simos) Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC (Michael D. Maxfield) Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC (Clarence Dold) Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC (Tony Pelliccio) Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC (Charles Manson) Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC (John Lundgren) Re: A Strange Man Calls Me Ahout 500 (phrantic@uwyo.edu) Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 (Louis Judice) Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 (Mitch Weiss) Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 (Elizabeth Cashman) Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 (Bob Niland) Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 (Mike Pollock) Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 (Gary Novoseilski) Re: What is Loop Start? (R.J. Welsh) Re: What is Loop Start? (John Nagle) Re: What is Loop Start? (Matt Noah) Re: Telstra (Australia) Information Wanted (Peter Brace) Re: Telstra (Australia) Information Wanted (Antoineta D. Peneva) Re: The Philosophy of CallerID (John Lundgren) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: simosm@io.org (Mike Simos) Subject: Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC Date: 18 Feb 1995 15:17:06 -0500 Organization: Internex Online (io.org) Data: 416-363-4151 Voice: 416-363-8676 In article , Charlie Mingo wrote: > According to yesterday's {New York Times}, Mitnick left voice mail for > Shimomura during the original Christmas break-in, and Shimomura > subsequently posted sound-files of these messages on the net. > Does anyone know where those sound files might be found? ftp.sdsc.edu /pub/security/sounds Mike ------------------------------ From: tweek@ccnet.com (The R R M Tweek) Subject: Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC Date: 18 Feb 1995 11:36:56 -0800 Organization: O.A.P.C.E. Organization Against Politically Correct Etiquette mingo@panix.com (Charlie Mingo) writes: > According to yesterday's {New York Times}, Mitnick left voice mail for > Shimomura during the original Christmas break-in, and Shimomura > subsequently posted sound-files of these messages on the net. ftp://ftp/sdsc.edu/pub/security/sounds/tweedle-dee.au ftp://ftp/sdsc.edu/pub/security/sounds/tweedle-dum.au I also read that *someone* intends to consider posting a sound file of an interview with Mitnick in prison. The posting I read was unattributed so I have no idea who "someone" is. tweek@ccnet.com tweek@tweekco.ness.com WW4Net-1@11551 DoD #MCMLX N6QYA **** Regarding the Internet> Subject: Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC Date: 18 Feb 1995 20:35:13 GMT Organization: a2i network > he is found guilty, of course. I wonder how long he will be in prison > before he has his own Internet connection set up on the sly? PAT] I find it interesting that he is actually prevented from using a telephone, even for voice calls, while in jail. He used a cellular phone for his "dialin", so there would be no endloop to trace, although eventually cellular triangulation was used to locate him. One more delay point, but only a good one if he moved occasionally, which he did not. My wife expressed the typical layman's amazement at the ability to do some of these things, but it is basically a violation of trust. Telco and Internet can only be broken because they are easy to use. He is slime. He is sleaze. Although I can't justify wanting to see him hang, I certainly hope he is prevented from touching a telephone for quite a long while. At least he has proven himself beyond trust as an "analyst". He won't be landing a fat job protecting us from himself ;-( Clarence A Dold - dold@rahul.net - Pope Valley & Napa CA. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The last word I got on his telephone call privileges was that at his request in court last week, he was granted permission to use the phone to call three people only: his attorney, his mother and his grandmother. The magistrate ordered prison officials to allow Mitnick to make a 'reasonable number of calls when he wishes to do so' to those three persons, whose telephone numbers are part of the order. Prison officials are required to (1) establish the connection to those numbers -- not allow Mitnick to do it; and (2) to 'periodically in the course of his conversations on the phone' monitor the line, listening to insure no 'computer or modem noises' are heard. In order that Mitnick can have his right to speak confidentially with his attorney, they must tell him when they wish to listen on the line for a few seconds at a time so that he and his attorney can remain silent during that interval if he wishes to do so. The court further admonished grandma not to use call- forwarding, three-way calling or any other 'extension of the connection' when speaking to Kevin; likewise his mother was admonished. I'm afraid this time its looking pretty grim for Kevin; if he gets out of this with another period of probation instead of a long time in prison, my advice would be he'd better start blowing his nose with a silk handkerchief. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Tony_Pelliccio@brown.edu (Tony Pelliccio) Subject: Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC Date: 18 Feb 1995 17:54:45 GMT Organization: Brown University - Providence, RI USA In article , mingo@panix.com (Charlie Mingo) wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'll tell you this, Shimomura got into {snip} > Its good to see Mitnick captured. I hope they hang him, if he is found > guilty, of course. I wonder how long he will be in prison before he has > his own Internet connection set up on the sly? PAT] A little Draconian aren't you Pat? In any case I'm sure that with proper supervision Mr. Mitnick would make a wonderful addition to the staff at NSA. Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR, VE ARRL/W5YI Tel. (401) 863-1880 Box 1908, Providence, RI 02912 Fax. (401) 863-2269 ------------------------------ From: manson@enterprise.America.com (Charles Manson) Subject: Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC Date: 18 Feb 1995 21:57:27 -0500 Organization: PSS InterNet Services, InterNet in Fl 904 253 7100 Dear ole Kevin, the unluckest guy I've ever known. He will probably get around 30 years of prison, but will probably get out in about five years. I actually wish he would make bail; he would definitly skip the country, or attempt it. He is a brilliant person, but took things to extremes and didn't get on with his life. I hope the best for him. CM [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There is no possibility of making bail since the court refused to set bail. Actually, in most federal courts it seems, things go one of two ways: either you are denied bail and held pending trial, or you are released on your own 'recognizance', or admission of the court's jurisdiction. Federal courts hardly ever ask for money as bond; not the way the state courts do. They can, but they seem to figure either you are not a danger to the community and smart enough to stick around (after all, where would you run to?) or you are likely to be a hassle so they keep you. If you have a family to support, employment and an employer who is *knowlegeable of the circumstances but willing to keep you on and help you* then most federal courts just let you go pending trial, and you report to a parole/probation officer in the meantime. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC Date: 18 Feb 1995 09:55:14 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network I would like to see him get the same treatment that the guy in the 'got milk?' commercial gets. How long are his arms? Three feet or so? Put a PC with a modem on a table outside his cell, about a meter or so away from the bars. Of course, there would be absolutely nothing in the cell to let him extend his reach. He would be saying, "Is this what Hell is like?" John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ Subject: Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 From: phrantic@UWYO.EDU (THE PILOT) Date: 19 Feb 95 18:56:48 MST Reply-To: phrantic@UWYO.EDU Just curious for a follow up story on this. PAT promised in a TELECOM Digest a follow up story to the 'retired cab driver in NY'. So who was that guy?? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, who was that masked man, anyway? PAT] ------------------------------ From: ljj@esr.hp.com (Louis Judice) Subject: Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 Date: 19 Feb 1995 18:41:14 GMT Organization: Hewlett Packard Patrick, Sounds like something out of the "X-Files" ... Remember, Trust No One! ;) /ljj [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Especially not Kevin Mitnick. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mweiss@interaccess.com (Mitch Weiss) Subject: Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 Date: Sun, 19 Feb 1995 20:38:00 > This happened several days ago. You may remember we had an article here > listing the prefixes assigned in 500 service, and the telcos they were Hmmmm. Sounds mighty fishy. I don't have a clue who he would be. CIA? FBI? AT&T?? Anyway, be sure to tell us when you find out! Mitchell Weiss mweiss@interaccess.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I like the way you lumped those three all together in the same example: CIA, FBI, AT&T ... PAT] ------------------------------ From: cashmane@cs.pdx.edu (Elizabeth Cashman) Date: Sun, 19 Feb 1995 07:38:53 -0800 Subject: Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 In comp.dcom.telecom you write: > This happened several days ago. You may remember we had an article here > listing the prefixes assigned in 500 service, and the telcos they were > assigned to. A day or two after that article appeared, I got a note from > the sysadmin here saying he had received a call from someone who wanted > to know 'how to get in touch with TELECOM Digest'. Normally any inquiries [snip snip] I'll make this short because you get a lot of mail. Yep, this smells. I look forward to your story about this mole in comp.dcom.telecom. Elizabeth Cashman === cashmane@cs.pdx.edu === (Portland, OR) (one private line, no extras, one 2400b modem on a chair) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Feb 1995 11:01:11 -0700 From: Bob Niland Subject: Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 Organization: Colorado SuperNet Reply-To: rjn@csn.net In article TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > He told me he was located in Brooklyn, New York, on Avenue U near > Flatbush Avenue. He had gone to his local library to see what the > I'd like his name and address please, if possible. He wouldn't tell me > himself. This sounds suspiciously like a character named "G. Riley", a self- proclaimed "psychic detective", buddy of Yuri Geller, and who claims to be ex-NYPD. He was the kill-file poster child in sci.skeptic in years past, and since he was long ago added to my kill file, I have no idea if he still lurks on the net. If so, whatever he is up to, it is unlikely to be of service to you. Regards, 1001-A East Harmony Road Bob Niland Suite 503 Internet: rjn@csn.net Fort Collins, Colorado 80525 USA ------------------------------ From: pheel@panix.com (Mike Pollock) Subject: Re: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 Date: 19 Feb 1995 14:08:37 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Pat, Yes! I have the oddest feeling that I know who this guy is ... sort of. Emmanuel Goldstein, of 2600 magazine, does a weekly telephone-oriented radio show on WBAI in New York every Wednesday at 10pm. A few months back the topic turned to exchange names (MUrray Hill, LAckawanna, DEcatur, etc.). Within minutes, this extremely literate sounding guy called in and started rattling off dozens of exchange names and their histories. In the following weeks this guy has called with other telephone related trivia, and with every call he displays an almost unnerving amount of both knowledge and curiousity about things telephonic. I believe he's mentioned that he has a 700 number, and/or an 800 number, and/or a 500 number. I also recall that he mentioned he lives in Brooklyn! Without getting too dramatic, whenever I hear him call I get an almost twilight zone-feeling of eerieness about him. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this was the guy. Call WBAI in New York (call directory assistance for the number) Wednesday nights at 10p Eastern and maybe Emmanuel can point you in the right direction, or even get the guy to call. I hope that helps, but I'm not sure if I hope I'm right -- or wrong. Please keep me posted. Mike [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When I talked to this fellow he was quite literate; and everything I challenged him on (how he knew about a site in California; how he knew the way to contact site admins here) he had an answer for. I sort of tested him also on his knowledge of his immediate neighborhood from a very large, detailed map I have of Brooklyn/Queens. He has to be around there; he knew much more than even a typical resident on things like the *exact* boundary between Brooklyn and Queens. He could say without hesitation that the boundary runs down the middle of the Newtown River (Creek?) and 'when you get to Flushing and Metropolitan Avenues, at the Onderdonk House then a few yards southwest of there ends Queens and starts Brooklyn then it runs southeast on the southwest side of the street for several blocks and where Myrtle Avenue crosses the boundary between Brooklyn and Queens the boundary dips to the southwest and runs a half block down Myrtle Street then it goes southeast again until it reaches Bushwick and Highland Boulevard then it turns and goes northeast on the north side of Highland, more or less through the middle of Highland Park then when that line going straight northeast reaches the southwest corner of the Forest Park Golf Club it then drops and goes almost straight south crossing Jamaica Avenue at that point and Etna Street then a couple blocks later, Atlantic Avenue. As soon as it crosses Atlantic Avenue it runs northeast on the south side of Atlantic Avenue for about a block then it goes southeast again and crosses Conduit Boulevard at the intersection of Pitkin Avenue and a couple blocks later it reaches Linden Boulevard where it turns and runs almost straight east for a couple blocks with one side of Linden in Brooklyn and the other side in Queens. Then just before Linden reaches Conduit it turns south/southeast again for half a mile, southwest for half a mile, south for a couple blocks, southwest for a couple more blocks then it makes a sharp angle going southeast for about a block and crosses Shore Parkway then out into the water ... ' all that in more or less one long sentence. But even though at one point he said to me he was alone there, this was not true: Playing along with him a bit further, I remarked that he must be in the 77th police district ... that rotten hell hole that ten years ago had to be totally cleaned out with a special prosecutor appointed to investigate the police, etc. (I know the 77th is north of him a few miles, up in Bed-Stuy.) He thinks for a minute and I hear him ask someone 'is this the 77th police district' and a second or two later he is back and says no it is not. (I forget what number he said it was.) I did not comment on the fact that he spoke to someone else after earlier telling me no one was there ... that he was home alone just doing some research. I suppose a retired cab driver in Brooklyn would know every inch of the boundary line with Queens, what streets it ran down, etc. I still don't have an actual name, but I am sure by now EG has seen this and probably noted if it is the same person or not. PAT] ------------------------------ From: gary.novosielski@sbaonline.gov Organization: Small Business Administration Date: Sat, 11 Feb 95 05:18:41 -0400 Subject: A Strange Man Calls Me About 500 Reply-to: gnovosielski@mcimail.com > He told me he was located in Brooklyn, New York, on Avenue U near > Flatbush Avenue. He had gone to his local library to see what the > reference librarian could tell him. The librarian gave him a few sources > for telecom information and he 'decided' to try this Digest. I'd be willing to bet that this guy was one of the listeners to an FM radio show called "Off the Hook" which is broadcast Wednesdays from 10 to 11 pm over listener-sponsored WBAI in New York City on 99.5 MHz. The show is hosted and produced by "Emanuel Goldstein," publisher of 2600 Magazine, and the alt.2600 newsgroup, and is co-hosted by "Phibre Optik," that is except during the year he was in the federal pokey for a hacking-related offense. Actually, that's not altogether true. Phibre did manage to co-host several shows even *while* he was in the federal pokey. Yes, prison authorities do keep an approved list of numbers each inmate is permitted to dial on the prison COCOTs, and no they probably would *not* have approved WBAI's studio number. But they do not seem to have ever heard of a feature called Call Forwarding. But I digress ... "Off the Hook" did a segment on 500 numbers on the show one night, right around the time the list was published (late in Volume 14) and mentioned the list, and the TELECOM Digest issue by number, on the air. They gave the mit.edu newsgroup address as well. The show takes listener phone calls during roughly the second half hour, and one regular caller is a gent who says he's from Brooklyn, near Flatbush Avenue. Usually (and mysteriously) he's more often than not the first caller on the line each week, independent of which line they answer first. It's an admitted long-shot, but this may just be your guy. If it is, then from the sound of him he's a garden variety phone phreak or telecom junkie with time on his hands. As such, he's likely to know all about ANI, NPA 700, Belcore, and similar things the general public has never heard of, since they're common topics of conversation on the show. He's also likely to have a 700 number, a half dozen 800 numbers (some of them even his ) but may be quite truthful when he says he knows little about computers. If he gets to be first in line for the call-in segment the way I suspect he does, he'd need seven to ten POTS lines at his house, and some phones with redial buttons, since NYNEX now times out any don't-answer calls after 25 rings or so. If this is your guy, or if he fits this general pattern, then he's probably harmless enough. (Until he learns enough about the Internet to be dangerous.) Regards, GaryN GPN Consulting ------------------------------ From: rj_welsh@ix.netcom.com (RJ WELSH) Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Date: 19 Feb 1995 23:38:17 GMT Organization: Netcom In garfield@vanilla.cs.umn.edu (Paul Garfield) writes: > Long ago I remember terms like loop start and ground start as > different protocols for handling signaling bits on a T1 line (although > I didn't know the details). Recently I've seen the following terms > applied to ANALOG lines: loop start, ground start, wink start, earth > recall. What do these mean? I always thought all analog lines were > the same. These terms are most certainly NOT relative to T1 lines!!! Ther refer to analog telephone line "start" signals that indicate to the CO (central office) that an off-hook condition exists and dial tone services are required. Loop start means that both battery and ground leads are present and that ground, therefore, is supplied by the CO. Ground start means that a local (local to the off-hook instrument) ground is used and represents a "single-lead" subscriber line. Ground start lines were and are not often used since the ground resistance between the subscriber and the CO is unpredictable at best and conductor pairs (rather than single copper wires) have been in use for a long time now. Wink start indicates a reversal of battery and ground, typically for less than 500 milliseconds, and is used for TRUNK, not LINE signalling. I won't waste bandwith correcting misconceptions about T1: buy a little book and read it. ------------------------------ From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 03:08:26 GMT garfield@vanilla.cs.umn.edu (Paul Garfield) writes: > Long ago I remember terms like loop start and ground start as > different protocols for handling signaling bits on a T1 line (although > I didn't know the details). Recently I've seen the following terms > applied to ANALOG lines: loop start, ground start, wink start, earth > recall. What do these mean? I always thought all analog lines were > the same. On normal analog lines, going off-hook can indicate either an intent to originate a call or to answer one. When a subscriber goes off-hook with intent to originate but actually answers an incoming call, the situation called "glare" has occured. This is a big problem for heavily-used lines used for both incoming and outgoing calls, especially when the lines are terminated in a PBX, fax, or modem. So there needs to be some way to distinguish off-hook for originate from off-hook for answer, and that's what "ground start" is about. One lead is grounded at off-hook time to make the distinction. Ground start is usually used for PBX lines, but any line can be configured as ground start with most modern CO switches. Some modems (not many) will interface to a ground start line. Callback security devices need a ground start line to prevent glare-type spoofing. John Nagle ------------------------------ From: noah@rain.org (Matt Noah) Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 06:29:09 GMT garfield@vanilla.cs.umn.edu (Paul Garfield) wrote: > Long ago I remember terms like loop start and ground start as > different protocols for handling signaling bits on a T1 line (although > I didn't know the details). Recently I've seen the following terms > applied to ANALOG lines: loop start, ground start, wink start, earth > recall. What do these mean? I always thought all analog lines were > the same. These are ANALOG line signaling schemes. Loop Start lines are those associated almost exclusively with your POTS phone service at home. These same lines may carry additional CO features. The term Loop originates, I believe, from the fact that when a phone set went off-hook, a loop current flowed, signaling a line seizure to the CO. Ground Start lines were the old pay-phone style lines and analog CO-PBX signling lines. Ground Start was developed, I believe, to solve the problem of GLARE on phone lines. Wink Start has meaning both for E&M and Loop/Ground Start signaling. In basic terms, a "wink" is generated when the attached equipment is ready to accept dial digits. If a wink does not appear, there are no dial registers available to accept your digits! It sounds as if you need a good book on signaling. I suggest a trip to your local technical bookstore. Matt Noah ------------------------------ From: peterb@melbourne.DIALix.oz.au (Peter Brace) Subject: Re: Telstra (Australia) Information Wanted Date: 18 Feb 1995 23:57:07 +1100 Organization: DIALix Services, Melbourne, Australia. Last year: Figures are $A Before tax profit 2.5B After tax 1.7B Revenue 13.3B Spent on network capital investment 1.9B Contributes 2.1% of GNP (7.85B) 65,000 employees 8.8million phone services 36million calls/day Why do you ask? ------------------------------ From: adp620@lulu.acns.nwu.edu (Antoineta D. Peneva) Subject: Re: Telstra (Australia) Information Wanted Date: Sat, 18 Feb 1995 16:38:56 -0600 Organization: Kellogg Graduate School of Management In article , as029@un.seqeb.gov.au ( ANTHONY SPIERINGS) wrote: > For stocks, prognosis etc, perhaps you were thinking of OPTUS the > introduced competion. Some valuation information on Optus can be gleaned via the annual report of Optus shareholders; eg Mayne Nickless. Also: Telecom supplies documentation which is tabled in Parliament each year; so try your friendly Australian Government Publishing Service office (Brisbane or order by phone) or Telecom for a copy. Ian Dyson 'idyson@nwu.edu' J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Business Northwestern University ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: The Philosophy of CallerID Date: 18 Feb 1995 08:26:42 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network Dave Levenson (dave@westmark.com) wrote: > Pat writes: >> Look at me. What do I know about anything, yet I talk all the time. PAT] > Which reminds me of one of my favorite movie lines: > Dorothy: "How can you talk if you don't have a brain?" > Scarecrow: "I don't know. But some people without brains do an > awful lot of talking." Man, you hit the nail on the head with that one. I was reading about Pat's cigarette 'habit' a few posts back, and I just watched 20/20's piece about people being addicted to caffiene. They used a more acceptable name for it: dependency syndrome, or something like that. Reminds me of the lady that lived in my apartments when I was manager. She had to go on permanent disability a few years before she retired. She had emphysema, but she still smoked. One time she forgot and lit up with the oxygen tubes still in her nose. Have you ever seen what happens to a fire when it's exposed to pure oxygen? Well, she learned that she couldn't do _that_ anymore. She was dependent on the oxygen, and if she wanted to go anywhere she had to drag along the portable unit, so she often just didn't go. One time she asked me to get her a pack of cigarettes from the store. I said that I didn't want to contribute to her emphysema problem by buying her them. She went off in a huff, saying that she would never ask me to buy her cigarettes again. Fine, I said. The next day, she asked if I would go to the store for her, for guess what. A few years later, the next door neighbor found her on the floor, face down, cold and stiff. No doubt, the smoking contributed to her shortened life. Cigarettes are indeed a powerful addiction. BTW, one of the people that they showed on 20/20 was a lady addicted to Mountain Dew. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mountain Dew? Mountain Dew??? Do you remember that obnoxious commercial on television a few years ago where the ignorant hillbilly stands up and shouts, "Yah hoo!!! Moun-tain Dew!" I can't believe anyone would be addicted to that. Really? PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #107 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03177; 20 Feb 95 22:51 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08067; Mon, 20 Feb 95 18:09:18 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA08061; Mon, 20 Feb 95 18:09:16 CST Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 18:09:16 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502210009.AA08061@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #108 TELECOM Digest Mon, 20 Feb 95 18:09:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 108 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Copy of Memo to AT&T re: 500/True Connections (John Shelton) March 7 Bellcore Meeting in DC (Judith Oppenheimer) SL-100 Administration (Jay Borden) Mitnick Chain of Events (Steve Cogorno) 500 Service in Canada (Evan Champion) Canadian "Framework" Proceeding (Dave Leibold) New RITIM Working Papers (Leslie Smith) Bell Canada Stumped on 500 Service (Scott A. Montague) Business vs. Residential Rates (Richard Palmer) National Strategies for Telecom Education? (Mikko Usvalehto) Help! - Vertex, DID or ISDN For my Phone Services (Jian Yuan Peng) Cellular Airtime Resellers (Bill Engel) Wanted: Used AT&T Business Telephone Systems (Alex Capo) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Shelton Subject: Copy of Memo to AT&T re: 500/True Connections Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 9:48:50 PDT [Copy of memo sent to AT&T re problems] I would like to report some problems with my AT&T True Connections service, and offer some suggestions for feature enhancements. Overall, I find this service to be a really good idea; I hope it will eventually have all the bugs worked out. Current problems: Voice quality isn't as good as standard AT&T calls. I notice a distinct drop in volume as I am connected to the True Connections answering unit. Using the call sequencing feature, I cannot get consistent results regarding the number of rings. As a caller, I hear "ringing" immediately when each sequence number is tried. But at the remote end, the telephone may not start ringing for several seconds. This is particularly a problem with my cellular telephone, which may take varying lengths of time to start ringing, depending on whether I am in my home area or not. I currently have my sequencing set to a small enough number of rings so that my office voice mail does not answer (so I can go sequence to the next number), but that results in my cellular phone ringing only once, which isn't always enough time to answer it. I think the only practical solution will be for us to be able to program a different number of rings with each sequence number. AT&T is returning supervision on all 0+500 calls, even when used to modify forwarding. I think AT&T should be returning supervision only on 0+500 calls when they connect to voice mail or are used to dial home (or another number). Purely administrative calls should not return supervision. My voice mailbox has a different mailbox number and password than my 500 number itself. This means I have to remember four different numbers to retrieve my voice mail. I would appreciate being able to get voicemail by just entering my 0+500 number and master PIN, then following the menu. Beeper notification isn't working yet, which makes voice mail somewhat awkward. When will this service be working? Feature requests: I would like to ask for the following features to be considered: Allow designation of special numbers the way *H (home) can be designated. For example: *C (cellular) *O (office) *P (pager) This would speed up both entry of sequence lists, and the reading back of sequence lists. Allow me to have a voice greeting (ten seconds) played as soon as a caller rings my number. I could say something like: "Hi, this is John. Please wait for connection to my current phone; if there is no answer, I'll be back on to take a message." Allow callers direct access to beeper service. Callers could press a key to stop ringing and connect directly to my beeper service. When a sequence number is busy, offer the caller a choice of trying the next number, going direct to voice mail, or trying again later. To make TrueConnections truly useful in the future, local calling should become very inexpensive. Right now, my local callers are reluctant to call my 500 number instead of a local number, because of the cost. With SS7, it would be possible for AT&T to direct the local phone company to re-route the call locally, rather than tying up AT&T circuits. As a customer, I'd be happy to pay a nominal fee (10 cents?) for such a re-routing, to save my caller per-minute charges. Since AT&T switching would be tied up for only a few seconds, the cost to AT&T would be minimal. Expanding TrueConnections in this way should allow many more customers to consider the service. ===================== [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Although I can understand how some of you feel about the 0-500 supervision issue, I have to take exception. Why should instructing a computer where to send your calls be any different than instructing your secretary or a co-worker where to send them? If you were using the method which has worked well for many years of calling your office and saying to the receptionist, "I will be over at client X for a couple of hours if anyone calls ...", would you object to paying for the call to your receptionist/secretary to give those instructions? In the case of 500 service, you are using AT&T as your receptionist/secretary/ message taker. Should AT&T and the interim telcos/celcos have to work for free? Your secretary does not work for free. I could understand having no supervision until a valid pin number was entered or a calling card number; but do you really think you should get the entire administrative process for free? PAT] ------------------------------ From: producer@pipeline.com (Judith Oppenheimer) Subject: March 7 Bellcore Meeting in DC Date: 20 Feb 1995 12:55:46 -0500 Organization: Interactive CallBrand(TM) March 7 at Bellcore in Washington DC, 2101 L St. NW, 6th floor. Ad Hoc State Department group on Numbering Issues. Starts at 9 am. Anyone can attend. All 800 number users are urged to attend, and be vocal! Protect your 800 numbers! International Freephone is on the agenda. Keep an ear/eye open for 888 as well - If *your* business were 1 800 FLOWERS, would you want 011 800 FLOWERS (proposed International Freephone) and 1 888 FLOWERS (proposed new add-on toll-free exchange) alienating and confusing *your* customers, and running up your telecom bills with wrong calls that generate no sales? Protect your advertising and branding investments in your 800 numbers. Protect your brands and trademarks. Protect your business interests. If you don't, no one will. J. Oppenheimer, Producer@Pipeline.com Interactive CallBrand(TM) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The only thing is, the telephone-using *public* has to be to some extent responsible for knowing what and where they are dialing. {Chicago Tribune} columnist Mike Royko has complained several times in the past about how his internal centrex number at the newspaper is the same as a very commonly used number by AT&T for customer service, minus the 1-800 on the front. Idiots galore trying to complain to AT&T about something or other -- after all these years -- still do not understand they must dial 1-800 first, so if they are in area 312 they get his private unlisted centrex number instead. And you know what he wants? He wants AT&T to change *their number* -- so that *he* won't get their calls. How do you accomodate idiots and fools short of stopping the world and letting everyone get off? Do you propose that when the 800 number supply is exhausted we just quit having any more? Do you propose that international commerce and trade be handicapped by having no uniform way to dial around the world with the charges reversed to the called party automatically? You use FLOWERS as an example, and apparently would restrict the use of 356-9377 where any other 'toll-free' numbering scheme is concerned because the Americans got it first and want to protect their brand name. That is all well and good, but 1-800-FLOWERS is not the same as 011-800-FLOWERS or 1-888-FLOWERS. Needless to say, its not the same as any local area code plus 356-9377, and yet day after day that number gets calls for FLOWERS by people who forgot the 1-800. There is a practical limit to how much can be done to idiot-proof the phone network. You say its okay to have things like 011-800 and 1-888 as long as the existing American 800 users can have their numbers grandfathered, or held out of use under the new codes? Well that would put us right back where we are now, with an increasingly limited supply of available numbers. Or are you suggesting that only the 'big' 800 users get that protection, and the rest of us with 800 numbers can live with the nuisance that the corporate clients you represent don't wish to tolerate, i.e. 'customer confusion' and having to pay for calls which generated no business, etc? This reminds me of the airline a few years ago which misprinted its schedule book -- thousands of copies distributed -- and gave out the number of some hapless individual in error instead. When he called to complain, they told him to change *his* phone number. When they later found out he was getting rather rude with persistent callers who kept telling him he was a liar and that they *knew* they had reached the airline, then the airline tried to sue him for force him to change his number so that their customers would not be confused. Never once did it occur to them to correct their own error and reprint their booklet. You may not recall, but the same kind of arguments you are presenting here came up twenty or more years ago as AT&T began major expansions of 800 service as it was configured back then. Relatively few companies had 800 service in the early 1970's, and those who did often times had words made out of the four digit suffixes. Then AT&T opened up a bunch of new prefixes and changed the configuration on some already being used and suddenly the same words showed up attached to other 800 prefixes in other parts of the country. "If I have 800-xxx-FOOD you can't let him have 800-yyy-FOOD; too many people will get us confused." That's life, sorry. You need to educate your customers *how* to place the call, what more can I say? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 13:19:36 -0500 From: jborden@world.std.com (Jay Borden) Subject: SL-100 Administration Does anyone have experience with software used to perform administration of an SL-100? What does Northern provide in this area? Are there third party apps? I'm looking at basic add/move/change function support, and whatever else is available. Please mail me directly with your responses. If there's sufficient interest, I'll summarize and repost for the group. Thanks, jay b ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Mitnick Chain of Events Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 10:19:50 PST I thought this would be of interest to the group. Steve cogorno@netcom.com NETCOM HELPS PROTECT THE INTERNET - A Letter from CEO Bob Rieger to Our Customers - I know many of you are interested in NETCOM's involvement with the arrest of Kevin Mitnick, and how this may impact you, if at all, as a NETCOM subscriber. First, let me supply a chronology of events: 1. In a routine security check, NETCOM discovered a misappropriated file. As a result, we began an investigation to trace what appeared to be a security breach. 2. At about the same time, the WELL (a small Sausalito-based on-line provider) was investigating an account with an unexpectedly large amount of disk usage. In the course of this investigation, they discovered suspicious material which included items believed illicitly obtained from well-known network security expert Tsutomu Shimomura's computer. Mr. Shimomura performed network monitoring at the WELL, and determined that the account was being accessed from a number of sites, including NETCOM. 3. The WELL contacted NETCOM for assistance in tracking the source of the security breach. 4. A day or two later, the FBI contacted NETCOM and requested NETCOM's active involvement in the broadening investigation of the suspicious activities at the WELL. 5. NETCOM caucused with representatives of the WELL, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Shimomura, and Julia Menapace (an independent computer consultant and associate of Mr. Shimomura). 6. Following the conversation, it was decided that the best vantage point for further tracking of these activities was NETCOM's Network Operations Center. 7. NETCOM operations staff joined their efforts with Mr. Shimomura and his associates to trace the suspect intrusions to a particular telephone modem in NETCOM's Raleigh, N.C. site. 8. At that point, the U.S. Justice Department subpoenaed the local telephone carrier for records of dial-ins at specific times to this modem. It became apparent that the telephone company's switch equipment had been compromised, so that these records could not be obtained. However, the Justice Department found another method for making a match. 9. With this information, the Justice Department knew the approximate location of the originating call. 10. Mr. Shimomura flew to Raleigh and used cellular tracking equipment to locate the apartment building the calls were coming from. Eventually, the calls were traced to an individual apartment, and Mr. Mitnick was arrested. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 18:59:06 +0000 From: evan champion Subject: 500 Service in Canada Organization: Bell Northern Research Is 500 service beeing offered by Bell Canada yet (or will it be offered in the future), and what costs should I expect for making use of 500 service if and when it is available here? Thanks! Evan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Feb 1995 22:57:50 EST From: Dave Leibold Subject: Canadian "Framework" Proceeding [from Bell News, 6 Feb 1995 - content is Bell Canada's] Framework proceeding gets underway Carrying many of the same principles underlying our recent corporate reorganization forward into the regulatory arena, Bell and other members of the Stentor alliance filed evidence with the CRTC in support of the split rate base approach to regulation, on January 31. Splitting the rate base, an important element of the CRTC's regulatory review decision issued last September, means assigning the company's costs and revenues to two distinct segments of our business - competitive and utility - using the CRTC-approved Phase III costing methodology. On the utility side, the CRTC would continue to regulate under the traditional rate base, rate of return regulation until January 1998 (when price caps are scheduled to be introduced). On the competitive side, we sink or swim on our own. Competitive areas of our business will no longer be part of the regulated rate base, and there will be no predetermined level of profitability associated with competitive service revenues. Unlike the other telephone companies, Bell did not include a financial forecast for 1995 as part of this filing, but anticipates doing so by March 20. The company's new management team is in the process of establishing a specific forecast for 1995 as part of a three-year transition plan. The January filing was the initial step in preparation for a public hearing to be held beginning May 8, in Hull, Quebec. The proceeding will also address such issues as contribution, rate rebalancing, and investment in the Beacon Initiative, as well as Canada/ U.S. cost comparisons in the delivery of long distance services. The public hearing is expected to last about eight weeks. -------------------------- David Leibold -+- dleibold@gvc.com -+- aa070@freenet.toronto.on.ca ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 12:38:24 CST From: leslie_smith@wiltel.com Subject: New RITIM Working Papers Dear TELECOM Digest, WilTel is pleased to announce the addition of new RITIM working pages to our Telecom Library. We thought that some of your readers might also enjoy seeing what the researchers at RITIM are finding. Thanks for allowing us to share with you and your readers. Leslie Smith RITIM's New Working Papers URL: http://www.wiltel.com/ritim/ritim.html WilTel is pleased to announce that The Research Institute for Telecommunications and Information Marketing (RITIM) has recently released new working papers now available on the Internet via WilTel. The new RITIM working papers cover aspects of marketing research that shed light on some of the behaviors, organizations, and strategies of the telecommunications and information technology industries. The RITIM working papers also present results of case studies, conceptual work, reviews, and research projects undertaken by researchers interested in telecommunications and other information-related industries. RITIM working papers provide convenient, timely, and free access to the valuable research completed by RITIM sponsored researchers. Topics of the newly released RITIM working papers include: - The Marketing Challenge: When services compete with products - Acceptance of New Information and Communication Services: A strange framework - Impact of Organizational Size, Number of Sites, and Line Business on Telecommunications - The Changing Information Business: Towards content-based competition RITIM's goal is to be the premier academic research center dealing with the different markets, organizations, behaviors, and strategies of the evolving telecommunications and information technology industries. If you would like to learn more about the exciting research RITIM has supported, you can access the RITIM papers at URL: http://www.wiltel.com/ritim/ritim. The RITIM working papers are the property of RITIM. WilTel is proud to provide the World Wide Web interface that gives interested readers insight into the happenings at RITIM . ------------------------------ From: 4sam3@qlink.queensu.ca (Montague Scott A) Subject: Bell Canada Stumped on 500 Service Date: 10 Feb 1995 23:44:18 GMT Organization: Queen's University, Kingston Well, it was bound to happen. What was, in myu opinion the best phone company in North America, has let me down. The problem? Bell Canada has never heard of 500 service. A quick call to Pat's number using both 1- and 0- gave me a "bad number" message. So, I got online with a Bell Canada operator, and she told me "sorry, I don't know of the 500 area code". I explained what the service was, and she said that she'd be glad to pass me on to the business office. I subsequently talked to Terry at the business office, and explained the deal. He called (while I waited) the product lines for Bell, and all the others he could think of, all to no avail. Terry has subsequently promised me to get back to me on the problem, and try to solve the missing NPA. Unfortunatly, Terry's going away on vacation for two weeks, so he'll continue the investigation after- ward. I politely suggested that he refer the problem to someone else while he was gone, but he said "I think I know what you are talking about, and I don't think I could explain it easily to someone else" (PARAPHRASE). Oh well. Terry will call me back with the results. I called 1-800-CALLATT; they didn't know what 500 was about; until I persisted. He can't connect me though. Can't wait 'till I can chat with you, Pat! Scott Personal reply? Send E-Mail to 4sam3@qlink.queensu.ca for a PGP public key. Keep your friends close... [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I still talk to people from AT&T who never heard of 500 service; have no idea what it is and consider it a figment of my imagination. Very few of the operators seem to know anything about it; they deny such numbers exist, etc. You'd think someone would tell them so they would know how to assist customers; but then, maybe its me who is unclear on the concept. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rdp@palmer.com (Richard Palmer) Subject: Business vs. Residential Rates Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 18:24:22 GMT Organization: RD & MA Palmer MD PMC What are the criteria that the phone company uses to determine if they can charge business or residential rates to lines in a person's home? Does this vary from state to state? Are the criteria mandated by the state public service commission? richard.palmer@palmer.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Generally if the street address where service is being installed is known to be an address where business is conducted (i.e. a store front, an office building, etc) then business service is required there *unless the subscriber can prove that the address is used exclusively as a residence*. A listing or lack of same in the directory (non-pub service) is of no consideration since many businesses do have non-pub lines. If the street address is known to be residential, then residential service is offered to the customer unless the customer states that the phone will be used primarily for business-related conversations *or* if the subscriber requests a directory listing in a business (or shall we say non-strictly residential, in order to include schools, churches, organizations, etc) name. Business and residential service can be mixed at an address which is residential in nature but residence service cannot be mixed with business service at an address which is commercial in nature. That is, you can have business service in your home if desired, but you may not have residence service in your business, *even if you live there, for instance in the back room of the store, etc*. Requests for entries in the telephone book of a business nature always require business service. Furthermore, if the requested entry appears to telco to have been fabricated or devised only for the purpose of manipulating the position of the listing in the directory, then telco can require proof that such entry is in fact a name under which the business is known, for example by seeing copies of incorporation papers or business license documents. Since listings are sorted in strict alphabetical order with duplications further sorted in alpha order by street name and with continued duplications further sorted in numerical order by number on the street (in other words, John A. Smith at 1234 Main Street would appear ahead of John A. Smith at 2345 Main Street) and remaining duplications sorted by phone number (so that two instances of John A. Smith at 1234 Main Street would appear with the one whose number was 123-4567 listed ahead of the one whose number was 123-4579), should a subscriber choose to be listed simply as 'A' then telco has the right to demand proof of such a name. Likewise any residential or business listing demanded where the name would otherwise be an offensive word can be challenged. ("Are you certain your name is Mr. Fu-k?"). PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: National Strategies For Telecom Education? From: Mikko Usvalehto Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 17:40:01 +0200 Here in Helsinki University of Technology we are discussing what is the best way to coordinate telecom education in national level. Telecom business environment (both for operators and equipment manufacturers) is turbulent and technology competence needs of the telecom companies changes rapidly. Universities and institutes of technology have difficulties to follow the changes in business and also difficulties to provide education and continuing education, which satisfies companies' needs. We are interested in to know more about how telecom education is organised in different countries and is there any national strategies for telecom education ? If you have information on how telecom education has been organised in your country, then please contact: mikko.usvalehto@hut.fi Mikko Usvalehto Helsinki University of Technology, FINLAND ------------------------------ From: jypeng@netcom.com (Jian Yuan Peng) Subject: Help! - Vertex, DID or ISDN For My Phone Services Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 19:20:53 GMT Hi, Can you educate me about my question? This my first time to setup a telephone services, I have the following requirements: I want to setup three service lines and one support line. the service lines are 800 numbers (one 800 number from MCI). I want to accept three customers at same time. We plan to expand up to eight service lines in the future. For examples, If first customer calls in, then line one will answer. If other customers call in at the same time, when line one is busy, line two will answer. Same as line three, if line two is busy. The support line is not the 800 number. On that, the caller pays the toll. I have asked the hardware ventor, software ventor, and Pacbell about what kind of system I plan to setup. They told me different answers. Hardware ventor told me I need a DID system. Software vendor told me that I need a vertex system form my local telephone company. The Pacbell person told me (she recommended me) that I should rent a ISDN line. It seems to me that one of DID, Vertex or ISDN will work for me. The MCI told me they can broadcast the incoming call to all of three lines (all of them will ring as the same time.) if I want. I was so confused by all of them! Can you tell me what is difference between them? Can I extend to eight lines system later? Which is the lower cost? I also look into further, whether we need a T1 line (up to 24 lines) in two years later. Can we move smoothly from this current setup to 24 lines later? Any recommend- ations? Thank you for your information. Jian Yuan Peng jypeng@netcom.COM 650 Castro Street, Suite 120-265, Mountain View, CA94041 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, my goodness, my goodness. They are all going to sell you and oversell you. Forget every bit of what they told you and let's start over. Go to PacBell and say one thing: "I want four lines. Three are to be in a hunt group where the first hunts the second then the third. I want a fourth line which stands alone, not in the hunt group." Period. That's all you ask for. Do whatever they say or request in the way of credit requirements to get the lines installed and operating. As soon as the lines are installed -- and earlier, if you can get the number for the main line, and are sure it will be correct -- then you call up MCI -- if that's your pleasure, but I could make other suggestions -- and you tell them "I want an 800 number, and I want it to be pointed to xxx-xxxx" (whatever the number is PacBell assigned you as the lead number in your group of three lines.) Period. That's all you say to them. When MCI turns on your 800 number and points it to the main number in your group of three lines, everything you wanted will be accomplished. If a second or third person calls your 800 number while it is in use then those calls will be directed -- just like the first one -- to your main listed number. When those overflow calls hit PacBell, the local telco will put them on your overflow hunt lines two and three. MCI does not need to know *how* you are handling those calls (that in reality they are going in your hunt group somewhere) nor does PacBell need to know (nor do they care) where the calls are coming from, just that when they get them they put them on line one, then two and three as needed. You will want to make sure that your MCI 800 number has the capability of handling more than one inbound call at a time; there are a few out there that literally require you to have an '800 hunt group' with the inherent extra monthly service charges for each line, but most do not. Their switches are capable of taking 800 calls en-masse for you as long as you have somewhere to terminate them on your end. Meantime, that single line not part of the hunt group is sitting there and taking calls. You advertise its regular number so the caller has to dial that and pay for it. Next year if your business is still around and prospering and you need another five lines to make eight in total you call PacBell again and you say "I want five more lines in my existing hunt group." Period. Don't get them all confused using terms like T-1 and vertex and DID. That way they won't get you confused with their conflicting (and frankly, sales- oriented) answers. You don't need DID and a T-1 ... what are you running, the phone room for the Shopping Channel? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Engel2@ix.netcom.com (Bill & Susan Engel) Subject: Cellular Airtime Resellers Date: 20 Feb 1995 20:03:49 GMT Organization: Netcom I have been trying to find the names of resellers of cellular air time (if such resellers exist) that are active in the Phoenix, AZ metro area. I have contacted the Cellular Resellers Association to no avail. Does anyone have any info regarding this? Thanks for any help! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 13:45:19 PST From: alex capo Subject: Wanted: Used AT&T Business Telephone Systems Our company buys and sells used AT&T equipment. For more information you may contact me at 1-800-469-5707. Thanks! Alex Capo ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #108 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa04531; 21 Feb 95 1:24 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10946; Mon, 20 Feb 95 20:37:08 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA10939; Mon, 20 Feb 95 20:37:05 CST Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 20:37:05 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502210237.AA10939@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #109 TELECOM Digest Mon, 20 Feb 95 20:37:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 109 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Minding Your Cybermanners on the Internet" by Rose (R Slade) Cellular "Auto-Registration (Rick Edwards) Weird "Prime Number" and Other Messages 800 Number (Douglas Reuben) About 36XX Numbers in France (Romain Fournols) Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO (Danny Burstein) Technopolitics: New Pre-Airdate PBS Transcript of Debate (Jeff Richards) Pair Gain Line Problem, Please Help (Matt Lennig) Voice Mail/Office Premise Forwarding/Conference? (Sam Seidman) Request For Information About SDH (Willy Gan) Residential Pre-Pay Service (Keith Laaks) Wanted: Cellular Channel Measurements (Mark Douglas) Reprogramming a Cellular Phone (Wayne Linville) A Tip When Working With Electricity (Bob Mueller) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 19 Feb 1995 22:16:37 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: "Minding Your Cybermanners on the Internet" by Rose BKCBRMNR.RVW 950120 "Minding Your Cyber-Manners on the Internet", Rose, 1994, 1-56761-521-X, U$12.99/C$16.99 %A Donald Rose drose@pro-palmtree.socal.com %C 201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290 %D 1994 %G 1-56761-521-X %I Alpha Books %O U$12.99/C$16.99 75141.2102@compuserve.com %P 194 %T "Minding Your Cyber-Manners on the Internet" Ignoring the "smiley" books (BKSMILEY.RVW and BKSMLDCT.RVW) and one rather generic guide to grammar, out of the hundreds of books published so far on the subject of the Internet, this is only the second to be devoted to the etiquette of network communications (after Shea's "Netiquette", cf BKNTQUTT.RVW). It is a valuable and worthwhile addition. Coverage of the topic is very broad-ranging, although it is not, perhaps, complete. The material is very practical, with lists of do's and don'ts, summaries, and question-and-answer sections. Rose has a professional grasp of humour, and it is used extensively and effectively throughout. The book is not without problems. There is a shortage of explanation of the "why" on various topics. There is a chapter on how flames start (and a pretty good one) -- but not until chapter six. Rose recommends against the spread of "dying child" letters--but doesn't explain the situation behind the Craig Shergold stories, nor the related "Neiman-Marcus cookie" legend or the "FCC Modem Tax" rumours. He mentions the frequent administrative mis-posts on mailing lists, but not how to avoid doing them. Some specific recommendations are questionable. He suggests the use of abbreviations and "cyberese" (the acronyms of common phrases, like BTW for "by the way") as a means of keeping messages short. This is no longer considered good etiquette, as it is highly confusing to newcomers -- and oldtimers as well, in certain cases. (In fact, the book contradicts itself at this point, recommending both for and against abbreviations, on a single page.) (Some may also consider the repeated promotion of Kent's "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Internet" (BKIDTINT.RVW) and "The Complete Idiot's Next Step on the Internet" (sorry, haven't seen it yet) almost to constitute "spamming" within this book, itself.) I definitely recommend this work for all Internet users, and particularly newcomers. I very much hope future editions will extend a work well begun. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKCBRMNR.RVW 950120. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: rick.edwards@cabin.com (Rick Edwards) Subject: Cellular "Auto-Registration" Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 15:29:00 GMT Organization: The Charlatan's Cabin BBS, Los Angeles CA (213) 654-7337 There has been an ongoing discussion on another network regarding "auto-registration" in the present analog NAMPS system. It appears that no one on that network can give a definitive answer as to exactly how it works. So I am leaving a message here hoping (knowing) that someone will have the correct answers. Some of the questions we have regarding auto-registration on a cellular phone (system) are: 1) Does the individual phone transmit it's MIN/ESN pair on powerup after finding an appropriate control channel? 2) If indeed the phone transmits it's ID upon powerup, why is it apparently ignored by some systems (AirTouch in Los Angeles)? 3) What would be the typical amount of time between auto-registration requests on most cellular systems? (I know this varies on system usage, software, etc. but would like a "ballpark" number). 4) How exactly does the cellular system request an ID from each phone and keep it orderly? (IE..does it go by ESNs? How are collisions prevented from multiple phones? etc.) 5) How do cellular systems treat older phones (without auto-registration) when trying to ring them (phone call to phone)? I'm sure I've skipped a couple of obvious questions but if someone could enlighten me with answers to these questions, I would greatly appreciate it. Regards, Rick Edwards ------------------------------ From: dreuben@netcom.com (CID Tech/INSG) Subject: Weird "Prime Number" and Other Messages 800 Number Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 14:03:02 PST Late one night last week, while trying to reprogram one of my own 800 numbers, I accidentally dialed (800) 254-0133. What I got was: " The number you have reached, 6 7 7 - 4 4 4 4, is not a working number. It's prime factors are 2 and 3,387,2222 (or something). Thank you". I tried it a number of times, and it kept giving me the same thing. Today, just to convince myself that I did indeed hear that, I tried it again, but this time got: The number you have reach, 677-4444 is not is service ... Bucko!". Anyhow, just another 800 forwarded to some weird destination, I guess. Doug dreuben@netcom.com CID Technologies/Interpage NSG (203) 499 - 5221 ------------------------------ Date: 20 Feb 95 11:52:46 EST From: ROMAIN FOURNOLS <100431.1672@compuserve.com> Subject: About 36XX Numbers in France Here are some information about special numbers, toll free and special charges services/calls, in France for anybody interested in. Here you have a list of the special 36XX or 36XXXXXX numbers for special use (update in 1994). First 4 Digits Service Number 3600 No more used 3600 3601 KIOSQUE MICRO (computer charge calls) 3601XXXX 3602 TRANSPAC (data transmisssion) 3602 3603 TRANSPAC (data transmisssion) 3603 3605 TOLL-FREE TELETEL (MINITEL) Calls 3605XXXX 3606 TRANSPAC (data transmisssion) 36062424 3607 Minitel test number (France Telecom use) 360736XX 3608 TRANSPAC(data transmisssion) 36086464 3609 ALPHAPAGE (pager, messages sent by minitel) 3609XXXX 3610 France Telecom Calling Card Number 3610 3611 Electronic directory by minitel (DOM-TOM) 3611 3612 MINICOM (Special Mail by Minitel) 3612 3613 VIDEOTEX TELETEL1 (Minitel 1st rate) 3613 3614 VIDEOTEX TELETEL2 (Minitel 2nd rate) 3614 3615 VIDEOTEX TELETEL3 (Minitel 3rd rate) 3615 3616 KIOSQUE TELEMATIQUE PROF. (Minitel 4th rate) 3616 3617 KIOSQUE TELEMATIQUE PROF. (Minitel 5th rate) 3617 3618 COM. MINITEL A MINITEL (Minitel to Minitel use) 3618 3619 TELETEL INT'L (Minitel services based in foreign countries) 3619 3621 STANDARD ASCII (Minitel in 80 culumns) 3621 3622 No more used 3622 3623 TELETEL HIGH SPEED (4800 & 9600 b/s) 3623XXXX 3624 KIOSQUE TELEMATIQUE PROF. (Minitel) 3624XXXX 3625 KIOSQUE TELEMATIQUE PROF. (Minitel) 3625XXXX 3626 KIOSQUE TELEMATIQUE PROF. (Minitel) 3626XXXX 3627 KIOSQUE TELEMATIQUE PROF. (Minitel) 3627XXXX 3628 KIOSQUE TELEMATIQUE PROF. (Minitel) 3628XXXX 3629 KIOSQUE TELEMATIQUE PROF. (Minitel) 3629XXXX 3643 INT'L MINITEL ACCESS NUMBER 36431111 3644 TEST NUMBER (Ring Back) 3644 3650 FT Calling card by operator 3650 3653 TELEX 3653 3655 TELEGRAMMES TELEPHONES 3655 3656 TELEGRAMMES PAR MINITEL 3656 3658 Consumers Service 3658 3660 ALPHAPAGE (pager, messages sent by operator) 36605050 3661 OPERATOR (pager, messages sent by operator) 36616136 3663 NUMERO AZUR (toll-free Number, charged as a local call) 3663XXXX 3664 AUDIOTEL (premium services, as "900" numbers) 3664XXXX 3665 AUDIOTEL 5 UT 3665XXXX 3666 AUDIOTEL MEDIA 3666XXXX 3667 AUDIOTEL 3667XXXX 3668 AUDIOTEL 3668XXXX 3670 AUDIOTEL 3670XXXX 3672 MEMOPHONE (Vocal box inside your area) 3672 3673 MEMOPHONE (Vocal box outside your area) 3673XXXX 3699 Speaking real-time clock 3699 KIOSQUE TELEPHONIQUE (Special charges numbers) Numbers Max. time per call Rate 3664XXXX 0,73FF/mn 3665XXXX 2mn 20s 3,65FF/call 3666XXXX 2mn 20s 3,65FF/call 3667XXXX 20mn 1,46FF/mn 3668XXXX 20mn 2,19FF/mn 3670XXXX 20mn 8,76FF/call + 2,19FF/mn TOLL FREE NUMBERS ("800" numbers) Begin by 05 and 6 digits, international toll-free numbers from France to other countries begin 0590 and four digits. SERVICES Call waiting enable : *43# Call waiting disable : #43# (free to use, 10FF monthly fee) Call transfer : *21#phone_number# Call transfer cancel : #21# (0,73FF per call/change) Time reminder service : *55*TIME# (charged 3,65FF per call) Does somebody send me the rates of your "900" numbers ? Sorry of my poor English, If you have any questions about French telecom system, don't hesitate to contact me. Romain FOURNOLS, france Compuserve : 100431,1672 E-mail : 100431.1672@compuserve.com voice : +33 61230075 fax : +33 61228584 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In the USA the prices for our 900 numbers varies greatly from one to the next, and there are probably thousands of them in all. Some are as little as 50 cents per minute while others may cost $40-50 dollars for the entire call of three or four minutes. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO Date: 20 Feb 1995 11:17:49 -0500 After the Mitnick capture, NETCOM sent a letter to its customers. I've excerpted a key portion of it, in which they point out that yes, indeed, central offices -do- keep track of the CNID of incoming calls. (Other posters in the group have suggested that typically 90 days are kept online, just like with outgoing smdr.) >From alt.2600 Fri Feb 17 18:50:14 1995 From: emmanuel@well.sf.ca.us (Emmanuel Goldstein) Newsgroups: alt.2600 Subject: Netcom announcement on Mitnick Date: 17 Feb 1995 11:23:57 GMT NETCOM HELPS PROTECT THE INTERNET - A Letter from CEO Bob Rieger to Our Customers - I know many of you are interested in NETCOM's involvement with the arrest of Kevin Mitnick, and how this may impact you, if at all, as a NETCOM subscriber. First, let me supply a chronology of events: [lots of self abuse ^H^H^H praise deleted] -> 8. At that point, the U.S. Justice Department subpoenaed the local -> telephone carrier for records of dial-ins at specific times to this -> modem. It became apparent that the telephone company's switch equipment -> had been compromised, so that these records could not be obtained. -> However, the Justice Department found another method for making a match. 9. With this information, the Justice Department knew the approximate location of the originating call. 10. Mr. Shimomura flew to Raleigh and used cellular tracking equipment to locate the apartment building the calls were coming from. Eventually, the calls were traced to an individual apartment, and Mr. Mitnick was arrested. dannyb@panix.com (or dburstein@mcimail.com) ------------------------------ From: Jeff Richards Subject: Technopolitics: New Pre-Airdate PBS Transcript of Debate Date: 20 Feb 1995 03:14:48 GMT Organization: Capital Area Internet Service info@cais.com 703-448-4470 As of Friday evening, now has a new transcript of debate between Pacific Telesis Vice President Ron Stowe and AT&T Vice President Mike Brown. Taped earlier this week for the PBS public affairs show "TechnoPolitics," the program is scheduled to begin airing nationally on Feb. 24. (It will be broadcast in the Washington area on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. on WETA, Channel 26.) Stowe said that large business customers already have a choice of local carriers, but that long distance companies are not interested in serving residential customers because the cost of their service is subsidized by the business users. See the full comments, context and points of debate in the transcript. Given the growing interest across the Internet in telecom reform this year, is a growing resource. The site is accessed by gopher at , or the web at You can also subscribe to the listserver to get telecom updates. Send mail to . In the body of the message add four words: SUBSCRIBE BELL YOUR_FIRST _NAME YOUR_LAST_NAME Looking forward to your comments ... Jeff Richards The Alliance for Competitive Communications & Pacific Telesis Group Internet: richards@bell.com and SUBSCRIBE BELL YOUR_LAST YOUR_FIRSTNAME +1 202 973-5307 voice 1133-21st NW #700 +1 202 973-5351 TDD Washington DC 20036-3349 +1 202 973-5341 fax +1 800 SKY-PAGE pin 8550304 +1 202 383-6445 2nd office ------------------------------ From: Matt Subject: Pair Gain Line Problem, Help! Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 15:49:52 -0800 Organization: California State University, Chico I have been told by a Pac Bell (i'm in CA) tech that the reason that I cannot connect above 9600 is because I'm on a "Pair Gain" line to the C.O. My roommate has no problem, the tech says he's on a copper line to the C.O. Problem: Pac Bell refuses to change me over to a copper line, saying that they are only required to provide a 'voice-grade' line which only has to support transfer speed of 1200 bps (HA HA HA HA HA). What can I do? Does anyone have a work-around? Has anyone experienced this same problem? I've tried four different modems, all with the same problem. But if I use my roommate's line, everything works great! (For practical reasons, I can't use his line all the time, he runs a business on it). Any help would be appreciated. Regards, Matt ------------------------------ From: seidman@hookup.net (Sam Seidman) Subject: Voice Mail/Office Premise Forwarding/Conference Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 06:20:39 Organization: HookUp Communication Corporation, Oakville, Ontario, CANADA We have voice mail on our phone system and wish to give the user a choice to push "3" for a live operator. We would like to then conference the caller on the same line with a preprogrammed number using the telephone company's three way calling feature and connect them to a live operator. Is the above possible? I was told by somebody that it is currently not possible but that Northern was coming out with a version of Startalk Plus that would handle this, is this rumour true? The hardware we are using is Meridian Norstar with DR5 software and DS cpu, and Startalk 110. Has anybody been successful in accomplishing the above. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: wgan@netcom.com (willy gan) Subject: Requesting Information About SDH Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 06:22:15 GMT Hello everyone, I'd often seen the words SDH or SDH compatible equipment advertised in data communication magazines. Can anyone explain or give me examples of what SDH stands for? Thanks in advance, Willy Gan wgan@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Truthfully, I don't know if SDH is in the glosssary files at the Archives or not, but something Willy should be aware of and other users as well is the /glossaries sub-directory in the Telecom Archives, available by anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. PAT] ------------------------------ From: laakswk@telkom04.telkom.co.za (Keith Laaks) Subject: Residential Pre-Pay Service Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 19:43:38 GMT Organization: Telkom South Africa Here in South Africa we experience fraudulent use of the network due to subscription fraud (disappearances after receiving 'self inflicted' huge phone bills), the tapping into the phone lines of innocent victims, and other mechanisms. Questions: 1) Do you know of similar fraud in other networks? 2) What is done to try and prevent such fraud? 3) Has any telco implemented a pre-paid residential service? 4) If so, how does it work? Thanks, Please also email replies to : laakswk@telkom04.telkom.co.za Keith Laaks Email : laakswk@telkom04.telkom.co.za Tel : +27 12 311 1450 Fax : +27 12 311 3492 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do we know of other instances of toll fraud? Do we? Umm, yes, it is a very severe problem here in the USA. What you term 'prepaid residential service' we refer to as a 'security deposit', and/or payment in advance for the first month's charges. Generally the telcos in the USA accept the references of other telcos for the purpose of establishing service. If you've had service anywhere in the USA then your credit history as far as telco is concerned is available to other telcos for review. Of course, if you live in one area for most of your life and have service from the same phone company most of that time, then they have your record and know about both your ability and willingness to pay. New subscribers with no previous telco (somewhere) payment history are often asked to place an amount of money in escrow or on deposit with telco to cover the estimated billings for a month. After a year or so of good payment history, this money is refunded with interest or placed on your account against your current bill, as you wish. 'Payment in advance' is *not* a security deposit, and does not draw interest. It merely insures that your first month's bill is paid while telco evaluates your 'typical' or 'average' use. A third option used in some cases is called 'interim billing'. Although bills are tendered 12-13 times per year (most telcos bill monthly but some bill every 28 days), in what is known as cycle billing (a group of different customers each day, normally 22 billing cycles per month), for internal use only there is the 'interim billing' which is available to the collectors and credit representatives about two weeks after (or before) the bill mailed to the customer. If this interim billing shows a sudden dramatic increase in charges such as a large number of long distance calls or calls of a great time length causing your bill to exceed its normal balance by some large amount, then they will call you and ask for more money then; this depends on your status with them. If your bill becomes past due, again your status detirmines what action is taken. A new subscriber with a balance two months past due will most likely be cut. Longer subscribers with generally good credit will be allowed longer, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mdouglas@sol.UVic.CA (Mark Douglas) Subject: Wanted: Cellular Channel Measurements Organization: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 02:04:23 GMT I am teaching a university course on mobile communications and am interested in the following data of the received signal at a cellular phone: 1. The signal envelope over time (Rayleigh/Rician) 2. The time delay response (showing delay spread). 3. The power spectrum (frequency domain) Real measured data would be ideal, but simulated data is fine as well. I know that I can generate it myself, but if someone else already has the data, it's less work for me. Thanks, Mark Douglas University of Victoria Victoria, BC, Canada. ------------------------------ From: wayne@bubble.home.net (wayne linville) Subject: Reprogramming a Cellular Phone Date: 20 Feb 1995 04:04:25 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Reply-To: wayne@bubble.home.net (wayne linville) I thought I read an article in here about hard/soft reprogramming a cellular flip phone. Anyone who has any information on this subject, please send mail to me at: wayne@fatman.rmii.com. wayne linville ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 13:48:53 +0100 From: Bob Mueller Organization: Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH Subject: A Tip When Working With Electricity Dear Pat, I just read about your experiences with the capacitors in a TV unloading through you and recalled another tip which can prevent a nasty accident. It is related to the thread because auto batteries are part of schemes to revive NiCads. Electrocution from these may be possible (I heard of a case but have no certainty if it really happened), but is quite unlikely. Serious burns are not so uncommon. One should remove metal jewelery, including watch bands and rings when working around these batteries; they can deliver huge currents, enough to spot weld the jewelery, and heat it up to skin burning temperatures in a second or so. Though I have see warnings about this risk for years I did not know of a case until a friend got it wrong a couple months ago. He showed a deep burn around his finger where his wedding ring combined with a wrench to short over the battery terminals. He was lucky; the wound healed and except for the scar he will have gained; he knows very well about being careful next time and may be saved from removing the finger completely. Sincerely, Bob Mueller [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I still have a tiny little scar on my left arm (on the underside, a few inches up from my wrist) which I got from the night thirty years ago or so that I fell asleep at the switchboard. If you remember the old cord switchboards, you will recall the rows of cords with plugs on the end which sat in front of you. About 2 am after several slices of pizza and a quart of beer from earlier in the evening I was feeling drowsy. I had the common audible (buzzer) loud enough it would wake me up, so I folded my arms in front of me as I sat there and put my head down on my arms ... bingo, three minutes later I am out of it. Once before I had done this, and fell asleep with my foot on the buzzer cut off switch; the little button on the floor the operator could tap on to shut the buzzer off when desired ... ... but not this night. This night I would wake up if any calls came to the board which was unlikely ... this was a Friday night and the Sabbath, and the mostly elderly Jewish residents of the South Shore Country Club Apartments would be long tucked in their beds and asleep. South Shore Country Club had a four position manual cordboard; usually three operators on duty during the day and evening, and one overnight. On Friday night and Saturday all day usually one operator was sufficient since the more religious of the tenants in the apartment complex did *not* use the telephone for any reasons those days; nor did they use the elevator. Instead of calling downstairs to the switchboard to get someone at the front desk to come up and light their stove for the sabbath meal they felt it more appropriate to walk down ten flights of stairs to make that request, then walk back upstairs again. Since I am not Jewish, you see, I was under no obligation to observe their laws; I *could* ride the elevator upstairs, light their stove or turn the lights on and off, etc, then ride back downstairs. But I digress ... roomate and I had been out earlier that evening to celebrate something or other ... pizza and beer ... you know that combin- ation ... 11 pm and I have to go to work, running the board at the Country Club until 7 am. By 2 am everything *so* dead ... *so* quiet ... and as noted above I fell asleep. I slept maybe three hours, and about 5:30 am the little alarm clock goes off which means it is time to start making the first of the 'wakeup calls' to the tenants. My arm somehow during the night had gotten up against or on top of that row of plugs, and it laid there most of the night. A little red burn was on my skin where it had been on the tip of that plug all night. I thought it would eventually go away, and the redness went away the next day but the little scar where the direct current lingering in those cords burned my flesh a little never has. Finally, if you ever want to test a battery to see if there is still life in it and you don't have a battery tester, just put the contacts from the battery against the bottom of your tongue ... ... PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #109 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa07198; 21 Feb 95 4:51 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14853; Mon, 20 Feb 95 23:52:36 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14847; Mon, 20 Feb 95 23:52:33 CST Date: Mon, 20 Feb 95 23:52:33 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502210552.AA14847@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #110 TELECOM Digest Mon, 20 Feb 95 23:52:30 CST Volume 15 : Issue 110 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson David Noble on the Information Highway (D. Shniad) 500 Place-A-Call Working (David L. Oehring) List of Carrior Access Codes (Scott Mehosky) Wireless LAN's (A.D. Brinkerink) Re: Security of Cordless Phones? (John Lundgren) Re: Security of Cordless Phones? (Travis Russell) Re: GETS - Government Emergency Telecommunications Service? (Mark Ganzer) Cell Service in NY Metro Area Notes (Stan Schwartz) Re: Typical Rates for Campus Phone Systems (John Lundgren) Re: Typical Rates for Campus Phone Systems (David G. Cantor) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 17:10:04 -0800 Reply-To: pen-l@ecst.csuchico.edu From: D Shniad Subject: David Noble on the Information Highway From Issue 013 of CPU: Working in the Computer Industry 02/15/95 An electronic publication for workers in the computer industry THE TRUTH ABOUT THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY by David Noble At the end of November, the truth about the information highway finally got out. Protesting the announcement of another 5600 layoffs, 1200 Bell-Atlantic employees in Pennsylvania wore T-shirts to work which graphically depicted themselves as Information Highway Roadkill. The layoffs were just the latest round of cutbacks at Bell-Atlantic, which have been matched by the elimination of jobs at the other giants of the telecommunications industry -- ATT, NYNEX, Northern Telecom -- supposedly the very places where new jobs are to be created with the information highway. In reality, the technology is enabling companies to extend their operations and enlarge their profits while reducing their workforce, and the pay and security of those who remain, by contracting out work to cheaper labor around the globe and by replacing people with machines. The very workers who are constructing the new information infrastructure are among the first to go, but not the only ones. The same fate is facing countless workers in manufacturing and service industries in the wake of the introduction of these new information technologies. What is most striking about the Bell-Atlantic episode is not just the provocative fashion statement of the workers, members of Communication Workers of America District 13. Rather, it was the company's exaggerated response. Bell Atlantic demanded that the workers remove the T-shirts and when they refused, their employer suspended them without pay. According to Vince Maison, president of the union, the employer suspended the employees out of expressed fear that their message would be seen by the public. Significantly, management was concerned about adverse publicity not just for Bell Atlantic but, more importantly, for the information highway itself. This was the first time the information highway was unambiguously linked with unemployment, by a union and workforce presumably best situated to reap its promised benefits. Apparently the company believed there was too much riding on the information highway bandwagon to allow this sober message to get around. But it did anyway. The (probably illegal) management action backfired. Rather than a few hundred customers catching a glimpse of the T-shirts during the course of the day's work, millions throughout North America saw them through the media coverage of the suspensions; within hours, the union was inundated with phone calls of support and orders for the T-shirts. The truth was out. By now probably everyone has heard of the information highway, as a result of the massive propaganda blitzkrieg of the last year. Announcements heralding the dawn of a new age emanate incessantly and insistently from every quarter. The media gush with the latest info highway traffic reports (but not the fatalities), all levels of government are daily pressured into diverting public monies into yet another private trough, every hi-tech firm, not to mention every hustler and con artist in the business and academic worlds is rushing to cash in on the manufactured hysteria. The aggressive assault on our senses is aimed at securing public support and subsidy for the construction of the new commercial, infrastructure. Its message, which has become the mind-numbing multinational mantra, is simple and direct: We have no other choice. Our very survival, it is alleged as individuals, a national, a society, depend upon this urgent development. Those without it will be left behind in the global competition. And those with it? A recent "Futurescape" advertisement supplement to the Globe and Mail by Rogers Cantel and Bell Canada warned that the information highway "raises the ante in competition. If we don't act, Canada and Canadian companies will be left behind.... the information highway is not a luxury technology for the rich. It is the way of the future. And those who do not get on the highway will not have any way of reaching their ultimate destination." And what exactly is the destiny advanced by the information highway? Ask the Bell-Atlantic employees. The propaganda never mentions the roadkill, of course, but that is the future for many. Most people in Canada instinctively seem to know this already. According to a 1993 Gallup poll, 41% of those currently employed believe they will lose their jobs. But, despite this intuition, people have been terrorized into a hapless fatalism. It's inevitable. Or else they have been seduced by the exciting array of new tools and diversions: home-shopping, home-videos, home-learning, home-entertainment, home-communication. The operative word is home, because home is where people without jobs are -- if they still have a home. The focus is on leisure, because there will be a lot more of it, in the form of mass unemployment. (Some lucky few will get home-work, as their job takes over their home in the sweatshops of the future). This is where we are headed on the information highway. To see where we are headed requires no voodoo forecasting, futuristic speculation, much less federally-funded research. We just need to take a look at where we've been, and where we are. The returns are already in on the Information Age, and the information highway promises merely more of the same, at an accelerated pace. In the wake of the information revolution (now four decades old -- the term cybernetics and automation were coined in 1947). People are now working harder and longer (with compulsory overtime), under worsening working conditions with greater anxiety, stress, and accidents, with less skills, less security, less autonomy, less power (individually and collectively), less benefits, and less pay. Without question the technology has been developed and used to deskill and discipline the workforce in a global speed-up of unprecedented proportions. And those still working are the lucky ones. For the technology has been designed above all to displace. Structural (that is, permanent and systemic as opposed to cyclical) unemployment in Canada has increased with each decade of the information age. With the increasing deployment of so-called "labor-saving" technology (actually labor-cost saving) official average unemployment has jumped from 4% in the 1950's, 5.1% in the 1960's, 6.7% in the 1970's, and 9.3% in the 1980's, to 11% so far in the 1990's. These, of course, are the most conservative estimates (actual unemployment is closer to double these figures). Today we are in the midst of what is called a jobless recovery, symptomatic and symbolic of the new age. Output and profits rise without the jobs which used to go with them. Moreover, one fifth of those employed are only part-time or temporary employees, with little or no benefits beyond barely subsistence wages, and no security whatever. In 1993, an economist with the Canadian Manufacturers Association estimated that between 1989 and 1993, 200,000 manufacturing jobs were eliminated through the use of new technology -- another conservative estimate. And that was only in manufacturing, and before the latest wave of information highway technology, which will make past developments seem quaint in comparison. None of this has happened by accident. The technology was developed, typically at public expense, with precisely these ends in mind by government (notably military), finance, and business elites -- to shorten the chain of command and extend communications and control (the military origins of the Internet), to allow for instantaneous monitoring of money markets and funds transfer, and to enable manufacturers to extend the range of their operations in pursuit of cheaper and more compliant labor. Thus as the ranks of the permanently marginalized and impoverished swell, and the gap between rich and poor widens to 19th century dimensions, it is no mere coincidence that we see a greater concentration of military, political, financial, and corporate power than ever before in our history. In the hands of such self- serving elites -- and it is now more than ever in their hands -- the information highway, the latest incarnation of the information revolution, will only be used to compound the crime. Visions of democratization and popular empowerment via the net are dangerous delusions; whatever the gains, they are overwhelmingly overshadowed and more than nullified by the losses. As the computer screens brighten with promise for the few, the light at the end of the tunnel grows dimmer for the many. No doubt there has been some barely audible and guarded discussion if not yet debate about the social implications of the information highway focusing upon such issues as access, commercial vs. public control and privacy. There is also now a federal advisory commission on the information highway although it meets in secret without public access or scrutiny, doubtless to protect the proprietary interests of the companies that dominate its membership. But nowhere is there any mention of the truth about the information highway, which is mass unemployment. For decades we have silently subsidized the development of the very technologies which have been used to destroy our lives and livelihoods, and we are about to do it again, without debate, without any safeguards, without any guarantees. The calamity we now confront, as a consequence, rivals the upheaval of the first industrial revolution two centuries ago, with its untold human suffering. We are in for a struggle unlike anything any of us have ever seen before, as the Bell-Atlantic employees testify, and we must use any and all means at our disposal. It's time we came to our collective senses, while there is still time. We must insist that progress without people is not progress. At the very least, as a modest beginning, we pull the public plug on the Information Highway. [David Noble is a professor at York University and a historian of technology. He taught for nearly a decade at M.I.T. and was curator of the industrial automation at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He is the author of numerous books, including _Forces of Production: A Social History of Industrial Automation_ (Oxford University Press) and, most recently, _Progress Without People_ (a Canadian edition will be published this spring by Between the Lines). He lives in Canada.] ================================================ Online subscriptions to CPU are available at no cost by emailing listserv@cpsr.org with a blank subject and a single line in the body of the message: SUBSCRIBE CPSR-CPU For example: SUBSCRIBE CPSR-CPU Subcomandante Marcos To cancel your subscription, send to listserv@cpsr.org: UNSUBSCRIBE CPSR-CPU CPU back issues can be found via anonymous FTP at cpsr.org in the directory /cpsr/work. PLEASE RE-POST THIS FREELY, especially at work. CPU material may be reprinted for non-profit purposes as long as the source is cited. We welcome submissions and commentary. Mail sent to the editors or to CPU will be treated as a "letter to the editor" and considered printable, unless noted otherwise. Editors for this issue: Michael Stack and Jim Davis. We may be contacted by voice at (510) 601-6740, by email to cpu-owner@cpsr.org, or by USPS at POB 3181, Oakland, CA 94609. ------------------------------ From: David.L.Oehring@att.com Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 20:05:51 +0600 Subject: 500 Place-A-Call Working I dialed my True Connections(sm) 500 Number to update my reach list this past Saturday, and noticed that the first-level prompt (following entry of the master PIN) had been changed. Previously, option #2 was to "Call Home", but is now "To place a call". I tried out the "Place-A-Call" feature and it worked (from the 312/708 area). It looks like the post cards announcing the feature were only a little (one week?) early. Old Main menu: - To change where your calls are going, press 1. - To call home, press 2. - For True Connections Voice Mail, press 3. . . . New Main menu: - To change where your calls are going, press 1. - To place a call, press 2. - To call home, press 1. - To call a different number, press the # key. - What number do you want to call? Enter the area code and number followed by the # key. - For True Connections Voice Mail, press 3. . . . David Oehring david.l.oehring@att.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I tried it from here also now that you mentioned it, and mine is working also. That prompt 'to call a different number' also has a condition where you can call the override number if one is installed. The prompt does not mention it if one is not in place. I also get 'press 9 for other options' which includes the ability to change the number of times my phone will ring before the call is passed along to the next number on the reach list. Did you notice by the way that it never refers to your home number by their digits ... only by the phrase 'your home number'. If you enter #H she says you entered your home number .. if you punch in those digits instead, instead of reading back the digits to confirm as is done with other entries, she still says 'you entered your home number'. But when I entered my second line, she read back the digits, apparently not knowing that was also at home. PAT] ------------------------------ From: yidam@ccs.neu.edu (Scott Mehosky) Subject: List of Carrior Access Codes Date: 20 Feb 1995 01:01:13 GMT Organization: College of Computer Science, Northeastern University. Hello, I am wondering if anyone out there has a list of all the carrior access codes, (10xxx) in the US along with the name of the company the code belongs to. Thanks in advance for your help. Sincerely, Scott Mehosky - yidam@ccs.neu.edu - http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/yidam/top.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As a matter of fact, we do. Check in the Telecom Archives in the /carriers sub-directory. Use anonymous ftp to lcs.mit.edu. PAT] ------------------------------ From: A.D.Brinkerink@uni4nn.iaf.nl Subject: Wireless LAN's Date: 19 Feb 1995 13:37:46 GMT I am investigating the allocation of radio spectrum for wireless LAN's in Europe. Any information from IT companies, manufacturers of radio equipment and users are welcomed on the following items: 1 Do current allocations fulfil the needs of the IT users? 2 Which new applications does the IT community envisage and will these still fit in existing frequency bands? 3 What is the best technology to use in wireless LAN's in terms of spectrum efficiency? The results of this investigation will be brought to the attention of European regulatory authorities. Please forward info to: ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Security of Cordless Phones? Date: 20 Feb 1995 10:05:36 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network Jeffrey A. Porten (jporten@mail2.sas.upenn.edu) wrote: > Having just gotten a new cordless phone (BellSouth 46mHz), and living > in the paranoid environs of Washington, DC, I find myself wondering > just how likely it is that the world is listening to my calls. > The phone has ten channels, and a security code feature which, so far > as I understand, exists mainly to prevent another cordless handset > from tapping into my base unit, but does nothing to scramble the > signal from the handset. > I live in an apartment building, with a few others nearby, so consider > this a high-density area. Should I go on the assumption that people > are always listening in? Sometimes? Almost never? > I have a corded set that I keep hooked up for confidential calls; as a > stopgap, I sometimes scan channels on my cordless so any eavesdropper > will at least have to fiddle to find me again. Does this help, or am > I kidding myself? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Corded or cordless, the assumption should > be that your telephone calls are never secure. In actual practice, it > may not matter to you; if you are just in idle chatter with someone you > aren't going to bother with the trouble of special precautions. My personal > belief is the use of scanners to listen to cordless phones is still a > relatively rare thing; how many people do *you* know that own scanners > who are within range of your cordless phone? And of those, how many are > sophisticated enough to know how to program the scanner for cordless? > So my feeling is generally its not a big deal, and if you do have something > very important and personal to say, you might want to go to a payphone > anyway. PAT] But there are several other ways to eavesdrop on cordless telephone conversations without using a scanner. One is to use another cordless telephone. Some of them can hear other channels without butting in on the conversation. Then there are wireless baby monitors and walkie-talkies, which can receive conversations easily. And these are just a few of the more common ways of doing this. Treat your cordless phone as if there were others listening all the time. Don't give out credit card numbers on the cordless phone. And don't say anything you might regret. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ From: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) Subject: Re: Security of Cordless Phones? Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 17:09:45 +0000 Organization: Travis Russell Reply-To: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) In article , jporten@mail2.sas.upenn.edu (Jeffrey A. Porten) writes: > Having just gotten a new cordless phone (BellSouth 46mHz), and living > in the paranoid environs of Washington, DC, I find myself wondering > just how likely it is that the world is listening to my calls. I recently have discovered my calls were being listended to both by a neighbor (who lives about an acre away) and by some kid down the street. The neighbor called to inform me that my telephone conversation was being broadcast over his kids baby monitor, one of those cute little wireless units that hangs on babies crib (glad I wasn't calling a 900 number). And the kid down the street? He was showing my kids how to use a transistor radio to listen in on our calls, and demonstrated by listening in on one of my calls. Seems to be one of his favorite pasttimes. If its wireless, never assume it is secure. It ain't! Travis Russell russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net ------------------------------ From: ganzer@ludwig.nosc.mil (Mark Ganzer) Subject: Re: GETS - Government Emergency Telecommunications Service? Organization: NCCOSC RDT&E Division, San Diego, CA Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 04:42:50 GMT BOSWELL, RICHARD S (rsb9883@zeus.tamu.edu) wrote: > Has anyone ever heard of "GETS"? What kind of priority service do > they offer; who is offering it? Pat, I don't have much info on this, but I did see a booth on GETS at the recent Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) show in San Diego. Just about anybody could get into this show. There were about 500 high school kids that paraded through one of the days. We also did a worked with GTE last November on a demonstration for a GETS Symposium of distributed collaborative planning in support of disaster relief operations using high speed ATM data networks. None of this was classified or "top secret" in any way. Unfortunately, I don't have the complete picture of GETS to speak intelligently about it. I was just responsible for seetting up the ATM connections at our end. Mark Ganzer Naval Command, Control & Ocean Surveillance Center, ganzer@nosc.mil RDT&E Div (NRaD), Code 4123, San Diego, CA Ph: (619) 553-1186 FAX: (619) 553-4808 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't absolutely know that it was ever secet; one writer here said when he mentioned this to someone in Defense *that person* claimed it was 'top secret'. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 18:03:47 EST From: Stan Schwartz Subject: Cell Service in NY Metro Area Notes From: dreuben@interpage.net (Doug Reuben) > After hearing about NYNEX/NY's (Boston too?) "Free Weekend Airtime", > which allows toll and airtime free calling to anywhere in 212, 718, > 917, most (all?) of 201, most (all?) of 908, (609 too?), and most > parts of lower 914, I broke down and had a friend of mine who was > going to cancel with Metro Mobile in CT sign up with NYNEX/NY rather > than Cellular One. While NYNEX/NY is offering free weekends until 7/31/95, BAMS/NJ is offering free OFF PEEK until 8/31/95! (It still makes me think about using my second NAM). I wonder, though, how BAMS gets away with charging a .04/minute landline charge when THEY ARE the wireline carrier. The free off-peek time from them ends up being .04/minute. > (Although CO/NY does bill for incomplete calls over 40 seconds, so in > some rare cases I will suggest that a person use NYNEX instead of CO > if they make a lot of calls where the party they are calling takes > over 40 seconds to answer.) I got a pitch letter from CO/NY this week to remind me to renew my annual contract. A quick sentence buried in the letter mentions that CO/NY no longer charges for incomplete calls! Re PINs: > Anyone test this? I'm interested in finding out because if I find that > NYNEX/NY is billing people from the time they *initially* hit SEND to > place the call rather than when a caller enters his/her complete PIN, > I will call NYNEX/NY and demand to have the PIN feature removed. Does NYNEX require a PIN for each call? When I had PIN service with CO/NY, it only required the PIN once and that was if the phone was turned off for more than 20 minutes. Stan ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Typical Rates for Campus Phone Systems Date: 20 Feb 1995 07:38:29 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network We get charged (previous to Jan 1) $17.25 a month for a Pac Bell centrex line, with something like $75 one time fee for establishing dial tone. But then we also have our own voice mail system, and a PBX, which all cost money to run. A single measured business line is $15.00 a month. So with all the charges added up, it would probably cost about the same. Prices of phone service went up as of Jan 1, but the cost of toll calls went down. Supposedly, the two should balance out. But being that most of the calls are within our district and are not toll, I would say that that isn't true. We have a marketing agreement with Pac Bell, so there is some negotiation and fixing of prices. The PBX system, and the phone instruments are under a service contract. The user has to pay about $300 to purchase a phone. There are also the wages for me and my cohorts in our department that work on the phone and data network, which have to be taken into account. BTW, the voice mail system is cheaper than Pac Bell's, but it doesn't have as many features as theirs, and I don't believe it is as user friendly, either. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ Reply-To: dgc@math.ucla.edu Subject: Re: Typical Rates for Campus Phone Systems Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 15:19:54 -0800 From: David G. Cantor In Volume 15, Issue 106 of TELECOM Digest, Anthony E. Siegman comments on the high (recharge) cost of telephone-service provided by the Stanford University Centrex and asks, among other things, "Is the Centrex type campus service really worth four times what the phone company could give me?" The recharge rate at UCLA for telephone and many other services is higher than the prevailing rates in the local community. I have often wondered if this over-charging, at least for State Universities, is a way of transferring charges from the University Administration to the University Departments. State Legislatures prefer that funds go to Departments rather than Administration. However the major user of telephone service, and many other services, is the Administration. For a variety of reasons, most of the University operator services are used by the administration. For example, the administration is the principal user of operator services because people calling departments and faculty usually know the direct-dial number while numerous inquiries go to the administration. By bundling charges and thus over-charging departments and under-charging administrative services, the administration can, in effect, transfer money intended for education to administrative services. Perhaps this over-charging occurs at private Universities for similar reasons? David G. Cantor Department of Mathematics dgc@math.ucla.edu University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #110 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa14447; 21 Feb 95 15:09 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA01295; Tue, 21 Feb 95 09:44:45 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA01288; Tue, 21 Feb 95 09:44:43 CST Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 09:44:43 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502211544.AA01288@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #111 TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Feb 95 09:44:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 111 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Enhanced Telecommunications Services for New Hampshire (Monty Solomon) Anon Servers, Child Porn and Scientologists (Johan Helsingius) Erlang B Tables (Stephen Morrisby) MVIP? What Are We Talking About Here? (Peter T. Overaas) Book on ISDN Wanted (Charles Mingus) Inquiry on CDMA and QUALCOMM (eswu@v9000.ntu.ac.sg) Can You Tell Me About MCK Communications? (intiaa@ozemail.com.au) CATV Based WAN (Dominique Gabioud) E(TACS) and GSM (Alexander Cerna) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 00:36:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Enhanced Telecommunications Services for New Hampshire Reply-To: monty@roscom.COM Forwarded FYI to the Digest. From: "Lee D. Rothstein" Subject: Enhanced Telecommunications Services for New Hampshire Organization: MV Communications, Inc. Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 19:25:32 GMT [Disclaimer ********** The text below was intended to be a press release. It was written by Lee Rothstein, of VeriTech, with the help of Tim Platt, of Orr and Reno. The views expressed in the release can only be ascribed to Lee Rothstein. Because there was not time to poll the members to determine the extent of agreement, on both the bill and the press release, the release has not been issued, as yet, by the Consortium. The bill, however, goes before Senate Committee, Thursday. If you are a Member of the Consortium or attend the meetings, please contact Lee Rothstein with your views. Whether or not you attend NHTC meetings, please contact your New Hampshire State Senator to indicate your support for law and other efforts that foster Internet availability, accessibility and bandwidth in New Hampshire.] ====================================================== Enhanced Telecommunications Services for New Hampshire ====================================================== February 7, 1995, Concord, NH. The New Hampshire Telecommunications Consortium (NHTC) is committed to bringing advanced telecommunications infrastructure and enhanced services to the State of New Hampshire. The time is right for this effort. Many people speak of the "super-information highway" vision. Even more people, companies and institutions participate in, and contribute to the ballistic growth of the Global Internet. Consequently, the NHTC believes that proactive steps must be taken by government, business and the community to ensure that New Hampshire has sufficient, powerful and economical access to enhanced telecommunications services at the earliest possible opportunity. Such efforts will ensure the well-being of the State in economic, education, health, safety, and social areas. Special efforts are required because, on the one hand, New Hampshire must compete in the global economy, but on the other hand, we are a sparsely populated and small state that wishes to maintain our high quality of life and environment. To this end, some of the telecommunications consumer members of NHTC have proposed a bill that would change the telecommunications regulatory climate in New Hampshire so that citizens and institutions of the State can benefit from these enhanced services. The draft of the bill was composed by Tim Platt of Orr & Reno, at the request of the NH BIA. We are very grateful to Tim for his efforts on behalf of the Consortium. Specifically, the bill is aimed at increasing competition for delivery of these enhanced services. This, in turn, will allow the State, it's institutions and citizens to remain competitive with other forward-looking states and regions that are well-along this process of fostering advanced telecommunications infrastructure and enhanced services. The proposed bill (NH Senate Bill 22) has been sponsored by State Senator Beverly T. Rodeschin of Newport (Senate District 8). Ms. Rodeschin is a member of the Economic Development Committee. Senator Rodeschin's home phone number is 863-1941. The Chair of the Committee is Carl R. Johnson of Meredith (Senate District 3). His legislature phone number is 279-3177. His home phone number is 279-6492. If you would like to call the senator of your home district, please call the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association at 1-800-540-5388 for further information. Senate Bill 22 maintains traditional distinctions between telephone companies and telecommunications suppliers (the former being a subset of the latter), and between basic and enhanced services. Basic services include most services that we commonly think of as involving the telephone for dial-up voice, fax and data (modem) communications. Enhanced services include data, video and imaging services, especially when they make use of high speed digital infrastructure. The bill is specifically directed at improving advanced telecommunications infrastructure and the pricing, availability, and competitiveness of enhanced telecommunications services. The bill, as drafted, promotes telecommunications infrastructure investment in three different ways: The first option would allow telecommunications service providers (inclusive of telephone companies) to make investments in technologically advanced infrastructures without regulation as to price of the service based on these infrastructures. This would allow access and usage of enhanced services at substantial discounts to current telephone rates. The second feature of the bill encourages telecommunications service providers to work with businesses, institutions and the community to develop pilot projects that satisfy the needs of institutions and individuals. Infrastructure developed as part of a pilot project should also be offered at a discount, and, if made by a telephone company, may be included as part of the rate base infrastructure, if a telephone company makes such request. The third option would allow telephone companies to treat such investments as part of their existing networks, if they elected to do so. Pricing under this third option would be based on traditional tariff filings. The NHTC believes that efforts such as the proposed Senate Bill 22 will be absolutely essential to the well being of New Hampshire, her institutions and citizens. Senate Bill 22 comes up for committee hearing on February 9, 1995 before the Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee. The NHTC encourages all interested parties to contact their senators and representatives expressing their support for the bill. While Senate Bill 22 may not be a perfect vehicle for bringing New Hampshire into the age of the Global Internet and the Information Superhighway, it can be an effective first step in bringing enhanced telecommunications services to New Hampshire, quickly. Both comments and amendments that will get New Hampshire on the right path, quickly, are invited. The New Hampshire Telecommunications Consortium is composed of business and community organizations dedicated to bringing the super information highway, in all of its forms, to New Hampshire. Members include large telecommunications users, providers and other business groups. Members include: AT&T Continental Cablevision Exeter Hospital Granite State Telephone Lakes Region General Hospital New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters New Hampshire Business and Industry Association New Hampshire Department of Education New Hampshire Hospital Association New Hampshire Public Radio New Hampshire Public Television NYNEX Orr & Reno, Professional Association VeriTech, network information technology consultants [Listing above does NOT imply agreement with either the bill or the release.] <> Lee D. Rothstein | LDR@VeriTech.com | 603-424-2900 | Fax: 603-424-8549 <> <> VeriTech | 7 Merrymeeting Drive | Merrimack, NH 03054-2934 | USA <> <> Information Technology (IT) Verification & Leadership <> ------------------------------ From: Johan Helsingius Subject: Anon Servers, Child Porn and Scientologists Date: 21 Feb 1995 06:38:31 GMT Press release, Monday, February 20th, 1995 Helsinki, Finland World-wide Internet community appalled over the Scientology seizure Was the child porn scandal just a cover? The reputation of Finland as a country that holds freedom of expression, justice and human rights in high esteem has suffered among the world-wide Internet community. So far Finland has gotten a lot of positive publicity as the home of the best-known anonymous server, anon.penet.fi. These servers enable safe net discussion of sensitive issues, such as reporting violations of human rights. The ease with which the Church Of Scientology (with the help of Finnish police) obtained sensitive information has caused great concern and uproar. With the help of the finnish police, the Church Of Scientology found out the identity of a person who had published material on the Church of Scientology anonymously on the Usenet newsgroups. At the same time there has been a lot of speculation on the net on whether the recent child porn scandal (which was totally unsupported by hard evidence) might be connected to the Scientologists' interest in the anonymous server. ___________________________________ Anonymous servers enable anonymous discussions via electronic mail and newsgroups on the Internet, used by millions of people all over the world, and are vital for support of freedom of expression. These servers are used by people who are under pressure or persecuted, people who report offenses of human rights or even discuss their personal problems and sufferings. One of the longest-lasting and probably the most famous anonymous server is anon.penet.fi, created by the Finnish Internet specialist Johan "Julf" Helsingius back in 1992. Every day more than 7000 messages are automatically handled by the service, and there are over 200 000 registered users. The popularity of the server is largely due to its trustworthiness, based on both the personal reputation of Helsingius among the network community, as well as on the good reputation of Finland as a country where individual rights, privacy and freedom of expression are respected. This kind of reputation is important, since there are lots of people and organisations in the world that would rather see the anon servers being shut down. Governments that violate human rights, as well as other organizations banning public and open discussion of their activities, such as the Church of Scientology, are among these. The Church of Scientology has in fact approached the people offering anonymity services, threatening with lawsuits unless the anonymous discussion in scientology-related newsgroups stops. In fear of lawsuits many American servers have either stopped altogether or strongly limited their activities. The flow of events: On Thursday, February 2, an American representative of the Church of Scientology (CoS) contacted Johan Helsingius, informing him that some information residing on a private and closed CoS system had been made public via the anon.penet.fi server. Based on this they have reported a burglary to the Los Angeles Police and FBI. The representative of CoS asked Helsingius for the real identity of the individual that had posted the confidential information. After Helsingius had made it clear that he was in no position to give out the information, he was told an official request to the Finnish Police was on its way via Interpol. The next day, February 3, the Finnish police contacted Helsingius, informing him that if need be, they would get a warrant of search and seizure. The necessary documents for these actions were promised for Monday. On Monday, February 6, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published an article based on the investigation of Mats Wiklund from University of Stockholm. The article stated that child porn was distributed to Internet from the Finnish anon.penet.fi server. The Finnish media picked up the story, with headlines such as "Internet distributes child porn from an address in Helsinki" (Helsingin Sanomat) and "Internet flooded with child porn" (Ilta-Sanomat). The first public reaction in Finland was based purely on the initial article in Dagens Nyheter. Meantime, the Internet community started to investigate the matter. The child porn statements caused amazement, as the anon server has (due to heavy traffic) been forced to limit the maximum size of messages, and ban postings to groups containing pictures altogether. At closer look the Wiklund "research" is revealed to have been made sloppily and without enough expertise. The information needed to reveal the sender of the articles has not been saved, and the famous pictures themselves are nowhere to be obtained for a closer look. The only picture that is actually included in Wiklund's report seems to be taken on a nudist camp. Wiklund has investigated four newsgroups dealing with sexual pictures, checked 5651 postings and found 8 pictures of adolescent nude children, none of which are (according to Wiklund's own report) actually pornographic. After a closer look at the pictures in those groups, they are shown to actually come from United Kingdom, not Finland. Wiklund admits that he never thought of the possibility of the source of the pictures being forged. On Saturday, February 11, Johan Helsingius reveals the true nature of events and the headlines in Finnish media quiet down. On the Internet there follows a lot of lively discussion and questioning of the motives of the Swedish researcher, the person who forged the source of the pictures, and the journalist of Dagens Nyheter. Some writers suggest a connection to the attempts by the CoS to silence anon servers. Since the authorities don't seem to be investigating the case, Helsingius himself files a request for investigation with the Finnish police. The initial investigation reveals no crime committed at least in Finland. In the meantime, on February 8, the Finnish police serve Helsingius with a warrant for search and seizure, and obtains from Helsingius the electronic mail address of the anonymous user that the CoS wants. Within an hour after the Finnish Police gets hold of the information, the Finnish representative of the CoS informs Helsingius legal representative that they received the information. On 14 February the criminal investigation on the scientologists case is dropped. Helsingius gets this information on February 17, and reveals the situation on some discussion groups and mailing lists on the Internet. This announcement has caused a flood of electronic mail, and a huge outroar among the Internet community. During the weekend, Helsingius received hundreds of comments and queries, most of them questioning the actions of the Finnish authorities. February 19 the maintainer of an anonymous service in Amsterdam tells Helsingius that the Church of Scientology has approached him again, threatening with legal action unless the anonymous participation into the discussion on scientology is stopped. This time the issue would be claims about illicit distribution of copies of copyrighted computer programs. ----------------------- [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Those Scientology people are very strange. So was L. Ron Hubbard, their founder for that matter. Originally an author of mostly science fiction books, in 1949 Hubbard went to a convention of science fiction writers and made the comment that real money in the world was not to be made writing books. "If you really want to make lots of money start a church ..." he said. Well, we know that much is true, I've thought a couple times about starting one myself. Hubbard then wrote a book called "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health" which seems to have sold quite well (he has been dead for a few years but the book is still in print) and from that publication came the Church of Scientology. They have always been very agressive about getting their way and they don't hesitate to sue or otherwise harass anyone who writes an expose of their activities. With Auditors and Engrams and their infamous E-Meter (a device which measures Engrams!) they'll clear you of whatever is wrong in your thinking processes. Several years ago I read a few things about their tactics toward their perceived enemies. I'm not surprised they are now turning their attention to Internet. The comments by Helsingius sort of confirm what I said here the other day where remailers are concerned: they do have records of who says what, and will keep them for use as necessary. He went the full measure and required the authorities to produce a warrant before turning over the information they sought, and that is admirable. But when I was doing the same thing with postal mail years ago, the other fellows I knew in the same business used to take a somewhat more practical view. The attitude was (regards postal inspectors, police, etc) we have to live with those guys all the time. If you know that in fact to get a warrant all they have to do is go ask a judge for one and they'll be back in a few minutes or a day or so later, then give them what they want and save time for everyone. Some will even call on the phone to request a warrant and have it delivered five minutes later over your fax machine! Then they look at you with some disdain as if to say "old pros like you and I need not waste a lot of time on preliminaries, or the opening exercises." I hope Helsingius afterward at least notified his user that there had been inquiries made. That's a courteous thing to do. PAT] ------------------------------ From: smorrisby@cix.compulink.co.uk ("Stephen Morrisby") Subject: Erlang B Tables Organization: Millicom Ghana Limited Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 11:52:06 GMT Can anyone provide me with the formulae used to calculate Erlang B Tables? Thanks, Steve Morrisby ------------------------------ From: Peter T. Overaas Subject: MVIP? What Are We Talking About Here? Organization: chevron Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 23:08:23 GMT Can anyone explain what the acronym "MVIP" stands for? I heard this in a discussion on IVR. Thanks, Pete [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Once again a reminder that the Telecom Archives (anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu) contains several glossary files in the /glossaries sub-directory. Check them out. PAT] ------------------------------ From: logic@li.net (Charles Mingus) Subject: Book on ISDN Wanted Date: 21 Feb 1995 00:11:13 -0500 Organization: LI Net (Long Island Network) I am currently looking for a book that will give a detailed description of ISDN lines and their uses. I don't know if such a book exists but it would be of great use to me. logic@linet01.li.net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ummm, I think we have a few peopl around here who have written books on ISDN, don't we Fred G? Maybe someone can make contact with Mingus and answer his questions. PAT] ------------------------------ From: eswu@v9000.ntu.ac.sg Subject: Inquiry on CDMA and QUALCOMM Date: 20 Feb 95 17:33:29 +0800 Organization: Nanyang Technological University Hello everyone, I have a project on CDMA. I would appreciate if anyone can give me the following information: 1) Where to get the IS-95? In what periodical and in which volume? Or where to buy? 2) Where to get the published materials on CDMA designed by QUALCOMM? I have heard that QUALCOMM has designed a CDMA system, but I still did not find any wirtten material on it. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 23:41:39 +1100 From: intiaa@ozemail.com.au (Internet Industry Association of Australia) Subject: Can You Tell me About MCK Communications? Organization: Internet Industry Association of Australia (INTIAA) Dear Pat, A company in Calgary, Alberta called MCK Communications make a black box that enables a Northern Telecom Meridian handset talk to the switch over a POTS and have full functionality as well, a kind of virtual extension. MCK are not in the phone book. Maybe you can find this out and drop me a line. Cheers, Geoff ------------------------------ From: gabioud@uni2a.unige.ch Subject: CATV Based WAN Organization: University of Geneva, Switzerland Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 12:45:38 GMT It is planned to install a return channel (between 20 MHz and 50 MHz) on a cable TV network. We want to offer a LAN interconnection service supported by this upgraded CATV network. Our idea is to install a Token Bus like network on parts of the CATV net, with point-to-point links between Token Bus islands. Three questions about this project: 1. Do you know the existence of a LAN interconnection service based on the CATV cable? 2. Do you know equipment that can be used for such a service? 3. Token Bus (IEEE 802.4) equipments can not be used directly, because the IEEE 802.4 normalized frequencies are not free. Can I nevertheless use these equipments with just an external remodulator to make the signal fit in free bandwiths on the TV cable? Sincerely yours, Dominique Gabioud gabioud@uni2a.unige.ch ------------------------------ Reply-To: Alexander Cerna Subject: E(TACS) and GSM Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 10:06:10 +0800 From: Alexander Cerna Can someone explain to me what E(TACS) and GSM are in detail? There are around five cellular phone service providers in our country, and most of them use E(TACS). One uses GSM, and says that this is the latest technology in cellular telephony. They say that it would make international roaming possible (although they say that it isn't possible right now). Also, this service provider that uses GSM says that they're the only provider that's 100% digital. One of the implications of this, they claim, is that their phones can't be cloned as easily as the analog ones. Is this true? Also, they say that analog systems are very prone to charge errors. Is this also true? Or are they just trying to scare me from going to the other service providers? Thank you very much. Regards, Alexander Cerna cerna@ntep.tmg.nec.co.jp VOX: +63 (32) 400-451 NEC Technologies MEPZ, Lapulapu, Phils 6015 FAX: +63 (32) 400-457 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #111 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa20031; 21 Feb 95 20:41 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12995; Tue, 21 Feb 95 15:12:40 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12986; Tue, 21 Feb 95 15:12:37 CST Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 15:12:37 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502212112.AA12986@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #112 TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Feb 95 15:12:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 112 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Pair Gain Line Problem, Help! (Bennett Wong) Re: What is Loop Start? (Martin McCormick) Re: What is Loop Start? (William Wood) Re: What is Loop Start? (Wally Ritchie) Re: What is Loop Start? (Sharon Prey) Re: Pre-Paid Phone Cards - Evening Rates? (Jeffrey Kagan) Re: Pre-Paid Phone Cards - Evening Rates? (Cliff Lam) Re: Pre-Paid Phone Cards - Evening Rates? (Shawn Gordhamer) Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery (David Chessler) Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery (Shawn Gordhamer) Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery (Ry Jones) Re: What is DMS-100? (Sharon Prey) Re: What is DMS-100? (Greg Habstritt) Re: What is DMS-100? (Mike Boyd) Re: Area Code/Prefix Trivia (Philip V. Hull) Re: Area Code/Prefix Trivia (David W. Tamkin) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 08:56:16 PST From: wong@pairgain.com (Bennett Wong) Subject: Re: Pair Gain Line Problem, Help! > I have been told by a Pac Bell (i'm in CA) tech that the reason that I > cannot connect above 9600 is because I'm on a "Pair Gain" line to the > C.O. My roommate has no problem, the tech says he's on a copper line > to the C.O. > Problem: Pac Bell refuses to change me over to a copper line, saying > that they are only required to provide a 'voice-grade' line which only < has to support transfer speed of 1200 bps (HA HA HA HA HA). Matt, I can't offer any specific advice, but I can give you some information that might be helpful. Assuming that by using the term "Pair Gain" you mean that Pac Bell has you on an AML line, you're probably on an analog "added main line". My tech guys tell me that the most you will probably get is 2400 baud. If you're on a digital AML, then you should be able to go above 9600 baud with no problem. The company that I work for, PairGain Technologies, sells a digital AML called PG-2 that can support dialup modems at speeds up to 19.2 kbits/s with no problem. (It may be able to support higher rates, but 19.2 kbits/s is what they last tested a PG-2 unit at). However, my tech guys also tell me that Pac Bell doesn't buy any PG-2 units from us. Instead, they buy units from Rockwell, Wescom, and Adtrans. I don't know if these are digital or analog AML's, but it seems the trend is to not buy anymore analog AML's. Maybe you can ask your phone company to move you over to a digital AML (perhaps, from PairGain Technologies ;) from an analog AML. Hope this helps, Bennett Wong PairGain Technologies, Inc. 14402 Franklin Avenue Tustin, CA 92680 wong@pairgain.com ------------------------------ From: Martin McCormick Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Date: 20 Feb 1995 19:45:31 GMT Organization: Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK In article nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) writes: > When a subscriber goes off-hook with intent to originate but > actually answers an incoming call, the situation called "glare" has > occured. This is a big problem for heavily-used lines used for both > incoming and outgoing calls, Where did the term "glare" ever get to be used in this context? Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Imagine two motorists driving in opposite directions down a narrow one-lane road with no room to pass each other. They meet in the middle somewhere, and each one leans out the window and glares at the other, wanting *them* to the be one to back up and get out of the way. 'Glare' in the conventional sense means to look in a hostile fashion at another person. Two calls on one pair each going in the opposite direction are certainly hostile and/or incompatible with each other. A state law on the books in Kansas at the end of the 19th century detailed exactly how to handle the problem of glare, where railroad trains were concerned: "If two trains both on the same track approach each other from opposite directions, then each shall come to a complete halt and wait until the other train has passed entirely." Yes, that was a law in Kansas over a hundred years ago, repealed quite a few years ago when the Kansas legislature did a major overhaul and re-codification of the statutes of that state. In the case of telephonic glare, there is really no other option except for both parties to disconnect and start all over again unless the party on the inside line of the PBX is willing to be nice about it and try to transfer the call off his line and back to the attendant somehow, even though she did not give the call to him in the first place. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 10:38:52 -0800 From: wewood@ix.netcom.com (William Wood) Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Paul Garfield (garfield@vanilla.cs.umn.edu) writes: > Long ago I remember terms like loop start and ground start as > different protocols for handling signaling bits on a T1 line ... Paul, it couldn't have been reeeealy long ago or you'd know that loop, ground, wink, etc. originated on analog lines (local loops from the dial tone switch, etc.) and trunks (facilities between switches). See ..... sometimes it pays to be old. The best way to look at your question is to begin by understanding that T type carrier is simply the transporter of signaling information. It doesn't do anything but extend the native signaling/supervision form of the equipment to which it is connected, which is (in voice applications) usually a switch, but sometimes private line equipment. The T (or any other type of carrier) is at its core nothing more than a distance extension methodology to allow devices such as telephones to be located beyond metallic circuit distances. The circuit signaling type is unrelated to the carrier system (other than its ability to transparently transport the supervision states). So, the first part of answering your question is to divorce the carrier from the signaling. The next part is just basic phone stuff relating to signaling and/or supervision. Loop start is the type of supervision generated by your local POTS (plain ol' telephone service) telephone set. The local serving dial tone switch applies (normally in the USA) -48v battery to one (usually the ring) of the wires in the pair coming to your phone. It applies switch ground to the other. When you go off hook, your telephone set connects the tip and ring wires together thus forming a "loop" from the switches' point of view. This loop starts the call process. Ground start adds one new wrinkle. In the idle state the switch still applies -48 battery on the (usually) ring wire but leaves the tip open. When you want to make a call your device (PBX or special phone) must first apply a local ground to the (usually) ring wire. This will cause current flow on that wire which the switch will interpret as a request for ground on the (usually) tip wire. From here on out the process works like loop start. We've always called this operation RING GROUND START because you have to ground the ring wire to start the dialing process. This process also helps prevent glare, but I'll leave that explanation for another posting. The other types of supervision you asked about are usually not line oriented. They are used on trunks. Wink just means a momentary off/on hook change which alerts equipment to follow on with some action. MF outpulsing is a good example of what happens after one switch sees a wink on a trunk from a distant switch. The word wink comes from an old type of signaling test box which had two lights that lit up when the line and drop were on hook. The lights would go out on off hook conditions. A momentary change from on to off and back to on would cause the light bulbs to blink or wink at you. Hope this helps - we have a two day on-site only seminar which covers these basic processes, if youre interested in more details. WE Wood Technotranslater Techtrans Animatics Group Techish to English Translations ------------------------------ From: writchie@gate.net Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Date: 21 Feb 1995 06:06:09 GMT Reply-To: writchie@gate.net In , garfield@vanilla.cs.umn.edu (Paul Garfield) writes: > Long ago I remember terms like loop start and ground start as > different protocols for handling signaling bits on a T1 line (although > I didn't know the details). Recently I've seen the following terms > applied to ANALOG lines: loop start, ground start, wink start, earth > recall. What do these mean? I always thought all analog lines were > the same. The relevance to T1 is only that the AB signalling bits control the signalling functions performed in the particular channel units that provide the analog interfaces. The base definitions for the interfaces are analog. To summarize: Loop start is the regular POTS line where closing the loop signals off- hook to the Office and power ringing signals an incoming call. Disconnect from the office following an answered call is typically indicated by removal of battery (which dropped the hold relay on the once pervasive 1A2 key system. The major difficulty with loop start is that an incoming call can be connecting during the silent interval of the power ringing and it is possible to close the loop for an outgoing call during this interval. The incoming call will then be answered. This can be reduced by immediate ringing (connecting the line to an active cycle of power ringing immediately upon seizure) but this is typically not available. Ground start originates calls to the Office by grounding tip. Calls from the Office are indicated by tip ground (and power ringing). Ground start also provides positive disconnect indication from office under all conditions. Ground start is the typical analog PBX trunk interface. Wink Start is not a trunk type but a signalling protocol that can be used on Reverse Battery (DID) or E&M trunks. The wink indicates readiness to receive digits. The wink is a momentary offhook after which the originating end transfers digits by either pulse dialing or inband tones. Off-hook is returned when the addressed station answers. Reverse battery uses battery from the CPE with normal polarity indicating on-hook and reverse polarity indicating off-hook. Reverse battery is one way in to the CPE. The channel units are called DPO and DPT (Dial Pulse Originating and Terminating). Earth recall is the U.K. version of ground start. Perhaps someone on the other side of the pond can elaborate on this and other European Interfaces. Wally Ritchie Ft. Lauderdale, Florida ------------------------------ From: Sprey@ix.netcom.com (sharon prey) Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Date: 20 Feb 1995 23:30:04 GMT Organization: Netcom In garfield@vanilla.cs.umn.edu (Paul Garfield) writes: > Long ago I remember terms like loop start and ground start as > different protocols for handling signaling bits on a T1 line (although > I didn't know the details). Recently I've seen the following terms > applied to ANALOG lines: loop start, ground start, wink start, earth > recall. What do these mean? I always thought all analog lines were > the same. Most of your regular phone lines are loop start; you pick up the phone and there is a loop or circle from the phone thru the equipment and back to you. Ground starts lines that require a ground on one side to give dial tone, and they may be business lines or lines other than the regular residential lines (they can be ground start but not usually). Loop and ground start are not just analog. Wink start is on a trunk or connection that requires the other end to send a wink. The wink is like saying it's okay to send digits to connect your call. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Don't you think however that ground start lines are a lot more secure in applications like modem dial in lines or situations where the power could go off and concievably leave an inbound caller connected to your system with the ability to use one of your outgoing lines? PAT] ------------------------------ From: jefkagan@netcom.com (Jeffrey Kagan) Subject: Re: Pre-Paid Phone Cards - Evening Rates? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 13:57:27 GMT There is not a standard program. Some offer a time of day sensitive program, and others do not. You just have to sort through the different deals till you find the one that satisfies your criteria. Jeffrey Kagan * KAGAN TELECOM ASSOCIATES * Atlanta GA Telecommunications industry analyst, market researcher, consultant and speaker (404)419-2222 * PO Box 670562 * Marietta GA 30066 Internet Address: jefkagan@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: clifflam@interlog.com (clifflam) Subject: Re: Pre-Paid Phone Cards - Evening Rates? Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 00:29:33 GMT Organization: interlog.com pwinston@cs.hmc.edu (Philip Winston) wrote: > I was thinking about tracking down some of those pre-paid phone cards > (even AT&T has them now I think) as a gift for someone. Are there other more attractive options for making long distance calls at pay phones without a bag of change or some form of credit card? I am interested in situations of placing calls from Canada to US, Europe, Asia and the Caribbeans. Cliff Lam [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes there are. For example AT&T's 500 program now allows what you are asking, and one equally as good or perhaps better is the 800 number service called 'My Line'. It also offers outdial capability. PAT] ------------------------------ From: shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer) Subject: Re: Pre-Paid Phone Cards - Evening Rates? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 12:55:34 GMT pwinston@cs.hmc.edu (Philip Winston) writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They are a pretty lousy deal. Most charge > fifty cents per minute, in one minute increments. That's not surprising, > considering there are so many hands in the pot trying to cash in on them. > Many/most pre-paid card are multi-level-marketing things; everyone wants > a commission. For example, a couple years ago I experimented here with the > Digest readers with a type of pre-paid card called 'Talk Ticket'. For > two dollars, you got four minutes of time in increments of one minute each. > I paid, I think, $1.45 per card and resold them for the published price > of $2.00. Whoever I bought them from got them for about 85 cents each > I believe. A unit is a unit is a unit; day or night, weekdays or Sundays; > it does not matter. You could also, if desired, spend the four minutes > on the extra features offered such as voicemail, news weather and sports, > hot chat on a conference bridge, etc. > Prepaid cards are promoted as a way to allow someone to use your telephone > card a limited amount of time -- presumably for calls made to you -- without > the worry of that person abusing your regular card. They are also promoted > as a way to greatly reduce toll fraud, since if you lose the card or get > shoulder-surfed at the train station all stand to lose is the remaining > balance on that card. Those are good reasons, but the other side of the > coin is you pay so much for them by comparison. I put prepaid phone cards > in the same category as American Express or Traveler's Express Money Orders. > You pay them money for the privilege of lending them money until you > get around to cashing it in. Well, UpFront @ 1-800-888-3510 is a pretty good deal for a prepaid card. I know NOTHING about the company, if it's an MLM. I just called the company and they sent me a card. You can recharge it with check or credit card. Rates are $.20/min day, $.16/min eve, and $.13/min nite, anywhere in the US, including IN YOUR OWN STATE. This last point is better than a lot of calling cards. There is a $.10 surcharge per call though. I plug this company because I like the rates; I have nothing else to gain. If someone knows something more about UpFront, please post. I'm curious. Shawn Gordhamer shawnlg@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It sounds like a decent deal. Anyone from UpFront out there care to comment? PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery From: david.chessler@neteast.com (DAVID CHESSLER) Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 02:49:00 -0500 Organization: Online Technologies, Inc. - 301-738-0001 Reply-To: david.chessler@neteast.com (DAVID CHESSLER) > My instructions for my xt-pak ni-cad batteries say to maintain long > lifetime, I should discharge them fully before recharging (all the > time, not just the first five times), so I've found I must stuff the > phone under the couch cushions overnight so it won't wake me up. > Maybe this is an opportunity for a third party product - a cell phone > silencer (sound proof box), or a battery drainer (something that just > puts a load on the battery until it drains completely). I've handled ordinary nicads by putting them in a flashlight, turning it on, and waiting for the light to go out. With a cellular battery of peculiar voltage and conformation, just build a small battery-drainer on a scrap of pegboard, using a flashlight bulb of appropriate size. david.chessler@neteast.com chessler@capaccess.org chessler@trinitydc.edu ------------------------------ From: shawnlg@netcom.com (Shawn Gordhamer) Subject: Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 18:49:49 GMT I remember reading an article about cellular phone programming where there was a way to select the voltage at which the phone beeps or goes off. If I got it right, you could change the voltage so that it would never have a chance to beep before the phone died. Maybe this was only for when the phone powers off. I don't have the article any more. I wish I did, since I now have a Motorola! Shawn Gordhamer shawnlg@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: rjones@rjones.oz.net (Ry Jones) Subject: Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery Date: 21 Feb 1995 10:36:22 GMT Organization: The SenseMedia Network, http://sensemedia.net/ Patrick Wolfe (pwolfe@mcs.com) wrote: > My instructions for my xt-pak ni-cad batteries say to maintain long > lifetime, I should discharge them fully before recharging (all the > time, not just the first five times), so I've found I must stuff the > phone under the couch cushions overnight so it won't wake me up. Buy some Ni-MH battery packs. My fat pack lasts about 12-18 hours. I bought a trickle charger for my car and use the battery conditioner at work. It discharges and recharges in a few hours. And, I think if you turn the volume of the ringer down, it might affect everything else. I don't recall. ------------------------------ From: Sprey@ix.netcom.com (sharon prey) Subject: Re: What is DMS-100? Date: 21 Feb 1995 23:21:53 GMT Organization: Netcom In stahara@xlate.hsc.usc.edu (Stanley Tahara) writes: > Can someone give me some information? > I just got a letter from Pac Bell stating that on 10 March they are > going to install DMS-100 at the Los Angeles Central office and that my > prefix would be affected. The letter also states: > "... If you have other equipment connected to your telephone, such > as an answering machine or a computer, you may want to contact the > manufacturer or thee dealer from whom you purchased the equipment. > Some devices need to be adjusted so they will function properly with > our new switching equipment." DMS-100 is a Northern Telcom digital switch. They may be replacing an older switch or just upgrading the DMS. You shouldn't have any problems attaching your modem to your phone line. sprey ------------------------------ From: gregicg@cadvision.com (Greg Habstritt) Subject: Re: What is DMS-100? Date: 21 Feb 1995 01:14:51 GMT Organization: Intellitech Communications Group > I just got a letter from Pac Bell stating that on 10 March they are > going to install DMS-100 at the Los Angeles Central office and that my > prefix would be affected. The letter also states: > What can I expect in the way of problems, if any, using a modem to > send or receive call? I would guess you won't have any problems at all in the conversion. It sounds like a typical phone company, warning people that their lives may change as a result of work they are doing. A DMS-100 is a Northern Telecom "switch" that is installed in the CO. It's the actual switch, controlling all network in that particular area (as they say, "within that switch"). Sounds like they have to add another switch because they need more capacity that what they have installed presently. Other than your prefix changing (prefixes generally can't be shared across switches ... Centrex is an exception), I wouldn't expect much else to change. Bottom line is that plain old telephone service (POTS) is POTS. It won't affect your modem dialing, etc. God only knows why they would even send out such a notice, because other than your prefix probably changing, you probably won't notice anything different at all. gregicg@cadvision.com Greg Habstritt Intellitech Communications Inc. Calgary, Alberta, Canada ------------------------------ From: Mikeboyd@voyager.cris.com (Mike_Boyd) Subject: Re: What is DMS-100? Date: 21 Feb 1995 12:10:37 -0500 Organization: Concentric Research Corporation The DMS-100 is a central office switch manufactured by Northern Telecom. It should have absolutely no effect on standard consumer electronics connected to a standard telephone line. If you have any problems, contact PacBell and tell them to fix it. Central office equipment from any manufacturer is designed to be transparent to the end user. ------------------------------ From: hullp@COGSCI.Berkeley.EDU Subject: Re: Area Code/Prefix Trivia Date: 21 Feb 1995 06:27:21 GMT Organization: Institute of Cognitive Studies, U.C. Berkeley In article MSTRANDREW@aol.com writes: > The Point is in the United States because the portion is south of > the 49th. For many years, the local prefix 946 was assigned to the > 604 area code and local coin phones were desinged to accept Canadian > currency. Sometime in the early 1980s, the 946 prefix was reassigned > to the 206 area. I have not been there since, so I cannot offer an > update if the coin phones were transfered to accept US currency. A similar situation exists with Hyder, Alaska which is accessible by road only from BC, Canada. Phone service is provided by the BC phone company and is in the 604 area code, rather than in the 907 Alaska area code. Philip V. Hull INTERNET: hullp@cogsci.berkeley.edu BITNET: hullp@cogsci.berkeley.bitnet UUCP: ucbvax!cogsci!hullp OR: ucbvax!cogsci.berkeley.edu!hullp ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 22 Feb 95 12:59 CST From: dattier@wwa.com (David W. Tamkin) Subject: Re: Area Code/Prefix Trivia Organization: World-Wide Access, Vernon Hills, Illinois 60061-0285 The Moderator commented on : > Did you know it is impossible to travel from Point Roberts to anywhere > else in the United States by automobile without going through Canada? When a Nova Scotia native and I were looking at a map of Minnesota together, he pointed out that the Northwest Angle was cut across completely by Lake of the Woods, leaving part of it attached to Manitoba but separated from the rest of Minnesota. He said, "Look. There's a part of the United States where you have to go through Canada to get to the rest of the U.S., unless you fly or take a boat." I answered, "Yes. It's called Alaska." Point Roberts is not unique. I don't know whether telephones in the detached portion of Minnesota (occupied mostly by Northwest Angle State Forest and the Red Lake Reservation) are in area code 218 or 204. David W. Tamkin Box 3284 Skokie, Illinois 60076-6284 dattier@wwa.com MCI Mail: 426-1818 +1 312 714 5610 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: According to my Rand McNally state map of Minnesota, Northwest Angle *Provincial* Forest is located entirely within Manitoba. The small section of the Red Lake Indian Reservation (separated from the rest of the reservation, which occupies a huge chunk of northern Minnesota according to the map) is entirely in the USA. A small community up there is called Angle Inlet. The boundary seems to come down through the water in such a way that neighboring Bigsby Island, Big Island and Falcon Island are all in Ontario, Canada. A couple of small unnamed islands sit very close off the southern tip of Falcon Island, between it and Red Lake Indian Reservation which are barely inside the USA. Even though it appears to be in the USA, the only road shown on the map which leads from the provincial forest up to Angle Inlet is referred to as provincial highway 525, even within the USA part. Now if you look at a map of Manitoba or a map of western Ontario on those the boundary line is drawn so that a small portion of Falcon Island and Big Island are also part of the USA -- just the western and southernmost tips of each. I am amazed that David, who once took an entire evening driving me all over the northern boundary line between 312/708, carefully pointing out house by house, street by street and backyard by backyard where 312 ended and 708 began, as well as where Centel's territory started and Illinois Bell's ended does not know whether the phones at the Indian Reservation -- if there are any -- are serviced out of 218 or 204. Actually, I think they are serviced out of 807, and the central office in Kenora, Ontario which is the nearest town of any size. And what area code covers the largest geographical area? Probably 403 which is all of Alberta and the Yukon/Northwest Territories, although 907 in Alaska is also large. 808 has now become huge also since where it traditionally was only Hawaii in the past, now it also includes Midway Island, some distance away and the islands in the US Pacific Trust. Also, watch and see if 'country code 671' in Guam doesn't soon become 'area code 671' in the USA dialing plan. It is the one remaining place in the scattered possessions of the USA which still has to be dialed as an international point -- and although you young'uns wouldn't remember it, we used to have to call Hawaii through the operator as an international call also, *even after it became a state in the USA* for a few years until 808 was assigned. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #112 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa21193; 21 Feb 95 22:18 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17139; Tue, 21 Feb 95 17:05:24 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA17123; Tue, 21 Feb 95 17:05:19 CST Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 17:05:19 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502212305.AA17123@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #113 TELECOM Digest Tue, 21 Feb 95 17:05:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 113 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "New Riders' Official Internet Yellow Pages" (Rob Slade) Help Needed With Modems for Telephony API (John Michael Okeefe) NYNEX and PIN's (Doug Fields) Information Wanted About Tone Decoder SC11270 Chip (S. Ramanan) Cubix Remote Access Server (Daryl Morey) Peculiar Callbacks Received (Philip D. Martin) MPR Teltech Ltd Announces Home Page (Ross Parker) Source Inc. Opens Telephony WWW Site (Todd Bruning) Bell Atlantic Asks: How About Us as a LD Service? (Charles McGuinness) Using a Laptop Modem With ATT Public Phones (Thomas Hinders) NYNEX Pay Phones and the '#' Key (Thomas Hinders) Internet Conference Call Tonight (Mark Kelly) Re: MCI Bureaucratic Blunder (Richard Wildman) Humor at the FCC (was Re: How to Revive Nicad Batteries) (B.Z. Lederman) FLeetwood Exchange in Seattle Area (Carl Moore) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 13:54:27 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "New Riders' Official Internet Yellow Pages" BKNRYLPG.RVW 950118 "New Riders' Official Internet Yellow Pages", Maxwell/Grycz, 1994, 1-56205-408- 2, U$29.99/C$39.99/UK#27.49 %A Christine Maxwell %A Czeslaw Jan Grycz %C 201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290 %D 1994 %G 1-56205-408-2 %I New Riders Publishing/MacMillan Computer Publishing (MCP) %O U$29.99/C$39.99/UK#27.49 75141.2102@compuserve.com mckinley@mckinley.com %P 802 %T "New Riders' Official Internet Yellow Pages" Will the real "Yellow Pages" please stand up? Is it this one? Hahn and Stout's original "Internet Yellow Pages" (cf. BKYELPAG.RVW)? NIS (Network Information Services, the "yp" programs)? I suppose it doesn't matter: we'll see all manner of "yellow pages" over time. This outfit, the McKinley Group, is certainly serious about the task. All entries have a standard format with title, rating (zero to four STARs -- yes, they made an acronym of it), brief description, keywords, audience, and user information, ending with a URL (Universal Resource Locator) listing. Once you get used to it, this is a very quick overview containing almost everything you need. For old hands at the Internet, this is a very handy resource. For newcomers, it might be a bit terse. There are seven "chapters" of introductory material. These total a lot less than thirty pages, and are very hard to follow, as they are interspersed with directory entries. The differences between mailing list programs are downplayed and the explanation of URLs fails at several points. (By the way, don't expect any consistency in the use of forward and back slashes in URLs here.) (In fact, don't expect all the URLs to *be* URLs.) The listings have a very heavy emphasis on mailing lists and newsgroups. ftp sites are far less common in the directory than on the net. There are a great many listings for commercial services whose only Internet connection is that you can use telnet if you have an account. (If those systems are time sensitive, telnet might not be what you want to use for access.) There are paid advertisements, in the same format as other listings. You can't have everything in an Internet directory: the net is too big and changes too fast. Having done a few dozen searches, I found that the total number of listings, and the index access, to be less useful than the Hahn/Stout work. Offsetting this, to a certain extent, is the fact that the "keywords" in each entry act as a second level of indexing. Following a keyword search is something like reading a Thompson Chain Reference Bible, but it does guide your search in directions you might not otherwise have chosen. (Ahem. Most computer viruses are *not* obtained from downloaded files. Yes, you *can* have a virus attached to a Windows document. VIRUS-L is also comp.virus. And why does the "Computer Viruses" keyword have CAD sites in it?) The standard format and keyword linking are good features and promise well for future editions. The introduction, listings, index and proofing need work. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKNRYLPG.RVW 950118. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: jmokeefe@nachos.engr.ucdavis.edu (John Michael Okeefe) Subject: Help Needed With Modems for Telephony API Date: 21 Feb 1995 20:42:58 GMT Organization: College of Engineering - University of California - Davis I'm looking for a voice/data/fax modem that supports Microsoft's telephony API (TAPI). If you know of a modem that supports TAPI or voice/data communication could you please E-Mail me with the name of the modem and the manufacturers phone number? Thanks, John O'Keefe University of California, Davis Dept. of Mechanical Engineering Biomechanics and Sports Lab E-Mail: JMOKEEFE@ENGR.UCDAVIS.EDU ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 14:27:36 -0500 From: Doug Fields Subject: NYNEX and PINs Some interesting information: Having recently signed up with NYNEX when they offered their free-weekend airtime offer, I was assigned a pin I have to dial after my phone number; I'm sure all telecom readers know this already. However, last night while driving back to the city from New Haven, in SNET Cellular territory, I passed an accident on I-95 which had just happened not ten seconds before, on the northbound side, near exit 17. Seeing nobody on the scene I called it in to 911. Dial 911, hit send, busy signal. Okay, *911, send ... it wants my PIN! This is a major safety problem. (Eventually I get through and the state police says thanks, we have troopers on the way.) I objected to being required to have a pin from the start but they will under no circumstances that I have found remove it. They did send out a flyer saying that they will not charge airtime for the time to dial the PIN, but who knows how accurate that will be. Sorry if this isn't as detailed a report as you expect of people named Doug, but I just thought you might want to tell anyone who may need your phone your PIN -- you never know when *911 may save a life. Cheers, Doug Fields, http://www.interpage.net PGP key: "finger admiral@panix.com" ------------------------------ From: udee059@kcl.ac.uk Subject: Information Wanted About Tone Decoder SC11270 Chip Date: 21 Feb 95 17:35:54 GMT Organization: King's College London Hello there, I am looking for telecom IC chip used as a tone decoder -- Tone decoder SC11270 or SC11271 manufactured by Sierra Semiconductors. Have any of you out there used this chip or heard about it? Please can you let me know where can get more info and purchase this chip? Email : udee059@bay.cc.kcl.ac.uk Thanks in advance, S. Ramanan King's College London ------------------------------ From: dmorey@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Daryl Morey) Subject: Cubix Remote Access Server Date: 21 Feb 95 15:24:18 GMT Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, US Has anyone used Cubix products? We are looking at their remote access server solution for our dial-in lines. We have pretty much picked their product but I wanted to get some comments from the field. Thank you, Daryl drmore@searle.monsanto.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 07:09:41 EDT From: Philip D Martin 45-904-368-8859 3106 Subject: Peculiar Callbacks Received Hello everyone. My name is D.J. Martin. I work for Sprint/United Telephone-Florida and am new to Internet and TELECOM Digest. I have a question that I cannot answer and have been to several sources seeking advice to no avail. If you have the time, I would like your thoughts on it. Scenario: A person pushes the play button of their answering machine and has a message "the number you have dialed cannot be completed as dialed. You must use a zero or one." This is an outgoing call message. Or they have a message of a operator asking if they can help them. Operators do not call people to assist them. Although both cases appear as an incoming message, no call was made from the location. This problem has been reported to me from all types of central offices and answering machines. I have called my home from my cellular phone, reached my answering machine and left a message. Twenty minutes later my cellular phone rang and it was my answering machine with my outgoing message. I would appreciate any ideas you have on this subject. My address is MARTINDJ@UTELFLA.COM Thanks for your time. D.J. TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Welcome to the Internet and this Digest. You might want to correct your login name and the way your messages go out to the net since they refer to you as Philip D. Martin. We've touched on this topic from time to time, and one of the most common reasons for the scenario you describe is that pranksters with three- way (or more) calling like to hook together strangers at random just to listen in amusement as the two (or more) called parties each angrily accuse the other(s) of making the calls. After all, they know *they* did not make it. They dial your answering machine, let it start its outgoing message, then quickly flash the hook, get new dial tone and dial some(one)thing else, click again, and by that time your machine is ready to start taking a message from the befuddled operator who came on the line asking if she might help, or the intercept message which announces 'your call cannot be completed as dialed'. Occassionally they dial into a conference bridge then put the bridge on hold and dial some other person so that that person (or his answering machine) get to hear several people talking at once on a call in the background they know they did not originate. The person wakes up in the middle of the night to a ringing phone, answers and hears these two other people having hot chat or whatever. Naturally his first reaction is he went into the Twilight Zone or something. Or he comes home, listens to his answering machine and hears two other people talking in a conversation of their own on his tape; they are oblivious to the whole thing. Or maybe he takes your outgoing message and plays it into the incoming message on someone else's machine. Maybe instead he takes your outgoing message and plays it to a live but unwitting listener on the other end. Everyone becomes convinced the phone system must have some major malfunction going on. I said (or more) above because some people have two line phones with three way calling on each line; they bring up a three-way call on each line then use their own conference button to connect all four of the innocent parties. Naturally at least one or two of the recipients of the calls will be ignorant (I mean ignorant!) and that adds to the 'fun' of it all ... As to your own answering machine taking a message then 'calling your cell phone twenty minutes later to play your outgoing message' my assumption is that its not supposed to work that way; i.e. your answering machine is not a real fancy one that makes outcalls. Therefore it might behoove you to stop and think for a few minutes and try to identify a person in your life who has all these traits in common: (a) they know your home phone number; (b) they know your cellular number; (c) they have three- way calling; and (d) they like to play pranks with the telephone. I am also assuming in the middle of this no one spoke up and said 'oh sorry, hold on, the answering machine started" or anything like that. In other words it was not a 'legitimate' call from someone at your home who accidentally bumped the play button on the machine while they were dialing your cell phone or whatever. I got one of those calls once. I looked at my Caller-ID box in the middle of being harangued for waking someone up at 2 in the morning ... I asked them, is your number xxx-xxxx? No, they said it was not. I hung up and then dialed the number on the display. I had to let it ring a good thirty or forty times but was prepared to just leave my phone off hook the rest of the night and let it ring all night if that was needed. Presently someone answers; a real innocent, questioning 'hello?' ... Too innocent and too questioning; too naive ... he sounded to me like a young phreak in about the 7th grade or so. "We like to play games with our phone at night do we?" ... "What do you mean?" ... "Tomorrow I am going to look up the address which goes with this phone number then call your parents and talk to them ..." "Oh, don't do that ..." Well, that was the clue right there. There can be other reasons for the scenario you describe but they are rare, and outrageously boring to sit here and describe. Try and eliminate phreaking by (chronological or mental) children before investigating further. PAT] ------------------------------ From: parker@mprgate.mpr.ca (Ross Parker) Subject: MPR Teltech Ltd Announces Home Page Reply-To: www@mpr.ca Organization: MPR Teltech Ltd. Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 05:06:25 GMT MPR Teltech Ltd. is pleased to announce the availability of it's new home page. MPR Teltech is a high-tech company that provides advanced telecommunications systems and products. Incorporated in 1979, it is owned by BC TELECOM and serves an international portfolio of customers. The company employs more than 600 people at six locations in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. MPR's home page includes an overview of the company, a description of its products and services, an MPR news category, and employment opportunities. The location of the MPR Teltech home page is: For more information on MPR Teltech's WWW home page, products and services, contact MPR Teltech customer inquiries, 8999 Nelson Way, Burnaby, B.C. V5A 4B5. North America: 1 800 555-7700, International: 604 473-5888. email: info@mpr.ca (If you run into any problems accessing our home page, please email our webmaster at 'www@mpr.ca' - thanks!) ------------------------------ From: source@unicomp.net (Todd Bruning / Kelly Jones) Subject: Source Inc Opens Telephony WWW Site Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 12:25:30 Organization: UniComp Technologies International Corp -- Internet Service Source, Inc., headquartered in Dallas, TX is the leading independent provider for current and evolving business applications of computer and telephony integration. Founded in 1971, Source supplies technology-neutral product support, repair and consulting for all major manufacturers equipment. Through its unique information management system, Source provides an objective resource for more than 8000 customers. The Source Home Page gives complete information on products and services as well as information on current industry issues. Current issues discussed include effects of the recent changes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), T1 implementations, and what to look (out) for when choosing a vendor to repair telecom equipment. Upcoming information will include such topics as ISDN, PBX topis, digital switches, and others. Source, Inc., Telecom Sales and Support - 214.450.2700 Visit our home page for telecom gear and technical information, http://sourcetele.com/sourcetele, E-mail to source@unicomp.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 23:34:39 -0500 From: marks!charles@jyacc.jyacc.com (Charles McGuinness) Subject: Bell Atlantic Asks: How About Us as a LD Service? Yesterday, around dinner time (ain't it always that way), I got an interesting call. It was a market research call (you know, let's play 100 questions). This one was (clearly) Bell Atlantic trying to figure out how to get into the long distance market (surprise, surprise!). The questions focused on two main areas: (1) Trying to expand their 10NJB business I live in Hoboken, NJ, which is right across the Hudson from New York City. Because of an exception in the MFJ, Bell Atlantic is currently allowed to provide LD service into NYC, which you access by the carrier code 10NJB. They wanted to know if I knew of it, how I heard of it, etc. Then they asked if I'd consider making them my default carrier. (No) They then went through various proposals for pricing and packaging plans for calling into NYC. None were particularly good (I had a hard time stiffling a laugh when he suggested a $.15/minute rate all the time). Other plans were a fixed fee for a fixed number of hours. Somehow, a fixed fee for unlimited hours wasn't on the list. The only thing unusual was interest in whether I have a home computer and how much "work at home" I do. I guess those ISDN trials will be underway soonest. (2) Testing the waters for full LD service They asked me some questions that were clearly oriented towards scoping out the full interlata LD market. Nothing exceptional here. What would make me switch (price). How much of a percentage discount would it take to make you switch (percentage of what, I asked -- no answer). I can only hope that their offering is better put together than their survey ;-) Charles McGuinness [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ameritech now has a survey company they use to call everyone who called Repair Service within the previous week. They start out by asking questions about your opinion of Repair Service (how fast were you answered, how quickly were repairs done, etc) but soon enough they get into questions about Ameritech as a long distance carrier, and how would you like that? The repair questions are positively phony; its the LD stuff they want to talk about, but its like they are trying to be cool and very casual about it. Their final question was, 'are you aware that Ameritech and AT&T are two separate companies?'. I thought for a minute trying to thing of a good answer to that and finally I said, "No! Really? When did that happen?". PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 21 Feb 1995 11:12:21 EDT Reply-To: THINDER@SOFTSW.SSW.COM From: Hinders, Thomas Subject: Using a Laptop Modem With ATT Public Phones The instructions for using the Data Port on the ATT Public phones are confusing (dialing the line waiting for the modem to answer). Why can't you dial-through? Thanks in advance ... reply directly and I'll summarize and re-post. Tom Hinders thinder@ssw.com Lotus Dev ------------------------------ Date: 21 Feb 1995 11:12:21 EDT Reply-To: THINDER@SOFTSW.SSW.COM From: Hinders, Thomas Subject: NYNEX Pay Phones and the '#' Key When I am in New York City, and I call back to our voice mail system using our 1-800 number, I am often cut off in mid-call. It would seem NYNEX is "sensitive" to the number of #'s pushed. Is there an explanation? I do not encounter this problem when I'm in DC or Atlanta ... only NYC. Thanks in advance ... reply directly, I'll summerize and re-post. Tom Hinders thinder@ssw.com SE Lotus Dev ------------------------------ From: mkelly@gabriel.resudox.net (Mark Kelly) Subject: Internet Conference Call Date: 21 Feb 1995 20:39:07 GMT Organization: Resudox Online Services [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am sorry to report this message reached me only yesterday! It was stuck in a queue somewhere. Better late than never I guess ... maybe some of you will participate. PAT] The following may be of interest to some members of this newsgroup or alternatively, to people you know who aren't very familiar with the Internet. February 21/95 at 8:00 pm EST, Advanced Multi-Point Conferencing (AMC) and Resudox Online Services are jointly hosting an Internet Information Teleconference. Participation is free although if you are outside of the 613 area code, long distance charges will apply. The call will last about one hour and will cover basic Internet topics like: the history, networking, tools, application, etc. A question and answer session will be held at key points to answer any questions that may arise. Space is limited so if you are interested, please register by calling 1-800-900-4249 or sending me an e-mail. Please enclose your fax number or e-mail address so we can get some 'follow-along' info out to you. mkelly@resudox.net Mark Kelly | Serving the North American Advanced Multi-Point Conferencing | Conference Call Market 320 March Road, Suite 102 | with Kanata, Ontario | CLEAR DIGITAL SERVICE K2L 1Z8 | 1-800-900-4249 (Reservations) | Operator Dial-Out,Meet-Me 1-613-592-5752 | and 1-800 Meet-Me ------------------------------ From: rich@hpfcla.fc.hp.com (Richard Wildman) Subject: Re: MCI Bureaucratic Blunder Date: 21 Feb 1995 16:15:56 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard Fort Collins Site Thought I would update this. After my original posting I received about 14 responses, most of which had similar horror stories to tell about MCI billing problems. As I mentioned previously, the bill was paid in full by credit card in January. This week (of 2/5), we had a phone call from MCI where we were told we had not paid our bill -- I interrupted and told the woman, "Yes, we had, by credit card." "We already have the credit card billing with the MCI payment on it" -- the exact amount she was saying we still owed! She hesitated a moment, and then said, oh yes, I see it now! Makes one wonder just how complicated a form she is looking at, and what is wrong with their programmers if such a field is not checked before the bill is flagged as not paid! In addition, on Feb. 9, we received notice in the mail warning us that our bill would go to a collection agency if we did not pay. [This is the second mail from MCI in the past week -- we did receive a listing of calls made, though it did not appear to be a bill -- my guess is that this resulted from an emailing to an MCI employee whose address I pulled off of a news group, and who faxed the original posting to MCI's Consumer Executive Customer Relations (Residential).] In any case, my wife called this time. She got ahold of a woman and explained the situation to her. But no, the woman said, her records did not show we had paid. She, in turn, called another office, who then told her, yes, we had paid! The woman assured my wife that the problem would be cleared up. We are not holding our breath. The MCI nightmare continueth. RW [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So what is the latest update now on this, a couple weeks later? By the way, *who are you*? Your name is very familiar to me for some reason. PAT] ------------------------------ From: B. Z. Lederman Subject: Humor at the FCC (was: Re: How to Revive Nicad Batteries) Date: 21 Feb 95 17:52:04 EST Reply-To: Lederman@intransit_tsc.vntsc.dot.gov Organization: INTRANSIT (VNTSC) > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, BZ, I wish I'd had someone like > you around a number of years ago to remind me about 'standard precautions' Many years before this, when I took my first FCC licence exam (I think it was a Ham license, not my Radio Telephone License), there was one question about the best way to protect people from high voltage power supplies. Like all exams it was multiple choice. There was one answer about bleeders and interlock switches on the access door which was the answer they were looking for at the time, a couple of answers which were close, and one all-time great answer: "Buy double indemnity life insurance." At least there was a time when SOMEBODY in the government had a sense of humor. P.S.: I refuse to say exactly how long ago this was. But in case anyone thinks I'm really old, when I got my first Radio Telephone license I went around looking for a summer job in various TV repair shops and met one owner who had his first Radio Telephone license on the wall. It was signed by Herbert Hoover, when he was still Secretary of (I think) Commerce, before he was President. B. Z. Lederman. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Hoover was in charge of the Federal Radio Commission I believe (forerunner of FCC). PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 15:44:22 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: FLeetwood Exchange in Seattle Area In notes for the Time-Life music collection (1959 Hit Parade) it says: "Originally called Two Girls and a Guy, the groop changed its name [to The Fleetwoods] at the suggestion of a Seattle record distributor, who took it from his telephone exchange." ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #113 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa21346; 23 Feb 95 18:42 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11844; Thu, 23 Feb 95 13:07:05 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11838; Thu, 23 Feb 95 13:07:02 CST Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 13:07:02 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502231907.AA11838@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #114 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Feb 95 13:07:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 114 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telephone Solicitations and the FCC (Stan Brown) Gateways, Routers and Network Design (Karl Finkemeyer) FCC Raises Line Charges for ISDN (David St. Pierre) Wanted: RS232-Controlled Dialer/Phone Patch (Jeff C. Glover) UC Berkeley Short Courses on SONET/ATM and Wireless Comm (Harvey Stern) AT&T Calling Card Mixup (Robert Scott) FATMA - What Does This Term Mean / Stand For? (Harry P. Haas) OSI NetExpert Users Wanted (Chris Hardaker) Looking for Interactive Voice Response Provider (Dean Lennox) Example of MIB Needed (Bob McLaughlin) Jobs Available at MCI (Van R. Hutchinson) Herbert Hoover (was Re: Humor at the FCC (Bob Keller) Wanted: Sources for Network Reliability Statistics (Glenn Russell) Last Laugh! Burned Out Newspapercreatures (Daryl Gibson) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: brown@NCoast.ORG (Stan Brown) Subject: Telephone Solicitations and the FCC Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 23:11:34 GMT Organization: Oak Road Systems, Cleveland Ohio USA I've been having more trouble than usual lately with telemarketers, so I decided it was time to go straight to the horse's mouth and get the FCC's writeup on the U.S. Telephone Consumer Protection Act. That Act regulates telemarketing calls to residences. It requires each telemarketer to maintain a "do not call" lists and to put you on its list if you so request. Unfortunately (and rather amazingly), a telemarketer is still allowed to call you once a year without penalty _after_ you have asked to be put on its "do not call" list; however, the second call in any 12-month period entitles you to sue for $500 or actual monetary damages, whichever is greater. The FCC's document is headed PUBLIC NOTICE; it was released January 11, 1993 (yess, 1993) and there's a reference number DA 92-1715. The title is Consumer Alert: Telephone Solicitations, Autodialed and Artificial or Prerecorded Voice Message Telephone Calls, and the Use of Facsimile Machines. It's eight letter-sized pages long. The FCC head office is: 1919 M St NW, Washington DC 20554 +1 202 632-5050 I got my copy from the Detroit office: 24897 Hathaway St. Farmington Hills MI 48335-1552. +1 810 471-5605 Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems brown@Ncoast.ORG Can't find FAQ lists? ftp to 'rtfm.mit.edu' and look in /pub/usenet (or email me >>> with valid reply-to address <<< for instructions). I can also send new-user information on Usenet--ask if you want it. ------------------------------ From: karlf@acm.org Subject: Gateways, Routers and Network Design Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 17:49:29 CDT Organization: On-Ramp; Individual Internet Connections Folks, I need some help with a gateway/router/network design issue: Situation: One WAN Ethernet which carries TCP/IP, Netware, SNA and other traffic -- plus -- an additional WAN which carries only very interactive and time-critical TCP/IP traffic. The original idea was to keep the two networks totally separate in order to guarantee good interactive response on the second WAN. Problem: For system administration, operating, control, and maintenance purposes, we do need connectivity between the two networks. Our CISCO gurus tell us that the only way to have connectivity and still keep unwanted traffic off the 2nd WAN would be to use only static routing - which would create an administrative nightmare because then apparently every router has to know every single IP address. Question: Can we use a real gateway (i.e. more $$ than a regular CISCO Router) to have connectivity between the two networks, but still ensure that only packets which have their source or destination on the second WAN get routed onto this second WAN? In other words, would a gateway be smart enough to make its routing decisions strictly on the basis of the FIRST byte of the source and destination IP addresses, without knowing all the IP addresses on both networks, i.e. without the administrative table-maintenance nightmare which static routing via CISCO Routers seems to require. Again, the goal is to keep the second WAN free of all traffic which can be routed over the standard (first) WAN. Our worst nightmare is a large file transfer or some Netware IPX/SPX transfer jeopardizing the interactive TCP/IP responsiveness on the second WAN. Which type of gateways should we be looking at? Any recommendations? Any help would be very much appreciated. Please reply to TELECOM Digest or via email to "karl.finkemeyer@fmr.com". Karl Finkemeyer Fidelity Investments karl.finkemeyer@fmr.com (also: karlf@acm.org) ------------------------------ From: david@srv.PacBell.COM (David St. Pierre) Subject: FCC Raises Line Charges for ISDN Date: 22 Feb 1995 19:59:47 GMT Organization: Pacific * Bell If you use ISDN to get into the Internet quickly and cost-effectively, suddenly it's going to cost you more. The Federal Communications Commission has ordered Pacific Bell and other ISDN providers to raise the number of required line charges for all ISDN products. For Pacific Bell customers, who have enjoyed among the lowest ISDN prices in the country, increases will range from a maximum of 29 percent for Home ISDN and Centrex ISDN, up to 43 per cent for SDS ISDN and as much as 50 percent for Primary Rate ISDN. Here's why: Until now, each ISDN line coming into your home or office was billed as one line. Now the FCC has ruled that each ISDN customer must be charged for each ISDN channel rather than each line. Pacific Bell has filed a waiver asking the FCC to restore the original one-for-one ISDN line charge. We believe ISDN must remain affordable and easy to access so that individuals, schools, libraries, researchers, and businesses of all sizes can benefit from the Internet. If you feel that the increased line charge will make ISDN less affordable for users like you, please E-mail your comments to us at fccisdn@policy.net, and we will carry your message to the FCC. To help you understand the issue, we're making available these documents via E-mail. Just E-mail to these addresses to receive them. No entries necessary for subject or message body. For Pacific Bell's news release on its FCC filing yesterday: ptnrel@policy.net For the FCC's most recent decision on ISDN subscriber line charges: fccd2@policy.net For Pacific Bell's filing on ISDN subscriber line charges: ptfil@policy.net Robert Deward, Manager, External Affairs, Pacific Telesis David St. Pierre 510/823-6800 ------------------------------ From: jeffg@loki.engr.sgi.com (Jeff C. Glover) Subject: Wanted: RS232-Controlled Dialer/Phone Patch Date: 22 Feb 1995 20:09:51 GMT Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA I'm looking for a device for a UNIX workstation, not a PC card. Basically I want something that connects to a RS232 port and an audio port (in/out). I know that some modems (Zyxel) provide CELP encoded audio via RS232, but I don't want that. Simply put, it must: * have RS232 I/O for dialing, status indications; * provide line-level audio inputs and outputs. It'd be nice if: * it could detect and report usage of the phone line extensions; * access audio of extension usage (e.g. access database while talking with someone; *99 [*WX] gives local weather report). Jeff ------------------------------ From: southbay@garnet.berkeley.edu Subject: UC Berkeley Short Courses on SONET/ATM and Wireless Comm Date: 22 Feb 1995 22:27:09 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley U.C. Berkeley Continuing Education in Engineering Announces 3 Short Courses on Broadband Communications, Wireless Networks MODERN TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Wide Area Networks, Personal Communication Systems, Network Management and Control, and Multimedia Applications (March 2-3, 1995) This course is designed as a gentle but comprehensive overview of telecommunications including current status and future directions. This course traces the evolution of telecommunications, starting from its voice roots and progressing through local, metropolitan, and wide area networks, narrowband ISDN, asynchronous transfer mode, broadband ISDN, satellite systems, optical communications, cellular radio, personal communication systems, all-optical networks, and multimedia services. Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. He is Director, Center for Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. SONET/ATM-BASED BROADBAND NETWORKS: Systems, Architectures and Designs (March 29-31, 1995) It is widely accepted that future broadband networks will be based on the SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) standards and the ATM (Asynchronous transfer Mode) technique. This course is an in-depth examination of the fundamental concepts and the implementation issues for development of future high-speed networks. Topics include: Broadband ISDN Transfer Protocol, high speed computer/network interface (HiPPI), ATM switch architectures, ATM network congestion/flow control, VLSI designs in SONET/ATM networks. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: H. Jonathan Chao, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Brooklyn Polytechnic University. Dr. Chao holds more than a dozen patents and has authored over 40 technical publications in the areas of ATM switches, high-speed computer communications, and congestion/flow control in ATM networks. NETWORKS FOR DIGITAL WIRELESS ACCESS: Cellular, Voice, Data, Packet, and Personal Communication Systems (March 6-8, 1995) This comprehensive course is focused on the principles, technologies, system architectures, standards, and market forces driving wireless access. At the core of this course are the cellular/microcellular/ frequency reuse concepts needed to enable adequate wireless access capacity for Personal Communication Services (PCS). Presented are both the physical-level issues associated with wireless access and the network-level issues arising from the inherent mobility of the subscriber. Standards are fully treated including GSM (TDMA), IS-54 (North American TDMA), IS-95 (CDMA), CT2, DCT 900/CT3, IEEE 802.11, DCS 1800, and Iridium. Emerging concepts for wireless ATM are also developed. This course is intended for engineers who are currently active or anticipate future involvement in this field. Lecturer: Anthony S. Acampora, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical Engineering, Columbia University. He is Director, Center for Telecommunications Research. He became a professor following a 20 year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, is an IEEE Fellow, and is a former member of the IEEE Communications Society Board of Governors. For more information (complete course descriptions, outlines, instructor bios, etc.) send your postal address or fax to: Harvey Stern or Loretta Lindley U.C. Berkeley Extension/Southbay 800 El Camino Real Ste. 150 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel: (415) 323-8141 Fax: (415) 323-1438 ------------------------------ From: rbs@cs.city.ac.uk (Robert Scott) Subject: AT&T Calling Card Mixup Date: 23 Feb 1995 16:09:38 GMT Organization: School of Informatics, City University, London Reply-To: rbs@cs.city.ac.uk I'm a British citizen living in London. Recently there was an ad drive by AT&T to get people to use their calling card for calls to the US and elsewhere. Of course, I signed up for one. Now as I understand it they are free as long as you don't use them. But for some reason I noticed sums of $8.50 being charged and then credited to my account. It seems that I have been put on some Military Saver scheme which is very strange since I'm not in the US military or anything approaching it. My question is: Is there an AT&T email address that I can send a complaint to and get my card sorted out? I have a feeling that it might be easier to sort out by email rather than letters or phone calls. Rob Scott Dept of Comp Sci, City University, London, UK. http://web.cs.city.ac.uk/homes/rbs/homepage.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the fact that they charged your account (erroneously) $8.50 then credited it (correctly) on the same or a subsequent statement demonstrates that the problem has in fact been resolved. Probably when they got your original application for service someone erroneously entered you in the military plan since AT&T does have such an arrangement for American soldiers in Europe. Later, or perhaps about the same time it was discovered this was incorrect and an adjustment was made. All the various AT&T international and domestic calling plans and calling card arrangements have numbers assigned to them. Someone at a terminal processed your application and enrolled you in (for example) 'plan #123' then they said, ooops, I meant plan #231 ... or similar. Or it went through and later a supervisor caught it. If you keep on getting marketing and promotional materials for the military plan *then* let us know, but I think you'll be okay. Honestly though, if it were me, I'd hope they did *not* discover the error. AT&T gives the soldiers a very good deal with absolutely rock-bottom pricing. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hh2@prism.gatech.edu (Harry P. Haas) Subject: FATMA - What Does This Term Mean / Stand For? Date: 23 Feb 1995 09:51:10 -0500 Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology I recently ran across the acronym FATMA. If anyone is familiar with this term, could you please define it for me? Thanks in advance. Harry Haas GTRI/SEAL Georgia Tech Research Institute Research Engineer II 225 North Ave. harry.haas@gtri.gatech.edu Atlanta Georgia, 30332 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Have you checked the glossary files in the Telecom Archives just to see whether or not it might be in there? That's a good place to start looking for abbreviations and acronyms you are unfamiliar with. Anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: OSI NetExpert Users Wanted From: hardaker@clear.co.nz (Chris Hardaker) Date: 23 Feb 95 08:22:55 EST Is there anyone out there who are using or planning to use the NetExpert system by Open System Integrators on a PSTN network? We at CLEAR in New Zealand are in the first stage of implementing NetExpert on a SUN Solaris platform ported to Oracle 7 and would like any contacts who are willing to swap information and experiences. For those of you who have never heard of this, this system is designed to receive messages from all manner of devices (switch, FOTS management systems, Routers, Lan analysers etc) and present the events to an operator. The system can also handle correlating events. In CLEAR's instance, we are looking at masking all subsequent alarms and only having the operator presented with the 'root cause' alarm. As you can appreciate, in the instance of losing a 2Gig fibre, this means a lot of chaff is separated from the wheat. In fact our last 565Meg fibre event resulted in over 2 Megabytes of data in a five minute period and to cull this down to one single event would save around 30 minutes of analysis. (My apologies if this sounds like advertising) Any responses to me personally, thanks. Chris Hardaker Network Management CLEAR Communications Auckland New Zealand Ph +64 9 912 4286 Fax +64 9 912 4451 Email HARDAKER@clear.co.nz ------------------------------ From: maxim@cerfnet.com (Dean Lennox) Subject: Looking for Interactive Voice Response Provider Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 13:41:28 Organization: Maxim Communications I am looking for an interactive voice response company to play back a prerecorded message about a new product to all callers. Please email, or phone. Candler Brooks 908-707-3290 maxim@cerfnet.com Dean Lennox Maxim Communications maxim@cerfnet.com ------------------------------ From: bmclaugh@imagetel.com Subject: Example of MIB Needed Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 14:32:36 PDT I am looking for an example MIB in an electronic form. I need to craft one for 38Ghz radios. Thanks, Bob McLaughlin ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 09:17 EST From: Van R. Hutchinson <0005493896@mcimail.com> Subject: Jobs Available at MCI Pat, Subscribers who are in a career frame of mind (translation: looking beyond current job or currently between jobs) may wish to send me an e-mail for more info. GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) _ MCI Communications Corp. has decided to add 475 workers to its residential sales center in Greenville. The move comes after the company hired 350 workers in November. MCI spokesman Matt Schwab said the success of the company's Friends and Family calling program prompted the expansion. He said the company has done most of the new hiring and will complete the task by the end of this month. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 10:30:13 EST From: Bob Keller Subject: Herbert Hoover (was Re: Humor at the FCC) In TELECOM Digest V15 #113, the TELECOM Digest Editor noted, in response to B. Z. Lederman : > Hoover was in charge of the Federal Radio Commission I believe > (forerunner of FCC). Mr. Lederman was correct that, prior to the FCC or the FRC, Hoover was Secretary of Commerce. I don't think Hoover served at the FRC. In fact, I am reasonably certain that he continued as Secretary of Commerce and was a moving force behind the legislative proposals leading to enactment of the Communications Act of 1934. The pre-1927 Commerce Department had jurisdiction over radio licensing. Hoover and his staff attempted to resolve growing interference problems from an uncooperative new broadcasting industry, by placing conditions on licenses restricting things such as frequency (or, in the parlance of the day, wavelength), hours of operation, etc. But the courts held, and the Attorney General concurred, that the Secretary's statutory authority did not go this far and that such restrictions were therefore unenforceable. It was in response to this problem that the Radio Act of 1927 was enacted, creating the Federal Radio Commission. The 1927 Act is remarkably similar to Title III of the current Communications Act. This is because the substantive regulatory portions of the Radio Act of 1927 was essentially transplanted into Title III of the Communications Act of 1934. The 1934 Act created the Federal Communications Commission and transferred to it the radio jurisdiction of the Radio Commission as well as jurisdiction over Telegraph and Telephone lines which previously resided with the Interstate Commerce Commission. Bob Keller (KY3R) Email: rjk@telcomlaw.com Law Office of Robert J. Keller, P.C. Telephone: 301.229.5208 Federal Telecommunications Law Facsimile: 301.229.6875 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Good old Herbert Hoover, or as the radio announcer on WLS once accidentally referred to him on the air, "Hoobert Heever". That was, I think, in 1929 when he gave an address to the nation over the radio on WLS. Hoover was the last in a series of three Republican presidents (Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and himself) who led the United States over a twelve year period 1920-32, each of whom got just a single four year term. After the disasterous chain of events in October, 1929 which led to the Great Depression in the 1930's in the USA, people soured on the Republicans, and when Hoover ran for re-election in 1932 against Franklin D. Roosevelt he was defeated, beginning a twenty-year period of Democratic leadership which would not end until 1952 when General Eisenhower, the war hero of WW-2 was elected. I think Hoover was appointed to his position at Commerce by Warren Gamiel Harding during his term, 1920-24. Radio (or rather, broadcast radio, on AM frequencies) as we know it began in 1921. During 1922-23 a half-dozen stations were operating in Chicago alone, including WLS and WGN, both of which are widely known and listened to today. PAT] ------------------------------ From: glennr@teal.csn.org (Glenn Russell) Subject: Wanted: Sources for Network Reliability Statistics Date: 22 Feb 1995 21:24:47 GMT Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc. Hello, We are attempting to gather network reliability statistics on various IXC's, LEC's, and CAP's. Preferably this data will come from independant sources. We are interested in verification of error free seconds or outage frequency following installation. Information such as the percentage of error free seconds per 24 hour period for DS1 fiber with an interoffice route greater than 250 miles, would be helpful. And the same information for DS3 routes under 50 miles. The specific IXC's: MCI, AT&T and Allnet; LECS: US WEST, NYNEX, and PACBELL; CAP's: MFS and ICG. Does anyone know of any sources that track this type of information? Thanks in advance! Glenn Russell glennr@csn.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 08:55:04 -0700 (MST) From: Daryl Gibson Subject: Last Laugh! Burned Out Newspapercreatures Forwarded for your amusement, (with permission) from: The Burned-Out Newspapercreatures Guild's Newsletter BONG Bull, Charley Stough, Chief Copyboy Copyright (c) 1995 by BONG. All rights reserved. SURFING THE INTERNET. This week the Other Side Lives Committee found the Usenet group alt.shenanigans, devoted to merry pranks called "shens." Some of its postings also appear in alt.revenge, a group that appreciates somewhat more vitriol in its pranks. Some shens: -- When confronted by an answering machine, contributors were particularly creative. One fellow leaves messages in a normal voice, then suddenly switches to SUPERFASTSQUEAKYVOICE and then to v-e-r-y l-o-w, s-l-o-w v-o-i-c-e, leaving the machine owner with worries about his equipment. Another plays back the operator saying this number is not in service. And then there's the guy who recorded the AT&T intercept tape for callers to the Northridge, Calif. area. "Due to an earthquake in the area you are calling, your call cannot be completed at this time," and put it on his own machine; he lives in Chicago. (In that vein, Dayton Daily News cartoonist Mike Peters has been known to answer his phone with an empty coffee cup over his mouth, creating that perfect mechanical echo sound. Conversations go: "THIS IS MIKE. I CAN'T COME TO THE PHONE RIGHT NOW, BUT YOUR CALL IS IMPORTANT TO ME. PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP (*beep*)." "Mike, this is Charley, it's 2:15 Tuesday, and -- " "(Still in machine mode) OH HI, CHARLEY! HOW YA DOIN'?") -- Pagers are another foil. A contributor gets even with his weenie supervisor when he knows the super isn't near a phone. He calls the super's pager, then punches in the super's boss's number. (Dayton Daily News reporters with voice pagers, waiting in lines at the bank, have been known to get loud calls saying, "YOUR LAWYER CALLED AND HE SAYS YOU SHOULD MARRY THE GIRL.") STRAWBOSS, THIS IS SNAKEYES, GIMME ARTILLERY SUPPORT. Also at the Dayton Daily News in the days before cellular phones, the company invested megabucks in a Battle-of-the-Bulge walkie-talkie system. But it couldn't bring its human resources on-line. When a reporter went to a crime scene in a very troublesome poor-white neighborhood, one of the airier brains on the city desk broadcast through the thing, "And hey, tell the guys to watch yourselves out there! I hear there's a lotta bad-ass rednecks in that neighborhood!" The reporter, standing in a crowd of now even more dangerous neighborhood residents, replied, "Tell 'em yourself! You're talking to 'em!" With that he handed the walkie-talkie to the nearest bad-ass redneck and made an escape. Never one for hidden pockets when a secret compartment would do, BONG Chief Copyboy Charley Stough, Dayton Daily News, 45 S. Ludlow St., Dayton, Ohio 45401 salutes NYTNS haulers worldwide! Phone (513) 225-2445 after 3 p.m. eastern. E-mail ae035@dayton.wright.edu. Fax 225-2489. ------------------ To subscribe: Email to LISTSERV@NETCOM.COM. In text say SUBSCRIBE BONG-L. Daryl (801)378- 2950 (801)489-6348 drg@du1.byu.edu 71171.2036@compuserve.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #114 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa22179; 23 Feb 95 19:32 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15746; Thu, 23 Feb 95 14:32:19 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15736; Thu, 23 Feb 95 14:32:15 CST Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 14:32:15 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502232032.AA15736@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #115 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Feb 95 14:32:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 115 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Global Network Operations" by Malamud et al (Rob Slade) Canadian Publisher Southam Links With U.S.-Based Prodigy (Dave Leibold) You Can't Dial City Hall? (Dave Leibold) Australian Government Multimedia Forum March 1995 (Tom Worthington) Last Call: IJCAI'95 Workshop on Executable Temporal Logics (Mehmet Orgun) Wireless Telephone Seminar (Jerome Kaufman) Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received (Jeff Regan) Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received (John C. Fowler) Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received (Paul Wallich) Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received (Danny Burstein) Re: Weird "Prime Number" and Other Messages 800 Number (Mark Brader) Re: Weird "Prime Number" and Other Messages 800 Number (Stanley Ulbrych) Re: Weird "Prime Number" and Other Messages 800 Number (Moritz Farbstein) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 13:15:39 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Global Network Operations" by Malamud et al CSGLNTOP.RVW 950126 "Global Network Operations", Malamud/Carpenter/Stockman/O'Dell/Huston, 1-56592- 993-4, U$16.95 %A Carl Malamud carl@malamud.com %A Brian Carpenter %A Bernhard Stockman %A Mike O'Dell %A Geoff Huston %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 1993? %E Carl Malamud carl@malamud.com %G 1-56592-993-4 %I O'Reilly & Associates, Inc./ORAudio %O U$16.95 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 audio@ora.com %P 120 min. %S Geek of the Week %T "Global Network Operations" These four interviews, conducted between March and November of 1993, present representatives of CERN, the European EBONE backbone UUNET and the Australian Academic Research Network (AARNET). (I must say that I have to sympathise with Malamud in the interview with Bernhard Stockman. Initially, Stockman obviously is embarrassed and resistant to say "what everyone knows". The interview is worth it -- the later part of the tape puts out fascinating ideas on the sociology of committees.) As well as looking at networks in large portions of the globe (and places outside of the US), a fairly common theme to all of these talks is surmise about the future directions of network governing bodies. Do the ISO and CCITT work, given rapidly moving technologies? Can the Internet Society and IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) continue as volunteer organizations? copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 CSGLNTOP.RVW 950126. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 21 Feb 95 22:00:23 -0500 Subject: Canadian Publisher Southam Links With U.S.-Based Prodigy Organization: Gateway: [from Bell News (Bell Canada), 20 Feb 95] Publisher to launch on-line newspaper service Southam Inc., publisher of 17 daily newspapers across Canada, plans to launch a national on-line computer service offering its daily newspapers in a joint venture with U.S.-based Prodigy Services Co. Consumers will have access to Southam's newspapers and their archives, as well as electronic banking, brokerage services and advertising. Service will begin in 1996. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 21 Feb 95 22:19:05 -0500 Subject: You Can't Dial City Hall? The 8 Feb 95 edition of {Etobicoke Life} (a Metro Toronto community paper) reports of wayward phone connections that lost 10,000 callers. Those phoning the City of Etobicoke municipal offices were often left in "electronic ether" in the form of dropped or incomplete calls. Etobicoke's Commissioner of Administrative Services stated that the phone system was "overloaded", with calls from citizens regarding an interim tax billing blamed as the cause. While a $10,000 call queueing system installation is expected this summer, Etobicoke city staff is reportedly working with Bell Canada to avoid a repeat of that lost caller feeling. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am reminded of the tunnel flood here a few years ago when the Chicago River started backing up into basements all over downtown, including City Hall. In addition to the unusually high volume of calls to the city's public information phone lines from very concerned citizens wondering about the extent of the flooding (the source of the 'leak', a collapsed wall in one of the abandoned underground tunnels had not been located) and what they could/should do to save their possessions and themselves (for example, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was in Europe at the time; staff members left in Chicago frantically went through basement storage areas retrieving instruments, musical manuscripts and other things, hauling it all upstairs to safe ground when they heard the flood was on its way to them; staff members at the Art Institute dropped everything and converged on their basement to begin rapidly hauling everything upstairs to safety; fortunatly neither institution was harmed in any way) -- in addition to the massive flood of calls to City Hall, overloading the phone system there -- the City Hall itself did have extensive damage in its second and third sub-basement where the old tunnel system connects in, putting all their telephone lines under water by mid-afternoon that day, along with completely submerging the Commonwealth Edison electrical sub-station located in the third sub- basement. Knowing for a certainty that City Hall would be 'offline' in a matter of an hour or two at the most (they could see the rising water in the tunnel branch near them) telco employees rushed to re-route the lines elsewhere. About 2 PM I was able to get through; the woman told me 'we will be staying until our lines go dead or until they evacuate us and make us leave' ... shortly after that calls to any 312-744 number (the city hall centrex) were greeted with dead silence. Just a click as my central office handed off the call, then nothing. Within 45 minutes however, they were ringing again, and the information ladies were on duty, having been evacuated to the Chicago Temple Building which is right across the street from City Hall. The Fire Department Central Alarm office which is also in City Hall had been offline for a few minutes also; telco got them re-established first then did the information lines followed by the general centrex operators. The information lines stayed open around the clock for the next several days (although the source of the 'leak' was discovered by mid-afternoon it would be several days before tons of dry cement-mix and other stuff dumped into the river above the opening would successfully seal the opening; it was on Sunday morning about 10 AM six days later that Mayor Daley came on our televisions along with engineers working for the city to announce that 'we have successfully plugged the leak, and underwater divers are down there now looking to make sure it is plugged') and they later reported handling about a hundred thousand flood related inquiry calls from all over the world over a five day period. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tomw@ccadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au (Tom Worthington) Subject: Australian Government Multimedia Forum March 1995 Organization: Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, Australia Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 07:18:21 GMT _"Government Support for a _Creative Nation"__ * Sydney 8 March 1995 * Adelaide 14 March 1995 * Perth 16 March 1995 * Melbourne 21 March 1995 * Brisbane 23 March 1995 * Canberra 28 March 1995 Department of Industry, Science and Technology Department of Communications Background As part of the Commonwealth Government's cultural policy statement Creative Nation, a series of multimedia initiatives are being undertaken to place Australia as a world leader in media services through the production of content - an essential element of the new communication services. The package seeks to create a dynamic multimedia industry producing Australian content for Australian and international consumers, as well as providing a stimulus for increased access to cultural material by the community. The Multimedia Forums will be a major source of information about developments in multimedia and will facilitate the establishment of close and productive linkages between the cultural community and industry. These will enable Australia to better develop and commercialise interactive multimedia products and services. The Forums The forums will be accessible to a broad range of stakeholders, flexible in content and responsive to the needs of the sector. The Forums will consider critical technical and commercial issues such as best practice, intellectual property rights, finance, the requirements for market success, and the development of multimedia titles. Forums will be able to focus on topical issues which Government, the cultural community or industry believe need to be addressed, including for example, the Final Report of the Broadband Services Expert Group and the Innovation Statement. Forum One Forum One is a one day event which will be repeated in major capital cities (see Schedule) and will provide an update on the Creative Nation initiatives, including discussion on the implementation of these initiatives and information on when and how people can participate in programs and gain government support. There will be ample time for questions and answers. "An essential forum for anyone with an interest in multimedia as a business, a creative endeavour or for export" _Peter Cook - Michael Lee_ This forum will provide the opportunity to meld the interests and efforts of business, the cultural community, technologists, educators and the legal profession. Participants will be able to influence the future content, structure and orientation of the Forums Program. For more details see: http://acslink.net.au/~tomw/mm1.html or contact: _Multimedia Forum Secretariat_ PO Box 3683, Weston ACT 2611, Australia Phone: +61 6 2411325 A/H: +61 6 2882884 Fax: +61 6 2411975 Internet: NATCMS@ozemail.com.au Posted as a community service by Tom Worthington, Director of the Community Affairs Board, Australian Computer Society Inc. G.P.O. Box 446, Canberra A.C.T. 2601, Australia E-mail: tomw@acslink.net.au Home page: http://www.acslink.net.au/~tomw/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 16:33:53 +1100 From: mehmet@macadam.mpce.mq.edu.au (Mehmet Orgun) Subject: Last CallL: IJCAI'95 Workshop on Executable Temporal Logics LAST CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION Workshop on Executable Temporal Logics to be held as part of IJCAI-95 Montreal, Canada. 19th, 20th or 21st August 1995 INTRODUCTION The direct execution of logical statements, through languages such as Prolog, has been influential within both Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. Such languages have been used not only for applications such as the animation of logical specifications, the characterisation of database queries and knowledge representation, but also as high-level programming languages in their own right. In recent years, however, the requirement for greater expressive power has meant that languages based on first-order logic have been found wanting. In particular, since the concept of time is important in an increasingly wide range of applications, including the representation of time-dependent data and the specification and verification of concurrent and distributed systems, logics where temporal notions are central are beginning to be applied in these areas. Not surprisingly, executable forms of these temporal logics have been proposed in order to provide system developers with access to more appropriate logical techniques. Just as the development of sophisticated theorem-proving techniques for first-order logic led to executable forms, such as Prolog, so theorem-proving techniques for temporal logics are being used in the development of executable forms of these logics. However, each particular executable temporal logic combines not only a logical perspective, but also an operational model, drawn from its intended application areas. Thus a wide range of languages have appeared, exhibiting a variety of characteristics and execution mechanisms. Consequently, these languages have a wide range of application areas, including temporal databases, temporal planning, animation of temporal specifications, hardware simulation, and distributed AI. WORKSHOP AIMS The aim of this workshop is to provide a forum both for the exchange of ideas and for the identification of the potential roles and nature of the emerging paradigm of Executable Temporal Logics. Our aim is that the workshop will bring together workers in this area, to identify common ground, differing approaches, experiences, applications, open problems and possible future developments. In particular, we wish to encourage cross-fertilisation between different approaches. WORKSHOP FORMAT This workshop will build upon the success of the 1993 Workshop on Executable Modal and Temporal Logics that we organised as part of IJCAI-93, the proceedings of which are published by Springer-Verlag in the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series (vol. 897). The workshop will last for one day, and will consist of presented papers, group discussions and invited talks. We intend that the workshop will cover topics ranging from considerations of the state of the art, through to speculation on future developments. We will therefore solicit papers describing work in this area, including original ideas, new results, comparative studies and applications of Executable Temporal Logics. AREAS OF INTEREST Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, * theoretical issues in executable temporal logics * design of executable temporal logics * relationship between execution and temporal theorem-proving * operational models and implementation techniques * programming support and environments * comparative studies of languages * relationship of executable temporal logics to (temporal) databases * applications and case studies WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION To encourage informal interaction and the exchange of ideas, attendance will be limited to approximately 30 invited participants. Those wishing to attend are encouraged to submit either (a) an extended abstract (of no more than 5000 words) describing relevant preliminary or completed work to be presented at the workshop, or, (b) single page descriptions of research interests and current work, to be used to demonstrate the ability of the non-presenting participants to contribute to the discussions. Selected participants will be asked to provide complete papers to be distributed as preprints to the workshop participants. SUBMISSION DETAILS All submissions should include: author's name(s), affiliation, (complete) mailing address, phone and fax number, e-mail address and an abstract of not more than 300 words. Electronic submission is strongly encouraged (either as self-contained LaTeX, or postscript) and this, or five (5) copies of submitted papers should be sent, by March 1st 1995, to: Michael Fisher Department of Computing Manchester Metropolitan University Chester Street Manchester M1 5GD United Kingdom Email: M.Fisher@doc.mmu.ac.uk Telephone: (+44) 61-247-1488 Fax: (+44) 61-247-1483 Papers will be refereed and notification of acceptance will be given by April 1st. Authors of accepted papers will be given the opportunity to revise their papers prior to the production of the workshop notes (due May 1st). Important Dates: Submissions received by: March 1st, 1995 Author notification by: April 1st, 1995 Revised papers due: May 1st, 1995 Copies of accepted papers will be provided as a pre-proceedings at the workshop itself. Information about the workshop, together with abstracts of accepted papers, will be available via the WWW page: http://www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/RESEARCH/extol95.html PUBLICATION The 1993 IJCAI Workshop on Executable Modal and Temporal Logics is published by Springer-Verlag as a volume in the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series. Our intention is to again publish polished versions of papers from the workshop proceedings. Selected papers may also be considered for publication in a special issue of either the Journal of Logic and Computation or the Journal of Applied Non-Classical Logics. WORKSHOP PROGRAMME COMMITTEE Michael Fisher [Organiser] (details as above) Marianne Baudinet Universite Libre de Bruxelles Informatique, C.P. 165 50 Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 1050 Brussels, Belgium Email: mb@cs.ulb.ac.be Christoph Brzoska SFB 314 University of Karlsruhe P.O.Box 69 80 D - 76128 Karlsruhe 1, Germany Email: brzoska@ira.uka.de Shinji Kono Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Inc. Japan Email: kono@csl.sony.co.jp Ben Moszkowski Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering University of Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, U.K. Email: Ben.Moszkowski@ncl.ac.uk Mehmet Orgun Department of Computing Macquarie University Sydney NSW 2109, Australia Email: mehmet@mpce.mq.edu.au N.B., All workshop participants will be required to register for the **** main conference. NO ATTENDANCE TO A WORKSHOP WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT REGISTRATION TO IJCAI. Information about IJCAI-95 can be accessed via the IJCAI home page: http://ijcai.org/ ------------------------------ From: TZAH81A@prodigy.com (Jerome Kaufman) Subject: Wireless Telephone Seminar Date: 22 Feb 1995 04:48:29 GMT Organization: Prodigy Services Company 1-800-PRODIGY Wireless Business Telephone Systems Seminar An in-depth, educational seminar for telecommunications professionals who need to understand the applications, benefits and limitations of: On-premises PCS, Wireless PBXs and In-Building Cellular systems. 1995 will witness the most fundamental change in business communications since the introduction of the electromechanical telephone system. Nearly every provider of PBX, Centrex, Key system, Cellular and PCS systems and services is expected to offer a wireless telephone system to address business users need for on- premises wireless communications. Incorporating In-Building Cellular, Unlicensed PCS and Wireless PBX, these new wireless telephone systems will usher in the era of Personal Communications Services and mark the end of traditional, fixed location, desktop telephone systems used by every business in the U.S. The Wireless Business Telephone Systems 95 seminar has been designed to help both vendors and users make the right business decisions about these new wireless telephone systems. The two day Wireless Business Telephone Systems 95 seminars will be taught by Jerry Kaufman, President of Alexander Resources. Mr. Kaufman is an internationally recognized expert on wireless communications and the foremost authority on wireless telephone systems. Alexander Resources is a management and market research consulting firm specializing in telecommunications. Name of Seminar: Wireless Business Telephone Systems 95 Seminar locations: Anaheim, Atlanta, Bellevue, Boca Raton, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, Scottsdale, St. Louis, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. Dates: February through August 1995 Presented by: Alexander Resources Telephone: 800-948-8225 Fax: 602-948-1081 Contact: Carole Kaufman ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 18:34:04 EST From: Jeff Regan Subject: Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received D.J Martin reported some odd ball ring backs and recordings on his answering machine ... here is my two cents: In many DMS100 settings, if someone calls in to the answering machine and hangs up but just as the machine was about to take the incoming message, the ans.machine probably won't see the milisecond open circuit that the DMS provides it to tell it to hang up. What can happen then is that the DMS gives dialtone, then the 'please hang up and try your call again' recording comes on... of course the machine faithfully records this. That can be solved by having the DMS wait 30 seconds (in silence) before it gives the recording, but after it put the dialtone on the line and timed out. If you forget about a call put on call waiting, the switch will remind you that you forgot about it by calling you back, but that does not seem to apply to your 20 minute later notice. One other note, cordless phones when they get interference, if they don't have a security code on them, they can randomly pulse the line ... causing any sort of number to be dialed, or cause answering machines to think there is an incoming call ... that means the machine could record any number of things that are just happening to occur on the line at that time because of the cordless going on and offhook rapidly. On that same note, a little far fetched, if the cordless has your cell number programmed into it, and its stored in the base, not the handset, then it could be triggered to dial that number while this interference is occuring. Good luck! Jeff Regan Internet: JEREGAN@FLASH.LAKEHEADU.CA Ham Packet: VE3XJR@VE3MGQ.#SWO.ON.CAN.NA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 23:25 EST From: John C. Fowler <0003513813@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received In TELECOM Digest Volume 15, Issue 113, D.J. Martin wrote that he was receiving strange messages on his answering machine (such as outgoing intercepts and live operators) and that once he even answered his cellular phone only to hear his home answering machine. Pat attributed it to pranksters with three-way calling. I just wanted to point out that these kinds of things can happen even when someone isn't trying to play a joke on you. It happens innocently if the caller is behind a PBX with a call transfer function activated by flashing, dialing a number, and hanging up. How is this innocent? Think of this situation: Caller dials D.J. at home and gets his answering machine. "Darn, he's not at home, but wait, I know his cellular number, so I'll see if I can reach him there!" Caller pushes the switchhook with his finger, so that he thinks he hung up on the answering machine. In fact, he didn't wait long enough, and the PBX thinks it was a flash, so it puts the answering machine on hold. Caller dials D.J.'s cellular phone, but just then, the boss walks in, so caller hangs up just as D.J. answers. PBX transfers D.J.'s answering machine to D.J. Yes, this does happen! It happened to my office-mate at my previous employer, who once had the pleasure of receiving a voice mail message from his home answering machine. John C. Fowler, 3513813@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: pw@panix.com (Paul Wallich) Subject: Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received Date: 22 Feb 1995 11:28:35 -0500 Organization: Trivializers R Us In Philip D Martin 45-904-368-8859 3106 writes: > Scenario: A person pushes the play button of their answering machine > and has a message "the number you have dialed cannot be completed as > dialed. You must use a zero or one." This is an outgoing call > message. Or they have a message of a operator asking if they can help > them. Operators do not call people to assist them. Although both > cases appear as an incoming message, no call was made from the > location. and TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > We've touched on this topic from time to time, and one of the most > common reasons for the scenario you describe is that pranksters with > three-way (or more) calling like to hook together strangers at random > just to listen in amusement as the two (or more) called parties each > angrily accuse the other(s) of making the calls. There's one other possibility which comes to me after having listened to a few too many "please hang up and dial again" intercepts on a friend's answering machine: single-tape machines sometimes take more than a minute to fast-forward from the outgoing message to the point where they can start recording. If the caller has hung up during that time, of course, you'll get dialtone and eventually an intercept. However, some single-tape machines also play synthesize "musical hold" while zipping forward; I wonder if there's equipment somewhere (like the old women-and-voicemail problem) that could be trying to make sense of the musical-hold tones. Probably manufacturers have picked their frequencies to avoid this, but it's not entirely implausible. I'm just tossing this out for thought on bizarre feature interactions; Pat's hypothesis is far more likely. paul ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received Date: 23 Feb 1995 11:42:15 -0500 A very possible answer to this problem: Does your cellular phone have an auto redial button? Of course it does. There's a good chance you hit it and called your home again. Note that this scenario is also a RISK. In addition to the costs and confusion involved, a subscriber to RISK DIGEST described how he had sat on his phone while at a confidential meeting and the next fifteen minutes of super-secret discussion were recorded on his answering machine. dannyb@panix.com (or dburstein@mcimail.com) ------------------------------ From: msb@sq.sq.com (Mark Brader) Subject: Re: Weird "Prime Number" and Other Messages 800 Number Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 03:13:15 GMT CID Tech/INSG (dreuben@netcom.com) writes: > What I got was: " The number you have reached, 6 7 7 - 4 4 4 4, > is not a working number. It's prime factors are 2 and 3,387,2222 (or > something). Thank you". How bizarre: 3,387,222 is *not* a prime number. The actual prime factors of 6,774,444 are, of course, 2 (twice), 3 (twice), and 188,179. Mark Brader msb@sq.com SoftQuad Inc., Toronto ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Weird "Prime Number" and Other Messages 800 Number From: stanley.ulbrych@enest.com (STANLEY ULBRYCH) Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 07:12:00 -0500 Organization: Eagle's Nest Communications, Inc. PVD, RI US 401-732-5290 Reply-To: stanley.ulbrych@enest.com (STANLEY ULBRYCH) > Late one night last week, while trying to reprogram one of my own > 800 numbers, I accidentally dialed (800) 254-0133. > Today, just to convince myself that I did indeed hear that, I tried it > again, but this time got: The number you have reach, 677-4444 is not > is service ... Bucko!". I tried it myself, ( from East providence RI) Got "the number you reached is not in service ... bucko". Anyone any ideas who, what, where it is? stan@enest.com [Internet] 401-437-9448 (FAX) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: An answer was forthcoming, and I hope you find it interesting. See the final message in this issue. PAT] ------------------------------ From: moritz@il.us.swissbank.com (Moritz Farbstein) Subject: Re: Weird "Prime Number" and Other Messages 800 Number Reply-To: moritz@il.us.swissbank.com Organization: Swiss Bank Corporation Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 15:21:48 GMT What you have reached here is a Wildfire extension. Wildfire is a voice-response electronic phone assistant. That particular extension had been allocated for Wildfire's use, but not assigned to a particular person yet. You can call 800-WILDFIRE for an automated demonstration of the system. You can also email support@wildfire.com or call them at 617-674-1500 for more information. Moritz Farbstein Swiss Bank Corporation, 4225 Naperville Road, Lisle IL 60532 Phone: (708) 955-6972 Fax: (708) 955-6929 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #115 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa23857; 23 Feb 95 21:22 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA20831; Thu, 23 Feb 95 16:37:10 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA20824; Thu, 23 Feb 95 16:37:07 CST Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 16:37:07 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502232237.AA20824@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #116 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Feb 95 16:37:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 116 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T True Rewards Program - Help Me Out (TELECOM Digest Editor) CFP: ACM's Wireless Conference '95 (Change of Date/Location) (Victor Bahl) Source Inc Web Page Correction (Todd Bruning) Re: Cellular "Auto-Registration" (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Cellular "Auto-Registration" (Eric A. Carr) Re: Cellular "Auto-Registration" (Gerald Serviss) Information Wanted About DMS Switches (David Vardy) Re: What is DMS-100? (Bill Brasuell) Re: What is DMS-100? (John Brandte) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 16:02:34 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: AT&T True Rewards Program - Help Me Out Today in the mail I got my (apparently) quarterly statement from the AT&T True Rewards program which says I now have aquired 469 points. For those not familiar with the program, points are awarded to AT&T residence subscribers who have enrolled in the program at the rate of one point for every dollar spent on AT&T long distance each month. Any month (starting in May) that you spend more than $75 per month on AT&T long distance calls you get two points for every dollar. All domestic and international calls carried by AT&T count toward this program including calls made with an AT&T calling card. Exceptions are calls which are billed direct rather than through a local telco, and calls to Alliance 700 Teleconferencing. Those do not earn points. Neither do long distance calls made from cellular or marine phones, or calls to 900 Multiquest numbers. Other than that -- basically, all your regular, routine long distance calls via AT&T from your home phone which are billed by your local telco count toward True Rewards. In addition to point-per-dollar rewards, there are other ways to earn rewards: If you move, notify AT&T of your new address and phone number; you get 100 bonus points. If someone signs up for AT&T residence long distance service and gives you as the referral, you get 300 bonus points. Points can be redeemed at any time when you have at least 100. They can be redeemed for various things: $5 credit toward your AT&T bill for every 100 points. (You get those 'pay to the order of the telephone company' credit slips to redeem with your phone bill.) If you prefer, you get $5 cash back for every 100 points or you have it credited to your AT&T Universal Visa or Mastercard instead. (They send you a check in your name.) You can also have $5 for every 100 points credited to your paging/messaging service account with McCaw, Interlink, Airsignal, Telepage Northwest or Vegas Communications. Five frequent flyer miles on Delta, United, or (god forbid! I don't want to die yet!) US Air for each 100 points is another option. Disney is in on this also, and points can be redeemed for service from the Disney Channel or their catalog. One thing AT&T stressed was that 'point pooling' is allowed, and encouraged. All you have to do is tell them you want to transfer your True Rewards points to someone else; they'll be happy to do it. They said having two or three people sign up for AT&T residential service (300 points each) along with transfer of points from people who have collected them but are not interested in redeeming them could 'result in someone having hundreds, or even thousands of points in a very short time ...' The thing which appeals to me is the credit on my local telco bill and here is how YOU can help: If you have been meaning to possibly send a donation to the Digest but have not gotten around to it yet -- or maybe you just don't have the money to spare -- then you can use this round-about way of helping instead. If you intend at some point in the near future to sign up for AT&T residential service, do it through this special phone number: Call 1-800-383-6158. The representative will switch you to AT&T for free and enroll you in True Rewards. Give the representative REFERRAL NUMBER : BY-6195039315666. Tell the representative to apply the 300 bonus points to that account. Everytime someone switches to AT&T in this way, I get the points. Got more than one line at your place? Feel like giving one of them to AT&T? If you are not interested in participating in True Rewards but got a statement recently from AT&T with your point balance shown you can also help. Mine arrived by bulk mail today so I assume there are lots of these in the mail now. Do this: Call 1-800-869-9900. Tell the representative your True Rewards account number which is printed on the bottom of the statement they sent you. Tell the representative to transfer all of your points to my telephone number 708-329-0570. As the points come in from new subscribers to AT&T who use my referral number and as points come in from transfers out of accounts where they are not wanted, I'll redeem them for credit on my always high, frequently delinquent phone bill. (I haven't gotten cut off once yet this year, I'll have you know! Not only that, since I got my last 'deferred payment plan' agreement finished a few months ago I am eligible to stall by starting another one if absolutely necessary.) If you do sign up using my referral number or transfer your unwanted True Rewards points, please send me email and let me know so I have an idea what's going on. You have to call the two numbers shown above to do all this; the regular representatives on the published numbers they use can't handle it. Thank you very much! Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Editor ------------------------------ From: bahl@samson.enet.dec.com (Victor Bahl) Subject: CFP: ACM's Wireless Conference '95 (Change of Date/Location) Date: 22 Feb 1995 17:34:33 GMT Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Reply-To: bahl@samson.enet.dec.com (Victor Bahl) Announcement and Call for Papers FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MOBILE COMPUTING AND NETWORKING 1995 November 14-15, 1995 (Tutorials on Monday, Nov. 13) Berkeley, California, USA Sponsored by the ACM's Special Interest Groups: SIGCOMM, SIGMETRICS SIGOPS, SIGMOD (pending), SIGACT and CESDIS NASA The wireless communication revolution is bringing fundamental changes to telecommunication and computing. Wide-area cellular systems and wireless LANs promise to make integrated networks a reality and provide fully distributed and ubiquitous mobile computing and communications, thus bringing an end to the tyranny of geography. Furthermore, services for the mobile user are maturing and are poised to change the nature and scope of communication. This conference, the first of an annual series, will serve as the premier international forum addressing networks, systems, algorithms, and applications that support the symbiosis of portable computers and wireless networks. PAPERS Technical papers describing previously unpublished, original, completed, or in-progress research, are solicited on topics at the link layer and above. Topics will include, but are not limited to: * Applications and computing services supporting the mobile user. * Network architectures, protocols or service algorithms to cope with mobility, limited bandwidth, or intermittent connectivity. * Design and analysis of algorithms for online and mobile environments. * Distributed network protocols. * Performance characterization of mobile/wireless networks and systems. * Network management for mobile and wireless networks. * Service integration and interworking of wired and wireless networks. * Characterization of the influence of lower layers on the design and performance of higher layers. * Security, scalability and reliability issues for mobile/wireless systems * Wireless Multimedia Systems * Satellite Communication All papers will be refereed by the program committee. Accepted papers will be published in conference proceedings. Papers of particular merit will be selected for publication in the ACM/Baltzer Journal on Wireless Networks. HOW TO SUBMIT Paper submission will be handled electronically. Authors should Email a PostScript version of their full paper to: "mcn95-submission@cs.columbia.edu". This Email address will become operational on March 1. The address will be backed by software that can test submissions for print-ability. In order to pass the test, authors should ensure that their papers meet these restrictions: - PostScript version 2 or later - no longer than 15 pages - fits properly on "US Letter" size paper (8.5x11 inches) - reference only Computer Modern or standard Adobe fonts (i.e., Courier, Times Roman, or Helvetica); other fonts may be used but must be included in the PostScript file In addition, authors should be sure to select an easy-to-read font size. The proceedings will be printed in two-column format, so authors are encouraged to submit two-column papers. To learn how to use the submission software, send a message with the body "HELP" to the above Email address any time on or after March 1. TUTORIALS Proposals for tutorials are solicited. Evaluation of the proposals will be based on expertise and experience of instructors, and the relevance of the subject matter. Potential instructors are requested to submit at most 5 pages, including a biographical sketch to Krishan Sabnani (kks@big.att.com). PANELS Panels are solicited that examine innovative, controversial, or otherwise provocative issues of interest. Panel proposals should not exceed more than 3 pages, including biographical sketches of the panelist. STUDENT PARTICIPATION Papers with a student as a primary author will enter a student paper award competition. A cover letter must identify the paper as a candidate for the student paper competition. IMPORTANT DATES Submissions due: April 3, 1995 Notification of acceptance: June 16, 1995 Camera-ready version due: August 14, 1995 For More Information: Please contact Dan Duchamp (djd@cs.columbia.edu) or Baruch Awerbuch (baruch@blaze.cs.jhu.edu), the Program Co-Chairs. WWW/GOPHER INFORMATION This CFP and other ACM related activities may be found in gopher://gopher.acm.org (for gopher viewers) http://info.acm.org/ (for WWW browsers) GENERAL CO-CHAIRS: Imrich Chlamtac Dave Morgan Dept. of Electrical & Computer Eng. VP & Director of Research University of Massachusetts Wireless Division, Motorola chlamtac@eden.ecs.umass.edu David_Morgan-ASTF39@email.mot.com Tel: +1 413 545 0712 Tel.: +1 708 576 0595 PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS Baruch Awerbuch Dan Duchamp Dept. of Computer Science Dept. of Computer Science The John Hopkins University Columbia University Room NEB 318, Baltimore, MD 500 W. 120 St. New York, NY baruch@blaze.cs.jhu.edu djd@cs.columbia.edu Tel.: +1 410 516 8038 Tel.: +1 212 939 7067 Fax.: +1 410 516 6134 Fax.: +1 212 666 0140 LOCAL CHAIR TUTORIAL CHAIR Eric Brewer Krishan Sabnani, AT & T Dept. of Computer Science Tel.: +1 908 949 3557 University of California @ Berkeley Fax.: +1 908 949 9118 brewer@cs.berkeley.edu kks@big.att.com VICE CHAIR STEERING COMMITTEE CHAIR Chris Edmondson-Yurkanan Imrich Chlamtac CS, University of Texas, Austin ECE, University of Massachusetts dragon@cs.utexas.edu chlamtac@eden.ecs.umass.edu PUBLICITY CHAIR REGISTERATION CHAIR Victor Bahl, Melody Moh Digital Equipment Corp. & UMASS San Jose State University bahl@samson.enet.dec.com moh@cs.sjsu.edu TREASURER Anton Dahbura, Motorola PROGRAM COMMITTEE Baruch Awerbuch, John Hopkins B. R. Badrinath, Rutgers U., Alan Borodin, U. Toronto Bob Broderson, UC Berkeley, Ramon Caceres, AT&T Bell Labs. Steve Deering, Xerox PARC, Dan Duchamp, Columbia Domenico Ferrari, UC Berkeley David Johnson, Carnegie Mellon, Phil Karn, Qualcomm Inc. Randy Katz, UC Berkeley Leonard Kleinrock, UCLA, Paul Leach, Microsoft Debasis Mitra, AT&T, Christos Papadimitriou, UC San Diego Rafi Rom, Technion & SUN, Nachum Shacham, SRI Jeff Vitter, Duke U., John Zahorjan, U. Washington STEERING COMMITTEE Imrich Chlamtac, chlamtac@eden.ecs.umass.edu Chair Lyman Chapin, lyman@bbn.com SIGCOMM Chair Raj Jain, jain@acm.org SIGCOMM Vice Chair Chris Edmondson, dragon@cs.utexas.edu SIGCOMM Sec/Treasurer Dave Oran, oran@lkg.dec.com SIGCOMM editor Greg Wetzel, G_F_Wetzel@att.com SIGCOMM Info Services Vint Cerf, *vcerf@isoc.org SIGCOMM Prev. Chair Ian Akyildiz, ian@armani.gatech.ed Pat McCarren, mccarren@acm.org ACM Headquaters Baruch Awerbuch, baruch@blaze.cs.jhu.edu SIGACT rep. Linda Wright, wright@linda.enet.dec.com SIGMETRICS rep. Tomasz Imielinski, imielins@cs.rtugers.edu SIGMOD rep. ------------------------------ From: source@unicomp.net (Todd Bruning / Kelly Jones) Subject: Source Inc Web Page Correction Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 16:44:02 Organization: UniComp Technologies International Corp -- Internet Service Boy, oh boy. Go to all the trouble to put up a web page and then give the wrong url address. Hope the boss doesn't find out. Anyway, the Source, Inc home page address is: http://www.sourcetele.com/sourcetele. Come by and visit. We have all kinds of interesting telephony stuff. Source, Inc., Telecom Sales and Support - 214.450.2700 Visit our home page for telecom gear and technical information, http://www.sourcetele.com/sourcetele, E-mail source@unicomp.net ------------------------------ From: mds@access.digex.net (Michael D. Sullivan) Subject: Re: Cellular "Auto-Registration" Date: 23 Feb 1995 04:31:17 -0500 Organization: Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer & Quinn (Washington, DC, USA) rick.edwards@cabin.com (Rick Edwards) writes: > There has been an ongoing discussion on another network regarding > "auto-registration" in the present analog NAMPS system. It appears that > no one on that network can give a definitive answer as to exactly how it > works. So I am leaving a message here hoping (knowing) that someone > will have the correct answers. > Some of the questions we have regarding auto-registration on a cellular > phone (system) are: > 1) Does the individual phone transmit it's MIN/ESN pair on powerup after > finding an appropriate control channel? Yes, as part of a defined data stream. It's encoded, but not encrypted. > 2) If indeed the phone transmits it's ID upon powerup, why is it apparently > ignored by some systems (AirTouch in Los Angeles)? Autonomous registration is a feature built into the standard, but there is no requirement that carriers use it. For several years in the beginning, it wasn't used. Perhaps Airtouch in LA doesn't use it because of the overhead that would be taken up in a system composed of small cells and lots of phones. > 3) What would be the typical amount of time between auto-registration > requests on most cellular systems? (I know this varies on system usage, > software, etc. but would like a "ballpark" number). No idea. If the unit goes out of range, it re-registers when it comes back in range. I don't believe this happens when just moving from cell to cell. There would be FAR too much overhead, with little productive results. > 4) How exactly does the cellular system request an ID from each phone > and keep it orderly? (IE..does it go by ESNs? How are collisions > prevented from multiple phones? etc.) When multiple phones respond in an interfering manner, they get no response. The standard calls for them to wait a quasi-random time and retry. Each phone will likely wait a different quasi-random time, thus avoiding collisions somewhat. > 5) How do cellular systems treat older phones (without auto-registration) > when trying to ring them (phone call to phone)? A page is sent out over the control channel IDing the addressed phone. This could be done over an entire system more or less simultaneously, or it could be done over sub-systems, or it could be done cell-by-cell, depending on the system engineering and whether the switch has some idea where to look. Michael D. Sullivan | INTERNET E-MAIL TO: mds@access.digex.net Bethesda, Md., USA | also avogadro@well.com, 74160.1134@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: Carr-C10973@email.mot.com (Eric A. Carr) Subject: Re: Cellular "Auto-Registration" Organization: Motorola MIRS Infrastructure Engineering Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 10:23:28 -0600 In article , rick.edwards@cabin.com (Rick Edwards) wrote: (questions regarding registration deleted for clarity) Registration is a process where the mobile radio ("cellular phone") registers itself with the system with or without user intervention. The process essentially identifies the mobile and/or gives an indication as to it's status within the system to the MTSO. Registration occurs when a call is originated by the mobile (sending "access information"), or without user intervention at initial powerup and periodically while the mobile is within the coverage area and turned on ("periodic registration" -- some people use the term "autonomous registration"). Whether the registration is periodic or not, the mobile sends access information. Amoung other things sent on the reverse control channel during registration, the mobile sends MIN, ESN, SCM (Station Class Mark). On a mobile originated call, dialed digits are also sent. Periodic registration is optional; a flag is set in the overhead message on the forward control channel that informs the mobile whether or not it needs to perform periodic registration. Periodic registration is further specified as to whether radios in their home service area (REGH field in the overhead message) or roamers (REGR field in the overhead message) need to perform periodic registration. In order to avoid periodic registration attempts by all mobile subscribers at once, a certain procedure is used to determine when the mobile should perform the process. Upon powerup, the mobile generates an initial random number in it's internal registration register which determines it's initial registration attempt. After the mobile performs the initial periodic registration, the registration register in the mobile is incremented by a constant value in the overhead message ("REGINC" field), sort of like a clock. Included in the overhead message is the field REGID, to which the mobile compares the value of it's internal registration register. When the value of the registration register reaches the value of REGID, periodic registration occurs. Typical periodic registration times vary by systems and is determined by software setting of the REGINC field. I think it's usually around 20 - 30 minutes. Eric Carr ------------------------------ From: serviss@tazdevil.cig.mot.com (Gerald Serviss) Subject: Re: Cellular "Auto-Registration" Date: 23 Feb 1995 14:41:24 GMT Organization: Cellular Infrastructure Group, Motorola In article , Rick Edwards wrote: > There has been an ongoing discussion on another network regarding > "auto-registration" in the present analog NAMPS system. It appears that First registration is no different on AMPS or NAMPS or even IS-54 TDMA. They all fundamentally use the AMPS control channel signalling protocol. > 1) Does the individual phone transmit it's MIN/ESN pair on powerup after > finding an appropriate control channel? It does not have to. The mobile station will only register if it needs to The need is defined by the data broadcast on the forward control channel. The specific data that the mobile looks are are the SID (system ID) and the REGID (registration ID). A new SID will cause the mobile to register and if the REGID is far enough away from the last value recorded in the mobile it will register. > 2) If indeed the phone transmits it's ID upon powerup, why is it apparently > ignored by some systems (AirTouch in Los Angeles)? I can't answer this without more specific information. What symptoms are you observing that would lead to this conclusion? > 3) What would be the typical amount of time between auto-registration > requests on most cellular systems? (I know this varies on system usage, > software, etc. but would like a "ballpark" number). There can be fixed or area registration, which will cause the mobile to register only when it moves into a new area. There is also time base registration which will cause the mobile to register periodically. I have seen systems use intervals in the range of 30 minutes to several days. > 4) How exactly does the cellular system request an ID from each phone > and keep it orderly? (IE..does it go by ESNs? How are collisions > prevented from multiple phones? etc.) Collisions of what ? The ESN is a value assigned by the manufacturer of the unit. The MINS are controlled by the operator. The methods for assigning MINS are the same as used by landline operators. > 5) How do cellular systems treat older phones (without auto-registration) > when trying to ring them (phone call to phone)? All phones even the oldest should support registration. If not then get a new one. :-). If the phone can not register and the system "loses" the phone any mobile termination attempt will typically be directed to an announcement. The alternative would be a broadcast page to all areas of a system. If you get lost, make a call from the mobile to any phone and this should reregister you in the system. Jerry Serviss Motorola Inc serviss@rtsg.mot.com ------------------------------ From: vardy@engr.mun.ca (Vardy David) Subject: Information Wanted About DMS Switches Date: 23 Feb 1995 01:18:22 GMT Organization: Faculty of Engineering, Memorial University of Newfoundland Hi! I'm an electrical engineering student preparing for my first interiview with my first big telecommunications company. I was wondering if anyone could give me a simple description (or complex if you have time) of what a DMS Switch is and what it does. What does DMS stand for? What kind of maintenance and software is required to maintain it? If anyone could answer these or other questions it would be greatly appreciated ( and it might even get me a job :-) )! D. Andrew Vardy Faculty of Engineering, Memorial University St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, you are getting in during the middle of a thread which began a few days ago about the DMS-100 and perhaps the final two messages in this issue of the Digest will give you the information you are seeking. PAT] ------------------------------ From: brasuell_bill@tandem.com (Bill Brasuell) Subject: Re: What is DMS-100? Organization: Tandem Computers Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 23:24:20 GMT In article , gregicg@cadvision.com (Greg Habstritt) wrote: >> I just got a letter from Pac Bell stating that on 10 March they are >> going to install DMS-100 at the Los Angeles Central office and that my >> prefix would be affected. The letter also states: >> What can I expect in the way of problems, if any, using a modem to >> send or receive call? > I would guess you won't have any problems at all in the conversion. It > sounds like a typical phone company, warning people that their lives may > change as a result of work they are doing. > A DMS-100 is a Northern Telecom "switch" that is installed in the CO. > It's the actual switch, controlling all network in that particular > area (as they say, "within that switch"). > Sounds like they have to add another switch because they need more > capacity that what they have installed presently. Other than your > prefix changing (prefixes generally can't be shared across switches ... > Centrex is an exception), I wouldn't expect much else to change. > Bottom line is that plain old telephone service (POTS) is POTS. It > won't affect your modem dialing, etc. God only knows why they would > even send out such a notice, because other than your prefix probably > changing, you probably won't notice anything different at all. For ISDN: DMS-100 switches require SPIDs (Service Profile IDs) for ISDN lines. #5ESS do not require SPIDS. Also ISDN TAs usually need to know what type of CO they are "talking to" so a TA reconfiguration may be needed. Bill Brasuell Tandem Computers Inc. ------------------------------ From: john_brandte@ftl03.racal.com (John Brandte) Subject: Re: What is DMS-100? Organization: Racal-Datacom, Sunrise, FL Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 14:25:29 GMT In article gregicg@cadvision.com (Greg Habstritt) writes: >> I just got a letter from Pac Bell stating that on 10 March they are >> going to install DMS-100 at the Los Angeles Central office and that my >> prefix would be affected. The letter also states: >> What can I expect in the way of problems, if any, using a modem to >> send or receive call? Slightly off the subject but this may be of interest. We have notived that for BRI ISDN TAs, the DMS-100 switch is a little different than the 5-ESS. Product that meets NISDN-1 and works on the 5-ESS needs to have a few more changes to work with the DMS-100. I talked to a customer yesterday that is implementing ISDN that also noticed that it was harder to shake out service on DMS-100s. So, I can't say that it would be the same for POTS type service, but clearly there are some concerns. For critical applications, I would not ignor the warning. For casual use, you have time to work out problems as you find them. John Brandte Racal-Datacom ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #116 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa27167; 24 Feb 95 0:32 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA25526; Thu, 23 Feb 95 19:54:27 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA25520; Thu, 23 Feb 95 19:54:24 CST Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 19:54:24 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502240154.AA25520@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #117 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Feb 95 19:54:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 117 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Cell One/NY STOPS Billing Incompletes (Doug Reuben) Wireless Telephone Seminar (aleksndr@aol.com) Canadian Carrier Fonorola Gets TelRoute's Customers (Dave Leibold) BCE Involvement in Satellite Phone Services (Dave Leibold) Shiva LanRover/E Problem (Richard Bradley) V.35 Interface (Steve Bunning) Re: The Philosophy of CallerID (Jeremy Schertzinger) Re: The Philosophy of CallerID (Darryl Kipps) Re: March 7 Bellcore Meeting in DC (Judith Oppenheimer) Re: Requesting Information About SDH (Bill Brasuell) Anon Servers, Child Porn and Scientologists (Clive D.W. Feather) Information on O. J. Simpson Case (Carl Moore) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dreuben@interpage.net (Doug Reuben) Subject: Cell One/NY STOPS Billing Incompletes Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 18:38:29 EST In response to my constant whining (yeah, right...:) ), it seems that Cell One/NY has stopped billing for incomplete calls over 40 seconds. This is a VERY positive move, as it now makes CO/NY competitive in almost every way with NYNEX/NY, if not unquestionably superior in terms of coverage, automatic call delivery, and customer service. Cell One/NY used to asses an airtime charge for any incomplete call over 40 seconds. I've never been a big fan of such policies, especially since they will result in charges when you try to hear a referral for a changed number (e.g, "The number you have reached, 5 5 5 1 2 1 2, has been changed. The new number is..." etc.). If you wanted to hear the new number a second time, which is a good idea especially when calling from a carphone with all the distractions, then you would go over the 40 second limit, and were assessed an airtime charge. One of the few reasons I use BAMS's B-side service (NYNEX in NYC) is because they did not charge for incompletes, and there were cases in which this saved some money. In addition, CO/NY reiterated that they have eliminated daily roam charges for roaming anywhere in the US or Canada (credit for which, I will admit, must go to NYNEX since they instituted this policy first, regardless of whether such an offering was was "planned" by CO/NY or not). They also noted that monthly service charges will now be billed AFTER the month is over, not before. Overall, very good news indeed, and as a result I know that when I am in NY I'll be using the A side a bit more often now that I don't have to worry about incomplete calls! Doug Reuben * dreuben@interpage.net * (500) 442-4CID / (203) 499 - 5221 Interpage Network Services -- E-Mail/Telnet to Alpha or Numeric Pagers & Fax ------------------------------ From: aleksndr@aol.com (Aleksndr) Subject: Wireless Telephone Seminar Date: 21 Feb 1995 22:45:47 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: aleksndr@aol.com (Aleksndr) Wireless Business Telephone Systems Seminar An in-depth, educational seminar for telecommunications professionals who need to understand the applications, benefits and limitations of On-premises PCS, Wireless PBXs and In-Building Cellular systems. 1995 will witness the most fundamental change in business communications since the introduction of the electromechanical telephone system. Nearly every provider of PBX, Centrex, Key system, Cellular and PCS systems and services is expected to offer a wireless telephone system to address business user need for on-premises wireless communications. Incorporating In-Building Cellular, Unlicensed PCS and Wireless PBX, these new wireless telephone systems will usher in the era of Personal Communications Services and mark the end of traditional, fixed location, desktop telephone systems used by every business in the U.S. The Wireless Business Telephone Systems 9195 seminar has been designed to help both vendors and users make the right business decisions about these new wireless telephone systems. The two day Wireless Business Telephone Systems 9195 seminars will be taught by Jerry Kaufman, President of Alexander Resources. Mr. Kaufman is an internationally recognized expert on wireless communications and the foremost authority on wireless telephone systems. Alexander Resources is a management and market research consulting firm specializing in telecommunications. Name of Seminar: Wireless Business Telephone Systems 9195 Seminar locations: Anaheim, Atlanta, Bellevue, Boca Raton, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, Scottsdale, St. Louis, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. Dates: February through August 1995 Presented by: Alexander Resources Telephone: 800-948-8225 Fax: 602-948-1081 Contact: Carole Kaufman ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 21 Feb 95 22:00:32 -0500 Subject: Canadian Carrier Fonorola Gets TelRoute's Customers [from Bell News (Bell Canada), 20 Feb 95] Fonorola scoops up TelRoute's customers. TelRoute Communications, the alternative LD carrier with a bad attitude toward Bell (it owed us $3.5 million at the time it filed under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act on January 13 for protection from us and other creditors), has signed over its 30,000 customer base and switches to Fonorola, the Montreal-based LD reseller. Fonorola did not pay a specific price; it will pay royalties based on earnings derived from the customer base for the next 36 months. Bell has converted TelRoute's customer base to Fonorola's network as called for in the agreement approved by the Ontario Court on February 8. In January, Fonorola acquired certain assets of Northquest Ventures, including the customer base of LD reseller ITN Ltd. and other subsidiaries. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 21 Feb 95 22:01:14 -0500 Subject: BCE Involvement in Satellite Phone Services [from Bell News (Bell Canada), 20 Feb 95] BCE already a winner in satellite race. BCE holds a stake in two of the three rival consortiums which won licences from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to launch new satellite systems that will offer worldwide, wireless phone services. The three winners are: Motorola Satellite Communications Inc., Loral/Qualcomm L.P. of New York and San Diego, and TRW Inc. of Cleveland. Teleglobe, owned 24.4 per cent by BCE, is a partner in TRW's Odyssey satellite program, and BCE Mobile Communications, owned 65 per cent by BCE, is a partner in Motorola's Iridium satellite program. The three consortiums each plan to spend several billion dollars to launch large constellations of small satellites into low and medium Earth orbit, hence the terms LEO and MEO. LEO systems, like Iridium, will comprise a string of more than five dozen satellites hovering 800 kilometres above Earth. MEO systems, like Odyssey, will ring the planet with only 12 satellites, but at an altitude of 10,000 kilometres. Conventional communications satellites, much larger and costlier, orbit 37,000 kilometres above the equator. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: AirRich@ix.netcom.com (Richard Bradley) Subject: Shiva LanRover/E Problem Date: 23 Feb 1995 20:16:36 GMT Organization: Netcom I am having a problem with getting a Shiva LanRover /E to get a Dell Latitude to accept dial-out. It has worked on every other computer at my site but this one. If anyone has any expertise with this equipment I would really appreicate their input. Thanks in advance, AirRich ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 18:12:10 EST From: Steve Bunning Subject: V.35 Interface While reading the CCITT (ITU) Recommendation V.35, I began wondering how this standard for a 48,000 Kbps Wideband Modem using 60-108 kHz Group Band Circuits became the high speed equivilent of RS-232. The V.35 standard does not mention the large 34-pin block connector commonly used. The signals in the standard are ground, TxD, RxD, RTS, Ready for sending (CTS), DSR, RLSD, Tx Clock and Rx Clock. DTR, RI, Terminal Timing, Local Loopback, Test Mode, Remote Loopback, and Test Pattern are not included as part of the standard, but often seen in vendor documentation for V.35. Does anyone know how V.35 evolved from a modem standard to a de facto physical interface standard? ------------------------------ From: jeremyps@eskimo.com (Jeremy Schertzinger) Subject: Re: The Philosophy of CallerID Organization: Eskimo North (206) For-Ever Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 19:10:16 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mountain Dew? Mountain Dew??? Do you > remember that obnoxious commercial on television a few years ago where > the ignorant hillbilly stands up and shouts, "Yah hoo!!! Moun-tain Dew!" > I can't believe anyone would be addicted to that. Really? PAT] Yes, Mountain Dew, er, Diet Mountain Dew. btw, it has ~54 milligrams of caffeine per 12 oz. can. This lady was downing 16 oz. bottles regularly. (I'd say a case per day :) I don't like the stuff, myself, I'll stick to espresso coffee. btw, don't you think Mountain Dew looks like urine? :-) Jeremy Schertzinger http://www.eskimo.com/~jeremyps/ jeremyps@eskimo.com jeremys@scn.org Seattle Community Network Teens Moderator telnet: scn.org "go teens" Shorecrest High School Webmaster http://www.eskimo.com/~jeremyps/shorecrest/ [TELECOM Digest Editor's Complaint: Come on! Did you *have* to add that final comment? Maybe there should be a newsgroup devoted to addicts of Mountain Dew and Diet Mountain Dew. 'alt.people.who.drink.things.that. resemble.urine'. They could do all their postings via anon.penet.fi so that their shame would not have to be known publicly. Maybe there could be some sort of 12 Step program to help them get over their addiction. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: 21 Feb 95 00:43:23 EST From: Darryl Kipps <72623.456@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: The Philosophy of CallerID In V15 #107 Pat comments: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mountain Dew? Mountain Dew??? Do you > remember that obnoxious commercial on television a few years ago where > the ignorant hillbilly stands up and shouts, "Yah hoo!!! Moun-tain Dew!" > I can't believe anyone would be addicted to that. Really? PAT] Believe it. Mountain Dew has the highest caffiene content of any carbonated beverage on the market, except Jolt. And since there are no cola beans (where caffiene naturally occurs) used, it is all added. But, wrong forum. (Interesting to watch these threads ravel, isn't it?) BTW, don't feel bad about the smoking, we all gotta go sometime, may as well be happy. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well its only the wrong forum because the Mountain Dew addicts have not yet presented their Call For Discussion and Call For Voting on Usenet yet. When they do, they'll get their own group. Regards smoking, my rationale is if I were to quit today, and then twenty years from now die from lung cancer anyway, I'd be mad as hell about it and feel that I got cheated; better not take any chances. :) I started smoking when I was 13 years old because a one of my teachers in school smoked. I'd see that package of cigarettes in his shirt pocket and watch him smoking -- not in school of course, but when we went on field trips or when I went to his home to see him (I was always a teacher's pet, all through elementary and high school) -- and it occurred to me it must be the thing to do. After all, Arthur Erickson was very sophisticated and intelligent, and I wanted to be sophisticated and intelligent also. He taught the current events class (in those days many high schools named the course 'Modern Problems'), was the Debate Team Coach, played the piano and organ marvelously, had some great, and sometimes very unkind remarks about President Eisenhower, and subscriptions to {Atlantic Monthly}, {Harper's Magazine} and the {Christian Science Monitor}. He smoked a pack or more daily, and it didn't seem to hurt him any. Now, forty years later I do it out of habit. I can't imagine *not* being addicted. Unlike some smokers, or the tobacco companies, I don't make any pretense of it being a 'choice', yet on the other hand, I don't really want to quit. PAT] ------------------------------ From: producer@pipeline.com (Judith Oppenheimer) Subject: Re: March 7 Bellcore Meeting in DC Date: 20 Feb 1995 22:37:22 -0500 Organization: Interactive CallBrand(TM) Pat, you raise valid questions. I appreciate the opportunity to reply. producer@pipeline.com (Judith Oppenheimer) wrote: > March 7 at Bellcore in Washington DC, 2101 L St. NW, > 6th floor. > Ad Hoc State Department group on Numbering Issues. > Starts at 9 am. > Anyone can attend. > All 800 number users are urged to attend, and be vocal! > Protect your 800 numbers! International Freephone is on the agenda. > Keep an ear/eye open for 888 as well - > If *your* business were 1 800 FLOWERS, would you want 011 800 > FLOWERS (proposed International Freephone) and 1 888 FLOWERS (proposed > new add-on toll-free exchange) alienating and confusing *your* > customers, and running up your telecom bills with wrong calls that > generate no sales? Protect your advertising and branding investments > in your 800 numbers. Protect your brands and trademarks. > Protect your business interests. If you don't, no one will. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The only thing is, the telephone-using > *public* has to be to some extent responsible for knowing what and where > they are dialing. Actually, the public has the *legal right* to be protected, that they are calling who they think they're calling. That is the function of trademarks - to protect the consumer. Beyond which, these are now corporate-owned products, services and brands - not "phone numbers." That's why MCI trademarked 1 800 COLLECT and 1 800 CALL INFO. While certainly still a gray area, 800 portability, local portability issues, 500 "your's for life" numbers and the recent FCC "wish list" musing to auction 800 vanities, all point toward the trend in user proprietary rights, and away from telco control. Telco's complete the calls and bill for that service, but it is monopolistic, anti-competitive and anti-business to attempt to control the brands, media and products -- except of course, their own, as in the MCI illustration above. > {Chicago Tribune} columnist Mike Royko has complained several times > in the past about how his internal centrex number at the newspaper is > the same as a very commonly used number by AT&T for customer service, > minus the 1-800 on the front. Idiots galore trying to complain to AT&T > about something or other -- after all these years -- still do not > understand they must dial 1-800 first, so if they are in area 312 they > get his private unlisted centrex number instead. And you know what he > wants? He wants AT&T to change *their number* -- so that *he* won't > get their calls. How do you accomodate idiots and fools short of > stopping the world and letting everyone get off? This is not an applicable scenario. Mr. Royko's internal centrex number is not infringing on any trademark. And while I'm sure it's quite annoying to him, since his is not an 800 number, he is not stuck with charges for misdialed calls to AT&T's 800 number. However, both 011 800 COLLECT and 1 888 COLLECT would likely be used, or attempted to be used (or leveraged) as advertised toll-free numbers, specifically to capitalize on the brand equity and recognition that MCI has vested in the COLLECT brand. And, the businesss that inadvertently have similarly spelled or numbered 888 numbers would incur huge misdial bills. Large corporate users could absorb this loss. Given the popularity of this number, most smaller businesses could not. > Do you propose that when the 800 number supply is exhausted we just > quit having any more? Given the real estate, media and brand value in 800 numbers, as clearly lead by the carriers themselves (800 COLLECT, 800 PICK ATT, 800 THE MOST, etc.), I propose (among many other viable proposals I've seen), that: (a) 800 numbers be used only for commercial business purposes, with another toll-free XXX assigned for residential use with no brand ramifications; (b) that beepers and other products be similarly removed to again another toll-free XXX, with no brand interest. These two moves could significantly replenish the supply rather quickly, and should be considered by all interested parties. I'll also go out on a limb here and say that the impression of an 800 shortage is *quite* exacerbated by the carriers' grossly inefficient method of allocating toll-free numbers, and their practice of hoarding 800 numbers. > Do you propose that international commerce and trade be handicapped > by having no uniform way to dial around the world with the charges > reversed to the called party automatically? Absolutely not. Without repeating the entire international freephone thread that's run thru TELECOM Digest, we've seen many worthy alternatives suggested that would fill this need -- without compromising U.S. brands owned by U.S. companies, *or* European brands owned by European companies. These alternatives would provide better protection for consumers' interests as well. > You use FLOWERS as an example, and apparently would restrict the use > of 356-9377 where any other 'toll-free' numbering scheme is concerned > because the Americans got it first and want to protect their brand > name. That is all well and good, but 1-800-FLOWERS is not the same as > 011-800-FLOWERS or 1-888-FLOWERS. From a trademark standpoint, our legal experts say it is potentially indeed the same. As a practical matter, a 1 800 FLOWERS competitor using 011 800 FLOWERS domestically as well as internationally would cause grievous damage to 1 800 FLOWERS. Imagine how much more adversely this would affect smaller businesses. > Needless to say, its not the same as any local area code plus > 356-9377, and yet day after day that number gets calls for FLOWERS by > people who forgot the 1-800. Those callers have not been mislead by false advertising that they are calling 1 800 FLOWERS. Nor is the user of 356-9377 getting billed for those misdials. > There is a practical limit to how much can be done to idiot-proof > the phone network. We are all for exploring the practical limits. But as long as "phone numbers" are treated only as mechanical conduits, no realistic market driven exploration can take place. The brand, product, and media realities need to be addressed. This can only happen when users (both end users and services industry users), as well as brand, marketing, advertising, trademark and other experts are actively involved in the standards processes. > Well that would put us right back where we are now, with an > increasingly limited supply of available numbers. As I've noted above, we are *told* that the supply is dwindling. That does not make it so, nor necessary. > Or are you suggesting that only the 'big' 800 users get that > protection, and the rest of us with 800 numbers can live with the > nuisance that the corporate clients you represent don't wish to > tolerate, i.e. 'customer confusion' and having to pay for calls which > generated no business, etc? Actually, I'm mostly involved with and interested in small business and entrepreneurial interests. While happily acquainted with a good many corporate users, once they're informed and involved, they and their deep pockets can take care of themselves. It is *exactly* the smaller business user that will be crushed by the damage these new standards will cause. > You may not recall, but the same kind of arguments you are > presenting here came up twenty or more years ago as AT&T began major > expansions of 800 service as it was configured back then. Relatively > few companies had 800 service in the early 1970's, and those who did > often times had words made out of the four digit suffixes. Then AT&T > opened up a bunch of new prefixes and changed the configuration on > some already being used and suddenly the same words showed up attached > to other 800 prefixes in other parts of the country. "If I have > 800-xxx-FOOD you can't let him have 800-yyy-FOOD; too many people will > get us confused." That's life, sorry. You need to educate your > customers *how* to place the call, what more can I say? Pat, business has evolved since then, and portability solved that problem. As you know, even if you use your 800 number only locally, you have the option to expand nationally and to Canada. There are good reasons for that. Those good reason do not stop at our borders. Thanks for the chance to clarify some of my thoughts. Judith Oppenheimer, Producer@Pipeline.com Interactive CallBrand(TM) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If I understand correctly then, small 800 users like myself would be forced off that code in order that the numbers could be freed up for business customers. People with pagers and messaging services on 800 would be required to give up their 800 number for the same reason; so that business users would not have to be inconvenienced. I've a better idea: Let's take 888 and have all business users of 800 move there; you can have the whole thing, and it should last you for several years. And you say your legal experts are claiming that 1-800-FLOWERS and 011-800-FLOWERS and 1-888-FLOWERS all amount to the same thing from 'a trademark standpoint'. That's like McDonald's trying to claim they have the exclusive right to use "Mc" in advertising. They do try it occassionally, but sometimes get beaten up. I could see where they might have a better chance where fast food is concerned, however. Generally you can always find a lawyer to say whatever you want. I agree that portability is largely eliminating the old rule of telco which was 'the subscriber has no property rights in his number' but even so, in the three examples given above, the only part in common is the word 'flowers'; that's only seven out of eleven (or thirteen) digits, in other words 54 to 64 percent of the total expression. Can you claim to control any and all uses of the word 'flowers' where it appears in a phone number? Suppose for example I got 1-708-FLOWERS and advertised it that way. Its a perfectly legitimate number when stated as 1-708-356-9377 (or presumably as some other word made from those letter combinations), but as soon as I advertised FLOWERS your lawyers would get after me, I suppose because even though the final seven digits make up only about half of the total expression, they are the 'significant' or 'meaningful' part. Now why couldn't they do the same thing with 011-800 or 1-888? When someone with one of those tries to advertise as FLOWERS in the USA (or wherever your trademark rights extend) then you pounce on them for it. They can use it in Europe or Asia if they want, but they can't phrase it in that way in the USA, where they would have to be 011-800-356-9377. If your lawyers tried to claim that by using it as FLOWERS in Asia I was causing grevious damage to your USA-based business, my response would be to require you to produce records for the past few years showing how much or little of your business came from Asia using your toll-free number. PAT] ------------------------------ From: brasuell_bill@tandem.com (Bill Brasuell) Subject: Re: Requesting Information About SDH Organization: Tandem Computers Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 04:41:01 GMT In article , wgan@netcom.com (willy gan) wrote: > I'd often seen the words SDH or SDH compatible equipment advertised in > data communication magazines. Can anyone explain or give me examples > of what SDH stands for? SDH is Synchronous Digital Hierarchy and carries STM-n signals much like SONET carries STS-n. STM is Synchronous Transport Module. STM-1 155.52Mbps (OC3) STM-4 622.08Mbps (OC12) STM-16 2.48832Gbps (OC48) STM-64 9.95352Gbps (OC192) An STS-1 Frame matches an STS3cFrame Bill Brasuell Tandem Computers ------------------------------ Subject: Anon Servers, Child Porn and Scientologists Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 07:45:36 GMT From: Clive D.W. Feather > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The comments by Helsingius sort of > confirm what I said here the other day where remailers are concerned: > they do have records of who says what, and will keep them for use as > necessary. Pat: Julf has to keep the records, and keep them online, because he allows email to be sent *to* anonymous addresses. Clive D.W. Feather | Santa Cruz Operation clive@sco.com | Croxley Centre Phone: +44 1923 813541 | Hatters Lane, Watford Fax: +44 1923 813818 | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom <== NOTE: NEW FAX NUMBER ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 18:03:38 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Information on O. J. Simpson Case In the {Baltimore Sun}, it says to call (for the latest info on the Simpson trial) "Sundial" at (410) 783-1800 and punch in 6139. (Other numbers in area 410 are also available for the Sundial service: 268-7736 in Anne Arundel county; 848-0338 in Carroll county; 836-5028 in Harford county.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually I was thinking if they pay me enough, I might pre-empt all regular programming in this newsgroup and provide exclusive OJ trial coverage instead. That whole thing is a joke; I bet it goes on for another year. What a travesty of justice! I don't care if OJ is guilty or innocent. What other person ever on trial in this country has gotten his posterior kissed the way OJ has? Did you know that in the jail where he is being held, all the other prisoners have lost their visiting rights on weekends; that's so that Mr. OJ doesn't have to have riff-raff around him when *his* friends come to visit and his attornies. The jail employees are being extremely unfair to all the other inmates while they suck-up to OJ. Someone should tell him, hey you are just a prisoner here, just scum like all the others ... he should not be getting any more or less privileges than anyone else in that jail. I wonder if/when he is found guilty if they will have to purchase some elegant resort and turn it into a prison where they keep him? I mean, how could they put him in San Quentin with the other murderers? Would his attornies permit that? And Judge Ito sits there and plays the role of straight man in this comedy routine. The whole thing is a good example of how the rich and famous and their high priced attornies get one brand of justice in the USA while the rest of us get something totally different. If it was anyone else at all, this trial would have been over with weeks or months ago; probably finished the day it started or a couple hours after it started. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #117 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28630; 24 Feb 95 2:17 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA28459; Thu, 23 Feb 95 22:04:35 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA28452; Thu, 23 Feb 95 22:04:31 CST Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 22:04:31 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502240404.AA28452@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #118 TELECOM Digest Thu, 23 Feb 95 22:04:30 CST Volume 15 : Issue 118 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Call for Presentations - Summit '95 (summit@ix.netcom.com) Incoming Call Alert Needed (Robert Perlberg) Saying Hello in Other Languages (James F. Foerster) Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? (Scott Murray) Information Requested on Video Conferencing (Andy Humberston) SaskTel Videogame Service (Dave Leibold) Unitel Operators Connected (Dave Leibold) Information Wanted on Hotel Telephone Billing (Stephen Cacclin) Explanation of Erlang B Formula (Steve Samler) Guernsey Bulletin Boards (be3_037@civl.port.ac.uk) N.T. M9516 Phone Wanted (Keith Knipschild) Nokia 121 Programming Help Needed (Alexander Cerna) Re: Area Code/Prefix Trivia (David O'Heare) Re: Bell Canada Stumped on 500 Service (David L. Oehring) Re: 500 Place-A-Call Working (Stan Schwartz) Re: Security of Cordless Phones? (Paul Robertson) Re: Security of Cordless Phones? (Stephen Denny) Re: Security of Cordless Phones? (Clarence Dold) Last Laugh! The Unintentional Date/Chat Line (David Leibold) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: summit@ix.netcom.com (Summit '94) Subject: Call for Presentations Date: 24 Feb 1995 00:28:23 GMT Organization: Netcom *** CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS *** ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT SUMMIT 95 October 23-27, 1995 Infomart Dallas, Texas Phone: 415. 512. 0801 Fax: 415. 512. 1325 Email: summit@ix.netcom.com The deadline for submitting proposals for speaking at Summit 95 (to be held at the Dallas InfoMart, October 23-27) is February 28. ** Topics Summit 95 will focus on both real-world solutions and underlying technology. Topics to be covered include the management of: Networks (voice, video and data), Systems (mainframes, minis, workstations, PCs), Applications, Databases, and Integrated management of the four domains. Subjects of particular interest to Summit 95 participants include (but are not necessarily limited to): * Case studies/success stories * Distributed object computing * Managing NOSs * Network management standards * Managing/monitoring distributed applications/databases * Data warehouses * Network optimization * Help Desk * Desktop management standards * Asset management/Software licensing/Software distribution * Managing messaging networks * Security * Personel management/Career development Note to vendors: Presentations must be focused on technology and/or solutions. Products may be discussed if integrated within case studies. ** Formats Technical Sessions and Panels: 1 hour sessions Tutorial Sessions: Half-day, full-day and two day sessions ** Submissions Please submit an abstract of 100-200 words by February 28, 1995 ------------------------------ From: Robert Perlberg Subject: Incoming Call Alert Needed Date: 23 Feb 95 11:54:08 GMT [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The original message did not appear in this Digest. Excerpts are quoted here instead. PAT] RJMATTER@delphi.com wrote: Quoting ktk9091 from a message in comp.sources.wanted >> solution. I need some software that will tell me that a call is >> coming in, and ideally, what number the call is being placed from. >> Does anything like this exist, or am I dreaming? >> Thanks for your help! > There is a service avaliable through the telephone company where callers > get to leave a message when you are busy. I think it costs $5 per month > on your phone bill. When you hang up then lift to hear a busy signal and > instead hear a special sound, that means you have messages and should > enter your code to retrieve them. That's what I was thinking, but it doesn't solve the problem of not knowing that someone called. I don't know whether the phone company has this, but at my office we have a feature in our voice messaging system called out-call notification. You can program the system to call you at another number whenever the system takes a message. I entered my beeper number as the out-call notification number, so whenever anyone leaves me a message I get beeped. This way I always know when someone is trying to reach me and I don't have to give out my beeper number. Does anyone know if the phone company's message service has this feature? Robert Perlberg Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., New York dwrsun4!perl@murphy.com -or- perl%dwrsun4@philabs.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 15:52:43 CST From: James F. Foerster Subject: Saying Hello in Other Languages Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago, ADN Computer Center My uncle is 85 years old, and wants desperately to see a list of how people in other countries answer the phone. Hello, pronto (Italian, I think) are the only ones he knows. Can someone help or refer me elsewhere? Thanks. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If people want to send me a list of those they know I will compile and summarize it here. PAT] ------------------------------ From: murrays@clipper.robadome.com (Scott Murray) Subject: Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? Date: 23 Feb 1995 19:32:11 GMT Organization: Siemens Rolm Communications, Inc. Reply-To: murrays@clipper.robadome.com Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any info on SMR -- Specialized Mobile Radio. I have been approached by a company in Florida to buy an SMR channel. The channel is in the 851-866Mhz range and is used by companies to provided cellular like service at a cheaper rate. The channels are supposedly given out by the government on a first come first serve basis, but this company wants to charge by $3500 to file all the paper work and guarantees me a channel or my money back. Supposedly once you have a channel you can rent it out or sell it to the regionaly operators and they are very anxious to get these extra channels. The have been able to convert these old style radio dispatch towers into digital towers that provided phone, paging and fax service at a fraction of the cellular cost and the towers cover a larger range. My questions are these: Is this really a good investment? Are these channels really in demand by companies like Nextel, CenCall, DialPage etc.? Is it worth going through this company or are there cheaper ways to get a channel? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Scott ------------------------------ From: iah@dmu.ac.uk (Andy Humberston) Subject: Information Requested on Video Conferencing Date: 22 Feb 1995 17:39:16 GMT Organization: De Montfort University, Leicester, UK Is anybody aware of any mailing/news lists dedicated to discussing video conferencing (eg. Hardware, Standards, New Products, etc) I am interested in finding information regarding the (forthcoming) T.120 standards set. Any ideas will be appreciated. Andy Humberston, Network Support, De Montfort University, UK Tel: +44 116 2551551 ext 8175 Fax: +44 116 2577170 EMail: iah@dmu.ac.uk ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 22 Feb 95 22:00:06 -0500 Subject: SaskTel Videogame Service [from Bell News (Bell Canada), 20 Feb 95] SaskTel to deliver Nintendo games to hotel rooms SaskTel, Saskatchewan leading phone company, has signed a deal with Nintendo to market a new system that will deliver Nintendo's video games to hotel rooms via phone lines. The system will allow guests to use the phone even while playing games. SaskTel developed the system in partnership with Hospitality Network Canada of Regina. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 22 Feb 95 21:59:58 -0500 Subject: Unitel Operators Connected [from Bell News (Bell Canada), 20 Feb 95] Unitel, [Bell Canada's] AT&T-managed competitor, is conducting a technology trial with a view to offering a range of operator services. During the trial, which will last until April 1, Unitel has operators providing such services as: station-to-station and person-to-person collect and third- number calls; toll-call completion; call transfers to the telephone company's directory assistance service; and credit card billing options. Depending on the results of the trial, Unitel might offer operator services to other carriers and resellers. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: cacclin@vanbc.wimsey.com (Stephen Cacclin) Subject: Information Wanted on Hotel Telephone Billing Date: 22 Feb 1995 01:39:23 -0800 Organization: Wimsey Information Services Hello all, I am developing custom call-accounting software for a hotel. Their PABX outputs each call's time/date, telephone number, duration and room extension. My question is: What is the best method to calculate the telephone charge? I guess I am looking for some sort of standardized rate table for North American long-distance. Does such a thing exist, and if so, is it available on the net? Someone please say yes, as I am not up to entering these rates by hand ... Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Stephen Cacclin Echelon Computing [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just charge as much as you think you can get away with; that's what the other hotels do. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 09:47:10 EST From: Steve Samler Subject: Explanation of Erlang B Formula assumptions are: infinite sources equal traffic density per source lost calls cleared P=((A**N)/N!)/(A**x)/x! where the denominator is summed from x=0 to N and A = total traffic offered in Erlangs N = number of servers in a full availability group P = probability of loss ------------------------------ From: BE3_037 Subject: Guernsey Bulletin Boards Date: 23 Feb 1995 12:48:39 GMT Organization: University of Portsmouth (UK) Is there a list of people who offer bulletin board services in the Channel Islands? ------------------------------ From: keith.knipschild@asb.com Organization: America's Suggestion Box (516) 471-8625 Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 00:39:51 GMT Subject: N.T. M9516 Telephone Wanted Does anyone know where I can get my hands on the NORTHERN TELECOM "M9516" Telephone? I have seen it in the "Hello Direct" Catalog, But I can't seem to find a LOCAL Dealer ... I am located in the NYC Area, on Long Island. Does anyone own the M9516? If so please post or send me a REVIEW. Thanks, Keith Keith.Knipschild@asb.com ------------------------------ Reply-To: Alexander Cerna Subject: Nokia 121 Programming Help Needed Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 18:50:21 +0800 From: Alexander Cerna I have a Nokia 121. Is it possible to change the five-digit security code by myself? I've pored over the manual and fiddled with the phone itself, but I can't seem to find a way to change it. I was able to set it the first time around. But afterwards I couldn't find a way to change it to another five-digit number. I've asked the local service provider, and I was told that only they could change it with, implicitly, some special equipment that they only have. Is this true? Thanks in advance. Regards, Alexander Cerna cerna@ntep.tmg.nec.co.jp VOX: +63 (32) 400-451 NEC Technologies MEPZ, Lapulapu, Phils 6015 FAX: +63 (32) 400-457 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 22:39:11 +0000 From: bj059@freenet.carleton.ca Subject: Re: Area Code/Prefix Trivia Organization: contractor at BNR > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > And what area code covers the largest geographical area? Well, Bell Canada's operators consider 872 to be an area code. I think that wins. (For those not in the know, 872 is the access code for Inmarsat Pacific.) David O'Heare +1 613 765 3478 (W) +1 613 729 4830 (H) bj059@freenet.carleton.ca (Don't reply to the address in the header; I won't get the message.) ------------------------------ From: dlo@csggp2.ih.att.com (David L Oehring) Subject: Re: Bell Canada Stumped on 500 Service Organization: AT&T Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 23:25:00 GMT In article , Montague Scott A <4sam3@qlink. queensu.ca> wrote: > Well, it was bound to happen. What was, in myu opinion the best phone > company in North America, has let me down. The problem? Bell Canada has > never heard of 500 service. A quick call to Pat's number using both 1- > and 0- gave me a "bad number" message. So, I got online with a Bell > Canada operator, and she told me "sorry, I don't know of the 500 area > code. > I called 1-800-CALLATT; they didn't know what 500 was about; > until I persisted. He can't connect me though. Call AT&T Long Distance Repair at 1-800-222-3000. I've encountered a few Ameritech phones in the 312 and 313 area codes that did not recognize 1+/0+ 500 calls and they fixed the problem within 24 hrs. Dave Oehring ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: 500 Place-A-Call Working Date: 22 Feb 1995 23:35:47 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC David.L.Oehring@att.com wrote: > I dialed my True Connections(sm) 500 Number to update my reach list > this past Saturday, and noticed that the first-level prompt (following > entry of the master PIN) had been changed. Previously, option #2 was > to "Call Home", but is now "To place a call". I tried out the > "Place-A-Call" feature and it worked (from the 312/708 area). It > looks like the post cards announcing the feature were only a little (one > week?) early. It works here in 516 also! (I just can't seem to get back to the True Connections prompt if the called party does not answer)! On a related note, I received a call yesterday from an AT&T Rep (the nice lady who programmed my Final Stop) who called to tell me that The Navigator service is now working in my area. Apparently, AT&T overcame any tariff problems that they were having. Of course I _HAD_ to try it, and sure enough, it works! On another related note, AT&T of New York, Inc filed with the NY State PSC to provide intra-state True500 service (it was in a legal notice in today's {Newsday}). The filing also mentions changes in rates for CIID/891 cards. What are they? Stan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since you mentioned 'Navigator', that is one part of 500 service many users are not familiar with. Would you please send in a short explanation of it? PAT] ------------------------------ From: Robertson, Paul Subject: Re: Security of Cordless Phones Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 09:30:00 PST jporten@mail2.sas.upenn.edu (Jeffrey A. Porten) wrote: > Having just gotten a new cordless phone (BellSouth 46mHz), and living > in the paranoid environs of Washington, DC, I find myself wondering > just how likely it is that the world is listening to my calls. > The phone has ten channels, and a security code feature which, so far > as I understand, exists mainly to prevent another cordless handset > from tapping into my base unit, but does nothing to scramble the > signal from the handset. > I live in an apartment building, with a few others nearby, so consider > this a high-density area. Should I go on the assumption that people > are always listening in? Sometimes? Almost never? > I have a corded set that I keep hooked up for confidential calls; as a > stopgap, I sometimes scan channels on my cordless so any eavesdropper > will at least have to fiddle to find me again. Does this help, or am > I kidding myself? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Corded or cordless, the assumption should > be that your telephone calls are never secure. In actual practice, it > may not matter to you; if you are just in idle chatter with someone you > aren't going to bother with the trouble of special precautions. My personal > belief is the use of scanners to listen to cordless phones is still a > relatively rare thing; how many people do *you* know that own scanners > who are within range of your cordless phone? And of those, how many are > sophisticated enough to know how to program the scanner for cordless? > So my feeling is generally its not a big deal, and if you do have something > very important and personal to say, you might want to go to a payphone > anyway. PAT] In this area (DC Metro), there are a _lot_ of people with scanners, a great majority of whom are "techies" working for various beltway bandits. There are a few Bulletin Boards dedicated to it, and a local USENET newsgroup. Since cordless phones are about the second thing covered in most scanner books (right after airplanes), I wouldn't call scanning the band "sophisti- cated". Remember that when most scanner books were written cordless moni- toring was perfectly legal. I'd say it's pretty much a given that in most areas of Northern VA, Suburban MD, and parts of DC, odds are that there are scanner owners listening in. In an apartment building, it doesn't even take a decent antenna, and range can be quite good if you have an apartment in a fairly tall building, a dec- ent antenna, antenna amplifier, etc. As for hopping channels, it won't do you any good, as anyone who wants to listen in will be scanning the whole cordless band, not just one frequency. My advice would be to get a cordless that encrypts, and never use a cordless for something like ordering with a credit card, or talking about something you wouldn't tell the cashier at the local grocery store. Paul D. Robertson proberts@moc1.gannett.com ------------------------------ From: sdenny@spd.dsccc.com (Stephen Denny) Subject: Re: Security of Cordless Phones? Date: 23 Feb 1995 18:55:49 GMT Organization: DSC Communications Corporation, Plano, Texas USA > In article , Jeffrey A. Porten mail2.sas.upenn.edu> wrote: >> Having just gotten a new cordless phone (BellSouth 46mHz), and living >> in the paranoid environs of Washington, DC, I find myself wondering > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> just how likely it is that the world is listening to my calls. > [ stuff deleted ] >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Corded or cordless, the assumption should >> be that your telephone calls are never secure. While I am falling behind on this issue, until recent months, scanners, both hand-held and base station varieties were sold through legitimate vendors such as Radio Shack that can receive all cordless frequencies and with minor modifications, cellular frequencies. I believe many models receiving cord- less are still available. It has been my understanding that at sometime in 1994 it became illegal for manufacturers to sell scanners that were "easily" modified for cellular (with an exception that allowed depletion of existing stock). It has also been illegal to listen to cellular for awhile. It is my understanding that as of late 1994 a new act also made it illegal to listen to cordless. I do not believe it is yet illegal in the land of the free (except in certain local jurisdictions) to own equipment that receives these frequencies even if it is now illegal to listen to them. For a complete thorough discussion of this topic on a daily basis, please refer to the usenet group: rec.radio.scanner Let me point out that many laws seem to be broken regularly. To the best of my knowledge it is illegal to exceed the posted speed limit on roads and highways, yet it appears that that law is broken by many. I would never encourage, assist or support anyone in an effort to violate any law or regulation. I only to note that from what I read and see, and it appears that some communications laws are also being broken regularly. My general advise is that regardless of what protections the laws are intended to provide, I concur with the Editor's advice above: if it is transmitted you should assume it will be received. Stephen Denny sdenny@cpdsc.com DSC Communications Corp. Plano, TX, USA ------------------------------ From: Clarence Dold Subject: Re: Security of Cordless Phones? Date: 23 Feb 1995 04:32:34 GMT Organization: a2i network [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > My personal belief is the use of scanners to listen to cordless > phones is still a relatively rare thing; how many people do *you* know > that own scanners who are within range of your cordless phone? And of > those, how many are sophisticated enough to know how to program the > scanner for cordless? The range of a scanner to receive cordless transmissions of 46 mhz phones is apparently several blocks. With a common scanner, and about a ten inch antenna, I am easily able to pick up clear conversations on many cordless phones/baby monitors. By random count, I am guessing that the coverage is quite broad, since I assume that not every house has a cordless phone. The skill required is trivial. If you can program your scanner to receive your local police channel, you can certainly receive 46 mhz telephone traffic. The only bad part is that by comparison to police/fire, it is long winded and boring. You also get to listen to background conversation in the room while the phone is being dialed out, and ringing at the other end. Of more concern is the skimmers who drive around with a cordless phone, just hoping to catch a usable dialtone from your front yard. You would be amazed at the phone bill my mother-in-law managed to accumulate in about six weeks. I suppose that someone discovered that she leaves her phone off the base (some won't work with stray handsets, if the true handset is in the cradle), and then probably sat in their car in front of the house, and placed phone calls to several pricey destinations. My mother-in-law was astonished (a second time), when I set up my scanner, cruised through the ten possible channels, and picked up her conversation in mid-call. I don't think she really believed it until I showed her. Clarence A Dold - dold@rahul.net - Pope Valley & Napa CA. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Cruising for dialtone is something that has gone on for several years. And the cruisers make a note of where they found the dialtone (in front or behind of what addresses, etc) so they don't have to drive around so long looking for the next time they want to make a long distance call. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 18:59:42 EST From: David Leibold Subject: The Unintentional Date/Chat Line George Gamester's column in {The Toronto Star} of 22 Feb 95 makes mention of what is believed to be Toronto's first date/chat line ~1960. The thing was, the service was actually supposed to be some pastor's "dial-a-prayer" line. When an apparent revival in the form of a flood of calls was registered, Bell Canada decided to find out how to control the overloading on the system. It was found that teenagers were doing a conference bridge over a busy signal. Thus dates and chats were arranged at the expense of an over-engaged prayer line. After weeks of attempting to exorcise this demon in the network, Bell was finally able to shut off the conference effect. The calls to the line dropped to a trickle, and it turned out there wasn't a big revival in Toronto after all (an inconvenience for which Bell wound up crediting the religious group running the line). David Leibold aa070@freenet.toronto.on.ca [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Some time ago a little trivia item here in the Digest discussed the first use of telephone recorded announcements in other than a weather forecast/time of day context. The first one was a dial-a-prayer service which started about 1955 on Long Island, NY. I do recall when the Hoosier Theatre in Whiting, Indiana had a recorded message giving movie titles and show times. They were running that when Whiting had manual service. The recorded message was on 'Whiting 1234'. Taking advantage of the ease in remembering a number like that, when I operated my recorded daily newsline messages for about five years from 1972-77 I had the number 312-HArrison-7-1234. But I had more than one line. I had about twenty lines in a rotary hunt. i.e. 1234 hunted 1235 then 1236, etc. When I started, it was an old style stepper switch, so I could not have all the numbers I needed since there were not that many idle numbers in a row. When the CO changed to ESS in 1974, I did an expansion with quite a few more lines since it did not matter what numbers were involved any longer; 1234 stayed as the lead. I did not give prayers or scripture readings on my line. The machines I used were leased from Illinois Bell; they were *big*, *heavy* (75 pounds each?) machines used by Bell as for intercept type recordings. Inside they had big round drums coated with mylar which spun around and around as a finger dropped down and touched the surface. They held up to three minutes of recorded information. For recording purposes, one machine was a 'master' and the others were 'slaves'. Little mechanical counters on each line kept track of the number of calls received. Bell said when they set up the 'master/slave' arrangement for me they had to write a special tariff for it; nothing like that had been done with recorded messages previously. I had a little closet-like office downtown where all the machines sat stacked on shelves along the wall. Because the machines all clacked and chattered as they would start and stop the place was always quite noisy. In the early days, when the HArrison exchange was a stepper, folks used the busy signal from my lines to hold conferences on the side also. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #118 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02421; 24 Feb 95 5:38 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA01638; Fri, 24 Feb 95 00:40:15 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA01632; Fri, 24 Feb 95 00:40:12 CST Date: Fri, 24 Feb 95 00:40:12 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502240640.AA01632@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #119 TELECOM Digest Fri, 24 Feb 95 00:40:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 119 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson ISDN on CNN's Science and Technology Week Show (Ed Goldgehn) Caller Id Service For Equivalency Lines - First Line Only? (Paul Chehowski) Re: The Philosophy of CallerID (Charles R. Azer) Help Needed With US Robotics Sportster (Randy Hoes) Re: Is Origin Cell on a Cellular Call Logged? (Sam Spens Clason) Re: Is Origin Cell on a Cellular Call Logged? (Kris Trimmer) Re: Switch Architectures Literature (fredbg@ax.apc.org) Information Wanted on Ericsson Switch (Steve Bauer) Re: What is DMS-100? (Steve Bauer) Re: Information Wanted About DMS Switches (Scott Miller) Re: Grim Changes for Net (A. Padgett Peterson) Re: Pair Gain Line Problem, Help! (Mike Sandman) Northern/BT Agreement Continues (Dave Leibold) Re: Wireless RF Manufacturers (Eric Nelson) Re: E(TACS) and GSM (John Scourias) What is ESF and D4? (davethez@netcom.com) Re: March 7 Bellcore Meeting in DC (leob@netcom.com) NUtmeg (Gary D. Shapiro) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: edg@ocn.com (Ed Goldgehn) Subject: ISDN on CNN's Science and Technology Week Show Date: 24 Feb 1995 04:39:58 GMT Organization: The INTERNET Connection, LLC Reply-To: feedback@ocn.com Here's a heads up on this weekend's Science & Technology Week show on CNN. Over the past few weeks, Open Communication Networks and BellSouth Telecommunications have been assisting CNN on putting together a segment on ISDN and its use for telecommuting. BellSouth Telecommun- ications provided the ISDN lines to CNN and to Miles O'Brien's home (the host of the show). OCN provided the integration of all computer, communication, and software components to give CNN the applications they asked for -- for the record -- in a very limited timeframe. At this time, we are not certain what exactly will show up on the segment of this half-hour show. We have been told that a follow-up is scheduled which will include more standard telecommuting applications than this individual segment is focused on. We are very interested in receiving any feedback about the segment so that we may pass it on to CNN. We hope to continue the series on a more regular basis bringing to the show additional applications of ISDN both on the "bleeding" edge (as some of these were) and more generic applications for use by the general telecommuter and ISDN end-user. Please send any comments or suggestions via e-mail to feedback@ocn.com. The show airs at 11:00 a.m. EST on CNN this Saturday (2/25). It is repeated on Sunday at 12:30 EST. Actual times may vary across time zones so be sure to check your local listings for Science and Techology Week. The applications which were taped for the show include the following: 1) Video Conferencing via ISDN with Intel's Proshare Package 2) Intel's Proshare Premier (shared white board) during #1 3) WWW access via IBM's WaveRunner and FTP's Explore On-Net Software 4) Internet E-Mail via ISDN FTP's Mail-OnNet software 5) Video Conferencing via IP (using OnNet 1.1) over 128K ISDN with Invision's Software and Intel's Video Capture Board - ISDN was via a Gandalf 5242i Bridge (without compression). 6) Internet Phone via ISDN (in conjunction with Invision Video Conferencing 7) WWW at 128K using Spyglass Enhanced Mosaic (next release) via Gandalf's 5242i Bridge (without compression) 8) cc:mail (CNN's internal mail system) via nfs via ISDN through the Gandalf 5242i Bridge (without compression) connected to OCN's Metropolitan IP/CO and then routed to a Livingston's Firewall Router connected via a Bonded 128K connection using Motorola's UTA220 Items #1 through #4 were taped at the home of one of BellSouth's employees. OCN provided FTP's software and assisted in the configuration and implementa- tion of the WaveRunner on an existing ISDN circuit which also served the Intel Proshare equipment on a limited S/T bus. Items #5 through #8 were configured, implemented and installed by OCN. All connectivity to Internet for the program was provided by The INTERNET Connection, LLC in Atlanta (404-419-6100 or sales@ticllc.net) We have been asked to provide {CommunicationsWeek} with a story about how the technology was integrated for the show. While no guarantees have been given about their publishing the article, they have indicated a significant interest in the information. In any event, I will be writing that article and will make it available to anyone send an e-mail request (feedback@ocn.com). Ed Goldgehn E-Mail: edg@ocn.com Sr. Vice President Voice: (404) 919-1561 Open Communication Networks, Inc. Fax: (404) 919-1568 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'd like a copy of that article to share with Digest readers. Please send it here also if that's possible. PAT] ------------------------------ From: paulc@hookup.net (Paul Chehowski) Subject: Caller Id Service For Equivalency Lines - First Line Only? Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 22:57:08 Organization: Sulis Computing Help, I'm working on an IVR system that is heavily dependent on Caller-ID to identify callers to the system. We arranged to have our lines put in, and I was shocked to find out that if I wanted a single 1-800 number to access the system, I had to set up the two lines that we needed in the local office as equivalency lines, and that as equivalency lines I would only get caller id on the first line of the group. Unfortunately I could only talk to a local order taker, who couldn't explain to me technically why this is the case, and they were unable to suggest any work arounds and were unwilling to pass me on to anyone technical to discuss the issue. I know the Caller-ID information is transmitted between the first and second ring to the line. For some reason, if the first line is busy, then the second line can not obtain the Caller-ID information and pass it down the local loop to the subscriber at the end of the line. Questions: 1. Can anyone out there obtain Caller-ID information for all lines of an equivalency group, from their local phone company? 2. Can anyone provide me with a technical information of what's happening in the switch that does not allow Caller-ID information to be transmitted in this case? (or a contact to someone within Bell Canada that could answer this question) 3. Any suggestions for an alternate method of having a single 1-800 number pass over to multiple local lines, with Caller-ID information provided to all of the multiple lines. Thanks for any help anyone can provide. This system is being used to provide information to clients with sensory disabilities, many of who will have vision impairments, thus we want to set it up so they have to press as few keys as possible on their telephone to use the system. Paul Chehowski paulc@hookup.net Sulis Computing ad771@freenet.carleton.ca [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well I don't know about the telco where you are located, but here, Caller-ID gets passed just fine to the various lines in a hunt group. For example I have CID on by my lines. The first line hunts to the second when it is busy. I have one CID display box fed through a Radio Shack automatic line selector switch. That's the device that when a single line phone is plugged in, either of two lines ringing will toggle the internal switch in the box and feed the ringing line to the single phone. Instead of a phone, I feed my CID box from that unit. (I have a two line phone nearby.) When either line rings independently, the box shows the number. When the main line is busy and it gets a call the second line rings of course, and the CID box shows the number. So I think someone at your telco misled you, unless they have software that's different than everyone else. Now you *do* have to pay for CID on each line; you can't get by with paying for it just on one line; maybe that is how the rep misunderstood you. Based on the way your message read, I assume you are subscribing to some long distance carrier which supplies ANI in the form of Caller-ID when you get a call. If your telco still persists that they cannot send CID intended for the first line on to the hunt line as needed, then go back to your LD carrier and have *them* supply the hunt group in the form of two 800 lines; one to each of your two numbers. Have the LD carrier make your listed 800 number hunt to a second 'overflow' 800 number and do the work at that end. The first 800 will feed your first line and the second (transparent to the user, hunted) 800 number will feed your second line. Then tell your local telco: two lines, each separate; two Caller-ID's, one on each line. Your LD carrier will fix things on his end so that instead of a single 800 number handled like DID which just splashes all over the place, feeding you to the extent you can handle it, your 800 will handle one call, and one call only at a time. When its in use, the next incoming call hunts to another 800 and it in turn handles one call, and one call only, directed to your second line. Long ago, before having single 800 numbers for lots of calls at one time, we had to do it that way; literally an actual 800 number for each call we wamted to be able to accept. You want to take twenty calls at a time, get twenty 800 numbers. No more, thank goodness, but it is one way to work around telcos who refuse to take what is handed to them and hunt with full features on their end. You can also get the LD carrier to actually terminate on phones at your end direct rather than outdialing what he gets. You might want to consider that also; cut the local telco out of the picture entirely. PAT] ------------------------------ From: crazer@crl.com (Charles R. Azer) Subject: Re: The Philosophy of CallerID Date: 23 Feb 1995 20:45:48 -0800 Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [Login: guest] Jeremy Schertzinger (jeremyps@eskimo.com) wrote: > I don't like the stuff, myself, I'll stick to espresso coffee. btw, > don't you think Mountain Dew looks like urine? :-) No. It looks like radiator fluid! Charles R. Azer [TELECOM Digest Editor's Whimper: Come on now guys! Enough is enough! Exactly what is 'radiator fluid'? Do you mean anti-freeze? PAT] ------------------------------ From: rhoes@tiac.net (Randy Hoes) Subject: Help Needed With US Robotics Sportster Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 19:46:07 Organization: Consultant I bought a US Robotics Sportster V.34 etc. and I can't make the fax portion work. I have spent mucho time with Datastorm (Procomm+) trying to isolate the problem to no avail. Datastorm says the ROM chip in the US Robotics is old and should be replaced. I picked up a rumor from my SLIP provider today that it is generally known that US Robotics has a problem with the ROM. Has anyone heard of the problem and is US Robotics helping us? Thank you, Randy Hoes ------------------------------ From: d92-sam@flum.nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) Subject: Re: Is Origin Cell on a Cellular Call Logged? Date: 23 Feb 1995 21:09:10 GMT In chuckc@hpfcla.fc.hp.com (Chuck Cairns) writes: > Is the origin cell on a cellular call logged? Can such information be used in an American court of law? How "easy" is is for the authorities to obtain it? The reason I ask is that it can in Sweden court. Some years ago there was a case of a man being sentenced to jail on the basis of his cell-phone records. He had burglered a house but pleaded not guilty. He had an alibi which stated that he hadn't been within 5 km from the burglered house. The police knew that he had a cellphone mounted in his car. When they examined the records they found that he had indeed used his phone during his "alibi". Telia concluded that he could not have been farther away from the scene of the crime than 500m. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To find out the answer to this, I turned > to our resident expert, Kevin Mitnick ... ... he says they are, > unfortunatly. Uh, I know this is a rude question to ask, but have you > some reason to wish they were not? PAT] Maybe, maybe not. It is a rather relevant question. A couple of years ago your location could be computed to a couple of hundred meters square or more. Now that distance has shrunk dramatically due to the shrinking size of radio cells. In just couple of years your cellphone will give you away just as effectively as a (civillian) GPS terminal. Ethical question; is this god or bad?! Sam Sam Spens Clason ------------------------------ Date: 23 Feb 95 19:07:32 EST From: Kris Trimmer <73772.1042@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: Is Origin Cell on a Cellular Call Logged? In a recent issue, chuckc@hpfcla.fc.hp.com(Chuck Cairns) asked: > Is the origin cell on a cellular call logged? To which the Esteemed Moderator replied: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To find out the answer to this, I > turned to our resident expert, Kevin Mitnick ... ... he says they > are, unfortunately. Uh,I know this is a rude question to ask, but > have you some reason to wish they were not? PAT] Pat, I can't answer if Chuck has a reason, but his question does lead to one I am curious about. Let's suppose (purely hypothetically) That I am a former pro football player and part time sportscaster with a promising acting career (Thats promising as in - " I keep promising I'll get better - but I don't"). I have recently been charged with the particularly gruesome murder of my ex-wife and her friend. One key to my guilt or innocence lies in my alibi for where I was at 10:15 at the alleged time of the murder. Unable to challenge this time of death due to the well known "barking dog as a time of death indicator" (a well known forensic legal principal recently upheld in the case of Ted Bundy Vs. Lassie), I am forced to prove I was elsewhere at or around the time of death. Remembering that I placed a call to my loving main squeeze Paula on my cellular phone from my driveway at about 10:20, I ponder whether or not the origin cell on a cellular call is logged and if so, could that information prove that I made the call from my driveway (or at least near enough to originate on the closest cell to my house), and not from my ex wife's neighborhood which is located seven to ten minutes away by car. Not trusting the local police department to investigate (since they seem to be staffed mostly by people whose training and expertise in investigation would instill a feeling of superiority in even the likes of Deputy Barney Fife) I instead turn to the learned subscribers of the noted electronic journal TELECOM Digest. So what do you think? Anyone have any knowledge of the distance between cells in the,say, Brentwood area of Los Angeles? Could the origin cell log help me/hurt me? Does the carrier actually save these logs? Pat, I'm sure this isn't what Chuck was asking about, and yes, I obviously have to much free time. Kris [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well you know, for some time now I have been threatening to pre-empt the regular programming here in lieu of giving full time coverage of the hypothetical trial (I say hypothetical because it is too much of a joke to be a real trial) of Mister Simpson. The trial of the century looks like it will last a century at the rate it is going. PAT] ------------------------------ From: fredbg@ax.apc.org (Fred) Subject: Re: Switch Architectures Literature Organization: Rede APC -- Nodo AlterNex Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 21:46:41 GMT In article , walterz@bnr.ca says: > I am looking for some papers/books that would describe switch > architectures . My interest is in both hardware architectures and > software architectures and their developement over last few decades. > Could anybody please direct me to right sources on the area in the > forms of thesis/articles/books. You can find it in info.itu.ch [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Indeed, the ITU is a great place to begin your search for many topics relating to telecom. I've been very pleased with their support of this Digest over the past year and hope they choose to continue for a long time to come. Definitly look into their information service. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 05:18:17 -0600 From: Steve Bauer Subject: Information Wanted on Ericsson Switch Is anyone using or administering a Plexar on an Ericsson switch? I will be installing one in March and wonder what I will face. I am running a majority of my 30 locations on a Northern DMS100 Plexar (Centrex) arrangement. Since the Ericsson switch is in another town, we plan to use Tie Trunks to connect the two Plexars and maintain four digit dialing company wide. I've just not heard too many good things about this switch. Furthermore, it does not offer the Custom Rearrangement Service like that available on the DMS100. What a drag, have to issue service orders to change anything. Steve ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 05:19:39 CST From: Steve Bauer Subject: Re: What is DMS-100? Stan, The DMS100 is manufactured by Northern Telecom and is a very popular switch used in central offices. About five years ago, my company was faced with the same situation you are dealing with. The actual biggest shock to our employees was going to a new prefix and we forced them to go from three digit to four digit dialing at the same time. You will probably not have any trouble at all with your modem. Things should actually work better. I have found on the DMS100 we are using, which was installed by Southwestern Bell Telephone, that you do not need to place a coma or pause after dialing the 9 access code. The system reacts fast enough that you can just have your modem dial 9 followed by the desired number. One little trick to remember, and it works both with voice and modem calls is to place the "#" at the end of your dialing string. This will greatly speed up the processing of your call. Without it, the DMS100 is sitting there waiting to see if you are indeed finished before it completes your call. It's not a bad habit to get in to. When you are dialing to another four digit extension on your campus, no need to use the "#", it will ring instantly. You will probably be given some new features and some feature codes may also change. Hope this answers your questions. Steve ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 04:50:48 +0000 From: scott miller Subject: Re: Information Wanted About DMS Switches Reply-To: smiller@bnr.ca Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd. In article , vardy@engr.mun.ca (Vardy David) writes: > Hi! I'm an electrical engineering student preparing for my first > interiview with my first big telecommunications company. I was > wondering if anyone could give me a simple description (or complex if > you have time) of what a DMS Switch is and what it does. What does DMS > stand for? What kind of maintenance and software is required to > maintain it? DMS stands for 'Digital Multiplex Switching', which is used to describe Northern Telecom's family of central office switches. Variants of the DMS include the DMS-100 (end-office, POTS and ISDN), DMS-200 (toll), DMS-300 (international gateway), DMS-MTX (cellular), DMS-STP (CCS7), etc. The components of a DMS system have been developed over the years using many different processor families, programming languages, and operating systems, with a common goal of achieving a the maximum call-processing capacity and very high availability. (System downtime targets are on the order of 30 seconds/year) The role of the switch is to process telephone calls. A POTS call is the simplest. The switch monitors for off-hook, provides dialtone, collects dialed digits, figures out who you want to talk to, rings the other line, waits for answer, sets up the voice path through the switching fabric, sets up the call, and then waits for one end to hang up so that it can reverse this process. Oh, and it bills the call, too. (Very important!) And it does all this a couple of hundred times per second. The software that maintains the system is crucial, and constitutes a large proportion of the library, which was counted at 25+ Million lines of code a few years ago. It's a very big, complex, realtime system. It can be a real challenge to keep it all working, and it can be damn hard work, but there's a whole lot to be learned from it. Good luck with the interview. (NT or BNR, I presume?) (Oh, on the DMS-100 thread: I recall reading here that an example of a difference you may find in CO switches is that some let you dial through a stutter dialtone, and some don't. Things like modem dialing strings may need to be tweaked. I imagine the differences in external behaviour would be relatively minor.) Scott Miller, in the bowels of Bell-Northern Research smiller@bnr.ca aa438@freenet.carleton.ca ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 95 09:45:27 -0500 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Re: Grim Changes for Net > And yes, that child pornography: truly the pedophiles have a field day > on the commercial services; after all on CIS/AOL/IRC you are whoever you > say you are; who is to say otherwise? At least on Internet's own version > of chat (Internet Relay Chat or IRC) anomynity is relatively more difficult > to pull off; your username@site is there for people to see. I suspect that the anonymity afforded by the services have a lot to do with the problem. Now that Caller-ID is available in many areas, the "heavy breathers" have to go elsewhere and the net is a natural. My opinion is that we do not need to make context illegal (and with all of the different juristictions probably can't since so much is dependant on "the eye of the beholder". Rather, if the identity of all users were available through something like a "white pages" -- I know there is one, look for the first Peterson -- then I *suspect* that the problem would become manageable. Currently the traditional response -- personal retaliation is difficult. The sad part of this long posting is that female users are being forced to change their usernames for protection. IMNSHO they are being victemized by terrorists -- is there any other word ? -- and *that* is the injustice. On earlier frontiers, those who were impolite had to do it face to face and risked retaliation. The crude cowards of the net hide behind a mask of distance an impersonal electrons and communicate from their closets. Now if I were more mercenary, I could see a value of being able to trace any message to its source. It is certainly doable and not very difficult, just an "unexplored territory" at the moment. However I do think that Internet Caller-ID would be a better solution to the problem than the "thought police" since censorship does nothing to stop those who are rude, only society/culture can do that. Warmly, Padgett ------------------------------ From: mike@sandman.com (Mike Sandman) Subject: Re: Pair Gain Line Problem, Help! Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 21:15:14 GMT In article Matt writes: > I have been told by a Pac Bell (i'm in CA) tech that the reason that I > cannot connect above 9600 is because I'm on a "Pair Gain" line to the > C.O. My roommate has no problem, the tech says he's on a copper line > to the C.O. > Problem: Pac Bell refuses to change me over to a copper line, saying > that they are only required to provide a 'voice-grade' line which only > has to support transfer speed of 1200 bps (HA HA HA HA HA). > What can I do? Does anyone have a work-around? Has anyone experienced > this same problem? I've tried four different modems, all with the same > problem. But if I use my roommate's line, everything works great! (For > practical reasons, I can't use his line all the time, he runs a business > on it). The usual cause of trouble connecting or staying connected at high speeds is high loop current coming from the pair gain equipment (or right from the CO or a PBX for that matter). If you have a digital voltmeter with a DC ma scale, you should be able to determine your loop current by putting the leads in series with one side of the line, making a call (with the electricity going thru your meter) and reading the ma off the meter. For good data communications, it should read between 23 and 27ma DC. If it's over 27ma, which it probably will be, you will need to get the current down below 27ma. It is not unusual to get 50ma, and sometimes as much as 80ma of loop current. In addition to preventing high speed connections, 40ma and up can burn out whatever you've got connected to the line, except standard old non-electronic 2500 type telephones. If the loop current is between 23 and 27 ma, you are looking at a problem other than loop current. If the loop current is below 23ma, the phone company must bring the current on the line up to 23ma. If it's above 27ma, the phone company won't reduce the current for you, since their high spec is 110ma (a holdover from the early 70's before there was much electronic stuff out there). To bring the current down, you can use 1/2 or 1 watt resistors in series with BOTH sides of the line (the red and green wires). For every 100 ohms you put on the line, you will reduce the loop current by about 1ma. While you reduce the loop current, you are also reducing the AC voltage containing the audio on the line - 100 ohms reduces the level of the line about 1db. If your loop current is at 33 ma, and you stick 600 ohms in series with each side of the line, you will drop the db level from say -6db (which is a good average), to -12db. This would probably work OK for the modem, since it doesn't like real high audio levels anyway, but you would have trouble hearing people talk on the line at that point. You could put these resistors just before the modem -- and NOT in series with with your telephone, which would still allow you to talk. If you have 40ma of loop current, you would need to put in 1300 ohms of resistors, which would lower the db level to -19db at which point even your modem wouldn't be able to hear on the line. We sell a gizmo called a Loop Current Attenuator which has a series of dip switches that you keep flipping until you see the loop current on the line go below 27ma. At that point, you remove your meter and leave the Loop Current Attenuator in place. The Loop Current Attenuator uses a network of resistors and capacitors to leave the db level alone so you or your modem can still hear on the line, while reducing the loop current. We sell the modular Loop Current Attenuator for $32.95. 30 day moneyback guarantee. 708-980-7710. Mike Sandman ------------------------------ From: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org (Dave Leibold) Date: 23 Feb 95 22:00:13 -0500 Subject: Northern/BT Agreement Continues [from Bell News (Bell Canada), 20 Feb 95] Northern Telecom and British Telecom have added five more years to the agreement which allows British Telecom to market Northern's business telephone systems -- the Meridian 1 PBX and Norstar key system -- to its customers. The agreement could generate more than $600 million in revenue for our sister BCE company. British Telecom has also placed an order with Northern forf $125 million worth of Digital Multiplex Switching (DMS) 100 systems. Fidonet : Dave Leibold 1:250/730 Internet: Dave.Leibold@superctl.tor250.org ------------------------------ From: mater@primenet.com (Eric Nelson) Subject: Re: Wireless RF Manufacturers Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 01:09:56 MST Organization: Primenet In article jdi@access.digex.net writes: > Anybody out there know who the "good" manufacturers of RF subsystems > for cellular systems are? Assuming there is at least one good one? Good is a relative term. I also don't know exactly what you mean by RF subsystems. The major manufacturers are AT&T, NTI, Ericcson and Motorola. North American cellular system are proprietary in that you have to by the cell sites and swithes from the same vendor. Hope this helps. ------------------------------ From: jscouria@neumann.uwaterloo.ca (John Scourias) Subject: Re: E(TACS) and GSM Organization: University of Waterloo Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 14:30:13 -0500 Alexander Cerna writes: > Can someone explain to me what E(TACS) and GSM are in detail? There > are around five cellular phone service providers in our country, and > most of them use E(TACS). One uses GSM, and says that this is the > latest technology in cellular telephony. They say that it would make > international roaming possible (although they say that it isn't > possible right now). > Also, this service provider that uses GSM says that they're the only > provider that's 100% digital. One of the implications of this, they > claim, is that their phones can't be cloned as easily as the analog > ones. Is this true? Also, they say that analog systems are very > prone to charge errors. Is this also true? Or are they just trying > to scare me from going to the other service providers? During the development of GSM, security was a main consideration. GSM authenticates the phone and the user (through a SIM card). Also, the digital nature of the signal provides inherently better security from eavesdroppers, and in addition allows the signal to be enciphered. The ETACS system, is _I believe_ a derivative of the North American AMPS system, which is analog. There are various stories around that security and authentication on AMPS leave a lot to be desired. Not only is it easy to eavesdrop on a cellular conversation, but it is also fairly easy to fake authentication, and fraudulently charge calls to your account. There were some posts earlier about channel pirating on AMPS. Regards, John Scourias http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria University of Waterloo jscouria@neumann.uwaterloo.ca Waterloo, ON, Canada ------------------------------ From: davethez@netcom.com (Dave) Subject: What is ESF and D4? Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 18:07:58 GMT When ordering a T1 line for data, the local fiber company wants to know whether I'd like "ESF" or "D4". Could someone please explain what these terms mean? TIA, Dave Z davethez@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: leob@netcom.com Subject: Re: March 7 Bellcore Meeting in DC Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 01:54:48 GMT > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: > This reminds me of the airline a few years ago which misprinted its > schedule book -- thousands of copies distributed -- and gave out the > number of some hapless individual in error instead. When he called to > complain, they told him to change *his* phone number. When they later > found out he was getting rather rude with persistent callers who kept > telling him he was a liar and that they *knew* they had reached the > airline, then the airline tried to sue him for force him to change his > number so that their customers would not be confused. Never once did > it occur to them to correct their own error and reprint their booklet. Apparently the guy was not born American. He made a great mistake, he should have sued the airline as soon as he had started getting annoying phone calls. Leo ------------------------------ From: gshapiro@rain.org (Gary D. Shapiro) Subject: NUtmeg Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 01:11:21 +0800 Organization: Committee to Re-Elect George Leroy Tirebiter When I tell people my number is NUtmeg x-xxxx, even the ones old enough to know better say, "huh?". (I have no idea if any 68 prefixes even existed here in 805 when the switch to all digit dialing took place.) Gary D. Shapiro http://www.rain.org/~gshapiro/ ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #119 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa12180; 24 Feb 95 14:52 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06942; Fri, 24 Feb 95 08:58:12 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06934; Fri, 24 Feb 95 08:58:10 CST Date: Fri, 24 Feb 95 08:58:10 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502241458.AA06934@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #120 TELECOM Digest Fri, 24 Feb 95 08:58:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 120 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson ACLU Cyber-Liberties Alert: Axe the Exon Bill! (ACLU Information) Re: MCI Slams Again (Jeff Jelinek) Re: MVIP? What Are We Talking About Here? (Greg Habstritt) Re: How To Keep Business Phone Calls Short? (Chris Mork) Re: Help Needed With Modems for Telephony API ( Re: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO (Benjamin P. Carter) Re: Fax Modems and Voice Lines (K. M. Peterson) Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC (Brendan Dowling) Re: Telstra (Australia) Information Wanted (Jeremy Grigg) Re: What is Loop Start? (Travis Russell) Who Makes T-Coder or Other 2 to 1 T1 mux? (David Friedman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ACLU Information Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 10:48:53 -0500 Subject: ACLU Cyber-Liberties Alert: Axe the Exon Bill! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Although I commented on this topic earlier this week and presented a lengthy commentary on the Exon legislation, its worth mentioning again with a suggestion that you take some stance *now* on this matter. If you did not read and sign the petition circulated here earlier in the week, you might want to go back and read it now, along with this similar message sent by the ACLU. PAT] **ACLU CYBER-LIBERTIES ALERT** FIGHT ONLINE CENSORSHIP! AXE THE EXON BILL! The American Civil Liberties Union urges you to contact the members of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee and your own Senators to ask them to oppose the efforts to turn online communications into the most heavily censored form of American media. In a clumsy effort to purge sexual expression from the Internet and other online networks, the self-described "Communications Decency Act of 1995" (S.314, introduced by Senator Exon on 2/2/95) would make ALL telecommunications service providers liable for every message, file, or other content carried on their networks. Senator Exon is planning to attach the bill to Senator Pressler's new telecommunications legislation, which is targeted for action in early March. The Exon proposal would severely restrict the flow of online information by requiring service providers to act as private censors of e-mail messages, public forums, mailing lists, and archives to avoid criminal liability. The ACLU believes that online users should be the only censors of the content of the information they receive. **The Exon proposal broadens existing law by subjecting service providers, as well as the individuals who actually send messages, to criminal liability for any "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent" message transmitted over their networks.** If enacted into law, this vague and overly broad legislation could have the following draconian effects: * The Exon proposal would prohibit communications with sexual content through private e-mail between consenting adults, and would inhibit people from making comments that might or might not be prohibited. * Under the Exon proposal, service providers would pay up to $100,000 or spend up to 2 years in jail for prohibited content produced by subscribers on other networks, over which they had no control. * The Exon proposal would expand current restrictions on telephone access by minors to dial-a-porn services to include online access to indecent material, requiring service providers to purge "indecent" material from public bulletin boards and discussion groups to avoid accidental viewing by a minor. In effect, online providers would be forced to offer to adults only that content that is "suitable for minors." S. 314 is nearly identical to an amendment Senator Exon successfully attached to last year's Senate version of the telecommunications law overhaul. Last year's bill died for unrelated reasons, but the Senate Commerce Committee is determined to pass new telecommunications legislation this year that could easily include the Exon proposal. The ACLU opposes the restrictions on speech imposed by this legislation because they violate the First Amendment's guarantee of free expression. Forcing carriers to pre-screen content violates the Constitution and threatens the free and robust expression that is the promise of the Net. The Constitution requires that any abridgement of speech use the least restrictive means available -- the language of the Exon proposal is clearly the most restrictive because it sweeps broadly against a wide array of protected material involving sexual expression. Stop the information superhighway from becoming the most censored segment of communications media! ACT NOW: Urge members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: *To oppose the Exon proposal, or any Senate or House variation. *To drop the Exon proposal BEFORE it goes to the Senate floor. *To hold full hearings on the Exon proposal and to review it thoroughly before it goes to the Senate floor. *To reject any effort to attach the Exon proposal to the Senate telecommunications legislation. THE EXON PROPOSAL COULD BE LAW WITHIN WEEKS IF WE DON'T ACT TODAY. Send your letter by e-mail, fax, or snail mail to: Senator Larry Pressler, S.D. Chairman, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation SR-254 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-6125 (202) 224-5842 (phone) (202) 224-1630 (fax) e-mail: larry_pressler@pressler.senate.gov To maximize the impact of your letter, you should also write to the members of the Senate Commerce Committee and to your own Senators. A sample letter is attached. Majority Members of the Senate Commerce Committee Senator Bob Packwood, Ore. SR-259 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-3702 (202) 224-5244 (phone) (202) 228-3576 (fax) Senator Ted Stevens, Alaska SH-522 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-0201 (202) 224-3004 (phone) (202) 224-1044 (fax) Senator John McCain, Ariz. SR-111 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-0303 (202) 224-2235 (phone) (202) 228-2862 (fax) Senator Conrad Burns, Mont. SD-183 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2603 (202) 224-2644 (phone) (202) 224-8594 (fax) Senator Slade Gorton, Wash. SH-730 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4701 (202) 224-3441 (phone) (202) 224-9393 (fax) e-mail: senator_gorton@gorton.senate.gov Senator Trent Lott, Miss. SR-487 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2403 (202) 224-6253 (phone) (202) 224-2262 (fax) Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Tex. SH-703 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4303 (202) 224-5922 (phone) (202) 224-0776 (fax) e-mail: senator@hutchison.senate.gov Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Maine SR-174 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-1903 (202) 224-5344 (phone) (202) 224-6853 (fax) Senator John Ashcroft, Mo. SH-705 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2504 (202) 224-6154 (phone) (202) 224-7615 (fax) Minority Members of the Senate Commerce Committee Senator Ernest F. Hollings, S.C. SR-125 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4002 (202) 224-6121 (phone) (202) 224-4293 (fax) Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii SH-772 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-1102 (202) 224-3934 (phone) (202) 224-6747 (fax) Senator Wendell H. Ford, Ky. SR-173A Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-1701 (202) 224-4343 (phone) (202) 224-0046 (fax) e-mail: wendell_ford@ford.senate.gov Senator J. James Exon, Neb. SH-528 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2702 (202) 224-4224 (phone) (202) 224-5213 (fax) Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, W. Va. SH-109 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4802 (202) 224-6472 (phone) (202) 224-1689 (fax) Senator John F. Kerry, Mass. SR-421 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2102 (202) 224-2742 (phone) (202) 224-8525 (fax) Senator John B. Breaux, La SH-516 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-1803 (202) 224-4623 (phone) (202) 224-2435 (fax) Senator Richard H. Bryan, Nev. SR-364 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2804 (202) 224-6244 (phone) (202) 224-1867 (fax) Senator Byron L. Dorgan, N.D. SH-713 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-3405 (202) 224-2551 (phone) (202) 224-1193 (fax) You can also write or fax your own Senator at: The Honorable ______________________ U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Senate directories including fax numbers may be found at: gopher://ftp.senate.gov:70 gopher://una.hh.lib.umich.edu:70/0/socsci/polscilaw/uslegi Additional information about the ACLU's position on this issue and others affecting civil liberties online and elsewhere may be found at: gopher:\\aclu.org:6601 OR request our FAQ at infoaclu@aclu.org ---------cut here--------- SAMPLE LETTER Dear Senator _______: I am writing to urge you to oppose the restrictions on speech that would be imposed by the legislation introduced by Senator Exon, known as the Communications Decency Act of 1995, S.314, introduced on 2/2/95. The Exon proposal would severely restrict the flow of online information by requiring service providers to act as private censors of e-mail messages, public forums, mailing lists, and archives to avoid criminal liability. I believe that online users should be the only censors of the content of the messages they receive. I urge you to: *Oppose the Exon proposal, or any Senate or House variation. *Drop the Exon proposal BEFORE it goes to the Senate floor. *Hold full hearings on the Exon proposal and review it thoroughly before it goes to the Senate floor. *Reject any effort to attach the Exon proposal to the Senate telecommunications legislation. Sincerely, [name] ----------------------------- ACLU Free Reading Room | American Civil Liberties Union gopher://aclu.org:6601 | 132 W. 43rd Street, NY, NY 10036 mailto:infoaclu@aclu.org| "Eternal vigilance is the ftp://ftp.pipeline.com | price of liberty" ------------------------------ From: Jeff Jelinek Subject: Re: MCI Slams Again Organization: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 19:29:30 GMT I seriously doubt that MCI intends to change an individual PIC for the sole purpose of picking up some LD revenue for a month or so. Big deal. Why would they risk the repercussions of an unauthorized PIC change. Of the hundreds of thousands of PIC changes that take place each month, some of the customer service people will make a mistake. I have not heard of this type of intentional action for many years. Interesting. ------------------------------ From: gregicg@cadvision.com (Greg Habstritt) Subject: Re: MVIP? What Are We Talking About Here? Date: 24 Feb 1995 22:17:25 GMT Organization: Intellitech Communications Group > Can anyone explain what the acronym "MVIP" stands for? I heard this in > a discussion on IVR. I'm trying to recall the exact wording for MVIP, and I can't find any magazines near my desk with articles naming it. However, I do believe it stands for Multi Vendor Interface Protocol, or something to that effect. Bottom line is that it is a industry standard developed by Natural Micro Systems, a voice processing hardware manufacturer (competitor of Dialogic). It is basically a standard that other vendors can meet, in order to ensure that their equipment is compatible with the NMS architecture. Dialogic has a similar standard called SCSA, hence the big industry battle between MVIP and SCSA (similar to MicroSoft's TAPI against Novell's TSAPI). Yup, that's what it is. If you really want to know more, call NMS at 1-800-533-6120. gregicg@cadvision.com Greg Habstritt Intellitech Communications Inc. Calgary, Alberta, Canada ------------------------------ From: lotr@iac.net (Chris Mork) Subject: Re: How To Keep Business Phone Calls Short? Date: 23 Feb 1995 10:57:03 -0500 Organization: Internet Access Cincinnati 513-887-8877 Alan Boritz (drharry!aboritz@uunet.uu.net) wrote: > A friend is having some difficulty getting his employees (less than > ten, in a trucking business) to manage their telephone calls reasonably. > He doesn't want to create a hostile environment, but his inwats and > outwats expense is getting out of hand. Has anyone found voice terminals > with interval timers, or any other equipment features, to be helpful > to accomplish that task? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Radio Shack *had* (and maybe still has) such > a thing along with other companies. It goes on the phone line and after a > pre-set period of time you hear a litle tone in the background. You must > then press a key on the phone to restart the timer. After you have done > this often enough, you are supposed to take the hint I guess. PAT] Try getting account codes from the L-D provider. Each employee can only call with their own code and the records show up on the monthly bill. If their calls get out of hand, show them the bill and point out the length of time(s) on their code. Try setting a monthly limit per employee. By the way, these codes must be "validated",(i.e. they use a SPECIFIC number ... say the last four digits of their social security number). Hope this helps! Chris Mork lotr@iac.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 13:10:53 -0500 From: stanford@algorhythms.com Subject: Re: Help Needed With Modems for Telephony API All modems support Microsoft's Telephony API, but only if they have a suitable driver. Modem manufacturers have been slow to provide these drivers because Microsoft distributes a free generic modem driver with the TAPI SDK, because Microsoft distributes the source code for a rudimentary voice modem driver free (by ftp "ftp.microsoft.com" and Compuserve "go winext"), and because Microsoft intends to provide a generic modem driver (Unimodem) bundled with Windows 9x. The problem with these Microsoft drivers is that they are limited, since they do not properly support voice features. Also the Unimodem driver appears to be a "dial only" driver since it does not pass rings back to the application. Regular modems are actually poor candidates for TAPI, since they provide meager call control features. Best for telephony are boards like the IBM Mwave, which allow for full duplex speaker phone, touch tone recognition, Caller ID, handset state detection, control over the handset connection to the line and software upgradability to features such as VoiceView. Somewhere between regular modems and Mwave type cards in terms of telephony features are voice/fax/modems, which can record and play sound from the line, but still provide poor status sensing (like handset on/off hook), and which are intrinsically unreliable for two reasons: 1. the burden of voice data through the serial port and 2. the inclusion of status and control signals in-band in the voice data stream. The first of these deficiencies is addressed by some modems, such as those based on chip sets by Sierra and Cirrus that do their voice with DMA rather than through the serial port. Of course modems using this technique must be internal. Plug: My company, AlgoRhythms Incorporated, has written several service providers for various different hardwares, including a generic modem driver that supports voice modems. This driver is not currently commercially available, though it will be bundled with our application software "PhoneKits" when this is released. ------------------------------ From: bpc@netcom.com (Benjamin P. Carter) Subject: Re: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 21:15:58 GMT dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) writes: > ... yes, indeed, central offices -do- keep track of the CNID of > incoming calls. > (Other posters in the group have suggested that typically 90 days are > kept online, just like with outgoing smdr.) If that is so, then when a customer has received obnoxious phone calls, the telco could provide the incoming IDs for particular conversations that have already taken place. This would be much more helpful than the ineffective services that are now being offered. Some person at the telco would have to access a database to provide the record of a past conversation. They probably won't do this for free unless the PUC decides that they should. On the other hand, many customers who have received obnoxious calls are highly motivated and would probably be willing to pay enough to allow the telco to recover the real cost of providing such a service. The telco might even make a profit. This reasoning assumes that caller ID is not available (as, for example, in California) or that the telco records make it possible to identify a caller when caller ID fails to do so. Also, I assume everyone agrees that the privacy of the caller should not be a consideration if a residential customer claims to be receiving obnoxious calls. The privacy of the callee is certainly more important than that of the caller in this case, and arguably so in all cases. Ben Carter internet address: bpc@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: KMP@portal.vpharm.com (K. M. Peterson) Subject: Re: Fax Modems and Voice Lines Date: 22 Feb 1995 21:28:57 GMT Organization: Vertech Pharmaceuticals Incorporated In article randy@aplcore.jhuapl.edu (Randall C. Poe) writes: > I have been trying to get a fax modem (internal, in a Mac Powerbook) > to work at home, on a line shared with an answering machine and > several voice sets (3). The feature that doesn't work is one the > manufacturer calls "Silent Answer", where it allows other devices to > pick up the phone, then listens in for fax ("CNG"?) tones. When it > hears the fax tones, it is supposed to pick up the phone, causing the > answering machine (for instance) to go offline. > So my question: Assuming this is the problem, is there a quick, > off-the-shelf (cheap) fix? I was unable to get this working on a Supra FaxModem, spending about 20 hours and several email and telephone conversations with the manufacturer. The retailer informed me that many of their customers were similarly unable to get it to work. I went to a ZyXEL for desktop use; I do not believe that they make a PB internal. My advice is to purchase an inexpensive desktop modem for home use. ZyXELs offer "distinctive ring" decoding, which is an alternative to "Silent Answer" requiring "Ringmate" or some other type of distinctive ring service from your local telco. ZyXELs, however, are _not_ inexpensive; if you don't want to go this route call Hello Direct (1-800-HI-HELLO), and order a box from them that will do this discrimination externally and allow you to use any modem you wish. K. M. Peterson ------------------------------ From: umhatter@mcl.ucsb.edu (Brendan Dowling) Subject: Re: Kevin Mitnick Captured in Raleigh, NC Date: 23 Feb 1995 12:20:07 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Barbara In jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) writes: > I would like to see him get the same treatment that the guy in the 'got > milk?' commercial gets. > How long are his arms? Three feet or so? Put a PC with a modem on a > table outside his cell, about a meter or so away from the bars. Of > course, there would be absolutely nothing in the cell to let him > extend his reach. > He would be saying, "Is this what Hell is like?" There are laws against "cruel and unusual punishment". [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't know whether you guys are joking or not ... PAT] ------------------------------ From: jjg@ozemail.com.au (Jeremy Grigg) Subject: Re: Telstra (Australia) Information Wanted Date: 24 Feb 1995 01:03:13 GMT Organization: OzEmail Pty Ltd - Australia Although Telstra is 100% owned by the Government, some elements are less controlled. For example, the yellow pages commercial directories are owned in a consortium with a publisher and several carriers including Bell Canada. And the carrier's pay TV ventures are being run via 50-50 consortia with Microsoft (on-line services) and News Corporation (content). The only analysis on the carrier comes from Moody's which regularly evaluates its credit worthiness. Prospects for the company are good, even though the market will be liberalised in 1997. Although there will be unlimited competition, dominant carriers who control bottlenecks will be forced to offer "commercially-sustainable" tariffs based on network costs. This gives Telstra an incentive to keep its overheads low. ------------------------------ From: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 20:30:10 +0000 Organization: Travis Russell Reply-To: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) In article , rj_welsh@ix.netcom.com (RJ WELSH) writes: > These terms are most certainly NOT relative to T1 lines!!! Ther refer > to analog telephone line "start" signals that indicate to the CO > (central office) that an off-hook condition exists and dial tone > services are required. > Loop start means that both battery and ground leads are present and > that ground, therefore, is supplied by the CO. Ground start means that > a local (local to the off-hook instrument) ground is used and represents > a "single-lead" subscriber line. Loop start is commonly used for residential POTS. Uses -48V return to the C.O.. > Ground start lines were and are not often used since the ground > resistance between the subscriber and the CO is unpredictable at best > and conductor pairs (rather than single copper wires) have been in use > for a long time now. Ground start IS used today for PBX trunks. Loop start does not work well on PBX because of glare problems, so ground start is used again. To use laymens terms, instead of relying on ring generator to indicate an incoming call (which is intermittent), the C.O. sends ground on the tip side of the line (which is steady, not intermittent). > Wink start indicates a reversal of battery and ground, typically for > less than 500 milliseconds, and is used for TRUNK, not LINE signalling. Wink start is used for DID LINES. Also used with TIE lines between PBXs. By the way, the definition of a trunk vs. line? A trunk connects two switches together. A line connects a "telephone" with a switch. Semantics ... > I won't waste bandwith correcting misconceptions about T1: buy a > little book and read it. T-1 channel banks are tyipcally optioned for one of the above signaling methods, because they are connected to an analog PBX! The trunk (or line) card coming from the PBX is terminated at a channel bank. The channel bank muxes 24 circuits out to one T-1. The channel bank must use the same signaling as the line card in the PBX, hence the original misconception that these are used for T-1 signaling. Hope this clears up signaling ... Travis Russell russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net Author of "Signaling System #7" McGraw-Hill, 1995 ------------------------------ From: dfbai@ix.netcom.com (David Friedman) Subject: Who Makes T-Coder or Other 2 to 1 T1 mux? Date: 24 Feb 1995 14:39:59 GMT Organization: Netcom I have heard of a T-Coder which provides 2 T1 framed outputs from 1 T1. When used for voice applications quality is fine. Who makes this unit or some type of similar simple mux? We have an application where a client wants to do some simple, inexpensive drop and insert (wants to split a small number of channels of a T1 and pass them to our equipment which has a direct T1 interface and channel bank the rest). Rather than getting into expensive custom designed drop and insert set up, I thought a T-coder would be fine since most traffic is voice anyway. Any advice or products would be appreciated. David Friedman, Buffalo Audiotex, Inc. White Plains, New York, USA dfbai@ix.netcom.com Voice: (914) 674-9320 Fax: (914) 674-9345 Computer Telephone Integration - Voice Processing & Switching Open Arch. Call Center Apps. & Int'l Callback & Calling Card Sys. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #120 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa11967; 28 Feb 95 8:21 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA01511; Tue, 28 Feb 95 01:52:31 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA01505; Tue, 28 Feb 95 01:52:29 CST Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 01:52:29 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502280752.AA01505@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #121 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Feb 95 01:52:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 121 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 3 School Teachers Charged in Net Child Porn Ring (TELECOM Digest Editor) Book Review: "Modems Made Easy" by Hakala (Rob Slade) Internet Society, DC Chapter _kick-off_ Event (Bruce Thompson) AT&T Wants to be Your On-Ramp (John Shaw) What is a Digital PBX? (Matt Noah) Studio Quality NTSC Digital Video Realtime Transmission (Jim Chen) What Are You Doing in the Falkland Islands? (Paul Robinson) Sprint Fiber Cut; Any Information Available (defantom@aol.com) Last Laugh! Nick Cheats on His Wife (TELECOM Digest Editor) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: 3 School Teachers Charged in Net Child Porn Ring Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1995 01:00:00 CST I lost the notes I had on this, so I am going to reconstruct it from memory. It was in the papers over the weekend. It seems the latest rage on Internet where the mass media is concerned is going to be child porn. If there is a ring going, so much the better, eh? Watch and see if this theme is not going to be hammered down our throats now for awhile until something better comes along. Anyway, the papers reported that three elementary school teachers were arrested on February 17. Their offense was being in possession of child porn and passing it back and forth on the net. Two of the teachers are in Florida, and the other is in South Carolina. The government claims the two in Florida were manufacturing it and sending it to the guy in South Carolina. The two in Florida, it is claimed, were getting young boys to come their homes where they received money for doing the no-no thing on video. This video was then converted into computer files and shipped over the Internet to the fellow in South Carolina. He in turn distributed it elsewhere, to fellow .. umm, enthusiasts via computer. The authorities would not have known about him had they not raided the computers in Florida and found email, etc addressed to him. It seems there were other names there as well, i.e. other members of the ring who received the files showing boys doing the no-no thing and these folks are also teachers. In a thinly veiled threat the investigators handling this case issued a press release saying in part, "We know all school teachers are not pedophiles, but quite a few are ... and we know that many pedophiles select occupations where they can make easy contact with their victims. Based on the additional names found in the computers of the men we have arrested, our investigation will continue with an emphasis on *school teachers who have computers and use the Internet*." Oh wow! Maybe librarians who operate children's departments in their library who own computers and use the Internet should be included in this investigation. It probably would not hurt to include social workers and youth workers who login on the net also. And whatever they do, they should not forget to investigate the youth pastors at various churches. Well, they did not include all those categories ... just school teachers, which ought to send a few chills around the net. This is starting to sound more and more like old Joe McCarthy, a creep most of you would not remember, even if you may have heard about him. McCarthy was a senator from Wisconsin during the 1950's. With the exception of whenever the Senate was having roll call for a vote, he spent the rest of his time all day holding hearings, with the threat of federal subpoena and Contempt of Congress charges hanging over the heads of those who would not cooperate. McCarthy's hearings were to locate and identify 'known communists and homosexuals' employed by the government. He considered them to pretty much be one and the same, although he admitted there were some homosexuals who were not communist and vice-versa. All day long parades of 'witnesses' came before his congressional committee to plead their own innocence and snitch on others in an effort to save themselves. What year was it, 1951-52? The McCarthy hearings went on all that summer for several weeks. Like his contemporary in government J. Edgar Hoover, McCarthy spared no effort to identify and root out 'deviants'. Then at night, after a hard day at work, McCarthy would retire to one of various gay bars in Washington, DC where he would cruise for a lover of his own for the evening ... anonymously of course. Oh, he was a strange one alright. Sometimes if he was in a hurry to get out to the bars, he would adjourn the afternoon session of his hearings early. If you watched the hearings regards the Supreme Court judge and the allegations of sexual harrassment and thought that was funny, then you would have considered Joe McCarthy to be a real riot. About the same time in Idaho, some fellow was arrested for doing the no-no thing in the men's room of the public library, and the uproar over his actions caused the editors of the {Boise Idaho Statesman} newspaper to run an editorial entitled 'crush the monsters'. In it the newspaper encouraged police to identify and arrest all homosexuals. The police took that message to heart, and there followed over a period of about three years in the middle 1950's a *massive* witch hunt for gay men (no one ever told the idiots there is such a thing as gay women) throughout the state of Idaho. And each one arrested took the advice of the police that, 'if you tell us the names of all the people you know who are deviants it will make our job a lot easier'. They were all telling on each other; it was an unbelievable thing. Each one arrested would give still more names to the police, etc. McCarthy used the same tactics: tell us the names of the people you know who are communists or homosexuals; if you make it easy on us we will make it easy on you ... either that or be held in Contempt of Congress. Joe handed out those contempt citations on a regular basis, and the 'witnesses' would always hand over a few more names Joe did not have on his list yet. -------------------- Now fast forward forty years ... the newspapers are banging their drums and talking about all the child pornographers on the net. By the way, I do *not* equate child pornographers with gay men; let's set that straight here and now. How often since the first of this year has a day gone by you have *NOT* read something negative about the net in the papers? -- Mitnick, the infamous hacker captured; -- the kid in Ann Arbor gets arrested for writing threats; with a sex twist to the case of course; -- other hackers and phreaks arrested, stories told in detail; -- and of course the child and other assorted pornographers; the couple put on trial in Tennessee for pornography; -- a lengthy article in (I beleive) the {Village Voice} talking about how people behave themselves in hot chat on the major systems. And more ... there are not many days now we do not read something about the net in the papers, and never is it positive. And now we read that investigators feel more attention should be given to 'school teachers with computers who use the Internet' ... they might be part of a ring involved in child pornography. After all, three have been arrested in the southeast, and they had names of others. Isn't that precious? Gee, you don't think the newspapers have an axe to grind with the net do you? I mean, its not like their circulation has gone down in recent years is it? It doesn't have anything to do with the fact that there are only now only about 20 percent of the number of newspapers in the USA today there were even thirty years ago, or the fact that circulation and delivery hassles are worse than ever does it? Its not like they want to keep their tight grip on the information business and charge lots of money for what most of us get for free is it? So in my opinion, watch the papers keep on banging their drums and having a grand time with every degrogatory story they can find about the Internet and its components. The more they write, and the more erroneous their reports, the more the general citizenry will get in an uproar and demand 'something needs to be done'. And the more the citizens squall, the more the government will be egged on to clamp down on things here. The more the government harasses the net, the more the papers will have to write about. See how neatly it all fits together? Not only that, but the more the citizens scream and the government reacts and the newspapers report, the more the same citizens will be looking for admission to this not-so-exclusive of late club, so they too can share in the alt.sex.stories and other benefits of membership in the club. You watch; this will be the year of the Internet, with lurid reports in the mass media on an almost daily basis before the year is out. A ring of pedophile school teachers operating on the net? My, my, what will they think of next? What's going to happen is the constant abuse of the 'child pornography is so bad, we have to take any actions possible to stop it' theory is going to cause that theory to lose whatever currency it may still enjoy. Yeah, child porn is sleazy stuff for sleazy people; but it is getting to where its like a joke when the government mentions it in connection with some investigation or another. Whatever shock value comes with the announcement 'child porn was found on the net' is going to wear off. *Then* what will be next? PAT ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 14:09:08 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Modems Made Easy" by Hakala BKMDMDEZ.RVW 950123 "Modems Made Easy", David Hakala, 1993, 0-07-881962-8, U$16.95 %A David Hakala 74720.3377@compuserve.com david.hakala@boardwatch.com %C 2600 Tenth St., Berkeley, CA 94710 %D 1993 %G 0-07-881962-8 %I McGraw-Hill/Osborne %O U$16.95 510-548-2805 800-227-0900 lkissing@osborne.mhs.compuserve.com %T "Modems Made Easy" This is a good, short, solid overview of what you can do with modems. Newcomers to the online world will likely need not only some help with installation, the first few calls, tuning, and troubleshooting, but with an introduction to all aspects of microcomputer communications. An overview of modems does a good job of explaining protocol concepts with real world analogies. A chapter on buying a modem is quite brief, but realistic, as is the advice on software. Chapter five, on setting up your modem, is short and practical. Chapter six, on software installation, should be considerably expanded in order to assist first-time users. The concepts have been explained, in chapter two, but the specifics of how that works out are lacking. There is a good section on identifying COM ports (often missing in other works), but little advice on how to identify incorrect parameter settings. Appendix B, on troubleshooting, does have some advice but it, too, is quite terse. Chapters seven to twelve give you a rundown on what to do with a modem: call a BBS, call a commercial online service, call an electronic mail service, call the Internet, call another private computer, or set up your own BBS. The material on the different types of services is quite reasonable and unbiased, and gives you good advice on what to expect (although the Internet section could use a bit of fact checking). "Remote access", the ability to use your home or office computer from another remote computer, is the only missing application. The last three chapters offer some helpful, related advice on money-saving tips, communications-related shareware, and the communications aspects of Windows. There are also a number of resource lists, including the ASP BBS list, the "Boardwatch 100" list, and communications hardware and software vendors. Those buying and setting up modems for the first time may want additional sources of buying advice and help, but this is very definitely worth consideration as a general advisor and entre to the online world. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKMDMDEZ.RVW 950123. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 14:45:00 EST From: Bruce Thompson <0004941613@mcimail.com> Subject: Internet Society, DC Chapter _kick-off_ Event Internet Society Washington, DC Chapter Inaugural Meeting The Washington DC chapter of the Internet Society (DC-ISOC) proudly presents: _The Internet Comes to Washington_ Join us for a unique event where leaders from government, technology, industry, and education will share their views about the Internet. This kick-off event will assemble a diverse blend of key players involved with the Internet's creation, usage and future. Who should attend? - Internet services providers - Government policy makers - Representatives of special interests related to Internet - educational uses - freedom and privacy concerns - business uses - Anyone interested in the Internet's continued success and growth Note this important event on your calendar now for March 9, 1995. Preliminary information is included below. A final announcement will be distributed soon. ----------- Event Overview: ----------- Title: _The Internet Comes to Washington_ Date: Thursday, March 9, 1995 Time: 6 PM - 9 PM Place: Georgetown University Reiss Science Building -- Room 103 Washington, DC There is no charge to attend "Internet Comes to Washington." This event inaugurates programs and activities of the Washington, DC Chapter of the Internet Society (DC-ISOC). Directions: See below Registration: See below ---------------- Schedule: ---------------- 6:00 - 7:00 Registration 7:00 - 7:10 Welcoming remarks and introduction to DC-ISOC 7:10 - 8:00 Speaker presentations and panel discussion 8:00 - 9:00 Informal discussions Mr. Anthony Rutkowski (Executive Director, Internet Society) will introduce speakers and moderate the panel discussion. Speakers will give brief presentations about the Internet from their perspectives. This will be followed by a moderated question and answer period. The last hour will allow informal discussions with the speakers and among your fellow industry leaders and peers. -------------- Speakers Include: ---------------- Vinton Cerf: Internet Society President and Senior Vice President at MCI. Tom Kalil: Director to the National Economic Council at the White House and a principal on the White House Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF). Brock Meeks: Washington Bureau Chief for Interactive Week, Creator of Cyberwire Dispatch, and contributing writer for Wired Magazine Linda Roberts: Special Advisor on Education Technology at the U.S. Department of Education (tentative) Frank H. Slovenec: President and Chief Operating Officer at Government Technical Services Inc. (GTSI) TBD: United States Congress (pending invitation acceptance) Due to seating limitations, we request preregistration for this event. (see registration details below) The latest information about this event can be found at: http://www.dcisoc.org/dcisoc. ---------- About DC-ISOC ----------------- DC-ISOC was formed to meet unique needs of Washington, DC-area Internet planners, builders, and users, and to help represent the Internet to the U.S. government. The Internet Society itself (headquartered in nearby Reston, VA), a global organization, has encouraged creation of DC-ISOC to allow the headquarters organization to maintain a global perspective, while the chapter meets the pressing need for Internet representation in the U.S. government's work to define the National Information Infrastructure (NII). DC-ISOC's other major focus, concerns of the many Internet service providers, and policy and user advocacy groups concentrated in the DC-area "Netplex" (Fortune magazine, 3/7/94), is also a natural direction for a local chapter. DC-ISOC recognizes that several existing organizations, each covering a specific aspect of the Internet, exist. The chapter will provide a mechanism and forum for those diverse interests to interact and advance their goals. DC-ISOC membership is open to individuals and corporations with a strong interest in how the Internet develops, whom it serves, and how it is used. The chapter especially encourages participation by representatives of the many DC-area Internet service providers, public interest and other advocacy groups, representatives of Federal Government agencies, and interested individuals. For further information contact DC-ISOC via: Email address info@dcisoc.org HTML http://www.dcisoc.org/dcisoc. Phone number (703) 648-9888 ---- Directions to Reiss Science Building: ---- Reiss Science Building, Room 103, Georgetown University From the front gate, head diagonally across the main courtyard, bearing to the right, toward the large building with the sloped room (the Intercultural Center, or ICC). The Reiss Science Building is immediately north of the ICC: follow the sidewalk to the right of the ICC and up the stairs, and enter the building on the Northeast side. Signs will direct you to the auditorium. Pay parking is available in Parking Lot 3, accessible via Canal Road or Prospect Street (take 37th south from the main gate, which dead-ends at Prospect Street, then bear right). From the East end of Parking Lot 3, follow the service drive North past the Jesuit cemetery and the ICC, and the Reiss Science Building will be the next building on the right as you head up the hill. ---------- Registration: ------------ You can register for the event in several ways: Email the enclosed registration form to registration@dcisoc.org. On-line registration at: http://www.dcisoc.org/dcisoc. Contact the Internet Society at (703) 648-9888. Name: Title: Organization: Telephone: FAX: Email: Postal address: There is no charge to attend "Internet Comes to Washington." This event inaugurates the programs and activities of the Washington DC Chapter of the Internet Society (DC-ISOC). ------------------------------ From: John Shaw Subject: AT&T Wants to be Your On-Ramp Date: 27 Feb 1995 15:06:19 -0800 Organization: Computer Users Information Exchange The following abstract appeared in a recent issue of {Cybernautics Digest}. ***************************** AT&T Wants To Be Your On-Ramp ***************************** Your set-top just got more crowded. According to Junko Yoshida, AT&T will begin selling "a new breed of interactive consumer device that will bring voice, e-mail and fax messaging, together with personalized information services, onto a TV screen" in the second-quarter of this year ("AT&T unveils 'Sage' info center at CES," Electronic Engineering Times, Jan. 9, 1995, p. 10). Yoshida reports that the $329 AT&T TV Information Center, which uses existing phone lines, can store 20 minutes of digital voice messages. Users will be able select which voice message they want to listen to from an on-screen list, and will be able to access topic-specific news, sports scores, local traffic, weather, and interactive services such as electronic home-banking and bill paying. AT&T says customers will be able to purchase a basic package of these services for less than $10 a month. "This was specifically designed as an alternative device for those who choose not to buy a PC at home," says Bell Labs V.P. Eric Sumner in the article. In response to set-top boxes being developed by other telcos and cable companies, Sumner says AT&T's new devices will be positioned as "information superhighway on-ramp products for everyone that can be used today, instead of something useful five years from now." AT&T will also sell a model that connects to a PC and a $199 model that consists of a phone with a built-in screen. Zenith Electronics Corp., through an agreement with AT&T, will begin incorporating the technology into its TVs and cable set-top boxes beginning in early 1996, Yoshida reports. A sidebar on Bell Laboratories' new Plan 9 operating system, which AT&T's product uses, accompanies the article. The new OS has been viewed as a possible successor to Bell Labs' Unix operating system. ------------------------ This story is republished with permission from the March 1995 {Cybernautics Digest}, a monthly summary of reports about converging information technologies. (Contact: Terry Hansen, Cybernautics Digest, c/o KFH Publications Inc., 3530 Bagley Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103; 206-547-4950; Fax: 206-547-5355; E-mail: cybernbf@cuix.pscu.com. U.S. subscription rate: $24; $2 sample issue. Or visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.pscu.com) ------------------------------ From: noah@rain.org (Matt Noah) Subject: What is a Digital PBX? Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 02:39:10 GMT What is the definition of a "digital" PBX? Assuming an analog PBX is one in which the trunk lines are strictly analog, e.g. E&M, Ground Start, is a "digital" PBX one in which the trunk lines all carry PCM voice with digital signalling? If so, what type of digital signalling? Is it T1? Is it ISDN? Is it something other than T1 or ISDN? Is it combinations of various digital standards? Matt ------------------------------ From: jim-chen@nwu.edu (jim chen) Subject: Studio Quality NTSC Digital Video Realtime Transmission Date: 28 Feb 1995 06:26:55 GMT Organization: acns dcg I am looking for ways to transmit realtime high resolution NTSC video digitally across country or/& pipe around city. Current and near future(three to six months) solution needed. Any information will help. Please e-mail to jim-chen@nwu.edu. Jim Chen ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Feb 1995 21:49:44 EST From: Paul Robinson Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Subject: What Are You Doing in the Falkland Islands? I just had a couple of interesting thoughts regarding the new 500 area code in the US: 1. Someone gives out a number like 500-xxx-xxxx and the person getting it says "I thought you lived in Las Vegas? What are you doing, running some kind of phone sex system in the Falkland Islands? (A lot of this is done in the Netherlands Antilles and a few other places.) 2. Someone gets a note to return a call with an area code 500 number and reaches some poor clueless person over in the Falkland Islands. (It probably wouldn't work though; the numbers there are probably only 4 or 5 digits, not 7. It's not a very large place.) (Falkland Islands moved to +500 some time after the war between Britain and Argentina. It was either in 1 809 or was nondialable and required international operator assistance). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It does not matter how many digits the place has. If the number is direct dialable, then it can be used. In most places where the local numbers are less than seven digits, you will find the city code and country code are longer, to fill in the blanks. PAT] ------------------------------ From: defantom@aol.com (DeFantom) Subject: Sprint Fiber Cut; Any Information Available? Date: 27 Feb 1995 23:03:29 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: defantom@aol.com (DeFantom) We were affected by a nasty fiber cut Sprint had in Texas way about two weeks ago. (Over four hours!) Does anyone have any kind of information or know where I can get it? Our account team is not being very forthcoming. Thanks!! ------------------------------ From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: Last Laugh! Nick Cheats on His Wife Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 01:00:00 CST This was the 'One Big Happy' comic strip for February 25: Picture 1: Grandma is yelling at Grandpa Nick. An angry look on her face, she says, "I can't believe you'd waste money on such a thing!" Their son has just come in the door and says "uh-oh, what now?". Picture 2: Grandma turns to son, still with an angry look on her face and says, "Your father! Look at these charges on our phone bill!" (Holding out a sheet of paper so the son can see it.) Son says, "900 numbers?" Picture 3: Grandma continues her tirade at Grandpa Nick, who stands there with an embarassed look on his face. She says "I consider it cheating, Nick." Son (holding the phone bill and reading it) says, "Dad, you're calling the smut lines?" Picture 4: Grandpa Nick's eyes brighten up. He looks at his son and says, "Smut? What smut? Those numbers are the crossword puzzle help line." Grandma still has an angry look on her face and says, "Cheater! No wonder you've been using a ballpoint!" In the foreground son's eyes are big and he stands there with a very embarassed look on his face. PAT ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #121 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa20030; 28 Feb 95 18:05 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11395; Tue, 28 Feb 95 12:43:42 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11389; Tue, 28 Feb 95 12:43:40 CST Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 12:43:40 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502281843.AA11389@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #122 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Feb 95 12:43:30 CST Volume 15 : Issue 122 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Pakistan Shuts Down Cellular Network (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Book Review: "Using E-Mail" by Gibbons et al. (Rob Slade) AT&T Offers 'International Redial' (TELECOM Digest Editor) Minority Scholarships in Telecommunications (Heather Hudson) Analog Interface Parameters (Eli Cohen) Transport Training Advisory Group Wanted (George B. Ford) Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act (Ron Higgins) Oradell, NJ Finally Gets 911 Service (Robert Casey) More CellOne/NY Frolics (Stan Schwartz) Hardware Wanted For Forward-on Busy, No Answer (Chris Lee) Does Bridge Affect Modem? (Ted Shapin) T1's, NewBridge Banks, and High End Modems (Mark Hittinger) Automated Bridge Wanted (Stephen J. Mahler) G7 Meeting Notes Wanted (Lars Kalsen) Information Wanted on Directory Assistance System (Shanavas H. Nyakhar) Invitation to Long Distance Domestic Re-Sellers and Reps (Kevin Lipsitz) Edwards Research Institute Virtual Mall (C. Boyle) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Pakistan Shuts Down Cellular Network From: telco-rg@dxm.ernet.in (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 20:46:21 IST Organization: Deus X Machina --==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh Unable to intercept traffic, Pakistan shuts down cellular network The Karachi daily _Dawn_ reported yesterday (26th February 1995) that the Pakistan government has shut down a cellular network run by Mobilink, a joint venture between Motorola and Pakistani SAIF Telecom, as it was unable to intercept traffic. The company was unable to provide interception services to intelligence agencies. According to a Mobilink official "there are no commercial products ... that enable over-the-air monitoring of calls." However it remains unclear why agencies would require monitoring of wireless mobile-to-base traffic, instead of intercepting at the base station. While GSM's digital encrypted traffic may be hard to tap in real-time, it is decrypted at the base station. Earlier in January the network was suspended for two weeks during negotiations. Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and commercial capital, has been suffering from considerable sectarian and political violence, which has claimed 700 lives last year, and a further 154 this month. --==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (rishab@dxm.ernet.in) --==May be distributed electronically provided that only compilation or --==transmission charges are applied. Other uses require written permission. For Electric Dreams subscriptions and back issues, send a mail to rishab@arbornet.org with 'get help' as the message Subject. Rishab Aiyer Ghosh rishab@dxm.ernet.in rishab@arbornet.org Vox +91 11 6853410 Voxmail 3760335 H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 21:08:33 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Using E-Mail" by Gibbons et al. BKUEMAIL.RVW 950124 "Using E-Mail", Gibbons et al, 1994, 0-7897-0023-9, U$24.99/C$33.99/UK#22.99 %A Dave Gibbons dgibbons@bigcat.missouri.edu 70007.5106@compuserve.com %A David Fox %A Alan Westenbroek alan@datastorm.com awestcnb@bigcat.missouri.edu %A Dick Cravens 73324.2743@compuserve.com %A Andrew B. Shafran shafran@cis.ohio-state.edu %C 201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290 %D 1994 %G 0-7897-0023-9 %I Que/MacMillan Computer Publishing (MCP) %O U$24.99/C$33.99/UK#22.99 75141.2102@compuserve.com %P 376 %T "Using E-Mail" Although large chunks of this book are simply versions of product documentation, there are many sections of good, thoughtful, useful advice as well. Chapter one is a good introduction and a breakdown of the mail system into the mail user agent (MUA, called "front end" in the book) and the mail transport agent (MTA). Later parts of the chapter may become too technical in discussions of wide area networks, to no purpose. Chapters two and three give a very good overview of email use and evaluation. The material is broad- ranging and generally excellent, with the notable exception of deficiencies in the coverage of security and file attachments. Chapters four through seven document uses and commands for cc:Mail, MS-Mail, Novell Groupwise, Lotus Notes and Windows for Workgroups. Chapters eight to fourteen cover what is generally the "mail Internet"; BBS networks, commercial services, and the Internet, itself. Except for two sizeable chapters on Compuserve and America Online, the material is quite terse, though an acceptable introduction. Directions and tables of internetwork addressing are a strong point, here. (For a book discussing global email, there is much evidence of US-centrism. This may explain some of the blind spots with regard to security issues.) A fair amount of the book could be discarded with no appreciable loss, and a few points (such as netiquette) could stand some boosting. Overall, though, this is a solid introduction to the topic. And the authors show admirable restraint in not promoting ProComm. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKUEMAIL.RVW 950124. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 RSlade@cyberstore.ca Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Feb 95 22:32:27 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' A new service from AT&T allows subscribers who make a lot of international calls to cut through the wasted time so prevelant when calling many international points with no circuit messages, busy signals and such. Called 'International Redial' the way it works is after dialing an international call where you did not get through, you just have to hang up a second and dial *234. That will automatically redial your last international call over again, several times for up to thirty minutes. Once it gets through, a message is played in your choice of 14 languages to the party who answers the phone. It tells him to hold on and you are called back and patched through. Nothing comes free: The cost is $3.00 per month, and it only works to about twenty countries at the present time, however those twenty include a few that are notorious for sending back that message saying 'your call cannot be completed in the country you dialed at this time'. To enroll or for more information: 1-800-732-WORLD. Yes, I know you can leave the /D/ off the end if you want. Pat T. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 21:38:02 PST From: HUDSON@CLUSTER.USFCA.EDU Subject: Minority Scholarships in Telecommunications Please ask your readers to share the following information: The University of San Francisco offers MBA and MA Programs in TelecommunicationsManagement and Policy. Scholarships are available for minority students through funding from the Telecommunications Education Trust. USF also offers professional seminars, and will offer a seminar on the Global Information Infrastructure (GII) for planners and policy makers from developing countries. For further information, please contact: Telecommunications Program McLaren School of Business U of San Francisco San Francisco, CA 94117-1080 e-mail: hudson@usfca.edu phone: 415/666-6642; fax: 415/666-2502 Thanks, Heather Hudson ------------------------------ From: gandalf!elic@uunet.uu.net (Eli Cohen) Subject: Analog Interface Parameters Organization: Tel-Aviv University Computation Center Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 11:23:04 GMT I'm looking for information in the form of articles research papers etc. on the topic of Analog Interface Parameters. The parameters I'm looking for (such as Line Impedance, Dial Tone, Cadences, etc.) should be categorized be country of origin. Thanks for your help. Eli Cohen elic@lannet.com ------------------------------ From: fordgb@aur.alcatel.com (George B. Ford) Subject: Transport Training Advisory Group Wanted Date: 27 Feb 1995 16:39:59 GMT Organization: Alcatel Network Systems Inc, Raleigh NC Reply-To: fordgb@aur.alcatel.com Does anyone know if there is a Training Advisory Group for Transport products? SNIC, COM-TAG, and NARC-TAG used to provide recommendations for Switching products. Any leads or information will be appreciated. ------------------------------ From: rhiggins@carroll1.cc.edu (Ron Higgins) Subject: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act Date: 27 Feb 1995 07:43:19 -0600 Organization: Lightning Systems Before I spend hours of my personal time digging into this subject, I am wondering if there is anyone out there that has looked into using the Privacy Act to avoid having their telephone number published in the annual telephone directory and given out by "information". Our local telephone company is planning a 900% (900 percent) increase in the rate that it charges for a non-published, non-listed telephone number on a monthly basis. And that is on top of the "*67" that I have to dial to stop my number from being transmitted by Caller ID. If you know of any information available on this subject, please send e-mail to the address at the end of this message. Thank you, Ron | Lightning Systems | Lightning Systems rhiggins@carroll1.cc.edu | (414) 363-4282 200megs | P. O. Box 4 Apple // & Van Halen Forever! | 21.6k USR Dual Standard | Mukwonago, WI 53149 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think you will find the various privacy regulations apply more to the government than they do to private businesses. Since telco is a privately owned business -- not a government entity -- it may be hard to apply this as you want. Also there would be a conflict where your contract with telco (as expressed through its tariffs) is concerned. I can see what you are trying to accomplish, but I don't think it will work. Remember also that according to telco tariffs, you have no 'property rights' in your telephone number. It is not, strictly speaking, yours to 'protect'. It will be interesting to hear the results of your investigation and efforts as you proceed further on this, if you do. You should also bear in mind that you can press *67 all you like, but it will NOT prevent subscribers to 800 service (or people who subscribe to 500 service who accept your reverse charge call via a PIN) from getting your number. Likewise, long distance carriers are entitled to have your name, address and phone number *despite your non-pub status* for billing purposes when you use their network. PAT] ------------------------------ From: wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) Subject: Oradell, NJ Finally Gets 911 Service Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 04:28:50 GMT My home town, Oradell, NJ (in Bergen County, in the northeast corner of NJ, near NYC) now has 911 service. Until recently, you had to call the seven digit phone number if you needed the police or fire departments. A problem would crop up, as the police's exchange was 262, and 261 also exists in town. Car accident happens at the corner, pick up the phone, and dial the wrong number, cause I could never get it clear in emergencies. Half the time I'd get it wrong. (Note, a rather bad intersection was near my parent's house, not a month would go by without an accident there until they put a blinker light up.) I haven't tried the 911 number, no emergencies have come up, and I don't want to waste their time on my tests. ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: More CellOne/NY Frolics Date: 28 Feb 1995 03:37:34 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC We've all heard the stories of the "fun" I had trying to use my CellOne NY/NJ phone while roaming in Canada. Last week, I visited some friends on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. Before I left, I looked at my CellOne Coverage Area map (dated 5/94 - I haven't seen a newer one) and saw that all of Maryland and Delaware and DC are in my "expanded home rate" area, and that there were not any notes or asterisks that referred to the Baltimore area. Wasn't I surprised, then, when I tried to call my CellOne phone from the hotel room and I received my voice mail! (I shouldn't have been surprised!). I called CellOne's 800 number, and the rep told me that even though Baltimore is a NACN city, incoming callers had to dial a roamer access number! (Where does it say that in CellOne's map?). I figured that it wouldn't do any good to argue on a Saturday night, so I asked what the roamer access number was. I told her that I was in Baltimore, in area code 410. She gave me a 202 (DC) number and insisted that it was the closest one! I called back a bit later, and another rep gave me a 410 number. Imagine asking my friends in Baltimore to call DC so that they could reach me if I was down the street. (Almost as silly as asking them to call New York, but at least they'd be able to reach me directly). The first rep mentioned something about the lack of a mutual roaming agreement, and I wonder if this is retribution for CellOne turning off access to roamers in NY? CellOne Strikes Again! Stan ------------------------------ From: chrislee@calon.calon.com (Chris Lee) Subject: Hardware Needed For Forward-on Busy, No Answer Organization: North Bay Network's news posting service Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 03:01:53 GMT Help! My lovely local GTE switch does not offer call forward on no answer or call forward on busy. Is there any box I can buy for home usde that will give me these features? Thanks, Chris [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A service which is identical to 'call forward on busy' is known as 'hunting', or 'jump-hunting' if the number used for overflow calls is not immediatly in sequence with the line which is busy. The only difference between the two seems to be their name, and the fact that most telcos charge for the former but not the latter. Maybe someone will write and tell me other actual differences between these. I certainly would imagine that GTE offers hunting; I have not seen a switch or a CO that could not do that much. You might want to go back to the rep and put it in different words. When your one line is busy, you want to have calls hunt to another line. That will take care of one segment of your problem. Regards call forwarding on no answer (as opposed to absolute call forwarding, where every call is forwarded without giving you an opportunity first to answer; I imagine your telco offers that also), Radio Shack used to have a little box to do what you wanted, and I think Hello Direct currently has one also. Check with them at 1-800-HI-HELLO. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tshapin@kaiwan.com (Ted Shapin) Subject: Does Bridge Affect Modem? Date: 28 Feb 1995 02:02:31 -0800 Organization: KAIWAN Internet (310-527-4279,818-756-0180,909-785-9712) I have two copper pairs coming to my residence and need a third line. If it is bridged between the two pairs, what effect will it have on my use of a v.32bis modem on one of the copper pairs? Ted ------------------------------ From: bugs@warlock.win.net (Mark Hittinger) Subject: T1's, NewBridge Banks, and High End Modems Date: 28 Feb 1995 12:13:24 -0500 Organization: Win.Net Communications, Inc. I'd be interested in e-mail from anyone else who is using T1's with the low end newbridge channel banks connected to high speed modems. We know of many problems with v.fc's so those are not on the table. The setup mostly works but I am seeing some percentage of bad connections and poor throughput. I realize the v.34's at 28.8 are not going to deliver perfection. I am seeing something nasty even at 14.4. My suspicion is some electrical noise in the channel bank itself is contributing to the problem. I can here something even when I disconnect the T1 from the bank. Has anybody else seen this? Please e-mail if you have some ideas for me. Done grounded it and all dat. Does Wiltel shave the bandwidth for voice channels down to 3000hz from 3600hz? Thanks, Mark Hittinger bugs@win.net ------------------------------ From: sjm8725@ucs.usl.edu (Mahler Stephen J) Subject: Automated Bridge Date: 28 Feb 1995 20:23:31 GMT Organization: Univ. of Southwestern La., Lafayette I am looking for a device that .... * is connected to by lines that are in a hunt group; * as each person calls the hunt group, the calls are conferenced/ bridged; All parties converse as required and can hangup without impacting the other connections. Any information/pointers appreciated. Prefer standalone POTS connections but have G3 switch if required. Steve ------------------------------ From: dalk@login.dknet.dk (Lars Kalsen) Subject: G7 Meeting Notes Wanted Date: 27 Feb 1995 18:45:24 GMT Organization: DKnet Hi - outhhere, Does someone have the final paper from the G7-meeting in Brussels where innovations in the IT-area was discussed. Please E-mail me if you have any information from the meeting. Lars Kalsen, partner, IT-gruppen Tel : +45 98 24 65 02 Brorsonsvej 19 Fax. : +45 98 24 79 02 9490 Pandrup Mobile: +45 40 10 36 44 Denmark E.mail: dalk@login.dknet.dk ------------------------------ From: snyakh@delphi.com (Shanavas H. Nyakhar) Subject: Information Wanted on Directory Assistance System Date: 28 Feb 1995 08:20:48 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation Hello, Our company in the middle east is bidding for a Bi-Lingual directory assistance system for a national PTT. Any help in identifying companies who have undertaken such projects or have such existing systems (whose specifications are given below) will be highly appreciated. Alternatively, companies who are intrested in bidding for such a project together with us, may kindly contact me for full details on the project. Brief Details on the Project: The project is to be implemented on a Turn-key basis. Bid is for hardware and software for creating a directory assistance system (for Telephone, telex, fax, pagers and mobile) based on a multi parameter enquiry concept. Queries would be entered in English / Arabic via operator terminals running MS-Windows as front end. Queries should utilize Phonetization Tables, Synonymization Tables, Acronyms and/or secondary or related listings etc., to come up with possible matches. The system is to be fully compliant with International Number Retrieval (TPH-28) so that Directory Assistance (DA) databases can be accessed via X500 links. Bidders are also expected to install and integrate Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) supporting upto 100 trunk lines, into the proposed system. The existing Host system is an HP9000, which will be utilized for running the SQL Database. For more details, kindly contact: Shanavas H. Nyakhar Legend Computers L.L.c, Fax : +968 785627. Tel : +968 785628 or by e-mail to SNYAKH@DELPHI.COM Thanks, Shanavas ------------------------------ From: krazykev@escape.com Subject: Invitation to Long Distance Domestic Re-Sellers and Reps Date: 27 Feb 95 19:07:58 GMT I am currently looking for a domestic reseller who can provide service to our firm. We already get a very good deal as we continuosly shop around. Here is what we are looking for. If you can provide this to us under these terms, email me with the details and I will email you back with the best time to contact me so you can make your pitch, along with my direct telephone number. 1. We are looking for T-1 domestic USA FLAT rates without the T-1 comitt- ment. We have eight lines and want to use them on a non-pic, 10XXX basis. Specifically we require six second billing with six second minimum on all our domestic USA calls (not interested in 18 second or 30 second minimums). 2. We spend around $10,000.00 per month on all our telecommunications and split this amoung around a dozen companies, by choice. We route our calls over the least expensive carrier for each type of call. 3. We do not want a contract tying us down to one carrier. As long as you are cheapest you will keep our business for what you are cheapest on. We want no monthly minimum and no monthly fees and no sign-up fees. 4. To get our business, you will need to be very competitive. We pay nearly T-1 rates now and are looking to get down in that actual range of competitive T-1 rates. We understand that there are several companies offering to beat anyone's rates by 10% and we would like to hear from one of those companies, but not from a company called Affinity or anyone representing them, as a friend had a very bad experience with them. They promised something and then did not come through for him. We will not even consider them. So if you would like to contact us, we would welcome your sales pitch. Note: we are not interested in any of the following arrangements, which have been proposed to us before: 1. Selling long distance to *effectively* reduce our bill. 2. Paying an inflated invoice to get a rebate later. Thanks. Sincerely, Kevin Jay Lipsitz, President :-) KRAZY KEVIN MAGAZINE CLUB, THE INTERNET DIVISION OF COLLEGETOWN MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES: "Managing Magazines for Cost-Conscious Busy Professionals, Students, Educators and Regular Consumers Internationally Since 1973." krazykev@escape.com ------------------------------ From: C. Boyle Subject: Edwards Research Institute Virtual Mall Date: 28 Feb 1995 04:06:39 -0800 Organization: Virtual Mall Can you help us? Edwards Research Institute is conducting a search for unique, high quality items which can be of benefit to others throughout the world via the web. Areas of interest include: Education; health; environment; culture; politics; music; books; sports and recreation; hobbies and crafts; humor; virtual reality; medical and nourishment. Come and visit us on the web at http://www.virtualmall.com. Browse through examples of items which you may find beneficial to your quality of life. Feel free to acquire items of interest to you and register your suggestions; or give us a call at (510) 657-2499. We would also need to know the manufacturer and/or distribution information, along with who you are and how we may reach you. Upon our acceptance of your suggestion you will receive a Virtual Mall gift certificate. Thanks for your help. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #122 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa21892; 28 Feb 95 20:04 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15963; Tue, 28 Feb 95 15:06:08 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15952; Tue, 28 Feb 95 15:06:04 CST Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 15:06:04 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502282106.AA15952@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #123 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Feb 95 15:06:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 123 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Summit Roundtable (Summit '94) Looking For Directory CD ROMs (Sven Echternach) 800 Numbers: Media, and Real Estate (Judith Oppenheimer) Re: MCI Slams Again (John Higdon) Re: Saying Hello in Other Languages - Summary (TELECOM Digest Editor) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: summit@ix.netcom.com (Summit '94) Subject: Summit Roundtable Date: 28 Feb 1995 18:45:57 GMT Organization: Netcom Enterprise Management Summit 95 123 Townsend Street San Francisco, CA 94107 TEL: 415.512.0801 FAX: 415.512.1325 Email: emiinc@mcimail.com The Enterprise Management Summit will conduct a roundtable panel discussion titled Trends in Enterprise Management on March 29 from 8-11am at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. This Summit Roundtable is sponsored by {Network World Magazine}. This is a free event and seating is limited to 100, so register early. The roundtable panelists will discuss changes that they envision within the industry in 1995 and in the next five years. Topic areas include network and systems management, and the management of distributed applications and databases, as well as the future of such management standards as SNMP, DMI, CORBA, DCE, IPng; managing emerging technologies such as ATM, switched networks, videoconferencing, artificial intelligence, network automation, messaging, etc. We will also explore the future of enterprise management platforms. Chairing the panel will be Rick Sturm of US WEST Technologies. Rick Sturm is also President of the OpenView Forum, and is Conference Chair for the Enterprise Management Summit. Other panelists include: Jeff Case - SNMP Research David Passmore - Decisis Asheem Chandna - Coronet Systems, Inc. Charlie Robbins - Aberdeen Group Bob Emerson - Hewlett-Packard Chris Thomas - Intel Corporation Joaquin Gonzalez - META Group Beth Adams - Network Management Forum Dave Mahler - Remedy Corporation Mark Fulgham - Boeing Computer Services John McConnell - McConnell Consulting Please fill out the registration form below and fax it to 415.512.1325, or return via E-mail. Please indicate any questions that you would like the panel to answer either live or as part of the {Network World} article which will appear in an April issue. We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas as we continue to scale the Enterprise Management Summit. Please provide the following information to register or to receive information about our Summit 95, the annual enterprise management conference to be held October 23-27 at the Dallas Infomart. Name: Company: Street: Mail Stop: City Phone: Fax: EMail: Questions for Panel: ------------------------------ From: sec@sec.de (Sven) Subject: Looking for Directory CD ROMs Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 19:37:21 CET I'm looking for a CD ROM with US' residential phone numbers that would also allow reverse lookups (e.g. finding a name acccording to a phone number). Does anyone have experience with any of the following, or maybe other, CD ROMS? PhoneDisc Reverse PhoneDisc Power Finder Haynes CrissCross Directory If anyone has a cheap source for those CD ROM's, please let me know too. Sven Echternach sec@sec.de ------------------------------ From: Judith Oppenheimer Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 11:02:33 -0500 Subject: 800 Numbers: Media, and Real Estate Pat, it's clear, that by employment and occupation, the policy shapers and decision makers regarding all telephone numbering plans focus on the mechanical and engineering aspects of telecom. Valid aspects, to be sure. But limited. These people are employed by the real estate moguls of telecom -- the carriers. For whom this mechanical and engineering (operational) focus preserves their territorial exclusivity. So the ITU, INC. and other participants in these processes, are by design quite removed from the multi-disciplinary, non-telecom market realities of 800 numbers. Two Market Realities: Media, and Real Estate. 800 numbers have solid media characteristics. They contain content and attract targeted audiences. 800 COLLECT attracts collect callers. 800 FLOWERS attracts flower buyers. Etc. This raises very interesting questions regarding foreign ownership of U.S. media, and is just one of the issues that should be studied regarding the proposed International Freephone service. Regarding 888, we are told there is an impending shortage of 800 numbers. I've asked some my associates in both telecom and marketing to respond to your most recent rebuttal in our thread. This, from the president of a reseller company, who discusses the real estate characteristics of 800 numbers. (I post for him as he's not online.) "Why should 800 telephone numbers not be traded in the open market? Portability opened the door. It is time to complete the ownership issue. There will be ample supply of 800 numbers if current holders can sell numbers. All will be served by the simplicity of one toll-free platform. All will be served by the elegance of the free market deciding who is the best user of an 800 telephone number." (My note: Existing market forces bear this out. Most high profile branded numbers were acquired from the private sector, not assigned by carriers.) If anyone's interested, just email me for a copy of a news article from 1994 where MCI brags about how it "acquired" 1 800 HARVEYS for Harveys Casino when it picked up the account. 1 800 THE MOST was acquired from the private sector. So was 1 800 COMPARE. Indeed, the big three carriers are some of the most active buyers of numbers, both for their own brand and media purposes, and as incentives for their customers. The problem is, as the original monopolistic real estate moguls, they are adamently opposed to private sector activity in this very open market that portability created.) The reseller goes on, "The situation we face currently with 800 telephone numbers is comparable to the homesteading of territory. In the early days of America's development, land was given freely to anyone who would care for it and develop it, whereafter, the land became their property. 800 numbers are no different. People develop 800 numbers by advertising and placing services behind those numbers. Property rights naturally instill themselves within the 800 numbers. As history has proven, homesteading of resources such as land or a telephone number, serves a valuable purpose. We have reached the time where more territory does not need to be freely distributed (ie, 888.) Instead, the existing 800 number ownership should be acknowledged." So, now there's media and real estate. Clearly, the single-disciplinary operational standard approach cannot possibly address the characteristics, nor the ramifications, of media and real estate market necessities. As other elements (trademark, etc.) are sent to me, I'll be glad to share them with the digest. J. Oppenheimer, Producer@Pipeline.com Interactive CallBrand(TM) ------------------------------ Organization: Green Hills and Cows Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 07:57:42 -0800 From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Subject: Re: MCI Slams Again Jeff Jelinek writes: > I seriously doubt that MCI intends to change an individual PIC for the > sole purpose of picking up some LD revenue for a month or so. Big > deal. If you multiply that "month of revenue" by many thousands of times, it begins to add up in a big hurry. Oddly enough, some of those "slamees" stay with their slam-imposed carrier. > Why would they risk the repercussions of an unauthorized PIC change? Because there are none. There are no fines or other liabilities. And the carrier is entitled to the money for the calls you made. The worst that happens is that the customer is switched back to some other carrier. Remember, there are two sides to legislation: statute and enforcement. In the telecommunications industry, there is painfully little of the latter. > Of the hundreds of thousands of PIC changes that take place each month, > some of the customer service people will make a mistake. Uh huh. And considering that a slam to MCI is a keystroke away, that "mistake" is very frequently made. This is not rocket science; there is no reason, other than intent, for any customer's PIC to be changed. > I have not heard of this type of intentional action for many years. While I am not in the long distance business, I am personally acquainted with people who do run a long distance company. Slamming is a way of life. It is a standard exercise in the course of doing business. I advise everyone to make sure that LEC accounts are protected against carrier-instigated PIC changes. A side benefit of doing this is that you stop all of the telephone solicitation from long distance companies. Part of the mechanism of the hard-sell is to "switch" you on the spot. Notice you are never given an opportunity to think about it, nor are you given any hard information upon which to make an educated decision. If your account is locked against carrier tampering, the solicitor moves right along to the next victim; you don't even get a call. I had one line that constantly rang in the evening with MCI and others hawking "the big savings". No other lines in the house, and I have many, got those calls. Associates suggested that I confirm the phone's PIC-change status. Sure enough, it was the only one in the house that for some reason had not been protected against unauthorized PIC selection. With that situation corrected, the junk calls from telemarketers have come to a halt. John Higdon | P.O. Box 7648 | +1 408 264 4115 | FAX: john@ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | +1 500 FOR-A-MOO | +1 408 264 4407 ------------------------------ From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: Re: Saying Hello in Other Languages - Summary Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 14:50:00 CST We had several good responses to the 'Saying Hello in Other Languages article the other day, including a lengthy response from Asia_Link, a Fido news group which had originally appeared in the {Los Angeles Times}. We'll start with that peice, then go on to some of the responses sent by individual readers, quite a few of whom wrote from the .nl domain. From: lester.hiraki@canrem.com (Lester Hiraki) Organization: CRS Online (Toronto, Ontario) In response to a request in Volume 15, Issue 118, Message 3 of 19, I am submitting the following article. The content of the article might contain some of the answers to the enquiries. > My uncle is 85 years old, and wants desperately to see a list of how > people in other countries answer the phone. The following swiped from Fido's Asian_Link and reposted here for general interest about general telephone usage and customs worldwide: World Telephone Cultures {Los Angeles Times} (Jul 26) CULTURE: Arabs greet each other with profuse politeness. The French want to know who's calling. Italians have love affairs with the machine. Alexander Graham Bell spoke through a wire to his colleague Thomas Watson in 1876. "Come here," he said, the first command uttered on a telephone. Oh, what Mr. Bell wrought. Around the world, different cultures have developed characteristic phone manners since Bell's day. No people open a call with more effusive hospitality than the Arabs. Whatever the subject of the conversation, it begins with what seems like five minutes of generally meaningless but absolutely essential greetings. A ringing phone is answered: "May your morning be good." "May your morning be full of light," the caller responds. "Praise God, your voice is welcome." "Welcome, welcome." "How are you?" "Praise God." "Praise God." "What news? Are you well? Your family well?" "Praise God. How are you?" "All is well. All is well. Welcome. Welcome." Only then might the reason for the call be mentioned. And the goodbys will take almost as long and are again excruciatingly polite. Compared to the Arab world, responses elsewhere are the soul of brevity: Britons and Americans generally say "Hello," although the latter sometimes simply say "Yes," and if they're in business or the military they may just answer with their surnames: "Smith." The French answer their phones with the familiar "Allo," and they often add their name and the phrase "Qui est a l"appareil?" that is, "Who is on the phone?" In a number of countries, calls are answered with a touch of suspicion or curiosity, a reluctance to talk until it's clear who the caller is. Italians answer "Pronto," or "Ready," and then it's the caller who demands "Chi parla?"--"Who's speaking?" -- assuming the right to know the identity of the person at the other end. Germans tend to answer the phone by barking their last names: "Schmidt" or "Mueller," even the women -- and even if they have titles, like Herr Doktor, which in other circumstances hey would insist upon. In Copenhagen, Danes will answer with both first and last names, even women: "Karen Andersen." In Spain, the response to a ringing telephone is: "Diga," or "Speak." "Diga" is also a common response in Mexico, but Mexicans usually answer "Bueno," meaning "Good" or "Well." Like the Italians, the Mexicans will demand: "Where am I calling?" And if they have the wrong number, they'll indignantly hang up, sometimes with a curse, as if it were the respondent's fault. Because of a cultural tendency to speak cautiously with strangers, callers must clearly identify themselves and state their purpose. Even then, the respondent may become vague and evasive. "Is this the Mexico State Justice Department?" a caller might ask. "I wouldn't know what to tell you," is the answer. Business people and government officials commonly refuse to speak to strangers on the phone even if it concerns simple inquiries like "Where can I buy one of your vacuum cleaners?" The train system won't divulge ticket fares or schedules on the phone; you must go to the station and ask in person. In Brazil, after slowly and patiently dialing a number, if you are lucky enough to get an answer, the respondent will say: "Who's talking?" not to be rude but to make sure the right number has been reached. Goodbys are elaborate, as if in person: "A hug" is a frequent sign-off, even to end formal business calls. "A kiss" is more casual, with someone you know personally. And the response in both cases is "Outro," "Another." Like American teen-agers, many cultures have love affairs with the phone, none more than the Italians. They talk endlessly with relatives, friends and schoolmates. The telephone call has replaced formal letters of invitation, congratulations and condolences. As almost everywhere else, the cellular phone, called a telefonino in Italy, has become a popular status symbol, used widely and indiscrimin- ately. Telefonini have recently been barred from parliamentary sessions, for instance. In Germany the telephone is hardly ubiquitous. You can get an unlisted number at no extra charge, and information operators will not indicate the fact to callers -- in effect denying your existence. One wrinkle that arrived under Germany's liberal immigration policy: the installation of illegal phone booths where foreigners can call home without paying long-distance tariffs. Officials of cellular-phone networks have countered the trend by blocking all calls going to Pakistan, Togo, Gambia and Vietnam. In Russia, like most things, phone use is affected by the growing gap between rich and poor, new and old, foreign and Russian. So mobile phones are big hits among the rich, but most Russians have no phones at all. Thus ads for apartment rentals specify "telephone" with the same pride as "garbage chute" or "closet." For those with phones, the answer to a ring is the French "Allo," which can be pronounced to reflect wide degrees of happiness or annoyance. Also popular are the curt "Da," or "Yes," and "Slushayu vas," or "I am listening to you." Because of the history of KGB taps, Russians are still careful of being overheard, often using the phrase, "It's not telephone conversation," to warn a caller to be discreet. Often in Moscow an alien conversation will break into yours, and sometimes, according to Muscovites, you can't help listening. These aural glimpses show a Russian life that is never the relaxed, gossipy "reach out and touch someone" conversations so typical in America. Instead they have some urgent goal -- such as arranging a meeting or a deal. "The reason for this urgency is the poor quality," says a Moscow resident. "Pay phones are unreliable and the caller wants to get his message across before the connection breaks down." In closed Arab societies, the telephone is a means of contact for those forbidden to see each other in person. A woman will call random numbers asking for "Mohammed," and when she finds a voice she likes, will strike up a conversation. In India, you wait up to seven years for a phone -- so when the connection is finally made it often prompts a neighborhood party. The euphoria ends about a month later when the first bill arrives and the subscribers realize how much it costs. In the Indian middle-class home, the telephone occupies the place of honor, often atop its special table, and is usually kept locked to prevent neighbors from making calls. But in the countryside where 70% of Indians live, phones are still a rarity: In some cases there is not a single phone in a village. In Southeast Asia, almost everyone uses a version of "Hello" to answer the phone. Hong Kong Chinese say, "Wei." In countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, with a shortage of phone lines and a two-year waiting list, cellular phones are prized, but expensive -- running $500 to $1,000 in Singapore and twice that elsewhere. Bangkok's most popular radio program is a call-in show with phoners talking while stuck in the city's infamous traffic. Many posh restaurants have signs saying, "No Handphones," because people are fed up with the guy at the next table shouting into a phone. Some cinemas show trailers indicating that it is rude to talk on the phone during the movie. In Japan, the person answering will customarily say, "Moshi moshi," the equivalent of "Hello," or perhaps "Hai," that is, "Yes." If he or she has the right connection, the caller may say something like "Osewa ni natte imasu," or "I am indebted to you for your kindness." Sometimes people bow over a phone, although the other party cannot see the bow. Many older Japanese, who never saw phones until the era of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, continue to use ceremonial phrases and bows over the telephone -- as if it weren't there. The standard goodby is "Ja, mata" -- "See you later" -- with the word "Sayonara" reserved only for occasions of a long or final parting. In many Third World countries it definitely helps to know an operator. The Indian writer Khushwant Singh remembers trying to place a call from New Delhi to Lahore in neighboring Pakistan -- when services were notoriously bad. After hours of trying, Singh was contacted by the international operator who suggested that she had relatives in Pakistan who had wanted to visit India but needed visas. Being a member of Parliament, she said, he might come up with the necessary stamps. Singh accepted the deal and within three minutes his connection was through. ---------------- From: 4sam3@qlink.queensu.ca (Scott Montague) En francais, nous disons "Allo?" when answering the phone. Scott From: Kimmo Ketolainen Most Finns answer to the phone with their name. Firstname, surname or full name. Some few people say "haloo" but I haven't heard that much. Some people, mostly older people, answer by saying the phone number. Kimmo. --------------- From: Alex@Worldaccess.NL (Alex) In Holland we pick up with either "Hallo" (means hello in Dutch). Or more common is to pick up with "Met ", which basicly means With For your intrest, in Zimbabwe they tend to pick up most of the times with their number, like ... "602809 Hello?" Greetings, Alex Alex@Worldaccess.NL, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands ---------------- From: jean@xs4all.nl (Jean B Sarrazin) There is saying "Hello" and there's answering the phone. In many languages, this does not necessarily coincide ... here are a few for the languages I know: Language Hello Answer phone French Bonjour Allo Spanish Hola Digame German Guten Tag (Your last name) + Guten Tag (optional) Dutch Dag Met (first and/or last name), Goede (morgen-morning, middag, PM or avond, evening) Jean B. Sarrazin Ekkosys Communications BV Sarphatipark 24-1 1072 PB Amsterdam, The Netherlands Telephone : +31-20-676-7304 Fax : +31-20-676-9907 Compuserve : 72077,1366 Internet : jean@xs4all.nl ------------------- From: A.Meerwijk@research.ptt.nl (Arthur Meerwijk) Here in The netherlands we answer the phone with our name, so it would be something like: Good morning, this is Arthur. Although, literally tanslated I say: "Good morning, with arthur" where "with" indicates the other end is "connected _with_ arthur" But it all depends on the level of politeness you include. In any case, one alwyas says one's name when picking up a phone. The most common one being: "With Arthur Meerwijk" Cheers, arthur ---------------- From: koos@kzdoos.xs4all.nl (Koos van den Hout) Of course there's the way American persons answer the phone : "Hello." (Sorry, couldn't resist. This may seem perfectly normal to an American but for someone who's used to other greetings it can be confusing.) In the Netherlands it's normal to greet with your own name. I say "Met Koos van den Hout" which does translate roughly to "This is Koos van den Hout" Companies mostly answer with a company name in the Netherlands: "Hogeschool Utrecht" ------------------ From: marya@oitunix.oit.umass.edu (Jeffrey William McKeough) Here's a few off the top of my head: Japan: moshi moshi Spain: digame Mexico: bueno Israel: shalom -------------------- From: Giray Pultar In Turkey/in Turkish, we typically answer the phone by saying 'alo'. The pronounciation is more like allo, but is spelled "alo". I believe it comes from French. Giray -------------------- From: ph18@crux2.cit.cornell.edu (Paul Houle) In Japan, people answer the phone "Moshi Moshi". -------------------- From: bud@kentrox.com (Bud Couch) Can't vouch for the spelling, but the Japanese answer with "mushi-mushi", and in Korean, it's "yobosayoh". Know this because thirty years ago, I used to have to troubleshoot a US Army- US Air Force - Korean Air Defense - Japan Self-Defense Force comm net, and listen to them yell this into the phone, as if they could get loud enough to hear it from Pyongtaek to Honshu. Bud Couch - ADC Kentrox |When correctly viewed, everything is lewd.| bud@kentrox.com (192.228.59.2) | -Tom Lehrer | ---------------------- From: Dan Cromer <19016007@SBACVM.SBAC.EDU> Organization: School Board of Alachua County, Gainesville, Florida Pat, How do we answer the phone in the USA? It depends on who answers! You may hear Hello, or Yeah, or "Cromer residence, Dan speaking" (how I was brought up to answer, in a simpler time when front doors were hardly ever locked). In Japan they commonly say "moshi moshi" which can sound like "mush mush", with the words repeated rapidly. I've heard Spanish speakers use ola, pronounce Oh lah, with the accent on the Oh. Daniel H. Cromer, Jr. Director, Information Resources School Board of Alachua County, Gainesville, Florida 19016007@sbacvm.sbac.edu 904-955-7509 FAX 904-955-6700 ---------------------- From: "Van R. Hutchinson" <0005493896@mcimail.com> In Peru, my family members answer, "halo" pronounced, AL'-oh. More formal greetings include "Buenos dias" and "Buenas tardes" In Mexico, I've heard "Bueno". ---------------------- From: robhall@hk.super.net In Chinese (at least Cantonese and Mandarin dialects), telephones are answered "Wei?", which roughly translates to 'Yes?' In Japanese, the telephone is answered "Mushi Mushi". I'll be interested to see the results of your compilation! Rob Hall Hong Kong -------------------------- From: rishab@dxm.ernet.in (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) In India almost everyone says Hello on the phone, even if they're in a village in Rajasthan and proceed to converse in Marwari. Accents and pronunciation varies. Rishab Aiyer Ghosh rishab@dxm.ernet.in rishab@arbornet.org Voice/Fax/Data +91 11 6853410 Voicemail +91 11 3760335 H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks to all who participated by sending in responses. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #123 ****************************** From telecom Tue Feb 28 16:41:14 1995 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19637; Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:41:13 CST Return-Path: Received: from news.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19623; Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:41:09 CST Received: from zeta.eecs.nwu.edu by news.eecs.nwu.edu with SMTP id AA25845 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Tue, 28 Feb 1995 16:41:04 -0600 Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by zeta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-EECS-3) id AA17393; Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:41:02 CST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19608; Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:41:01 CST Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:41:01 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502282241.AA19608@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #124 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:41:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 124 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NII 2000 Call for White Papers (John Godfrey) Pizza Hut Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations (Dave Sellers) Palm Size Message Recorder on a Chip (TELECOM Digest Editor) Book Review: "Dvorak's Guide to Desktop Telecommunications" (Rob Slade) Overseas Bandwidth Optimizers (Jim Williams) Tender For Global ISDN Project (Marcel W.J. van.Ruijven) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:18:00 EST From: John Godfrey Subject: NII 2000 Call for White Papers [This document is also available through World Wide Web, at http://ntiaunix1.ntia.doc.gov:70/0/iitf/appstech/techpolwg/tpwgcall.html] COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418 NII 2000 STEERING COMMITTEE Call for White Papers: Private Investment and Federal NII Policy The NII 2000 Steering Committee -- a group of high-level executives and distinguished academicians -- seeks white papers from academia, businesses, foundations, industry, interest groups, trade associations and other interested parties on topics relevant to NII technology deployment. The Committee is charged by the Technology Policy Working Group (TPWG) of the federal Information Infrastructure Task Force with a year-long course of activities to develop a baseline understanding regarding what technologies are to be deployed when, where, and by whom. The project is being coordinated by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) and is drawing upon inputs from multiple industries, sectors, organizations, and individual experts. A list of NII 2000 Steering Committee members is attached. All white papers will be made available to federal NII decision makers and be considered for discussion at a Spring Forum in Washington, D.C., May 23-24, 1995. White paper authors will have the opportunity to revise their papers after the Spring Forum. All papers- regardless of whether they are selected for discussion at the Spring Forum-will be presented to the government and will contribute to the Steering Committee's final NII 2000 report to TPWG and the public. RESPONDING TO THE CALL: In keeping with its charge, the NII 2000 Steering Committee seeks properly documented discussions with quantitative evidence/analysis on technical, financial, and economic aspects of technology deployment issues and prospects for the next five to seven years. Issues of particular interest to the Committee include: Architecture and facilities: Bandwidth capacity available to and from: government (all levels), corporations (domestic and international), small businesses and residences; also mobile users of portable platforms; Interoperability and openness: dimensions, barriers and facilitators; Interactivity and symmetry (i.e., relative support for two-way communication); Internetworking and interconnection regarding different kinds of networks and services; Public networks, private networks, virtual private networks. Enabling technologies (e.g., end-user devices, interfaces, and protocols); Recovery of carrier costs (facilities and/or services) in an open- network environment; Middleware technologies/capabilities: e.g., mechanisms such as digital signatures, encryption or search agents that protect intellectual property, privacy, security; directory services. Applications: Expected capabilities for digital libraries, distributed collaboration, software agents, smart cards, telecommuting, video delivery (on-demand & near on-demand), multimedia services; Expected attributes and implementation of electronic kiosks/public access facilities; Technology deployment issues affecting a particular domain (e.g., education, finance, manufacturing, transportation) which may have implications for other domains (e.g., establishing standards in health care); Critical hardware and/or software interface features, requirements, and standards; Equitable access and public service obligations (relative costs and implementation rates); Research and development: i.e., critical areas for future projects in device, software, and systems research; also private sector trends and priority areas for government-funded research; FORMAT REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY: Papers should begin with a brief problem statement and concentrate on analysis and forecast (five to seven year horizon) of deployment issues and key factors, including sources of uncertainty, contingencies, barriers and facilitators. Conclusions should concisely state the business case for a given deployment effort and any implications for public policy. Submissions should be double-spaced and should not exceed 6,250 words (approx. 25 pages). All papers must be signed by a principal and accompanied by a signed NRC copyright agreement. Statistics must be referenced; cites should be formatted as endnotes. Papers should be submitted in hard copy and electronic form (diskette or e-mail to jgodfrey@nas.edu) by April 27th. About the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board: Established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916, the National Research Council (NRC) is the federal government's principal advisor on science and technology issues. NRC conducts its work primarily by convening experts (serving pro bono) on a given issue. Within the NRC, CSTB oversees technology and policy projects related to information infrastructure and similar topics. For more information, contact John Godfrey, CSTB, 202/334-2605 or e-mail to jgodfrey@nas.edu ************************************************************************** DETAILED CRITERIA AND FORMAT STATEMENT: White Paper Criteria and Format I. Criteria A. Substantive - To the degree relevant, each paper should: Distinctly frame a problem/issue related to NII technology deployment; Make a projection regarding that problem/issue over the next five to seven years; Provide a comprehensive baseline and status report of key developments related to that problem or issue; Assess the interaction between technical and non-technical (legal/regulatory, economic, social) factors; Identify contingencies and uncertainties related to investment and deployment of new technologies; Identify key applications, enabling technologies, capabilities; Identify classes of users to be served, noting: (a) which users may be served most easily or quickly; (b) which users are more difficult to serve (and why); and (c) market ramp-up expectations and determinants When using terms such as "interactive", "open", "scalable", provide a short definition or context for understanding how those terms are being used; Identify possible public, private, or public/private sector responses. B. Technical: Submissions should be double-spaced; Submissions may be no longer than 6,250 words (approx. 25 pages, double-spaced); All papers must be signed by a principal of the organization, group, or firm; All authors must sign a National Research Council copyright agreement; Statistics must be referenced; cites should be formatted as endnotes; Papers should be submitted in hard copy form, as well as on a diskette (ASCII or WordPerfect 5.1 format) or sent via e-mail to jgodfrey@nas.edu. C. Dates: Abstracts due March 27; Forum version papers due April 27; Edited (final) version papers due June 30. II. Format (Page lengths are provided as guidelines only): A. Statement of the Problem: Each paper should provide a one or two paragraph statement of the particular technology deployment issue. B. Background (approximatly four or five pages): This section should provide a baseline understanding of the technology, service, industry, domain, or issue in question, and define terms. A picture of the current "state-of-play" should emerge from the section. C. Analysis and Forecast (approximatly twelve to fifteen pages): This third section is the heart of the paper and as such, should look at some of the broad factors (economic, legal/regulatory, social, technical) influencing deployment decisions. In particular, authors should (to the extent relevant): (a) identify contingencies and uncertainties affecting investment decisions; (b) discuss factors used by the industry/domain in making the business case for a new technology; and (c) make projections regarding the next five to seven years. This section should also include a discussion of barriers to resolving any outstanding problems/issues. D. Recommendations (approximatly three or four pages): In this final section, authors should state whether and how the problem(s) identified can best be addressed by the private sector, the public sector, or by a cooperative effort between the two. E. Additional Resources (optional): A listing of relevant documents, analyses, forecasts is welcome. Authors may attach these source materials as appendices. For more information, contact John Godfrey, CSTB, 202/334-2605 or e-mail to jgodfrey@nas.edu ************************************************************************** Computer Science and Telecommunications Board National Research Council NII 2000: CALL FOR WHITE PAPERS RESPONSE FORM Complete and return to CSTB by March 22 (Circle One: Mr. Ms. Professor Dr.) NAME TITLE AFFILIATION ADDRESS PHONE ____________FAX________________E-MAIL_____________ What is the topic of your white paper? Return to: Computer Science and Telecommunications Board Attn: John Godfrey National Research Council 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room HA-560 Washington, D.C. 20418 FAX: (202) 334-2318 ************************************************************************** STEERING COMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT FOR A NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE Dr. Lewis Branscomb, Chair Albert Pratt Public Service Professor J.F. Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Ms. Cynthia Braddon Vice President, Washington Affairs McGraw-Hill Incorporated Mr. James Chiddix Senior Vice President, Engineering and Technology Time Warner Cable Dr. David Clark Senior Research Scientist, Laboratory for Computer Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mr. Joseph Flaherty Senior Vice President, Technology CBS Incorporated Dr. Paul Green, Jr. Manager, Advanced Optical Networking Laboratory IBM T.J. Watson Research Center Mr. John Landry Senior Vice President, Development and Chief Technical Officer Lotus Development Corporation Mr. Richard Liebhaber Chief Strategy and Technology Officer MCI Communications Dr. Robert Lucky Vice President, Applied Research Bell Communications Research Dr. Lloyd N. Morrisett President John and Mary Markle Foundation Dr. Donald Simborg Chief Product Strategist Medicus Systems Corporation Mr. Leslie Vadasz Senior Vice President Intel Corporation Staff: Marjory S. Blumenthal Director, CSTB Louise A. Arnheim Sr. Program Officer John M. Godfrey Research Associate Gloria Bemah Admin. Assistant ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 16:24:50 +0500 From: sellers@on.bell.ca (Dave Sellers) Subject: Pizza Hunt Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations The following news release was issued by Bell Ontario Public Affairs to Ontario-based media on February 27, 1995. Bell rings up 310-1010 to reach 83 Pizza Hut locations TORONTO -- Eighty-three different pizza outlets from Cobourg to the Niagara Peninsula have identical phone numbers. A telecommunications nightmare, you say? A super telephone number, say Pizza Hut and Bell Canada. Throughout the 416 and 905 area codes, pizza-hungry customers can now dial the same seven-digit phone number, 310-1010, to reach any of Pizza Hut's restaurants, delivery and take-out stores. No need to look in the phone book; no area code required. Bell ServiceFinder (TM) service makes this new kind of seven-digit phone number possible. It provides a business with a series of call routing options that can be used alone or in combination to give customized routing capabilities. The service allows the business to advertise a single seven-digit local number and route incoming calls to pre-determined locations based on one or more options. "Whether you're at your home in St. Catharines, at a friend's place in Brampton or visiting your cousin's apartment in North York, you just dial 310-1010 to reach the local Pizza Hut for that area. The people who answer your call will take your order and make your pizza. It's that easy," says Doug Corbett, Pizza Hut's marketing manager. The ServiceFinder database will use the postal code associated with the calling number to identify which Pizza Hut location the call should go to. When the customer dials 310-1010, the system automatically routes the call to the nearest Pizza Hut. "No other food service company in Canada offers this level of convenience for its customers," says Corbett. "Our goal now is to make 310-1010 available across the country so no matter what city our customers are in, they dial the same number for a Pizza Hut pizza." Both the customer and the business benefit from the ServiceFinder service. "Besides making it easier for people to reach a business no matter where they happen to be, this service means the business can maintain a local look while getting greater value from its advertising," says John Strecker, national account director with Bell. In addition to the postal code option, call routing can be based on: - the telephone numbers of special customers; - the first three digits of the incoming call; - time of day; - day of the week; - a percentage of calls that each location should receive. Pizza Hut is the first Bell Canada customer to use the ServiceFinder service and is part of a technical trial. Bell Canada is awaiting approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission before expanding Pizza Hut's single number to other area codes and proceeding to market trials with other customers. That approval may come by the end of March. This is one of the first services to be offered on Bell's Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) platform. AIN is a set of software features that work in conjunction with Bell's digital switches (DMS-100: digital multiplex system of switching) equipped with CCS7 (Common Channel Signaling #7) software. CCS7, which activates Bell SmartTouch (TM) services, passes information about the calling number between the DMS-100 switch and the AIN software. Pizza Hut's 310-1010 is also in use in Calgary, Alberta, and the company intends to expand the number to the rest of the country as soon as possible. Within the 416 and 905 area codes, all Pizza Hut locations are now using the 310 number except those in Oakville, Burlington and Milton which are expected to make the change this spring. The downtown Toronto core (south of Carlton/College, between Spadina Ave. and Bayview Ave.) is using 310-1010 and will have delivery service for the first time by mid-March. Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, Inc., is the world's largest pizza distribution system with 478 restaurants and delivery units in Canada and more than 10,750 outlets in 88 other countries. Pizza Hut is the recognized leader of the $1.7 billion Canadian pizza category. Bell Canada, the largest Canadian telecommunications operating company, markets a full range of state-of-the-art products and services to more than seven million business and residence customers in Ontario and Quebec. Bell Canada is a member of Stentor -- an alliance of Canada's major telecommunications companies. For more information: Marilyn Koen Doug Corbett Bell Canada Communications (Ontario) Pizza Hut Canada (416) 581-3258 (905) 602-2752 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 15:59:17 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: Palm Size Message Recorder on a Chip I got an interesting advertisement a couple days ago I want to share with you. I make no warranties or claims; I will just tell you what they said. It cheap enough, you may want to order one or two. "Message recorder records anything without tape". This little thing fits in the palm of your hand and comes with a key chain attachment. Two buttons on the front, one marked 'rec' and the other marked 'play'. Whenever you want to remember something later on, just take this thing out of your pocket, press the record button and talk into it. It will hold ten seconds of whatever it hears, but the deluxe version will hold twenty seconds of talk. Later on when needed, you press the play button and the ten/twenty seconds of speech comes over the tiny little speaker attached. A new recording simply erases the old one. It looks to me like the sound quality won't be the greatest based on the tiny combination speaker/microphone used, but it should work for short memos. Inside this thing is a tiny little ciruit board with a chip that holds your speech. The person who showed me the one he got (and gave me the ad for reference) has done something quite interesting; something which may appeal to other Digest readers -- He opened the plastic case and took out the circuit board. Then he tossed out the plastic case, not needing it any longer. He mounted the litle circuit board in his telephone, and took the leads which had been going to the little speaker and connected them to his telephone handset instead. Two minature push button switches he mounted nicely on the side of his phone serves to cut the recorder in or out of the circuit, in record or play mode. He records his message by talking into the telephone. He uses it to give a standard answer phrase when he picks up a ringing line. Of course, you could do whatever you wanted with it. He mounted the little circuit board in a spare place inside the phone with a piece of double sided tape to hold it firm. It operates on four 1.5 volt button size batteries that come with it for free when you buy it. He thought about getting the six volts needed from the phone line itself, but said the extra bother of getting the voltage just right was not worth the hassle since the batteries last a long time (hundreds of plays). Anyway, I thought you might be interested in trying one of these. There is no kickback or commission to me, it just looked clever and I think I shall order one also. Item MR-10 the standard one is $9.95 plus 3.45 s/h = $13.40 Item MR-20 the deluxe one is $14.95 plus 3.45 s/h = $18.40 Two of the MR-20 deluxe units for $24.75 plus 3.65 s/h = $28.40 Three of the MR-20 deluxe units for $34.95 plus $4 s/h = $38.95 ($13 each) They offer a money back guarentee for thirty days after purchase, and say allow six weeks for reciept. They take checks or money orders payable to HOLST, Inc. or you can send them your Visa/MC/Amex number and expiration date with your signature. HOLST, Inc. Department DM-2265 334 W. Wackerly Street Post Office Box 1431 Midland, MI 48641-1431 No phone number was given. I can see where the twenty second version might have some interesting applications for short outgoing phone messages if you can figure out how to wire it in the phone line, which should not be too hard. PAT ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 10:57:59 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Dvorak's Guide to Desktop Telecommunications" BKDGTDTC.RVW 950125 "Dvorak's Guide to Desktop Telecommunications", Dvorak/Anis, 1990, 0-07-881668- 8, U$34.95 %A John C. Dvorak %A Nick Anis %C 300 Water Street, Whitby, Ontario L1N 9B6 %D 1990 %G 0-07-881668-8 %I McGraw-Hill/Ryerson/Osborne %O U$34.95 905-430-5000 fax: 905-430-5020 lkissing@osborne.mhs.compuserve.com %T "Dvorak's Guide to Desktop Telecommunications" This book is *full* of surprises. Given the number of people who recommended that I review it, I had expected a more up-to-date work. This *revised* (from "Dvorak's Guide to PC Telecommunications") version is dated 1990. Which means it's dated. Actually, even for *1990*, it's dated. The "acknowledgements" reads like a telephone book. A lot of people put a lot of info into the book. Unfortunately, a lot of them covered the same ground. Over and over. Again. From these original submissions, the book does not seem to be edited as much as concatenated. The material does not seem to have been organized into any kind of order, either. Modem installation starts in chapter two, but some of the information on COM ports waits for chapter twenty-three. The material is very uneven as to quality. Chapter twenty-four has an excellent section on what to look for in file transfer protocols. Unfortunately, it is in the second half of the chapter. The first half has already delivered the usual hackneyed opinions about specific protocols: errant ones, into the bargain. The linking and introductory material is sometimes painfully verbose, and pages go by without solid information. (The virus chapter? Ahem. Well, yes. I *do* have to say that, aside from the ridiculous definitions of "bombs" and "worms", and Richard Levin's promoting of his own program, it is not bad at all.) As usual, the preface promises to help you get started with a modem. It simply does not deliver. The reader will, by the time the book is finished, be familiar with terms and concepts, but not the practical details of how to get it to work. Well, some details, perhaps. Much time is spent describing how to put a "card" into the computer. But there is no advice on how to diagnose errors with speed, parity or word length (all fairly easy to recognize). The chapters on Macintosh, Amiga, UNIX and OS/2 are mere tokens. There is much more that is missing from this tome, as well. (The *only* mention of the Internet is as an email gateway between Compuserve and Usenet.) There are some individual goodies buried in here, but, to be honest, I can't think of any group to recommend it to, even considering some of the other poor works on the market. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKDGTDTC.RVW 950125. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: routers@halcyon.com Subject: Overseas Bandwidth Optimizers Date: 28 Feb 1995 00:43:37 GMT Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc. The series 5000 LAN/WAN Optimizer is an advanced data compression device which increases the throughput of a bridge, router, front end processor or channel extender. It uses an advance hardware pipeline and multiprocessor architecture to minimize compression/decompression latency and maximize throughput. The Optimizer can either be inserted between the router and the DSU/CSU, or can be installed with an integral T-1/FT1 DSU/CSU. Wan links speeds supported: 9,600 through 2.048Mbps. Average 2:1 through 4:1 compression at all line rates. The 5101 model is a single DTE channel device. The 5201 model offers statistical multplexing of two channels to allow multiple independent data streams to be efficiently transported across the WAN. For more information please contact: Jim Williams ROUTER SOLUTIONS Tel +800-837-4180 Fax +206-222-7622 E-mail routers@halcyon.com FTP.halcyon.com /pub/local/routers ------------------------------ From: Marcel.W.J.van.Ruijven@news.xs4all.nl Subject: Tender For Global ISDN Project Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 12:22:33 PST Organization: PTT Telecom Netherlands From November 28-30, 1995 the ISDN event of the year will take place: Global 1995. It will be a world-wide event with show cases in different countries linked together via ISDN. Already 35 sponsors in Europe, Asia, Africa and America support the initative and now seek global support for a professional organisation. Three tenders are made available by the Global '95 steering committee: - For administration - For promotion and communication - for project management For more information please ask for details via: Fax : +31 70 3816581 (Attn. Mr. A. Naftali) Internet: m.w.j.vanruijven@telecom.ptt.nl Requests for information should be in before March 7, 1995. Proposals should be in no later than March 10, 1995. Marcel W.J. van Ruijven PTT Telecom BV E-mail:M.W.J.vanRuijven@telecom.ptt.nl P.O. Box 30150 not NL-2500 GD The Hague ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #124 ****************************** From telecom Tue Feb 28 17:09:21 1995 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA20789; Tue, 28 Feb 95 17:09:19 CST Return-Path: Received: from news.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA20771; Tue, 28 Feb 95 17:09:14 CST Received: from zeta.eecs.nwu.edu by news.eecs.nwu.edu with SMTP id AA26363 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Tue, 28 Feb 1995 17:09:10 -0600 Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by zeta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-EECS-3) id AA17700; Tue, 28 Feb 95 17:09:08 CST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA20757; Tue, 28 Feb 95 17:09:05 CST Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 17:09:05 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9502282309.AA20757@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #125 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Feb 95 17:09:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 125 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "E-Mail Security" by Schneier (Rob Slade) Re: What is ESF and D4? (Michael Jennings) Re: What is ESF and D4? (Dr. R. Levine) Re: E(TACS) and GSM (Dr. R. Levine) Re: E(TACS) and GSM (shirleyg@stanilite.com.au) Re: V.35 Interface (John Combs) Re: Pair Gain Line Problem (John Combs) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 13:27:32 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "E-Mail Security" by Schneier BKEMLSEC.RVW 950127 "E-Mail Security", Bruce Schneier, 1995, 0-471-05318-X, U$24.95/C$32.50 %A Bruce Schneier schneier@counterpane.com %C 5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON M9B 6H8 %D 1995 %G 0-471-05318-X %I John Wiley & Sons, Inc. %O U$24.95/C$32.50 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448 800-CALL-WILEY %O 212-850-6630 Fax: 212-850-6799 Fax: 908-302-2300 jdemarra@jwiley.com %P 365 %T "E-Mail Security" This is the third work that I have seen on the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) text encryption and authentication system. (I understand that at least two more are in the works.) It is also the first to truly present the general concept of email security by covering the only other realistic option -- the Internet Privacy Enhanced Mail (PEM) standard and (Mark) Riordan's Internet Privacy Enhanced Mail (RIPEM) implementation. The book divides roughly into quarters discussing background, practical use, the PGP documentation, and the PEM RFCs. The work is considerably different, in style, to the Stallings (BKPRTPRV.RVW) and Garfinkel (BKPGPGAR.RVW) efforts. Those books, while not obtuse, were still written with a technical audience in mind. Schneier's work, while definitely showing the expertise he demonstrated in "Applied Encryptography" (BKAPCRYP.RVW), is clearly aimed at the general, non-technical reader. (Interestingly, while he *does* tell you where to find the RC4 algorithm posting, he *doesn't* mention the loophole recently pointed out in the Clipper "Skipjack" algorithm.) The straightforward style lulled me into thinking that chapter one was too long. It isn't: Schneier makes the important point that, for it to be *truly* effective, encryption must be used on *all* correspondence, even trivial items. So well crafted is his argument that it would be difficult to reduce the chapter by so much as a paragraph. Schneier uses this argument to good effect in pointing out some of the major deficiencies in the two systems. PGP is awkward to use, and PEM may use incompatible algorithms. Surprisingly, he does not emphasize (though he does mention) what is probably the major problem with each -- the inability to use the same system within and outside of the United States. The PGP fiasco is too involved to get into here (see the Garfinkel work for details) and there is not yet an "international" implementation of PEM (although there may soon be an "authentication only" version available). This won't help you design your own algorithm, but it is definitely for any user of email, manager of communications systems, or student of privacy and confidentiality. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKEMLSEC.RVW 950127. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in 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 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" 0-387-94311-0/3-540-94311-0 ------------------------------ From: mjenning@ix.netcom.com (Michael Jennings) Subject: Re: What is ESF and D4? Date: 28 Feb 1995 19:45:18 GMT Organization: Netcom In davethez@netcom.com (Dave) writes: > When ordering a T1 line for data, the local fiber company wants to > know whether I'd like "ESF" or "D4". Could someone please explain > what these terms mean? The following is a brief and by no means exhaustive explanation of D4 versus ESF. D4 was the original AT&T (Western Electric) product used by the Bell System for digital multiplexing of voice and data circuits at 1.544 Mb/s over copper transmission lines. When asked the way it was of you, the fiber company is now referring to the time slot (channel) framing format that you would like your T1 line to have. "D4" refers to the original specification which is also referred to as the Superframe Format based upon the way framing bits are used to define groups of the 24 channels multiplexed onto a T1 line. "ESF" refers to a newer framing format called Extended Superframe Format (hence, ESF). ESF provides improved false framing protection and network maintenance capabilities (performance monitoring.) In addition, ESF typically is associated with "clear channel capability" or, the ability for the user to take advantage of the full 64 kb/s data rate of any of the 24 channels on the T1 line. Typically the "D4" type of framing requires that there be a minimum number of logical "1's" being transmitted over the T1 line. This is necessary because various types of transmission gear along the T1 line (like repeaters) need sufficient transmitted energy to be able to extract timing from the signal. Hence, users were typically restricted from putting any data on a 64 kb/s channel that contained too many zeroes. In essence, the channel was not fully "clear" for the user. Alternative methods for maintaining a minimum 1's density were introduced about the time ESF was developed and included Bipolar with 8-Zero Substitution (B8ZS) and Zero Byte Time Slot Interchange (ZBTSI). Each of these permit the user of the data channel full freedom over the data stream that they send over it. That is, the channel is "clear" for the full 64 kb/s bandwith. B8ZS is the more common method and simply substitutes a special code whenever 8 consecutive zeros are encountered which is decoded at the other end. While associated often with ESF it does not require ESF to operate. The ZBTSI method requires the ESF format because it utilizes the 2 kb/s overhead data link inherent in the ESF format. However, ZBTSI is not often employed by many carriers today. I don't know if this will help you determine which type of framing format you want its at least a little backround on what they mean. ------------------------------ From: levine@seas.smu.edu (Dr. R. Levine) Subject: Re: What is ESF and D4? Date: 28 Feb 1995 20:50:47 GMT Organization: SMU - School of Engineering and Applied Science Extended SuperFrame (ESF) uses a different sequence of binary bits in the framing bit position of the T-1 bit stream. The repetition of the framing bit pattern occurs after 24 frames rather than 12 in "plain vanilla" D4 T-1 framing. Some of the framing bit values in ESF are not fixed and can be used for operations, administration and maintenance (OA&M) messages, and others are always used for an error detecting code (CRC6 code). ESF is also a requirement to install ZBTSI clear channel line coding, but this is only used by USWest and PacTel, not by the other local/regional telcos. To determine if you want/need ESF, first examine the extra cost of the hardware/software in your terminal equipment (your channel bank or PBX). Then examine the extra cost (if any) for the service from the carrier. What you get (primarily) with ESF that you don't get with D4 is the ability to automatically and continuously monitor the T-1 link for bit errors while all the 24 voice channels are in full-time service. With D4, if you suspect problems, you need to arrange to take one or more channels out of service and perform a manual test involving co-ordination with the telco in most cases. Try to make a cost comparison mainly between the presence vs. absence of the automatic test capability. A good customer equipment software system should warn you of even small bit error rates which may predict more serious problems and allow preventive maintenance. What is this worth? Does it justify the extra initial and/or monthly cost for ESF vs. D4 service? ------------------------------ From: levine@seas.smu.edu (Dr. R. Levine) Subject: Re: E(TACS) and GSM Date: 28 Feb 1995 03:26:19 GMT Organization: SMU - School of Engineering and Applied Science E(TACS) is a cellular system using analog FM radio for voice transmission. GSM is a cellular system using digitally coded speech. GSM is in use in about 7 European countries and will eventually operate in over 14, thus making roaming theoretically feasible technically (but in practical terms dependent on the existance of business agreements between your home GSM system and the GSM system operating company which you visit). GSM is difficult or probably impossible to "clone" because it uses a challenge-response algorithm for authentication and identification of the mobile unit which does not produce an invariable (and therefore cloneable) identification signal, as most analog cellular systems do. It has nothing fundamentally to do with the digital vs. analog issue, but is merely the result of a better authentication transaction design. ------------------------------ From: shirleyg@stanilite.com.au Subject: Re: E(TACS) and GSM Date: 28 Feb 1995 03:54:34 +1100 Organization: Stanilite Electronics Pty. Ltd. Sydney, Australia Alexander Cerna writes: > Can someone explain to me what E(TACS) and GSM are in detail? I'm sure lots of people can! Someone will correct the bits I get wrong. ETACS is Extended Total Access Communication System or something similar. TACS is the UK version of the U.S. analog cellular standard AMPS. Major differences are in the frequency range (only slightly different) with some minor ones in data on control channels etc. The extended bit is because the TACS standard has a section for extended frequencies with a lot more than the 1000 or so in AMPS. GSM is a French standard which is (roughly) translated as Group Special Mobile or something similar. Someone else will know exactly. GSM is digital whereas TACS is analog. This means your calls are more secure but the coverage will possibly be not as extensive as it is a newer technology (thats the way with GSM and AMPS in Australia anyway). > are around five cellular phone service providers in our country, and > most of them use E(TACS). One uses GSM, and says that this is the > latest technology in cellular telephony. They say that it would make > international roaming possible (although they say that it isn't > possible right now). If your GSM service provider is international or has agreements overseas the international roaming is possible with GSM. Vodaphone (who are one of the three GSM providers in Australia) has networks in other countries where you can roam. Telecom (another provider) has agreements with other providers oversea. As TACS is mainly used in UK and China and a few others then it is no where near as suitable for international roaming. > Also, this service provider that uses GSM says that they're the only > provider that's 100% digital. One of the implications of this, they > claim, is that their phones can't be cloned as easily as the analog > ones. Is this true? I couldn't say for sure with this but TACS (and AMPS) were never designed with much security in mind anyway and as the GSM standard has the benefit of hindsight when it comes to these security issues it would have to be safer from cloning. AMPS and TACS phones are fairly easy to clone if you know what you are doing (and can read the IMSI and ESN over the air anyway). > Also, they say that analog systems are very prone to charge errors. > Is this also true? Or are they just trying to scare me from going to > the other service providers? I wouldn't know about this but if the equipment is any of the big names such as Ericsson or Motorola or a smaller type of equipment that has been extensively trialled in a country like Australia like the company I work for has then the basestation shouldn't make these type of errors. The main problem would come from the providers of these bases with inferior land lines (false answers) and not having answer type signals (line reversals or whatever) on the lines and just guessing when the answer has occurred ie. after ten seconds. In short go for the GSM phone and provider: - if the GSM coverage is good (ask the providors) or at least bearable, - if the GSM phone is not excessively expensive (shop around), - if the TACS systems will be non-existent in a few years like in Australia (although in 5 years the phone will have had a pretty good life anyway). - if cloning (and you have to pay for the stolen air time) is rampant where you are. - if international roaming is important (as long as the provider is international or can guarantee agreements with providers in other countries. - if you care if other people hear your conversation as anyone with a decent scanner (and some intelligence or maybe even without) can listen to your TACS or AMPS phone conversations. For the average person this is just about impossible with GSM. I have to repeat though the coverage for the analog system is nearly always more extensive than the digital systems in most countries simply because it has been around longer. This is changing though. Check it out thoroughly first though. Hope that helps. BTW where is the .jp domain - the phone number is in the Phillipines isn't it? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I beleive .jp is Japan. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 12:57 EST From: Testmark Laboratories <0006718446@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: V.35 Interface In a recent TD, Steve Bunning wrote: > While reading the CCITT (ITU) Recommendation V.35, I began wondering > how this standard for a 48,000 Kbps Wideband Modem using 60-108 kHz > Group Band Circuits became the high speed equivilent of RS-232. > The V.35 standard does not mention the large 34-pin block connector > commonly used. The signals in the standard are ground, TxD, RxD, RTS, > Ready for sending (CTS), DSR, RLSD, Tx Clock and Rx Clock. > DTR, RI, Terminal Timing, Local Loopback, Test Mode, Remote Loopback, > and Test Pattern are not included as part of the standard, but often > seen in vendor documentation for V.35. > Does anyone know how V.35 evolved from a modem standard to a de facto > physical interface standard? Actually, V.35 didn't evolve, you were reading an obsolete standard. The last time V.35 appeared as a published standard was the CCITT 1984 Red Book. If you were to read the V Series for the CCITT 1988 Blue Book, you would find that the only mention of V.35 was to point out that it is out of date, and V.36 & V.37 are now recommended. This is the best kept secret in data communications, and a pet peeve of mine. V.36/V.37 is designed for the high speeds that modern data equipment runs at, especially devices like routers, which will run at T1 or E1 or higher on their high speed serial (HSS) port. I have seen applications that ran error free as high as 8 Mbps on an HSS port. The problem with V.35 was that its balanced transmiter voltages were too low (0.55vdc) so it was susceptible to electrical noise from florescent lamp ballasts, a worker using an electric drill in another room, etc. That is the only real electrical difference for V.36 -- its balanced transmiter voltage is ten times as much, (6vdc) and therefore much less susceptible to interference. This is important now that data services such as frame relay are becoming popular, as frame relay is specifically designed to work on an error-free channel. The other "change" that was supposed to happen in V.36 was to replace the old, bulky, fragile V.35 connector that was popular in Europe. Unfortunately, the V.36 standard doesn't call out when that is supposed to happen, it simply says "after an interim period." In addition, the connector that V.36 recommends for future use is the old RS-449 connector, a DB-42. While this is an improvement, it is still too bulky for modern data devices. What has actually happened is that the DB-25 connector is almost universally present on the backs of DSUs, routers, etc., and custom cables provide either the old V.35 connector, or the RS-449 connector. There is another standard, EIA 530, which uses the DB-25 connector, and is electrically compatible with V.36, but it never took off. So, the majority of high speed serial ports today use a DB-25, with a custom cable to go to a V.35 connector, and this is typically duplicated on the other side of the data connection! Also, only about three-quarters of the high speed serial devices that come through our lab are at the 6vdc driver level -- about a quarter of them are STILL using the obsolete, less-desirable, V.35 electrical level, seven years after the standar changed! This isn't a real problem, as V.36 was designed to be backward-compatible with V.35. The V.35 device is designed to withstand voltages higher than 6vdc on its receivers, so it won't be damaged by a V.36 transmitter. Don't forget, though, a V.35 voltage level means that the data device is more susceptible to electrical noise, and therefore more likely to take errors. By the way, V.36 doesn't stand alone. It calls on V.10 for the unbalanced electrial driver/terminator requirements, and V.11 for the balanced requirements. It also refers (as did V.35) to ISO standards to describe the connectors' physical characteristics. (ISO 2593 is the "old" V.35 connector.) John Combs, Project Engineer, TestMark Laboratories, testmark@mcimail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 12:58 EST From: Testmark Laboratories <0006718446@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Pair Gain Line Problem In article Matt writes: > I have been told by a Pac Bell (i'm in CA) tech that the reason that I > cannot connect above 9600 is because I'm on a "Pair Gain" line to the > C.O. My roommate has no problem, the tech says he's on a copper line > to the C.O. In Mike Sandman responds: > The usual cause of trouble connecting or staying connected at high > speeds is high loop current coming from the pair gain equipment (or > right from the CO or a PBX for that matter). > For good data communications, it should read between 23 and 27ma DC. > If it's over 27ma, which it probably will be, you will need to get the > current down below 27ma. It is not unusual to get 50ma, and sometimes > as much as 80ma of loop current. In addition to preventing high speed > connections, 40ma and up can burn out whatever you've got connected to > the line, except standard old non-electronic 2500 type telephones. > If the loop current is between 23 and 27 ma, you are looking at a > problem other than loop current. If the loop current is below 23ma, > the phone company must bring the current on the line up to 23ma. If > it's above 27ma, the phone company won't reduce the current for you, > since their high spec is 110ma (a holdover from the early 70's before > there was much electronic stuff out there). I read this treatise on loop current with astonishment, until I reached the end, where I saw a plug for a loop current attenuator. Let's discuss a few basic facts: a) EIA/TIA 470-A "Telephone Instruments With Loop Signaling" is the "bible" on how to design Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) for North American POTS lines. It has tests that require the CPE be subjected to and operate with loop currents from 20 to 100 ma, such as Figure 4-11, DTMF Signal Level Characteristics. b) The telco has no obligation to provide a minimum of 23ma, and I'd love to see the transcript of someone calling GTE customer service and informing them that GTE had to up their loop current from their 20ma minimum to 23ma. c) The real-life currents a CPE will see are governed by local loop design and the CO battery and feed coils, plus the resistance of the CPE itself. d) The most common reason that modems don't work well over carrier systems is that many of them don't provide the 300-3400 Hz bandwidth that the newer, high speed modems need. Lets consider the worst case loop current example likely in North America. A local CO theoretically may put out up to 56.5vdc during fast battery charge, and the CO applies battery to the subscriber line with 200 ohm/ 200 ohm battery feed coils. If the CPE is just outside the CO, there will be no loop length to speak of. If the CPE is unusual, it may have as little as 100 ohms off-hook dc resistance. So, 56.5vdc/(400 ohms feed coils + 100 ohms CPE resistance) = 110ma, which is where I assume that Mike got his high specification from. A more realistic calculation is 52vdc/(400 ohms battery feed + 600 ohms loop resistance + 200 ohms CPE resistance) = 43ma. (Most digital COs I'm familiar with have a dc voltage of 52, not 48.) The only way we will see his 27ma loop current is with the maximum permitted loop resistance (1200 ohms) plus the maximum permitted CPE resistance of 300 ohms. 52vdc/(400 ohms feed coils + 1200 ohms loop + 300 ohms CPE) = 27ma. (The actual loop resistance can exceed 1200 ohms, but at that point, the telco will start using load coils and/or loop extenders and/or other special service modules, all of which can degrade modem communications.) Old carrier systems, such as the GTE 84A, will interfere with any modem much faster than 1200bps. The 84A puts two customers on one copper pair, and the unlucky customer on the "subscriber" pair (the non-copper link) can expect to see an on-hook voltage of only 6vdc (provided by NiCad batteries) and 30vrms ac ringing which is square-wave, not sine-wave. GTE 82A carrier puts six customers on one copper pair, and uses 300vdc on the copper pair to power the field equipment, which is in aluminum cans put on the service poles. (I've received some healthy shocks from the 82A systems!) Modern carrier systems are also a threat to modems, such as the AT&T SLC96. (pronounced slick 96) If the telco is trying to maximize the number of customers serviced, the SLC96 has a feature called "channel compression" which halves the available digital bandwidth allocated for a single subscriber's line. This lowers the voice quality only slightly, but it plays havoc with modems, even 1200bps speeds. Received carrier signal levels are also important to modems. Local loop design guidelines call for a maximum local loop loss of 8.5dB, although 9dB isn't too unlikely. A digital CO has 0dB through-loss, and an older, analog CO, such as a GTE #1 or #2 EAX will have a through-loss of 0.8dB. Then, don't forget, we have a loop on the other side of the CO going to the called modem, so our maximum dB loss on a local call using a pair of loosely-engineered loops through an analog CO is (9+0.8+9) = 18.8dB. (These numbers come in part from EIA/TIA-464-A, which describes the North American Loss Plan for analog and digital PBXs.) Now, dial-up modems typically transmit at -11dBm. (-9dBm is the maximum permitted by FCC Part 68 & ISC CS-03 requlations). -11dBm through a facility loss of 18.8dB gives us a received signal level at the far modem of -29.8dBm. Any modern modem worth its salt can connect down to receive levels as low as -36 to -38dBm. So, the local loop design rules shouldn't interfere with modems. Why, then, do people have trouble connecting with modems? Besides carrier systems, or long lines with load coils, there are impairments on the local loop. These include phase hits, gain hits, dropouts, echo, envelope delay, noise, and impulse noise. The telcos are also notorious for leaving "bridge-taps" on the lines. Even supposedly "conditioned" lines such as a C1! The bridge-tap problem in North America is well-enough known that the ISDN BRI 2B1Q line coding was chosen because it is particularly resistant to bridge-taps. Finally, there is a situation where Mike's advice to lower the loop current on the line can help. I have come across really cheap modems where higher loop currents (45ma and up) can "saturate" the windings of the low-cost isolation transformers they use in their front ends. This has the effect of drastically attenuating the ac signal levels passed through the transformer, and preventing the modem from connecting to the far end. However, no "brand-name" modem is going to be susceptible to this problem. And, if 40ma of loop current "burns-out" a piece of CPE, it cannot have met the FCC Part 68/ISC CS-03 requirements. The required loop simulator for testing can deliver in excess of 100ma, and when we test CPE for registration, we test at 20ma and 100ma. John Combs, Project Engineer, TestMark Laboratories, testmark@mcimail.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #125 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa00794; 1 Mar 95 8:35 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24722; Tue, 28 Feb 95 20:36:31 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24715; Tue, 28 Feb 95 20:36:29 CST Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 20:36:29 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503010236.AA24715@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #126 TELECOM Digest Tue, 28 Feb 95 20:36:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 126 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Caller ID Service For Equivalency Lines (Paul Chehowski) Correction on AT&T True Rewards Posting (Alan Kelman) Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery (George Wang) Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery (Alan Larson) 800 Numbers - Media and Real Estate Rebuttal (Judith Oppenheimer) Job Posting: Cellular Engineer (Scott Townley) Re: Some Major and Grim Changes Proposed For the Net (Robert Levandowski) Re: Some Major and Grim Changes Proposed For the Net (Tom Ellis) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: paulc@hookup.net (Paul Chehowski) Subject: Re: Caller ID Service For Equivalency Lines - First Line Only? Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 15:58:56 GMT Organization: Sulis Computing In a previous posting, I wrote: > I'm working on an IVR system that is heavily dependent on Caller-ID to > identify callers to the system. We arranged to have our lines put in, > and I was shocked to find out that if I wanted a single 1-800 number > to access the system, I had to set up the two lines that we needed in > the local office as equivalency lines, and that as equivalency lines I > would only get caller id on the first line of the group. > Unfortunately I could only talk to a local order taker, who couldn't > explain to me technically why this is the case, and they were unable > to suggest any work arounds and were unwilling to pass me on to anyone > technical to discuss the issue. Special thanks to Pat, TELECOM Digest Editor for his note on my post. I called back my local carrier to follow his suggestion (multiple 1-800 numbers and local lines, with hunt groups for the 1-800 numbers), and was told that Caller ID on equivalency lines was no problem (although the Caller ID on the second line is not guaranteed to be 100% reliable). It turns out that the person I talked to first when placing my order was new (although she pretended to be very experienced, telling me that she was the only one in the office that could handle 1-800 numbers, which also turned out not to be true). She put me on hold when taking my order, and claimed she was talking to a technician about the issue of Caller ID for equivalency lines and told me that the technician had also said that Caller ID was not techically possible (she wouldn't allow me to directly talk to the technician). She also told me that there was no one else in the office that I could talk to about the issue, and she was absolutely certain it was unavailable. End result is that thanks to Pat and a more experienced individual in the local carrier's office, I will shortly have Caller ID on my two lines. Thanks again, Paul Chehowski paulc@hookup.net Sulis Computing ad771@freenet.carleton.ca [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, it is just as reliable on the second, overflow line as it is on the first line, which is to say it comes through accurately over 99 percent of the time. Bear in mind you *do* have to have to display boxes (unless you use the trick I described) and you do need to pay for Caller ID on both lines. I've found most of the enhanced custom calling features will work perfectly fine where roll over or hunt lines are concerned. That's because these features are tested for *before* it gets to the point the CO has to look for a second line. In other words a call comes in to your enhanced line (meaning you have things like call screening, automatic callback, etc.) to the main number. The CO says 'okay, he can have the ID of the Caller. He wants us to screen for certain callers and deny them access. He wants to be able to call them back automatically if desired.' All these things get done, or evaluated, *then* the call is presented to your main line and another piece of equipment says oops, that line is busy, we have to give the calls to line two. If the call is supposed to be screened out, it does not matter if in fact he would be shunted to line two. The decision to screen is made on what the caller dialed and what he anticipated would happen. Now if the caller actually dials your line two and you don't have screening on that line as well, then he *will* get through. If you have screening on that line also but his call gets hunted on to line sixteen or whatever, then he will get blocked. With all the features, you have to have them on the number the caller *dials*, not the number he actually winds up getting in on (or would have gotten through on if he were not screened, etc). Therefore if you want a relatively decent level of security and control over your phone lines, you keep all your roll over numbers secret (preferably out of sequence and all over the exchange so that guessing at them becomes difficult) and you load up your main listed number with all the enhanced features designed to give control of the phone to the call recipient, like Caller ID, blocking, return last call, etc. And contrary to what the rep said, Caller ID is reliable, even if it takes an extra second while the switch hunts through your group of lines and has to search all the way to line 38 or whatever. Caller ID is not passed until it gets a clear path and the subscriber's phone has run one time. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 22:24:54 -0800 From: jakelman@peseta.ucdavis.edu (Alan Kelman) Subject: Correction on AT&T True Rewards Posting telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) wrote: Error> Five frequent flyer miles on Delta, United, or (god forbid! I > don't want to die yet!) US Air for each 100 points is another option. Correct> Five HUNDRED frequent flyer on Delta, United, or US Air for > every 100 points. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I stand corrected. It was five miles per point; one hundred points minimum. I think I made that error unconciously on purpose, that way I knew there would be an oppotunity to repeat the message later. In True Rewards, AT&T is giving a point for each dollar of long distance calls you make over $25 per month. If your bill goes over $75 then you get two points for each dollar spent. If you move, notify AT&T of your new address and phone number; you get 100 bonus points. If someone signs up for AT&T residence long distance service and gives you as the referral, you get 300 bonus points. Points can be redeemed at any time when you have at least 100. They can be redeemed for various things, but the one that interested me most was: $5 credit toward your AT&T bill for every 100 points. (You get those 'pay to the order of the telephone company' credit slips to redeem with your phone bill.) One thing AT&T stressed was that 'point pooling' is allowed, and encouraged. All you have to do is tell them you want to transfer your True Rewards points to someone else; they'll be happy to do it. They said having two or three people sign up for AT&T residential service (300 points each) along with transfer of points from people who have collected them but are not interested in redeeming them could 'result in someone having hundreds, or even thousands of points in a very short time ...' The thing which appeals to me is the credit on my local telco bill and here is how YOU can help: If you have been meaning to possibly send a donation to the Digest but have not gotten around to it yet -- or maybe you just don't have the money to spare -- then you can use this round-about way of helping instead. If you intend at some point in the near future to sign up for AT&T residential service, do it through this special phone number: Call 1-800-383-6158. The representative will switch you to AT&T for free and enroll you in True Rewards. Give the representative REFERRAL NUMBER : BY-6195039315666. Tell the representative to apply the 300 bonus points to that account. Everytime someone switches to AT&T in this way, I get the points. Got more than one line at your place? Feel like giving one of them to AT&T? If you are not interested in participating in True Rewards but got a statement recently from AT&T with your point balance shown you can also help. Mine arrived by bulk mail today so I assume there are lots of these in the mail now. Do this: Call 1-800-869-9900. Tell the representative your True Rewards account number which is printed on the bottom of the statement they sent you. Tell the representative to transfer all of your points to my telephone number 708-329-0570. As the points come in from new subscribers to AT&T who use my referral number and as points come in from transfers out of accounts where they are not wanted, I'll redeem them for credit on my always high, frequently delinquent phone bill. (I haven't gotten cut off once yet this year, I'll have you know! Not only that, since I got my last 'deferred payment plan' agreement finished a few months ago I am eligible to stall by starting another one if absolutely necessary.) If you do sign up using my referral number or transfer your unwanted True Rewards points, please send me email and let me know so I have an idea what's going on. You have to call the two numbers shown above to do all this; the regular representatives on the published numbers they use can't handle it. Thank you very much! Patrick Townson TELECOM Digest Editor PAT] ------------------------------ From: gcw@hh.sbay.org (George Wang) Subject: Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery Date: 28 Feb 1995 09:26:03 -0800 Organization: Hip-Hop BBS Sunnyvale, California In david.chessler@neteast.com (DAVID CHESSLER) writes: >> My instructions for my xt-pak ni-cad batteries say to maintain long >> lifetime, I should discharge them fully before recharging (all the >> time, not just the first five times), so I've found I must stuff the >> phone under the couch cushions overnight so it won't wake me up. >> Maybe this is an opportunity for a third party product - a cell phone >> silencer (sound proof box), or a battery drainer (something that just >> puts a load on the battery until it drains completely). > I've handled ordinary nicads by putting them in a flashlight, turning > it on, and waiting for the light to go out. There is a trick to have the phone discharge itself without using any "peripherals". Just go into the "menu" and scroll until you see a message that is fairly long so that the maximum number of LED lights are on. I believe "Silent Keypad" is a long message. The phone will automatically "bank" in this mode without going into standby. This will drain the battery quite well until it starts beeping low battery and turns off. You may then have to repeat the process. As to a previous message about re-programming the low battery voltage ... there is no USER-modifiable way of changing this. Whatever article you saw must have been talking about an old Motorola phone. When I say old it must be several years old and has since been discontinued. In rjones@rjones.oz.net (Ry Jones) writes: > Patrick Wolfe (pwolfe@mcs.com) wrote: >> My instructions for my xt-pak ni-cad batteries say to maintain long >> lifetime, I should discharge them fully before recharging (all the >> time, not just the first five times), so I've found I must stuff the >> phone under the couch cushions overnight so it won't wake me up. > Buy some Ni-MH battery packs. My fat pack lasts about 12-18 hours. I > bought a trickle charger for my car and use the battery conditioner at > work. It discharges and recharges in a few hours. And, I think if you > turn the volume of the ringer down, it might affect everything else. I > don't recall. The trickle car charger does not first discharge your battery. You might want to discharge it using the trick I mentioned in my previous post. George C. Wang Email: gcw@hh.sbay.org Alternate: gwang@mail.ntu.edu Finger for public encryption key. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 11:54:09 PST From: larson@net.com (Alan Larson) Subject: Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery In article david.chessler@neteast.com wrote: > With a cellular battery of peculiar voltage and conformation, just > build a small battery-drainer on a scrap of pegboard, using a > flashlight bulb of appropriate size. Doing this is a good way for the first cell to hit zero to be pushed negative as the other cells continue to discharge. This is about the worst thing you can do to the cell, and will ensure its shorter life. The phone knows how low to take the battery. Trust it. If you don't want to do that, use the intellicharger and don't leave it on trickle. Not overcharging the battery will be the best move towards keeping the battery away from voltage depression, and get good service. Alan ------------------------------ From: producer@pipeline.com (Judith Oppenheimer) Subject: 800 Numbers - Media and Real Estate Rebuttal Date: 28 Feb 1995 15:52:48 -0500 Organization: Interactive CallBrand(TM) varney@usgp2.ih.att.com (Al Varney) wrote: >I probably shouldn't open my mouth, but.... > In article <3iltb5$pl@pipe2.pipeline.com>, Judith Oppenheimer > wrote: >> It's clear, that by employment and occupation, the policy shapers >> and decision makers regarding all telephone numbering plans focus on >> the mechanical and engineering aspects of telecom. Valid aspects, to >> be sure. But limited. > Limited perhaps more by International and FCC agreements on the > PROPER administration of the number space. Not necessarily proper. Just traditional, based on outdated practices that studiously ignore the convergence aspects of telecom. > Are you suggesting that telephone companies wouldn't LOVE to receive > revenue from the act of assigning numbers? Not I! The carriers *are* active numbers marketers. They buy them all the time, and receive revenue by such acts as MCI's "acquiring" 1 800 HARVEYS for Harveys Casino. This helps get them the account, and then delivers higher volume call completion (revenue), because the *media* element of the phone number is powerful stuff. However, they want license to buy and sell, but let no one else in the marketplace. That's simply not fair. It's anti-competitively, monopolistic, unrealistic and impractical. >> These people are employed by the real estate moguls of telecom - >> the carriers. For whom this mechanical and engineering (operational) >> focus preserves their territorial exclusivity. > Interesting psychological perspective, from someone interested in > creating assets from thin air, applying for TM/SM/copyright protection > and then demanding that the CONCEPT is more important in commerce than > costs associated with the infrastructure. Don't flatter me, I didn't create it, I'm just a fascinated and enthusiastic observer of a marketplace creating itself. But, as a marketer, I take issue with your "assets are thin air" suggestion. A brand is an asset. It is only valuable because of the desire of the consumer, and the perception of the stock holder. The price of coke, and its stock value, has a hell of a lot more to do with the cost of advertising awareness, and maintaining desire, than the cost of the water, syrup and bottle. > Do you also claim copyright on license plates with FLOWERS or "TCBY > 1" and thus preclude the un-licensed use of them? How about license > plates that are the "telephone number equivalent" of such? -- 3569377 > (FLOWERS), for example. Trademarks protect the consumer. License plates are not consumer-soliciting, product/service delivering devices. Phones are. >> So the ITU, INC. and other participants in these processes, are by >> design quite removed from the multi-disciplinary, > ^^^^^^ > (and by laws/treaties/etc.) >> non-telecom market realities of 800 numbers. Yes. >> 800 numbers have solid media characteristics. They contain content >> and attract targeted audiences. > Very few 800 numbers have much content -- it's only the assignment > of alphabetic and alphanumeric equivalencies to them that is argued. > You can copyright 800 FLOWERS but not the equivalent dialed number ... Why don't we let the media and copyright/trademark legal folks map out all the possibilities, and ramifications. That's the point -- that they and other involved disciplines are not involved in the processes of creating standards and policies. They should be. >> 800 COLLECT attracts collect callers. 800 FLOWERS attracts flower buyers. Etc. This raises very interesting questions regarding foreign ownership of U.S. media, and is just one of ^^^^^ > (numbers are media??) Yop. I say yes. You say no. I'd like to hear some more opinions, and see some studies on this so that all businesses are best served. This is asking so much? >> the issues that should be studied regarding the proposed >> International Freephone service. > OK -- but you have to admit that MCI, while assigned (but not > advertising that relationship ) 800 COLLECT, does not TODAY own the > number 8002655328. Don't tell them that. And, btw, don't tell their customers either. I've talked to too many corporate 800 users who've been assured by MCI and others that they own their numbers. But it's a "trust us, we'll take care of you" thing. Would you like to buy a bridge? > Nor can there be a trademark TODAY on such a number. Would you > change that? Can I have the number "7"? >> I've asked some my associates in both telecom and marketing to >> address this issue. This, from the president of a reseller company, >> who discusses the real estate characteristics of 800 numbers. >> "Why should 800 telephone numbers not be traded in the open market? >> Portability opened the door. It is time to complete the ownership >> issue. There will be ample supply of 800 numbers if current holders >> can sell numbers. > BUT they didn't buy the numbers in the beginning -- isn't this a > give-away of property they never OWNED and agreed when they received > the numbers that they didn't own? Who owns the NUMBERS??? (Not the > trademarked alphanumeric strings -- I know who owns them.) > OK, I'll bite. Who owns the numbers? See, you raise good questions too. Shouldn't they be addressed, by *all* interested parties? >> .... In the early days of America's development, land was given >> freely to anyone who would care for it and develop it, whereafter, the >> land became their property. > So you are advocating for the future that unassigned 800 numbers be > sold or licensed, and that all current ASSIGNEES be granted free > ownership of their current numbers? What's free? They've been investing advertising and services in those numbers, paying maintenance and usage fees to the carriers, etc. What's free? > A sort of squatters' right's seizure of the property, isn't it? Why > should the industry and the FCC give away something of value? First of all, they already have. Second of all, you asked above who owns the numbers, implying that no one does. Are you now saying that the "industry" and the FCC own the numbers? Are you further acknowledging that they *are* of value? Well, you know what, you're right. They are. They weren't when they were assigned, though. The value was vested in them by their users. > Have you run this by Newt? Not lately. > 800 numbers are no different. > I disagree -- the analogy is incorrect. 800-AlphaStrings are not > like land, they are more like radio frequencies. Do you suggest > similar grandfathered ownership of radio frequencies (WLS FM 94.7 > would now OWN that frequency, rather than license it)? How about > automobile license plate alphanumeric strings? User-IDs on AOL? All > government-assigned identifiers such as Social Security numbers? Domain names do indeed have trademark ramifications, and are recognized as brand-identifiers. Social Security numbers, of course, are not. >> So, now there's media and real estate. > Try my analogy instead, and see where it leads. LICENSE AUCTIONS > for telephone numbers! Finally, a stable income source for funding of > telecom standards work. To be consistent, Internet addresses, > Ethernet addresses, vanity street addresses, etc. should also be > licensed and auctioned ... It has been suggested that 800 numbers be registered to their owners like real estate, with the FCC profiting from transactions. I'm sure there are many other viable suggestions yet to be voiced. Again -- I'd like to hear them. >> Clearly, the single-disciplinary operational standard approach >> cannot possibly address the characteristics, nor the ramifications, of >> media and real estate market necessities. > I agree -- would you agree to drop any private interest/ownership > rights in any existing numbers, and come to work for ATIS as the > Number Marketing Committee chairperson? Would I agree to abandon my clients -- mostly smaller users who don't have much financial clout with carriers -- and their interests? No. Re ATIS, are you offering me a job? > Or do you just want existing users to suddenly become owners -- > without any reimbursement of the current administration, thereby > reaping a windfall asset AND enhancing the value of businesses that > profit from the "Telephone Number as a Brand Name" concept? That is the reseller model, isn't it? It's legal, entrepreneurial, and it keeps America working, and Americans employed. > Al Varney -- speaking only for myself, not any of the > myriad sub-units of AT&T. > [I am not one of the "policy shapers and decision makers" to which > Judith Oppenheimer refers in the opening paragraph. I AM interested > in fairness of number assignment and the avoidance of unnecessary > infrastructure costs (including FCC and industry forum/administrative > costs) that are un-reimbursed by the companies benefiting from > required infrastructure changes.] Al, here you've lost me. Who's going to pay for 888, if that mess passes? Who's going to pay for international freephone? Who's going to reimburse business for misdials, the substantial cost of new advertising and consumer education, etc.? Who is looking out for the companies that will be shafted by these unnecessary and cumbersom infrastructure changes? Huh? J. Oppenheimer, Producer@Pipeline.com Interactive CallBrand(TM) ------------------------------ From: nx7u@primenet.com (Scott Townley) Subject: Job Posting: Cellular Engineer Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 15:06:20 MST Organization: Primenet All qualified and interested candidates are invited to submit resumes for the following Field Engineering position in Tucson, AZ. Please reply via USMail to: Field Engineer USWest New Vector 1250 W. Guadalupe Gilbert, AZ 85233 -or- FAX your resume to (602)545-7405 -or- e-mail your resume (MSWord or ASCII format) to nx7u@primenet.com. --begin description-- Field Engineer- US West Cellular, a progressive leader in the cellular communications industry, has an immediate opening for a Field Engineer in the Tucson area. The position will be responsible for RF system design, cellular system optimization and planning, cell site equipment procurement and new site evaluation and support. On a regional basis, this position will provide cellular systems design support to meet quality and cost objectives. Requires a BSEE or equivalent education, 1-2 years RF system design experience, knowledge of general telephony concepts and basic understanding of RF propagation characteristics, testing and verification, directional/tilted antenna applications and the PSTN network. Excellent organization and communication skills and the ability to work in a winning team environment essential. Experience in the cellular industry desirable. -- end description -- ------------------------------ From: rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Robert Levandowski) Subject: Re: Some Major and Grim Changes Proposed For the 'Net' Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 04:00:40 GMT In padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) writes: >> And yes, that child pornography: truly the pedophiles have a field day >> on the commercial services; after all on CIS/AOL/IRC you are whoever you >> say you are; who is to say otherwise? At least on Internet's own version >> of chat (Internet Relay Chat or IRC) anomynity is relatively more difficult >> to pull off; your username@site is there for people to see. > Now if I were more mercenary, I could see a value of being able to trace > any message to its source. It is certainly doable and not very difficult, > just an "unexplored territory" at the moment. However I do think that > Internet Caller-ID would be a better solution to the problem than the > "thought police" since censorship does nothing to stop those who are rude, > only society/culture can do that. The problem is, how can you do this in a reliable way? It's not easy to fake Caller-ID, especially if the phone company and/or your CNID box is smart (i.e., won't fall for fake tones sent after the true ones). This is because the CNID information is generated by the phone company; most people don't have the skill or opportunity to convince the switch that the line they're using doesn't REALLY have the phone number it thinks it does ... On the other hand, how difficult is it to convince IRC you're not who it thinks you are? If you're a UNIX user, setenv IRCNAME telecom@eecs.nwu.edu and Bingo! Pat gets some irate email. (Or at least I think he does, 'cause I can't find a header with his address to verify it. It's late. :) Some UNIX systems run a program called "identd," which will supposedly verify such information, which is perhaps even closer to Caller ID. But identd is just another program; there's a version of identd out there that will spew forth whatever identity you desire, if you're unscrupulous to install it on your machine. The technical knowledge required to install such a program is, in my opinion, several orders of magnitude smaller than that required to hack the phone system. If you're running IRC from a personal computer, it's even more trivial. Most such programs offer a setting where you can supply whatever you want as your "real name." The same goes for electronic mail programs. It's as if it were relatively easy for people to purchase their own exchanges that could generate Caller ID and send it forth -- you could send any number you wanted and it'd be difficult for the called party to figure it out. Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I'm wholly against any form of net censorship; free speech is too important. The risk here is that promoting an "Internet Caller ID" as a safety feature that reliably identifies the calling party is far too premature. Perhaps when PGP or something similar becomes widespread and as easy to use as plugging in a Caller ID box ... Rob Levandowski Computer Interest Floor associate / University of Rochester macwhiz@cif.rochester.edu [Opinions expressed are mine, not UR's.] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 14:19:27 -0500 From: Tom Ellis Subject: Re: Some Major and Grim Changes Proposed For the 'Net' Organization: Reynolds+Reynolds, Dayton, Ohio In article <95.02.20.347rtg@eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > I guess I am a person who believes the United States in particular and > the world in general was a lot better place when the thing known as 'shame' > played a prominent part in our lives; when there were things we just did > not let hang out for everyone else to see and talk about. We no longer > have any shame, and this is reflected in among other things, this online > culture of ours. I think younger folks, the kids today who have been in the > world only a decade or two have gotten morally and ethically cheated as a > result of this loss of 'shame'. I won't push that, its just how I think. When I was younger -- growing up in Chicago, as a matter of fact -- I was sure I would never grow up in a way that would be known as being "old-fashioned". When I was 13 and buying Elvis records, and in my 20's protesting the Vietnam war, I just couldn't understand the "old- fashioneds", who "just didn't get it". Then I realized, as I was reading and agreeing with the paragraph above, how old-fashioned I must seem to be when I insist that life was better with well-enforced unwritten rules about public discourse and activity. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The problems started in the USA when we decided to get rid of religion. Now I quite agree that religion has a lot of excesses which are not good, and further that no one religion is going to suit everyone. A good many people were quite annoyed by some of the excesses of the primary religion in the United States. I do not think the people who worked hard to accomplish separation of church and state over the past two decades or so are orges or devils. I think they were well meaning people who wanted to see the Constitution of the United States enforced better than it had been. The trouble is, constitution or no constitution, religion is what was holding together the social fabric in this country. Yes, there were lots of things wrong when religion was the dominant thing here, but I am not sure those things were 'more wrong' than the things we see wrong today. And anyway, must it be one end of the spectrum or the other? I beleive the folks who worked hard to get religion out of the schools and government offices assumed that even without religion present, people would continue to behave in a moral and ethical way. The trouble is, a great many did not. Religion was a powerful sword hanging over their head and for all its excesses and bad points, my gosh did it promote for the most part a sense of civility among us. When religion was abolished, nothing took its place, and that is the problem. Now we just have a void. I don't care if it was your religion or my religion or whosever's religion, *any* religion provided a bit more to grasp on to, a bit more to live for, and a sense of right and wrong than the void we live in today. I never could understand what people have against religion anyway. After all, it is whatever you want it to be. I think they mistakenly say 'religion = excesses of the Christian Right Wing', and that is wrong. They should have started their own religion instead, rather than getting it tossed out of our public institutions entirely. There need to be those goals and standards we set for ourselves, and religion forces us to make those settings; to recognize those goals and standards. Of course telling people to start their own religion is unrealistic. Very few people can (or choose to) use their brains that well, or accept the discipline in their lives that would result. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #126 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa23207; 2 Mar 95 16:47 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA29679; Thu, 2 Mar 95 10:27:12 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA29670; Thu, 2 Mar 95 10:27:10 CST Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 10:27:10 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503021627.AA29670@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #127 TELECOM Digest Thu, 2 Mar 95 10:27:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 127 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Mobile IP Networking" by Malamud et al (Rob Slade) Credit Checking on Cellular Customers (Steve Samler) Tired of S.314 Hysteria (Brad Hicks) ESF and Clear Channel (was: What is ESF (Fred Bauer) X.25 over ISDN - Addressing (Azriel Heuman) References Wanted on Benefits of Networking (Alice Weng) Turnkey Telephone Based Classified System Required (Richard Burry) Help Information Needed (Deepak Bapna) CallerID and Dialogic Board (Brian Tatro) Call For Tender ISDN Project Support (Marcel W.J. van Ruijven) ATM UNI 3.0 & 3.1 (Lionel Jaquet) Value ($) of Teltone TLS3 Telephone Line Simulator? (Jim Aust) Voice Mail Prompts (Alexis Kasperavicius) Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act (Tony Harminc) Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act (hihosteveo@aol.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 01 Mar 1995 16:46:57 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Mobile IP Networking" by Malamud et al CSMBIPNT.RVW 950113 "Mobile IP Networking", Malamud et al, 1993, 1-56592-994-2, U$9.95 %A Carl Malamud %A Phil Karn %A Jun Murai %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 1993 %G 1-56592-994-2 %I O'Reilly & Associates/ORAudio %O U$9.95 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com %P 60 min. %S Geek of the Week %T "Mobile IP Networking" These two Internet Talk Radio interviews were conducted in 1993. Phil Karn is the father of the KA9Q TCP/IP implementation, used for packet radio and various DOS applications. Jun Murai is founder of the Japanese WIDE Internet. The Karn interview talks a bit about KA9Q and mobile IP, but concentrates on encryption and privacy. Along the way, there is discussion of Clipper key escrow, PGP and the hybrid methods of data cryptography -- most, however related to mobile IP. Jun Murai starts by describing the situation at Keio University where all students have access to the network via a wired campus and wireless connections to laptops. VIP (Virtual Internet Protocol) and mobil IP are used in conjunction. He also speaks of the satellite multicast system in Japan. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 CSMBIPNT.RVW 950113. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 19:45:43 EST From: Steve Samler Subject: Credit Checking on Cellular Customers I'm doing some research on credit check practices of cellular carriers and their agents. What is the common practice today when someone applies for cellular service? Credit check via one of the consumer credit agencies or via D&B if a business is the applicant? Is an additional credit check done if someone adds on a cellular modem? Is anyone using the practice of approving to a certain dollar limit and then cutting off service for the rest of the billing period if the limit is reached? How might today's practices be affected when cellular data (CDPD) is in more widespread use and the typical monthly bill is higher than today's? (You might say that it won't matter because CDPD won't be more widespread until the price is lower. Then it might not matter.) Any help is appreciated. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A credit check is done, and a deposit equal to what the carrier estimates will be the charges for one or two months is required if the subscriber's credit rating is not up to the standards the carrier wants. I don't think it matters if you use a modem or not. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Mar 1995 15:08:19 -0600 From: /G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU1=0205465@mhs-mc.attmail.com Subject: Tired of S.314 Hysteria Am I the only person tired of being spammed about S.314, or just the first one to complain about it? Do I have to read seven to ten copies of this in every newsgroup, even areas as obscure as alt.games.whitewolf? All this, on top of the maybe twenty or thirty copies I've gotten as e-mail? Can there possibly be anyone on the planet with an e-mail address who =doesn't= know about S.314? Now, that being said, I finally read one of the marked up copies of the current law, showing the changes that S.314 would make. And having read them, I am convinced that every single analysis I have read is either mistaken, exaggerated, or an outright lie. It's right there in the text. The section that everybody is scared of, the one that makes telecommunications vendors responsible for any obscenity or threats that swim in their bitstreams, is prefaced with "Whosoever KNOWINGLY ...." (Emphasis added.) That's right. They left in the word "knowingly." Which means that if somebody uses your BBS, or your email service, or your anonymous remailer to send someone an invitation to be the star in a pornographic snuff film, and you don't know about it, you're not in violation of the Exon bill. The easily alarmed might worry that some court will say that you =could= have known, and therefore =should= have known. But that's not up to prosecutors, that's up to juries. When witnesses testify as to how many kilobytes or megabytes flow through your system per night, no jury is going to say that you should have read it all. If you present evidence that you couldn't have known, because those bits were all encrypted and people didn't tell you what was in them, nobody's going to rule that you =could= have known, let alone =should= have. So. What do the people who oppose S.314 =and who understand it= REALLY want? The only reason I see to oppose S.314 is if you =want= BBS sysops and telephone sex vendors to be immune to obscenity and harrassment laws. If you want it to be legal for people to use email, or web pages, or improvised FidoNets or whatever to send around JPGs of perverts raping 6 year olds, or detailed descriptions of rape/murder/torture fantasies with people's real names for the victims, or GIFs of people having sex involving excrement, carving knives, and/or animals ... well, then say so! Because if that's what you want, then I agree with you 100%. As the late great Justice Hugo Black said, "I am a plain and simple man. I believe that when the Constitution says, 'no laws,' it MEANS 'no laws.'" Of course, there's no way that the American people will permit this. However, that's not, in my opinion, a moral reason to lie about the contents of a proposed law, and stir up a net.lynch.mob. J. Brad Hicks Internet: mc!Brad_Hicks@mhs.attmail.com X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When I ran the pieces on S.314 a week or more ago, I also had some second thoughts about whether or not I really wanted (a) to run it -- because it had appeared so many other places; and (b) because I was not really sure if I agreed with the claims of the petition's circulators. Now I don't make my own agreement or disagreement with something be the reason for publishing an item or not, so that pretty well answered (b). But as you point out, it had been appearing lots of places. The existence of the 'net.lynch.mob' in and of itself was worth commenting on. The 'knew or should have known' is going to be the key to the whole thing if S.314 passes. What that means of course is that AT&T, Sprint, MCI, Compuserve, AOL and the others with big name attornies who know how to properly suck up will be left alone while Joe Blow's BBS will be hounded and put out of business, because he cannot afford to fight the government and wouldn't know how to begin fighting anyway. It won't *really* have anything to do with what you knew, did not know or should have known. It will have everything to do with your status and where you are relative to your position near the bottom or top of the barrel we all spend all our lives trying to crawl out of. I suppose that if you run an anonymous remail service one could make the claim that, 'well, you really should have had a good idea what your client base was using you for ...' Likewise I imagine if you operate a site which seems to have an awful lot of 'incidents' in which users get their knuckles rapped from time to time over the content of their messages one could make the claim also that your traffic is not that great that the smut could repeatedly get past you undetected, in which case you 'knew or should have known', etc. And as you point out, the decision on who knew or should have known what is a decision made by a judge or jury, not a prosecutor. But that is all a very moot point: who has the *time and resources* to fight, whether you win or lose? I quite agree with you that the people putting out the anti-S.314 material might have shown a wee bit more intellectual honesty about what I suspect was the real intentions of many: as you pointed out, to make the hard core smut peddlers completely prosecution- and judgment- proof. Tom Lehrer, the Harvard mathemetician and comedian commented in one of his routines that people who like smut never actually come out and say so. They always couch their objections to laws against it in terms of the First Amendment. They prefer to speak theoretically about (perhaps) far-fetched conclusions which will result. How refreshing it would be to have someone simply say, "I love pictures of little boys doing the no-no thing, and I don't want laws forbidding me to possess or share the pictures with others." Now that would be a change, to forget the First Amendement b.s. and say where you are actually coming from. But as you point out, the public would never allow that; on the other hand, there are still sufficient numbers of people who (like myself) will support the First Amendment, at least when it suits them, so these discussions always wind up going in that direction. And thank you for your honesty, I might add. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Mar 95 10:50 EST From: Fred Bauer Subject: ESF and Clear Channel (was: What is ESF) In mjenning@ix.netcom.com (Michael Jennings) writes in part: > In addition, ESF typically is associated with "clear channel > capability" or, the ability for the user to take advantage of > the full 64 kb/s data rate of any of the 24 channels on the T1 > line. > Typically the "D4" type of framing requires that there be a > minimum number of logical "1's" being transmitted over the T1 > line. I know this has been covered before, and it's even alluded to in the rest of the original message, but I think that it is important enough to be stated very seperatly: **** There is (almost, see below) NO RELATION between the framing on a T1 and the ability to transmit clear channel data ***** When specifing a T1 Facility, there are two seperate, INDEPENDENT parameters that are in volved. The first is the LINE CODE, which specifies how the bits are encoded onto the copper line. This can be either AMI, or B8ZS. If the line code is AMI, then there is a requirement that there be at least 12.5% Ones in the data, and there be no more than 15 consecutive Zeros. Although you can run individual 64k channels on an AMI T1 (if the adjacent channels are unused) it is typically only used for voice and Nx56k data. If the line code is B8ZS, then there is no "Ones Density" requirement, and "clear channel" Data can be passed. Some equipment also supports a "line code" refered to as "BIT-7". This scheme uses AMI, but sets bit 7 to a one if an all zero byte comes through on any channel. (This is not reversed at the other end of the link, so this scheme is very unfriendly to most data). The second parameter is FRAMING. This can be either D4 (Also refered to as SF) or ESF. In some cases, an UNFRAMED T1 may also be specified. The framing is what is what allows the T1 to be broken down into 24 64k channels (DS0's), but has no bearing on what data can be put into the channels. As mentioned in another article in the same issue of the Digest, ESF provides many benefits over D4, and should probably be selected if your equipment supports it. The one time there is a relation between frmaing and line code/ones density is in the case of ZBTSI. This coding scheme operates on an AMI/ESF line (using some of the spare bits of the ESF framing) to allow for clear-channel transmissions on an AMI facility. This scheme is used when older transmission systems are in place (which will only support AMI) to provide clear channel capabilities. I hope this clarifies the (non) relation between framing and clear channel capabilities. Fred Bauer fbauer@access.digex.net Principal Engineer voice: +1.301.212.7067 LDDS/IDB Worldcom fax: +1.301.212.7055 ------------------------------ From: Azriel Heuman Subject: X.25 Over ISDN - Addressing Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 16:35:23 GMT Organization: Telrad Ltd. The ITU standards allow X.25 data calls over ISDN (both D and B channels) to use ISDN phone numbers (E.164) instead of X.25 addresses (X.121) even when the traffic transverses non-ISDN X.25 networks. Do any X.25 networks support this yet? Can someone from Sprint (Telenet) or other X.25 network providers shed some light on this subject? Please respond by E-mail! Best Regards, Azriel Heuman azi@mofet.elex.co.il ------------------------------ From: aweng@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Alice Weng) Subject: References For Benefits of Networking Date: 1 Mar 1995 12:38:41 GMT Organization: The Ohio State University I was wondering if anyone can help me. I am currently working on a grant proposal for the federal government. What we are proposing is a project that will network a number of programs for teenagers. We plan to have an on-line bulletin board system etc. However, I need some references as to the benefits of networking. For example, that it increases the number of resources assessable etc. These references cannot be too technical, it is not a technology grant. They need to be readible for the average graduate student in the social sciences (me). If you have no specific references, any suggestions of "subject words" to enter into a literature search? The ones that I know "telecommunication" and "networking" bring up over 500 listings. So I need something more specific. Any help is greatly appreciated!!! Alice Weng aweng@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Mar 1995 09:39:18 -0500 From: Richard Burry Subject: Turnkey Telephone Based Classified System Required Hi folks. I'm looking into the requirements and cost of setting up a telephone based classified service. Features would include talking classifieds, messaging, and conferencing. I am specifically looking for a turnkey system that includes all the necessary hardware and software. Any information can be forwarded directly to my email address. If you are interested in this area, forward your name and I will be happy to compile all information received and pass it on to you. Thanks for you help. Richard Burry Director IS, CUC Broadcasting Suite 1300, 300 Consilium Place Scarborough, Ontario, Canada M1H 3G2 Voice 416-296-9966 Fax 416-296-7374 Email RBURRY@CUC.CA ------------------------------ From: Deepak Bapna Subject: Information Needed on Phased Array Communications Date: 01 Mar 1995 20:00:59 GMT Organization: Carnegie Mellon University Hi, I am looking for information on phased array communcations system. Let me first give an overview of the project we are working on. Overview: Lunar Rover Initiative In 1998, Carnegie Mellon University intends to land a pair of rovers on the Moon. The mission objectives are three-fold: 1) To demonstrate that educational institutions, with private corporate backing, can conduct useful space missions beyond Earth orbit; 2) To demonstrate that teleoperated rovers can work on the Moon for long periods of time (up to two years); 3) To return from the Moon a rich live video feed which can be used by the private sector, by lunar researchers, and by educational interests. A rich video feed is essential for this mission, since most of the science objectives are observatory in nature. =================== We need to transmit about 6 Mbit/sec continuously while the robots are travelling on moon. This makes mechanical pointing of the antenna (located on the robot) difficult and hence we are looking for electronic beam steering (and hence phased arrays). Any information about phased array systems (companies/contact names, phone number, existing systems for satellite applications, pointers to recent developments in technology, papers, conferences etc.) would be much appreciated. Since, I am not a regular reader of the netnews, please send me a mail (or give a call if your deals with phased arrays). Thanks a lot, Deepak Bapna Field Robotics Center Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Phone: (412) 268-7414 email: deepak@ri.cmu.edu ------------------------------ From: btatro@iquest.com (Tatro Enterprises) Subject: CallerID and Dialogic Board Date: 01 Mar 1995 20:27:43 GMT Organization: interQuest: Fuel for the Mind Hi all, I hope somebody here can point me in the right direction. I have a Dialogic 21D board with two lines, one for fax use and one for voicemail use. Would like to be able to have CallerID function with the voicemail system. Using Visual Voice development software bye Stylus Innovation. Qustion is, what is the fastest and cheapest way of having the CallerID information passed to the voicemail application. Can a modem be used to intercept the information and pass it on? Any information appreciated. Brian ------------------------------ From: m.w.j.vanruijven@telecom.ptt.nl (Marcel W.J. van Ruijven) Subject: Call For Tender ISDN Project Support Date: Wed, 01 Mar 95 17:38:33 PST Organization: PTT Telecom Netherlands Reply-To: m.w.j.vanruijven@telecom.ptt.nl From November 28-30, 1995 the ISDN event of the year will take place: Global 1995. It will be a world-wide event with show cases in different countries linked together via ISDN. Already 35 sponsors in Europe, Asia, Africa and America support the initative and now seek global support for a professional organisation. Three tenders are made available by the Gloabl '95 steering committee: - For administration - For promotion and communication - for project management For more information please ask for details via: Fax : +31 70 3816581 (Attn. Mr. A. Naftali) Internet: m.w.j.vanruijven@telecom.ptt.nl Requests for information should be in before March 7, 1995. Proposals should be in no later than March 10, 1995 Marcel W.J. van Ruijven PTT Telecom BV E-mail:M.W.J.vanRuijven@telecom.ptt.nl P.O. Box 30150 NL-2500 GD The Hague The Netherlands ------------------------------ From: Lionel JAQUET Subject: ATM UNI 3.0 & 3.1 Date: 02 Mar 1995 12:01:48 GMT Organization: MCNET InterNetNews site Hi, I'm searching for the ATM UNI 3.0 & 3.1 papers. I'm interested for LAN Emulation, ATM Virtual Routing and Q.2931, too. Does anybody know where on the net I can read and copy this information? In advance, thanks. Lionel.Jaquet@com.mcnet.ch ------------------------------ From: jimaust254@aol.com (JimAust254) Subject: Value ($) of Teltone TLS3 Telephone Line Simulator? Date: 01 Mar 1995 14:17:34 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: jimaust254@aol.com (JimAust254) I have a Teltone model TLS3 Telephone Line Simulator about two years old and I paid $450 for it. What's it worth today?? Jim Austin JimAust254.AOL.COM ------------------------------ From: alexis@news.cinenet.net (Alexis Kasperavicius) Subject: Voice Mail Prompts Date: 01 Mar 1995 20:50:31 -0800 Organization: Cinenet Communications,Internet Access,Los Angeles;310-301-4500 I have spoken with the lady who is the "voice" of AT&T - she says "Thank You for using AT&T" -- "We're sorry..." -- A famous voice and a really nice lady. I am going to be recording her in a digital studio for a voice mail project in about one month and doing all the basic prompts required for a voice mail system as well as all basic intercept announcements. My thought is, since there are SO MANY bad prompt sets out there, to do a decent, clean prompt set that covers voice mail, basic IVR applications, Bank-by-phone, Credit Card Debiting, intercepts, CLASS,and coin announcements. All numbers, dates, etc -- recorded in a STUDIO, digitally -- not with a handset microphone in a noisy equipment room. All edited cleanly and available on a CD-ROM in digital format. I am a sound editor in Hollywood and do a lot of video games so I have access to a CD Writer and digital editing equipment. This will be done correctly. However, I would like some input. If any of you have done a voice mail or IVR prompt set, send me the script. I'd like to cover as many prompts as I can. I would also like to come up with a standard file name format for a standard set of prompts so we don't have the mishmash of filenames that currently exist. If you know of an existing "standard" file name format please let me know. I know that in C.O.'s there are huge drum tape machines that play the intercept announcements. What do you C.O. guys use to get recordings onto these things? For IVR guys, what digital file format do you use? I would probably put the files on the CD in 44khz 16bit Mono .aiff and include a utilty to convert to .wav, and Dialogic formats in whatever sampling rate you wish.What other formats should be included? Should the CD be playable as a CD? What do you want? I will also include all Telco progress tones, DTMF signals, MF signals,all foreign ring signals. All clean, all perfect. I think this would be a valuable tool for anyone in the IVR industry or anyone wanting to play around. I'm doing this because I occasionaly build IVR systems and would really like to have a set like this. I have the equipment and know the best voice in the country. Also, I think it will be fun. The CD would be sold for a reasonable flat flee with no additional license fee required. I will, of course, send one to anyone who helps out. So ... dig around. Find those scripts! THINK about it. This thing will save you countless hours of frustration if it's done correctly. And your customers will LOVE it! I did a set with her and replaced just the prompt set on a voice mailsystem -- nothing else -- the complaints dissapeared. I actually had people ask me what I had done to make the voice mail system "so easy to use." If you still don't know the voice I'm talking about - pick up your phone and dial 10288 - 0700 - 881-4812. (Just listen to the prompt voice - the thing is forwarded to a non-existent number in Lithuania.) Responses, anyone? Alexis Kasperavicius alexis@hollywood.cinenet.net ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Mar 95 22:07:31 EST From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act rhiggins@carroll1.cc.edu (Ron Higgins) wrote: > Our local telephone company is planning a 900% (900 percent) increase > in the rate that it charges for a non-published, non-listed telephone > number on a monthly basis. And that is on top of the "*67" that I > have to dial to stop my number from being transmitted by Caller ID. A handy way around ever increasing unlisted number charges is to get a distinctive ringing (or whatever your local telco calls it -- Identa Ring, Identa Call, Teenagers' Line...) number on your existing line. Many telcos will not publish (or make available via DA) the second or third numbers - in fact you may have to pay them if you do want a listing. Let them list the 'main' number, treat the second number as your real one, and ignore calls to the main one. You can get a ring detect box if you expect lots of calls on the main number that you don't want to even ring your bell. In many areas that second number costs much less than unpublished service. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ From: hihosteveo@aol.com (HiHoSteveo) Subject: Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act Date: 2 Mar 1995 00:20:32 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: hihosteveo@aol.com (HiHoSteveo) PAT is correct -- what privacy act? This is not a privacy issue, but an administrative issue by LEC tariff. Sorry about that. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #127 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa27197; 2 Mar 95 22:58 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14243; Thu, 2 Mar 95 17:18:56 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA14237; Thu, 2 Mar 95 17:18:53 CST Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 17:18:53 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503022318.AA14237@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #128 TELECOM Digest Thu, 2 Mar 95 17:18:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 128 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Wanted: International Phone Directories (alex@worldaccess.nl) North Pacific Fiber Now Repaired (Edward W. Bennett) MCI Cashes AT&T Checks (Scott Lorditch) Interesting New Information Service and Prefix (Linc Madison) Bellcore Telecomm Overview Video Series (Robohn Scott) Communications Books For Sale (Tuan T. Ho) mu-law to a-law PCM (John Combs) 800 Directory Listings Wanted (jps0723@aol.com) Wanted: Software to link Caller-ID With ProPhone Database (Paul Cascio) Looking For RACE Project CFS (John Scourias) New NPA in Colorado (phrantic@plains.uwyo.edu) Bell Canada 500 Service? (John S. Nelson) Need 500 Service Information (Bhaktha Keshavachar) Re: A Tip When Working With Electricity (Paul Houle) Re: Inquiry on CDMA and QUALCOMM (Sergei Anfilofiev) Answering Machine Calls For You! (James E. Bellaire) Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery (Michael Berlant) Re: 900 Providing Advice Sought (hihosteveo@aol.com) Re: What is DMS-100? (Brian Bebeau) Automatic Message Accounting Standard Wanted (Gerry Goldman) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 19:46:26 +0100 From: Alex@Worldaccess.NL (Alex) Subject: Wanted: International Phone Directories Hello everyone ... Perhaps this may sound a little odd to all of you ... but besides my general interest of telecom stuff (why would I otherwise be subscribed to this service) I also collect phone directories ... and preferably international ones. There are several ways to get them; one of the ways is to buy them from our very own PTT Telecom here in Holland. The problem is that they charge quite a lot for this service. (I am sorry people from the PTT who read this). Another way is to request complementary copies from the telephone companies around the world; sometimes I get lucky, and they send one; often they won't, since there is some ITU regulation on this matter (at least someone told me once). Therefore I am asking the readers here if they would be intrested in helping me to increase my collection of phone directories. I collect also yellow pages. Of course I will pay for the surface mail. At this point I already got all the directories of: - The Netherlands - Zimbabwe - Tchad - Bermuda - Grenada - Macao - Botswana Besides that I've got some directories of: - USA (New York, Los Angeles both yellow and white pages) - France (Paris yellow pages) - Italy (Padova area white pages) - Israel (Haifa area and Tel Aviv white pages in hebrew) =) - United Kingdom (London business directory) - Germany (Bonn white pages) - Belgium (Brussels & Antwerps) If you consider it took me about two years to get this far, you can imagine how much help I could use. Therefore, anyone having some directory laying in some corner of his room ... make someone happy ... send it ... please! Greetings, Alex P.S. And of course if you need a listing or an address write me. Alex@Worldaccess.NL, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Mar 1995 08:40:09 -0800 From: EDWARD W BENNETT Subject: North Pacific Fiber Now Repaired The {Anchorage Daily News} reports that the North Pacific Fiber should be back in service either today or tomorrow. The cable failed Feb. 5 about 20 miles off the Oregon coast. Splicing was completed Wednesday and testing is underway now. The cable carries most of Alaska's long-distance traffic, as well as international traffic to Japan. During the outage, Alaska traffic was rerouted to a satellite. Ed Bennett JSEWB@acad1.alaska.edu ------------------------------ From: gryphon@j51.com (Scott Lorditch) Subject: MCI Cashes AT&T Checks Date: 2 Mar 1995 17:42:02 GMT Organization: TZ-Link, a public-access online community in Nyack, NY. Over the past few months I've gotten several solicitations in the mail to switch to AT&T. One of them was in the form of a check for $40. We currently use MCI, so I called their customer service number. While they don't publicize it, MCI will redeem these checks for their face value in an "MCI Certificate of Savings". And further, for each month that I hold the certificate before cashing it, it's value increases by another $5, for up to 12 months. So, the useless $40 check from AT&T will save me $100 on my MCI bill this time next year! Scott Lorditch / gryphon@j51.com ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Interesting New Information Service and Prefix Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 21:49:18 GMT As some of you may know, there is a service operated by the local newspaper(s) in San Francisco which offers sports scores, stock quotes, news updates, and other stuff, for only the cost of the applicable tolls and having to sit through the commercials they occasionally insert. The number for this service was originally (415) 512-5000, and that number is still working. What makes the situation more interesting is that the service is now being advertised as (415/510/408) 808-5000. This is the first I have heard of an 808 prefix in any of those area codes, and my PBX at work rejects it as invalid. It is also, to my knowledge, the first N0/1X prefix in 408, which I don't think is particularly close to exhausting its supply of NNX prefixes. Does anyone know the telecom story behind this new prefix? Is it set up as a local call in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, with the latter two forwarded to San Francisco, or perhaps terminating with duplicate equipment remotely maintained in those sites? Is Pac*Bell planning to offer any other uses of this prefix or others with the same 7-digit number in all three area codes? Is the call charged as Zone 3 or Local Toll from some areas? If the answer to the last question is yes, caution is warranted for some folks. For example, from Mountain View 415-254, San Francisco (415) is a local toll call, but downtown San Jose (408) is not. A surprisingly high percentage of people still aren't clued in that "toll" and "same area code" are separate issues. Linc Madison * Oakland, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ From: Robohn Scott Subject: Bellcore Telecomm Overview Video Series Date: Wed, 01 Mar 95 16:22:00 PST Has anyone seen Bellcore's Telecommunications Overview video series? The series consists of five tapes: 1 - Introduction 2 - Distribution 3 - Traffic, Signaling, and Switching 4 - Transmission 5 - Network Architectures and Services We're considering using this series as part of an in-house training curriculum on telecommunications. I'd be particularly interested in comments from people who have viewed it who can identify areas that it might lack in (Bellcore readers, notice I said _might_ lack in). Thanks in advance, Scott Robohn robohns@bah.com ------------------------------ From: tuanho@netway.net (Tuan T. Ho) Subject: Communications Books For Sale Date: 1 Mar 1995 21:36:14 GMT Organization: Netway 2001 I have the following books for sale: Please note the book condition: Brand New = (!) Good = (***) Excellent = (****) Average = (**) Poor = (*) - W. Stallings, Local Networks: An Introduction, Macmillan, 1984, $20 (***). - K. Sherman, Data Communications: A User's Guide, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall, 1990, $25 (!). - K. Kummerle, J. O. Limb, F. A. Tobagi, eds., Advances in Local Area Networks, IEEE Press, 1987, $19 (****). - F. Ivanek, ed., Terrestrial Digital Microwave Communications, Artech House, 1989, $35 (!). - W. M. Brown and C. J. Palermo, Random Processes, Communications and Radar, McGraw Hill, 1969, $25 (****). - H. E. G. Jeske, ed., Atmospheric Effects on Radar Target Identification and Imaging (Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute), D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1976, $25 (****). - H. Stark and F. B. Tuteur, Modern Electrical Communications: Theory and Systems, Prentice Hall, 1979, $39 (****). - P. F. Panter, Communications Systems Design: Line-of-Sight and Tropo- Scatter Systems, McGraw Hill, 1972, $39 (***). - C. G. Guy, Data Communications for Engineers, McGraw Hill, 1992, $29 (!). - J. Martin, Telecommunications and the Computer, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 1976, $25 (!). - T. C. Bartee, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Communications, Howard Sams & Co., 1986, $29 (!). - J. D. Gibson, Principles of Digital and Analog Communications, 2nd ed., Macmillan, 1993, $29 (****). - L. W. Couch II, Digital and Analog Communication Systems, Macmillan, 1983, $25 (***). - D. R. Smith, Digital Transmission Systems, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985, $20 (****). - M. Barkat, Signal Detection and Estimation, Artech House, 1991, $30 (!). If interested, Please e-mail me at: tuanho@netway.net or Phone me at : (303) 364-4426 Thanks, Tuan ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Mar 95 17:46 EST From: Testmark Laboratories <0006718446@mcimail.com> Subject: mu-law to a-law PCM I need to check the acoustics of the handset of a European ISDN BRI phone. Unfortunately, I only have a North American ISDN BRI simulator, which uses mu-law PCM, and the phone uses a-law PCM. I know from prior experience that the two PCMs can be connected together, and the phone conversation still sounds "normal." However, can anyone tell me what the error would be in dB when I sweep from 300 to 3400 Hz at a constant level, and do a loudness calculation? Also, does anyone know if the S/T bus used in Europe is compatible with the North American S/T bus? John Combs, Project Engineer, TestMark Laboratories, testmark@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: jps0723@aol.com (JPS0723) Subject: 800 Directory Listings Wanted Date: 02 Mar 1995 19:25:41 GMT Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: jps0723@aol.com (JPS0723) Is there any place to get the 800 directory listings and to whom the numbers belong? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think you are referring to a criss- cross style directory for 800, and I do not think one has ever been published. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Framer@ix.netcom.com (Paul Cascio) Subject: Wanted: Software to Link Caller-ID With ProPhone Database Date: 02 Mar 1995 00:56:56 GMT Organization: Netcom I am trying to find software that will take a phone number supplied by a caller-ID signal from my modem (Rockwell chip set) and lookup the name in ProPhone, a CD-Rom database. Any information on where I can obtain such software would be appreciated. Thanks, Paul Cascio ------------------------------ From: jscouria@neumann.uwaterloo.ca (John Scourias) Subject: Looking For RACE Project CFS Organization: University of Waterloo Date: Thu, 02 Mar 1995 17:48:39 GMT Hi everyone, I am looking for the Common Functional Specification D733, for the RACE project MONET (R2066). An older version, published in August 1994, is available at aachen.de but a new version was supposed to be available in December 1994. Does anyone know if and where an electronic version is available? Thank you in advance, John Scourias http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~jscouria University of Waterloo jscouria@neumann.uwaterloo.ca Waterloo, ON, Canada ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Mar 1995 09:00:08 MST From: THE PILOT Subject: New NPA in Colorado Does anyone have any information concerning the addition of a new NPA in Colorado? Supposedly (from a USWest CSB guy) metro Denver will get the new area code in April of '96. Anyone able to confirm this and/or tell us what the new NPA might be? Thanks, Phrantic@plains.uwyo.edu ------------------------------ From: jsnelson@netaccess.on.ca (John S. Nelson) Subject: Bell Canada 500 Service Date: 02 Mar 1995 20:45:59 GMT Organization: NetAccess Systems Inc., Hamilton, Ontario > Is 500 service beeing offered by Bell Canada yet (or will it be > offered in the future), and what costs should I expect for making use > of 500 service if and when it is available here? Here's a bit of background (which most comp.dcom.telecom readers probably already know), plus Bell Canada's similar service called Primeline. SAC 500 is the Service Access Code selected by the North American Industry for providers of Personal Communications Services. Wireline and Wireless service providers have intentions of using this code to support Personal Mobility, Terminal Mobility and Service Profile Management. Bell Communications Research Inc. (Bellcore) administers the North American Numbering Plan, and in July 1994 began assigning blocks of personal go anywhere numbers to Telephone Companies and Wireless Carriers across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean Islands. Stentor Resource Center Inc (SRCI), on behalf of Bell Canada and other Canadian Telephone companies, has applied and received SAC 500 NXX resources from Bellcore. However, no tariffs for related services have yet been filed or approved by the Regulator (CRTC). Although today Bell Canada does not yet offer a 500-based go anywhere service, Bell offers a follow me service called PrimeLine which does not require a 500 number. Customers in Bell Canada's serving area can call 310-BELL (310-2355) from any exchange to obtain detailed information on Primeline. Hope that was useful, Evan. Recently, a question came up wondering why a gentleman from Kingston, Ontario couldn't reach Pat on his SAC 500 number. I tried to call Pat and had the same result. Thinking it might be a technical problem, I asked a few questions. Well, what I discovered is (as we probably all know) telcos enter into agreements with other carriers with respect to SAC 500 service, not only so that calls can be properly routed, but that the appropriate rating and billing can take place, the revenues collected, and settled. To date, no agreements have been negotiated with any US provider for 500 service. Will that happen? Well, that's just not something that I can discuss on a newsgroup! John Nelson, Bell Canada Access Network Provisioning (905) 526-5760 FAX 527-2187 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh go ahead, you can whisper it to me. I won't tell anyone who doesn't read the Digest or Usenet. You think Ma Bell is a bitch, is that it? PAT] ------------------------------ From: keshavac@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Bhaktha Keshavachar) Subject: Need 500 Service Information Organization: Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 18:22:20 GMT Hi, Can someone on the net tell me about the 500 service. If you can direct me to a FAQ, it will be great. I know that the 500 service has been discussed in TELECOM Digest for a while. I don't have a clue as what it is as I missed reading the Digest for a few months. Thanks, Bhaktha [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Umm, yeah, I seem to recall we had a few messages on the topic not too long ago. I'm not going to tell you anything about 500. Let that be a lesson to you; not reading this Digest each day. Actually, 500 is called 'Personal Number Service' and it allows you to have a single number which can be forwarded to you at any time, anywhere you may happen to be. Check out the back issues of this Digest for the last couple months of 1994 and the first two months of this year. There were quite a few detailed commentaries. Back issues are available in the Archives, using anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ph18@crux2.cit.cornell.edu (Paul Houle) Subject: Re: A Tip When Working With Electricity Date: 02 Mar 1995 19:17:45 GMT Organization: Cornell University Bob Mueller writes: > Dear Pat, > I just read about your experiences with the capacitors in a TV > unloading through you and recalled another tip which can prevent a > nasty accident. It is related to the thread because auto batteries are > part of schemes to revive NiCads. Electrocution from these may be > possible (I heard of a case but have no certainty if it really happened), > but is quite unlikely. Serious burns are not so uncommon. One should > remove metal jewelery, including watch bands and rings when working > around these batteries; they can deliver huge currents, enough to spot > weld the jewelery, and heat it up to skin burning temperatures in a > second or so. I had a job working at Cornell's particle accelerator, CESR last summer -- one of the many safety problems that we were warned about were the two thick copper busbars that went underneath the accelerator: these supplied 40 V or so DC for the main magnets; although the voltage is low, really too low to produce a lethal current passing through the body under most circumstances, it is a very serious hazard if you short them out with a ring or a tool held in your hands. Of course there were many other electric hazards, including most of a megawatt of RF power that goes into the accelerating cavities and the linac, several higher voltage distribution systems and a lot of things that can get you hurt or killed. After seeing how much work it took just to keep this little 1-km long accelerator working, the logistic challenge of running a superconducting supercollider just leaves me staggering; it would take a literal army to run it. I'll also say a word about telecommunications at CESR. Throughout the building and under the ring one will find many "beam phones", each of which has a dial with nine positions. To call somebody on a beam phone, you'd turn the dial to a position which wasn't being used, say, number 3 -- then you'd push the page button, announce to the called party that you want them to pick up on line 3, and then they'd do that. ------------------------------ From: Sergei Anfilofiev Subject: Re: Inquiry on CDMA and QUALCOMM Date: 02 Mar 1995 11:11:09 +0300 Organization: ZNIIS Reply-To: sanfi@zniis.msk.su eswu@v9000.ntu.ac.sg writes: > 2) Where to get the published materials on CDMA designed by QUALCOMM? > I have heard that QUALCOMM has designed a CDMA system, but I still > did not find any wirtten material on it. Try to call ftp.qualcomm.com as anonymous user. You'll find a lot of information on CDMA. For example, in /pub/cdma directory. I hope this will help. Best wishes, Dr. Sergei Anfilofiev | Tel:(7 095)368-9127 Chief Internat. Depart.| Fax:(7 095)274-0067 ZNIIS, Moscow, Russia | E-mail: sanfi@zniis.msk.su ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 02 Mar 1995 16:04:36 -0500 From: James E. Bellaire Subject: Answering Machine calls for you! I have noticed that if you call someone's answering machine and immediately hang up when the tape starts that the machine holds the line open for the length of the tape. (This works with every machine I have tested.) If someone calls you, immediately hangs up and you have a long enough message the local exchange has time to reset your line, present you with a local dial tone and start the 'you have waited too long to dial' type message. I've had several dozen of these auto dialed calls over the years. I've also noticed that if you flash and then hang up the switch in my hometown (616-651) likes to reconnect the original parties. It will go as far as redialing BOTH parties at the same time to reconnect this lost connection. This would account for a home phone and a cell phone being called by the switch and then connected to each other. Not all practical jokes are played by people, some are played by machines! James E. Bellaire bellaire@iquest.net bellaire@barnabas.indwes.edu ------------------------------ From: lnjptyo1.mberla01@eds.com (Michael Berlant) Subject: Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery Date: 02 Mar 1995 00:40:33 GMT Organization: EDS Japan In article , david.chessler@neteast.com (DAVID CHESSLER) says: > I've handled ordinary nicads by putting them in a flashlight, turning > it on, and waiting for the light to go out. The owner's manual for all these electronic devices tells you to drain down the battery in their device for good reason. The device will shut down when the battery has 3-5% life left, not zero. Draining a NiCD battery down to zero is just as unhealthy as leaving it in the charger forever. My experience has been that better-than-average battery life span can be achieved by using the battery until the beeping starts and then swapping for your spare battery (which is always at hand, right?). ------------------------------ From: hihosteveo@aol.com (HiHoSteveo) Subject: Re: 900 Providing Advice Sought Date: 02 Mar 1995 01:03:57 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: hihosteveo@aol.com (HiHoSteveo) If my memory serves me right, the cost was $1,200 for the first 900 line and $900 each additional or slightly less. Anyway, look in the Encyclopedia of Associations, there is a 900 service Association that will list the providers and tell you about failure (financial not technical) rates, etc. and lots of other information. Also check a CD Rom library periodical literature searching 900 -- the number of entries will boggle your mind with information available. ------------------------------ From: Brian.Bebeau@att.com Subject: Re: What is DMS-100? Reply-To: brian@hercules.cb.att.com Organization: AT&T Date: Thu, 02 Mar 1995 13:44:03 GMT >>> I just got a letter from Pac Bell stating that on 10 March they are >>> going to install DMS-100 at the Los Angeles Central office and that my >>> prefix would be affected. The letter also states: >>> What can I expect in the way of problems, if any, using a modem to >>> send or receive call? We had the same thing happen last October. We got a card too advising us of the change. I think they only tell you in case you have some special calling feature that's programmed _in the switch_. You'll need to re-program it in that case. As far as using it goes, we've noticed that our line is a *lot* less noisy than it was, so your modem should work even more reliably. We also now get a *lot* more numbers on our Caller ID display than before. Much fewer "out-of-area" numbers. I don't know what we had before, but it had Caller ID too, and a fair amount of crosstalk. Having said that, I still hate DMS-100s. I'm a software developer on a product that gets maintenance messages from network elements like the DMS-100 and alerts telco personnel to problems. Northern Telecom is not real forthcoming with information, and their input message syntax is quite different from other switches. It's been a real pain to support properly. Brian Bebeau brian@hercules.cb.att.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 12:46:22 EST From: telenet!emerson!ggoldman@uunet.uu.net (Gerry Goldman) Subject: Automatic Message Accounting Standard Wanted Can anyone tell me where I can get information on the Automatic Message Accounting (AMA) format. This is purported to be a Bellcore format for ATM billing records. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #128 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa27991; 3 Mar 95 0:14 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18139; Thu, 2 Mar 95 19:24:12 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18132; Thu, 2 Mar 95 19:24:10 CST Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 19:24:10 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503030124.AA18132@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #129 TELECOM Digest Thu, 2 Mar 95 19:24:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 129 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson True NANP and Common Dialing Practices (John Shelton) Winsock Problem (Greg Polimis) Wireless Modems (Mukesh Sharma) And the Grammy For Poor Planning Goes to ... (Scott D. Fybush) Bulk Call Generators (jplotky@atlanta.glenayre.com) Rio-1 ACS-CELP Information Wanted (Sing Li) Re: N.T. M9516 Telephone Wanted (Dcott B. Campbell) Re: N.T. M9516 Telephone Wanted (Steve Copeland) Re: N.T. M9516 Telephone Wanted (Jean Tkacik) Re: BA Files Waiver to Prevent Higher ISDN Costs (Lars Poulsen) Re: Need Help With Digital Phone Line (John Lundgren) Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act (Tim Allman) Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act (Atri Indiresan) Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act (Glenn Foote) Re: Cellular "Auto-Registration" (George Wang) Re: Some Major and Grim Changes Planned for the 'Net' (John Steele) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Shelton Subject: True NANP and Common Dialing Practices Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 8:57:48 PDT When will we really have a true North American Numbering Plan, one that is used consistently throughout US and Canada? Is it really that hard to get everone to agree: xxx - special service codes (e.g. Info, Emergency) xxx xxxx - abbreviated form of 1+ ten digit dialing, where the area code (NPA) is the same. 0 xxx xxxx - abbreviated form of 0+ ten digit dialing, where the area code (NPA) is the same. 1 xxx xxx xxxx - caller paid, direct dialed call 0 xxx xxx xxxx - alternate billing, direct dialed call Using the long form should *always* be legal. Seven digit dialing might require timeouts (or trailing #). It's really frustrating that I cannot program my cellular phone with autodial numbers that work anywhere I go. Some places REQUIRE a leading 1 for all calls, and some places REQUIRE lack of a leading 1. Harumph. John [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your complaint has validity, however I suspect the people in Pakistan with cellular phones would be quite pleased right now if they could dial *anything at all* on their cell phones. As reported here a few days ago, the citizens of that country found their cellular service suddenly turned off -- apparently perman- ently disconnected when the government was unable to monitor their conversations as it wished. When the carrier there was unable for technical reasons to provide the level of monitoring desired by the government, the government's response was to raid the offices of the carrier and turn it off completely. I wonder if they have since relented and restarted the service or if it is still off. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Greg@quadravision.com (Greg Polimis) Reply-To: Greg@quadravision.com Subject: Winsock Problem Date: 02 Mar 1995 15:44:26 GMT Organization: Quadravision Communications I'm having a problem with Winsock. My username is being sent fine but my password is not accepted. Has anyone ever encountered this problem before and can they render any assistance? I'd appreciate any help you can offer. Thanks! Quadravision Communications 931 Yonge Street Toronto, Ontario M4W 2H2 voice (416)-960-8400 fax (416)-960-8401 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 14:47:43 EST From: telenet!honey!msharma@uunet.uu.net (Mukesh Sharma) Subject: Wireless Modems Hi, I am looking for some information on wireless modems. I am just starting in wireless area. Text/publication or magazines names is what I am looking I will appreciate your help Thanks, sharma MUKESH.SHARMA@adn.sprint.com ------------------------------ From: fybush@world.std.com (Scott D Fybush) Subject: And the Grammy For Poor Planning Goes to ... Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 15:38:27 GMT During the Grammy awards Wednesday night, AT&T was a heavy sponsor with their "True Voice" ads, including the first one I'd seen in Spanish (at least on English-language TV). Curious to hear the Spanish-language True Voice demo, I picked up the phone and dialed ... only to get a recording in Spanish informing me to try my call again in five minutes, as the demo lines were busy. When I tried the English-language lines, same thing. Seems to me if I were advertising something, especially if I were the (well, "a") phone company, I'd try harder to have enough lines available to handle expected caller demand ... Scott Fybush - fybush@world.std.com ------------------------------ From: jplotky@atlanta.glenayre.com Subject: Bulk Call Generators Date: 2 Mar 1995 22:22:57 GMT Organization: Glenayre Electronics I'm looking for a large capacity bulk call generator (48 T1 or E1 spans). I need the equipment to test the call handling capacity of various equipment. I am looking to meet the following requirements: - generate and accept calls from the system under test; - line and register signalling protocols fully programmable on per line basis (e.g. E&M, loop, DTMF, MFR1, MFR2 compelled, etc); - ability to do continuity test port to port; - generate/detect DTMF tones under program control at any time during the test call. I would also like to have: - detect call progress tones and voice; - ISDN If anyone can point me in the direction of such equipment, my thanks will be bountiful. jp ------------------------------ From: lsing@hookup.net (Sing Li) Subject: Rio-1 ACS-CELP Information Wanted Date: 1 Mar 1995 00:39:00 GMT Does anyone know where I can obtain some technical information on the Rio-1 ACS-CELP coder? Any help (via email or follow-up posting) will be greatly appreciated. Regards, Sing Li microWonders Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 16:10:05 +0000 From: scott-b.campbell@nt.com Subject: Re: N.T. M9516 Telephone Wanted Organization: Northern Telecom In article , keith.knipschild@asb.com writes: > Does anyone know where I can get my hands on the NORTHERN TELECOM > "M9516" Telephone? In Canada, try Anixter. In Mississauga, their phone number is 905-897-5665. The telcos will be picking it up a little later. The only reviews I know of are in industry mags (like the market research paper Yankeevision) or on TV (i.e., Gadget Guru, the Today Show). Scott ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 23:32:14 +0000 From: steve.copeland@nt.com Subject: Re: N.T. M9516 Telephone Wanted Organization: Bell Northern Research keith.knipschild@asb.com wrote: > Does anyone know where I can get my hands on the NORTHERN TELECOM > "M9516" Telephone? In the U.S., call Call Direct at 1-800-842-7439. They can mail you one. Steve ------------------------------ From: tkacik@mathworks.com (Jean Tkacik) Subject: Re: N.T. M9516 Telephone Wanted Date: 2 Mar 1995 15:05:31 GMT Organization: The MathWorks Inc. You may want to give TAC CENTRE a call at 617-944-5709. Located in Reading MA, they are a remarketer of Northern Telecom equipment. Ask for Stephen, Jeff or Dave. They should be able to help you or place you in contact with someone who can. Good luck!! ------------------------------ From: lars@spectrum.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) Subject: Re: BA Files Waiver to Prevent Higher ISDN Costs Date: 2 Mar 1995 11:14:56 -0800 Organization: Rockwell International - CMC Network Products I have edited the Bell Atlantic press release a little to keep the quotes tighter: Bell> Date: Wed, 15 Feb 95 13:23:21 GMT Bell> From: Bell Atlantic Bell> Subject: BA Files Waiver to Prevent Higher ISDN Costs Bell> On Jan. 11, the FCC refused to allow NYNEX to restructure ISDN Bell> subscriber line charges (SLCs) to be more competitive with other Bell> carriers. The SLC is federally mandated and is set annually. The SLC Bell> is used to subsidize local telephone network costs, which helps to keep Bell> basic residential telephone service affordable. The Commission ruled Bell> that separate SLCs should be billed for each ISDN channel; ISDN lines Bell> have up to 24 channels. Bell> Bell Atlantic said ... customers, but the recent FCC ruling will increase Bell> the cost of the service 20 to 30 percent. Bell> Several other carriers are billing SLCs per ISDN line, not channel. Bell> SLC amounts vary by jurisdiction, but are currently as high as $6.00 Bell> per line within Bell Atlantic's region. Bell Atlantic is a world Bell> leader in providing ISDN technology with over 91,400 ISDN lines in Bell> service. All common carriers must now comply with the FCC's rule Bell> interpretation in the NYNEX case unless they obtain a waiver. I find this propaganda piece both strange and outrageous for several reasons. (1) The definition of a telephone line must have been discussed before; after all, delivery of local loops on T-spans predates the MFJ. Surely, you pay the SLC PER CHANNEL on a T-span, no? (2) Since the SLC goes directly to the LEC, the cost to the customer (base subscription plus SLC) should be the same regardless of the amount of the SLC, shouldn't it? If the monthly amount is $10 per line plus $6 SLC, the customer pays $16. If the SLC goes away, the LEC loses the SLC-funded subsidy, so they will have to charge $16 per line per month. The difference is entirely in the bookkeeping of amortization and depreciation allocations. (3) If the SLC is mandated by FCC, I would think that the amount would be standardized across the country. How can it vary with the Bell Atlantic Service Area ? What is going on? Is my point two above completely wrong? Lars Poulsen Internet E-mail: lars@RNS.COM Rockwell Network Systems Phone: +1-805-562-3158 7402 Hollister Avenue Telefax: +1-805-968-8256 Santa Barbara, CA 93105 Internets: designed and built while you wait ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Need Help With Digital Phone Line Date: 1 Mar 1995 20:59:53 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network sharp@osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu wrote: > I need to build a phone system in my apartment. I want to come out of > the handset jack on the phone with a normal telephone, answering machine, > and a fax/modem board. > They tell me their dedicated data lines won't support over 9600 baud. > Would a 14.4 or 28.8 modem work over the voice line? I'm thinking there > may be some limitation to the A/D D/A converter in the telephone, or else > they'd be doing that. > I'm on a university phone system with digital voice and data lines. > Instead of a modem, I have to rent an Ericsson MD110 TAU (terminal > adapter unit) 2520 "modem." I'm sure this was great when they bought it > in '88 but I'm stuck at 9600 baud. It sounds like this is an ISDN phone system. If so, then there could be a way to get another channel of data on the other digital channel, since there are two 64 KPBPS channels per line and one data, or 16 KBPS channel. > Because of the digital voice line, I also must use an (as in 1 and > only 1) Ericsson telephone and the university voice mail system, which > crashes a lot. > The setup is cool in that I have separate data and voice #'s but I can > still control the voice line from my pc. If I could come up with > something that could take advantage of this, that would be great, > although I'd prefer to have a standalone unit independant of my pc. > What's more, I'm in married student housing so I'm due to get updated > some time in the next century. I'm astounded that the university can't make an accommodation for your needs whether they be modem, FAX, or a second analog voice circuit. With standard telephone wiring all over the place, it's just a matter of crossconnecting the pair to some other circuit that goes to a central office instead of to your PBX. If this is a matter of money, that you don't want to pay to have it done, then that is another matter, and you'll just have to deal with that. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ From: tea@mcs.com (Tim Allman) Subject: Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act Date: 1 Mar 1995 09:29:39 -0600 It is not really necessary to pay to avoid a listing. You can use ANY name for your listing -- seperate from your billing name. If you look up Tom Mato in the phone book, you will find me. The side effect of this is that when you get phone calls at dinnertime looking for "Mr. Mato", you can really have some fun. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lots of people list the phone in their (imaginary) roomate's name. Of course, that by itself does not get away from the problem of having your address available when people use a cross-reference directory and find your 'roomate' name. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act Date: Thu, 02 Mar 1995 18:17:22 -0500 From: Atri Indiresan I have a friend who simply had the number listed under another name. So, if the phone rang and the caller asked for Mr. or Mrs. Smith (or whatever it was), she knew right away that it was a telemarketer. Worth a try, I think. A philosophical question: why should a telco charge to keep a number unlisted? It doesn't seem like it would cost them anything (one more field in the customer record), and would save them printing a few pages in the directory. Atri [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In the old days when telco did not charge for directory assistance, they charged for non-pub listings simply because people could not find the number in the book (obviously) and would waste the time of the DA operator trying to find it from her. That was the reason for the 'added cost of a non-pub phone'. Now that everyone pays for DA whether you get anything out of them during the conversation or not, it would seem to be hard to justify charging the subscriber also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: glnfoote@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Glenn Foote) Subject: Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act Date: 2 Mar 1995 15:01:13 -0500 Organization: The Greater Columbus Freenet Ron Higgins (rhiggins@carroll1.cc.edu) wrote: (privacy act to limit info via Caller ID) TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think you will find the various privacy > regulations apply more to the government than they do to private businesses. > Since telco is a privately owned business -- not a government entity -- it > may be hard to apply this as you want. Also there would be a conflict where > your contract with telco (as expressed through its tariffs) is concerned. > I can see what you are trying to accomplish, but I don't think it will work. > Remember also that according to telco tariffs, you have no 'property rights' > in your telephone number. It is not, strictly speaking, yours to 'protect'. > It will be interesting to hear the results of your investigation and efforts > as you proceed further on this, if you do. You should also bear in mind that > you can press *67 all you like, but it will NOT prevent subscribers to 800 > service (or people who subscribe to 500 service who accept your reverse > charge call via a PIN) from getting your number. Likewise, long distance > carriers are entitled to have your name, address and phone number *despite > your non-pub status* for billing purposes when you use their network. PAT] My comments ... Pat, You are right [as usual ;=) ]. Let us assume for a moment, that someone had the time, some of the money, and desire to change the above situation, and create a sutuation where your name, calling (as opposed to billing) phone number, and ABOVE ALL YOUR *actual* (as opposed to your billing) ADDRESS, are not going out over the network, and often to the called party. In the opinion of you, and the other readers of this list, is such a thing 1) possible; and 2) desireable? Thanks, Glenn L Foote ...... glnfoote@freenet.columbus.oh.us [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'd think it would have to be an individual decision on a case by case basis. The closest we come to that scenario now is the ability to block Caller-ID as desired, and in actual practice that ability pretty well preserves your privacy even though it does impose some effort on the part of the caller. PAT] ------------------------------ From: gcw@hh.sbay.org (George Wang) Subject: Re: Cellular "Auto-Registration" Date: 2 Mar 1995 09:44:11 -0800 Organization: Hip-Hop BBS Sunnyvale, California In Carr-C10973@email.mot.com (Eric A. Carr) writes: > In article , rick.edwards@cabin.com (Rick > Edwards) wrote: > (questions regarding registration deleted for clarity) > Registration is a process where the mobile radio ("cellular phone") > registers itself with the system with or without user intervention. > The process essentially identifies the mobile and/or gives an > indication as to it's status within the system to the MTSO. > Registration occurs when a call is originated by the mobile (sending > "access information"), or without user intervention at initial powerup > and periodically while the mobile is within the coverage area and > turned on ("periodic registration" -- some people use the term > "autonomous registration"). Whether the registration is periodic or > not, the mobile sends access information. Amoung other things sent on > the reverse control channel during registration, the mobile sends MIN, > ESN, SCM (Station Class Mark). On a mobile originated call, dialed > digits are also sent. > Periodic registration is optional; a flag is set in the overhead > message on the forward control channel that informs the mobile whether > or not it needs to perform periodic registration. Periodic > registration is further specified as to whether radios in their home > service area (REGH field in the overhead message) or roamers (REGR > field in the overhead message) need to perform periodic registration. > In order to avoid periodic registration attempts by all mobile > subscribers at once, a certain procedure is used to determine when the > mobile should perform the process. Upon powerup, the mobile generates > an initial random number in it's internal registration register which > determines it's initial registration attempt. After the mobile > performs the initial periodic registration, the registration register > in the mobile is incremented by a constant value in the overhead > message ("REGINC" field), sort of like a clock. Included in the > overhead message is the field REGID, to which the mobile compares the > value of it's internal registration register. When the value of the > registration register reaches the value of REGID, periodic > registration occurs. > Typical periodic registration times vary by systems and is determined > by software setting of the REGINC field. I think it's usually around > 20 - 30 minutes. The above description is fairly accurate except that the cellular phone (at least Motorola ones) does not generate a "random" NEXTREG value. In fact, this "next time to register" value is saved in the EEPROM. Also, there is another type of registration which occurs when the SID (System ID) changes which basically occurs when the phone changes cellular systems. The transmitted information is the same. I got this information based on the US analog (TIA-553, NAMPS, etc) call processing specifications. The new IS54B digital TDMA ( and IS54C) standard has a more complex registration mechanism which involves Location Area IDs (LOCAIDs) and power up and power-down registration. IS54C supports registration on the Digital Control Channel as well. George C. Wang Email: gcw@hh.sbay.org Alternate: gwang@mail.ntu.edu Finger for public encryption key. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 21:24:31 -0500 From: jsteele@insyte.com (John Steele) Subject: Re: Some Major and Grim Changes Planned for the 'Net' Pat, I read with interest the referenced item. Unfortunately, like a great deal of proposed legislation, on the face of it sounds inocuous enough. However, we have learned over the years that inocuous sound and intent may not be enough by the time the enforcement guys and the lawyers get finished with it. It is certainly POSSIBLE that the EFF and company are overreacting. But at the same time, we have to recognize that when it snows, those boys in Washington have been known to get a bit out of hand on occasion :-) Although I have no personal conversations with Senators Exon or Gordon to back this up, it is possible that the INTENT of the words "MAKES, TRANSMITS, OR OTHERWISE MAKES AVAILABLE ANY COMMENT,REQUEST, SUGGESTION, PROPOSAL, IMAGE, OR OTHER COMMUNICATION" is meant to apply to the INDIVIDUAL initiating the act, NOT to common carriers, etc. The lack of clarity MAY be a result of poor staff work, not uncommon in Washington. (Note carefully the emphasis on INTENT and MAY.) However, I also know that if this thing were to hit the books, the original INTENT will be long lost and we will be left with the words -- words easily misused by overzealous enforcement, special interest lawyers, etc., to further their own agendas. In this age of international communications, it is patent nonsense to think that short of massive banks of real time censors on all international circuits, or cutting all international communications, that this could be enforced. I suspect that Senator's Exon and Gordon were at lunch when we rediscovered the outside world. At the same time, I share your views on the loss of the sense of shame, personal responsibility, etc. It seems that nothing is too excessive, too disgusting, too degrading for this ENLIGHTENED age of ours. Unfortunately, calling for a greater emphasis on parental responsibility to protect children is truly "whistling in the wind" -- it hasn't seemed to work when it comes to drugs, guns, sex, etc. (How can it when the parents don't seem to have any sense of responsibility to pass on to the kids.) Although the sociologists and psychologists would most likely disagree, an enormous number of the problems of our society would be corrected by some TRUE parenting, the timely parental application of the word "NO", and an occasional pat on the backside (no pun intended.) All of that notwithstanding, I don't think that we can let this thing get enacted and I plan to write to my Senators to register my objection. A final note. Your commentary included a closing statement "but with the United States Congress controlled as it is today..." It should be noted for the record that the bill is named for and sponsored by Senator Exon, DEMOCRAT of Nebraska. This little piece of wackiness might get passed by a Republican controlled congress, but the liberals among us should take note that this little gem originated on the left side of the aisle. John Steele jsteele@insyte.com information systems technology, inc. marcus centre - penthouse 20 +1 305.595.4845 miami, florida 33156-2660 +1 305.595.4983 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, it could be written exactly as they meant it and they might mean it exactly as it is written. The fact is, it would *never* be applied to the large carriers in any event. I mean, try and picture this scenario: Two or three top executives at AT&T standing in court with their attorney, and a stern judge sentencing them all to time in prison for 'transmitting pornography on their network'. This of course would be after the Federal Bureau of Inquisition had raided all AT&T offices and seized all their computers, etc. Sounds very likely, doesn't it ... ... if you wish, substitute Sprint, MCI, Compuserve, or America OnLine in the above. But you say, "My name is John Steele, and I run a small company in south Florida which provides Internet access and Unix facilties to my (pick a figure) number of customers." Oh! Well in that case you must be providing a service for child pornograhers, hackers and assorted other thieves and con artists. You know what your trouble is John? You don't have an attorney who has good friends working for the government; the kind who makes lewd noises when he smacks his lips and sits at the bar drinking with the judge and the prosecutors while cases are settled in conference and outside the courtroom. Therefore, the law *will* apply to you, thank you. The big boys can whine about their 'policies and proceedures' and how the computer will let them do one thing and won't let them do another and everyone will sit agog and in awe taking it all in. That won't work for you, John. You knew or should have known what 'they' were doing. And as you point out, the federal government has a way of stretching and distorting the meaning of all kinds of things. I'm still having real problems with this whole thing for myself. In the many years I have listened to the ACLU and their arguments and the few years I I have listened to the EFF present their views, I've have never once been in agreement. Thousands of ACLU cases; I can tell you what I find wrong with their position in every one of them. Long time readers will recall a source of derision here in this Digest are what I term the Socially Responsible Computerists, based on the group whose name includes those words, as in "I am glad I am not Socially Responsible, nor would I want to be". But anymore, I just don't know ... as Brad Hicks said in an issue of the Digest earlier Thursday, it would nice if the lynch mob could be a little more honest about their intentions. It would also be nice if Exon and Company would rewrite that proposal eliminating any ambiquities or questions. You are also correct that for the most part it is useless to demand that parents require accountability and/or personal responsibility of their children. After all, what would they (the parents) know about it? Now that we are into the third generation after Doctor Benjamin Spock, the old ways have been forgotten by most people, if they ever experienced them at all. They simply raise their children the way they were raised; they don't know any different. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #129 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28575; 3 Mar 95 1:04 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19191; Thu, 2 Mar 95 20:05:15 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA19185; Thu, 2 Mar 95 20:05:13 CST Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 20:05:13 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503030205.AA19185@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #130 TELECOM Digest Thu, 2 Mar 95 20:05:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 130 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Credit Checking on Cellular Customers (Doug Fields) Re: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO (Linc Madison) Re: yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO (Gary Novosielski) Re: What is ESF and D4? (Chip Sharp) Re: What is ESF and D4? (Mike Schomburg) Re: Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? (David S. Taylor) Re: Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? (Travis Russell) Re: Information Wanted on Hotel Telephone Billing (Travis Russell) Re: Does Bridge Affect Modem? (John Dearing) Re: Free Expression and the Information Highway (Kevin J. Shea) Re: 500 Place-A-Call Working (Stan Schwartz) Re: What is a Digital PBX? (Fred R. Goldstein) Re: What is a Digital PBX? (Travis Russell) Re: The Unintentional Date/Chat Line (Steven H. Lichter) Computer Modeling Software for AM Tower/Antenna Studies? (Zuhair Moin) Re: Saying Hello in Other Languages - Summary (Gene Retske) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: admiral@panix.com (Doug Fields) Subject: Re: Credit Checking on Cellular Customers Date: 2 Mar 1995 15:16:17 -0500 Organization: Panix in NYC, Admiral's Account In article Steve Samler writes: > What is the common practice today when someone applies for cellular > service? Credit check via one of the consumer credit agencies or via > D&B if a business is the applicant? Boy do I have stories to tell. My company, Parallel Technologies Corp., a NY State Subchapter S Corporation, tried to get cell service from Cell One/Boston and NYNEX. Heh. The results were so negative it was not even funny. Cell companies generally check for corporate listings on TRW or D&B; at least these two did. My company was not listed with either and was categorically denied credit (service) without a $400 security deposit. I told them I had both an AmEx and a MC in the company's name, a big company bank account, etc., etc., etc., but they did not care. I eventually talked to TRW: They said there's no way a company of my size would ever be listed in their computers. And they were unwilling to list me. But they were happy to send me and/or any possible creditors a sheet saying that I wouldn't be listed with them. End of story. Then I talked to D&B. They took some information and assigned me a DUNS number. Now I'm listed with D&B. However, they will not have any financial information on my company until a client requests the research be done (for some add'l fee). I eventually got fed up with it and asked a friend with a big company and a 4A1 rating with D&B if I could get service with a name of "Big Company, c/o Parallel Technologies Corp." That worked. Cell companies are really paranoid when it comes to small businesses with phones. My advice: get it with your personal credit and have your company reimburse you. Hope this helps. Doug Fields, http://www.interpage.net PGP key: "finger admiral@panix.com" ------------------------------ From: lincmad@netcom.com (Linc Madison) Subject: Re: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 21:24:50 GMT Ben Carter (bpc@netcom.com) wrote: > This reasoning assumes that caller ID is not available (as, for > example, in California) or that the telco records make it possible to > identify a caller when caller ID fails to do so. Also, I assume > everyone agrees that the privacy of the caller should not be a > consideration if a residential customer claims to be receiving > obnoxious calls. The privacy of the callee is certainly more > important than that of the caller in this case, and arguably so in all > cases. "Arguably" is a good word, because your assumed agreement does not exist. Making an anonymous telephone call is perfectly legal; it is only if the call is HARASSING or THREATENING that it is illegal, whether or not it is anonymous. Further, my right as a caller to expect privacy does not disappear simply because the person I called CLAIMS that my call was obnoxious, or even harassing or threatening. Releasing the number of the caller to the callee is not in any way necessary to deterring illegal nuisance calls. Another point to consider is your specification of "a RESIDENTIAL customer." The existence of such a right should not be contingent on class of service. Whatever rights I do or don't have for protection from nuisance calls should be the same on my phone at work as for my phone at home. Linc Madison * Oakland, California * LincMad@Netcom.com ------------------------------ From: gary.novosielski@sbaonline.gov Organization: Small Business Administration Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 02:53:19 -0400 Subject: Re: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO. Reply-to: gnovosielski@mcimail.com In Vol. 15, #120, Ben Carter wrote: > Also, I assume everyone agrees that the privacy of the caller should > not be a consideration if a residential customer claims to be > receiving obnoxious calls. The privacy of the callee is certainly more > important than that of the caller in this case, and arguably so in all > cases. Carter assumes too much. I, for one, would not be willing to toss the privacy rights of the caller on the trash heap merely on the strength of a "claim" by any given residential customer that they found the call "obnoxious." There has been ample discussion of all the reasons against Caller-ID, or at least in favor of blocking options. Many of these reasons are very "good" ones, and in some cases arguably protect the very lives of the callers involved. I won't rehash them all here. Now I ask myself if, potentially, for each person with one of those "good" reasons for protecting their privacy, there might not be someone else with a residential phone line whose ethics are so unbelievably twisted that they might actually stoop to "claiming" that at such-and-such a date and time they received an "obnoxious" call, and would Telco please supply them with the number. Anybody with any motive can claim anything; I'd want them to be able to prove it. Given the choice, I'd rather not have my privacy violated by anything short of a court order, thank you very much. And just so there's no confusion about how good a reason has to be before it's "good enough" in this context, I think the list of "good" reasons for privacy should should start with: 1. "Because I Feel Like It." GaryN GPN Consulting ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 09:16:47 EST From: hhs@teleoscom.com (Chip Sharp) Subject: Re: What is ESF and D4? If you are planning to run HDLC data over the full bandwidth of the T1 line (even in individual DS0s), then I would recommend an ESF line, since HDLC Flags, when used as idle code, can simulate Yellow Alarm on a D4 line. There are ways around it, but it must be taken into account. Hascall H. ("Chip") Sharp Teleos Communications, Inc. Sr. Systems Engineer 2 Meridian Road voice: +1 908 544 6424 Eatontown, NJ 07724 USA fax: +1 908 544 9890 email: hhs@teleoscom.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 12:06:22 CST From: Mike Schomburg Subject: Re: What is ESF and D4? In Telecom Digest V15 #119, davethez@netcom.com (dave) writes: > When ordering a T1 line for data, the local fiber company wants to > know whether I'd like "ESF" or "D4". Could someone please explain > what these terms mean? You may already be aware that a T-1 circuit is a bi-directional serial connection, sending and receiving at 1.544 Mbps (million bits per second). Each second, 8000 data frames are exchanged (in both directions, send and receive). Each frame consists of 193 bits: 24 eight bit channels plus a framing bit. ESF and D4 refer to the "framing format" used on any particular T-1. When a T-1 starts up, or "frames", it picks a bit going past and assumes it is the framing bit. Every 193rd bit after is examined and compared to an expected pattern. As soon as the pattern is violated, the next bit in sequence is chosen as the framing bit and the comparison begins again. This process is continued until the actual framing bit is found and the line established, or too many errors are encountered and the line fails to start. Once framing is established, it becomes possible to locate the 24 data (or voice) channels and exchange information. D4 is probably still the most common framing format (lets not start that again), but ESF is coming up fast. D4 simply allows the terminal gear to locate the payload channels, plus a very crude ability to signal the far end that problems have interrupted the line (when appropriate). ESF (Extended Super Frame) also "frames" the data, but additionally includes tha ability to send operational messages end-to-end, and provide a level of line quality reporting. This is done by organizing groups of 12 frames into "super" frames. With processing power, the line can stay framed while half of the framing bits are borrowed to form a message channel. A CRC scheme is used to calculate line quality, detecting about 93% of error conditions. There are at least two common flavors of ESF, a proprietary AT&T scheme and an ANSI scheme, T1.403 I believe. Be sure you know which one your terminal gear supports. If you are running data, you may also want to check on the "line coding" format, AMI (Alternate Mark Inversion) or B8ZS (binary 8 zero superssion). In the past, all T spans were AMI, which limited the ability to send strings of zeros. All "ones" were sent as alternating polarity pulses (to keep the DC component low) on the line, and "zeros" were sent as the absence of pulses. Obviously, too many zeros and the line would quickly lose synch. B8ZS is a scheme to avoid the line dropping while sending unlimited zeros. For reasons that I have not gone into, if you want to be able to use the full 64kbps capacity of each channel (instead of just 56kbps) then you want B8ZS. Hope this helps. Mike D. Schomburg Network Manager, Continental Cablevision 708 834 4239 Chicago region schombur@continental.com "linux - the choice of a GNU generation" ------------------------------ From: david.taylor@ntc.nokia.com (David S. Taylor) Subject: Re: Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? Date: 2 Mar 1995 14:47:15 GMT Organization: Nokia Telecommunications, Inc. In article , murrays@clipper.robadome.com (Scott Murray) says: > I was wondering if anyone had any info on SMR -- Specialized Mobile > Radio. I have been approached by a company in Florida to buy an SMR > channel. The channel is in the 851-866Mhz range and is used by > companies to provided cellular like service at a cheaper rate. The > channels are supposedly given out by the government on a first come > first serve basis, but this company wants to charge by $3500 to file > all the paper work and guarantees me a channel or my money back. In my opinion: Chances are 99+% that this is a scam. There have been several companies that have been busted for this type of activity. Some of the "offices" were nothing more than boiler room operations. I've even seen a story on one of the news magazines. I used to live in Southern California, and they busted a couple of operations out there. For some reason, lots of phone scam folks set up show in southern CA, probably in hopes they will sound successful and legit. As far as the filing fee, I think the FCC charges a couple of hundred dollars. The first come, first serve basis might also be in question. I know the FCC has had a freeze on some SMR applications. Don't know if it was all, or just a subset. From a technical point of view, one channel does not make an SMR system. They must have a site in mind for the license. If you are still intersted in checking into this, ask them to send you a copy of the application form, showing the site coordinates and antenna elevation. Ask them about the channel loading plans and if they plan on filing for slow growth vs. normal. This has to do with how long they have to load up their channels with users. I think you have to reach around 75% loading in under five years, but I can't remember the exact details. My guess is they won't be able to answer your questions. Their money back guarantee is only good if you can find them. > Supposedly once you have a channel you can rent it out or sell it to > the regionaly operators and they are very anxious to get these extra > channels. The have been able to convert these old style radio > dispatch towers into digital towers that provided phone, paging and > fax service at a fraction of the cellular cost and the towers cover a > larger range. Think about it, wouldn't it just be easier for these carriers to apply for the channels themselves. Why would they want to pay a premium to you, if they could just fill out the same paperwork. > My questions are these: > Is this really a good investment? Are these channels really in demand > by companies like Nextel, CenCall, DialPage etc.? Is it worth going > through this company or are there cheaper ways to get a channel? Nextel is a big player in the market. I bought some of their stock while I was at my last job. Then my new job sent me overseas for a few months and the Nextel stock dropped by about 70%. Guess I hold it for a while. From what I understand, Motorola is having some delays with their MIRS technology. I've seen a demo at my last job and it looks like it has potential, especially for wide are dispatch operations. I won't comment on the phone call quality becuase I'm now biased, since I'm in the PCS business. David S. Taylor Tel. +1 817 491-5832 Engineering Services Fax +1 817 491-5888 Nokia Telelcommunications, Inc. david.taylor@ntc.nokia.com ------------------------------ From: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) Subject: Re: Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 21:22:00 +0000 Organization: Travis Russell Reply-To: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) In article , murrays@clipper.robadome.com (Scott Murray) writes: > I was wondering if anyone had any info on SMR -- Specialized Mobile > Radio. I have been approached by a company in Florida to buy an > SMR channel. The channel is in the 851-866Mhz range and is used > by companies to provided cellular like service at a cheaper rate. > The channels are supposedly given out by the government on a first > come first serve basis, but this company wants to charge by $3500 to > file all the paper work and guarantees me a channel or my money back. Sounds a little like a scam to me. I have been approached by a number of companies wanting me to buy into wireless cable as well, for a paltry sum of $10,000. > Supposedly once you have a channel you can rent it out or sell it to > the regionaly operators and they are very anxious to get these > extra channels. The have been able to convert these old style > radio dispatch towers into digital towers that provided phone, paging > and fax service at a fraction of the cellular cost and the towers cover > a larger range. I don't know that there are any companies looking to buy "second hand" SMR channels these days. I am probably wrong here, but from what I have seen in the market, Nextel has all the channels it needs for now, and if they are looking for more, they will go to the FCC to get them. > My questions are these: > Is this really a good investment? Are these channels really in demand > by companies like Nextel, CenCall, DialPage etc.? Is it worth > going through this company or are there cheaper ways to get a channel? Before I would spend any money, I would call some of these companies and ask them myself! If this is a great bargain, and these companies are really demanding these channels, how come this company selling them to you doesn't go after Nextel, CenCell or Dialpage themselves? I would think they could get a lot more money from selling it directly to these companies. I may be offbase here, so someone jump in and correct me if I am wrong. I think you are getting ripped off. Travis Russell russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net Author of "Signaling System #7," McGraw-Hill ------------------------------ From: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) Subject: Re: Information Wanted on Hotel Telephone Billing Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 21:30:52 +0000 Organization: Travis Russell Reply-To: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) In article , cacclin@vanbc.wimsey.com (Stephen Cacclin) writes: > My question is: What is the best method to calculate the telephone > charge? Whatever rate you want! Usually, there is a table that is built that has default rates. These are not exact (since the rates change faster than my underwear) but they do not need to be close. The intent is to get close to the rate as possible. A markup is then set for each type of call (like 800, local, etc). I used to markup hotel calls as much as 200% (depending on the hotel). If the hotel is a five star hotel, they can get away with big markups. If it is a Holiday Inn, then they have to set their sites lower. > I guess I am looking for some sort of standardized rate table for > North American long-distance. Does such a thing exist, and if so, is > it available on the net? Someone please say yes, as I am not up > to entering these rates by hand ... > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Just charge as much as you think you > can get away with; that's what the other hotels do. PAT] I used to tell my customers they could pay for their call accounting equipment within the first year of operation! Hows that for profits! Travis Russell russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net Author of "Signaling System #7," McGraw-Hill ------------------------------ From: jdearing@netaxs.com (John Dearing) Subject: Re: Does Bridge Affect Modem? Date: 2 Mar 1995 04:14:42 GMT Organization: Netaxs Internet BBS and Shell Accounts Ted Shapin (tshapin@kaiwan.com) wrote: > I have two copper pairs coming to my residence and need a third line. > If it is bridged between the two pairs, what effect will it have on my > use of a v.32bis modem on one of the copper pairs? Something doesn't seem right here. You need a copper pair for *each* telephone line that's delivered. You can't "bridge" a line across the two other existing pairs. What *could* be done is that a device called a SLC-1 might be installed. It allows two lines to operate over a single pair. The device has two "ports". One is called the "physical" and the other is called the "theoretical" or "derived" port. I would recommend that you try having the modem on the physical side. The derived side (since it is a "carrier" type operation) doesn't always work really well with modems. Telco's usually hate to install these beasts. They have batteries that need to be replaced every so often, even though they recharge when the physical line is idle. I've only seen them installed twice. Once was a situation where there were *NO* pairs left in a cable. The only way to get a customer back in service was to put up a SLC-1 out at the terminal and hook the two loops into it. It was a temporary measure until a work order could be issued to rehab the cable run. The other time was for an Arbitron line in a house out in the 'burbs that only had a single pair buried loop feeding it. The line was a temporary line for about three to six months after which it would be disconnected. The decision was made to SLC-1 the Arbitron line rather than have to run a new buried loop through the woods to the house (that was partially set *into* a hill). John Dearing jdearing@netaxs.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 22:53:15 -0500 From: KJSHEA@aol.com Subject: Re: Free Expression and the Information Superhighway Some excellent points were brought out in defense of free expression on the "Information Superhighway", as it is being referred to. Unfortunately, this is another vehicle that enables the "bad" few to access and create problems. As it stands now, free expression here has created wonderful outcomes and innovative ideas, from a business perspective. Once regulations begin ... they don't seem to stop. The "think about it before you say it" will apply, subsequently, limiting those "edge of the cliff" ideas and discussions which we on the "I-S-H" enjoy. Restrictions, like in the past, will affect all who participate in this. The telecom industry, as a whole, needs to address this issue or accept the realization that the fear of regulation, censorship or moderation will affect the growth of the entire industry. We all know what regulation can do, let's keep on our toes when dealing with this issue. Very Concerned, Kevin J. Shea, Director Telecom Research Services kjshea@interactive.net or KJSHEA@aol.com ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: 500 Place-A-Call Working Date: 2 Mar 1995 23:53:11 GMT Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Since you mentioned 'Navigator', that is > one part of 500 service many users are not familiar with. Would you > please send in a short explanation of it? PAT] Why sure ... (Quoting from the True Connections book) "With Call Sequencing, your calls will find you just about anywhere. Now, each call can ring in your office, then in your car, then at your home -- or virtually any other place you choose, up to three destinations, as long as the location can be dialed directly, in the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and over 200 countries internationally. The destinations you select are referred to as your Reach List. Right now, your Reach List contains your billing telephone number, or, if applicable, your cellular phone number." ---------------- It's programmable rollover, up to three phone numbers plus one designated as the "Final Stop" (usually you would have an answering machine or voice mail at the Final Stop). You can control how many rings each destination will receive before switching to the next number in the list, and you can change the list as often as you want. You can also temporarily override the list without purging it (for vacations, etc.). Eventually, the reach list will be time-sensitive (programmable) so that you can get calls in your office during the day only, or at home only at night. I'm STILL lost on the CIID/891 cards, though! Stan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I feel like an idiot. The above is *exactly* what I have on my 500 service, but I did not recognize the name 'Navigator' for that part of the package. I guess I should go back and read my copy of the 500 User Manual also. PAT] ------------------------------ From: fgoldstein@bbn.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Subject: Re: What is a Digital PBX? Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 23:56:21 GMT Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. In article noah@rain.org (Matt Noah) writes: > What is the definition of a "digital" PBX? A "digital PBX" is one whose internal switching matrix is digital. That is, the analog line interfaces, if they exist, have codecs which convert the signal to digital form for switching purposes. Digital PBXs came out in the 1970s; it was several years before they had digital line interfaces. Today, virtually all PBXs (save some tiny ones) are digital, using standardized 64000 bps voice channels. ------------------------------ From: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) Subject: Re: What is a Digital PBX? Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 21:38:02 GMT Organization: Travis Russell Reply-To: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) In article , noah@rain.org (Matt Noah) writes: > What is the definition of a "digital" PBX? > Assuming an analog PBX is one in which the trunk lines are strictly > analog, e.g. E&M, Ground Start, is a "digital" PBX one in which the > trunk lines all carry PCM voice with digital signalling? If so, what > type of digital signalling? Is it T1? Is it ISDN? Is it something > other than T1 or ISDN? Is it combinations of various digital standards? Yes! All of the above. A digital PBX provides digital phones (usually over one or two pair wire) with lots of features only possible through digital phones. In addition, they are usually capable of interfacing directly to any T-1, ISDN or other facility. They also support analog trunks. Some can even switch data with the voice (after all, everything is digital). I used to work on a system that actually converted the voice to digital inside the telephone, and packetized the voice. There was a second part in the packet reserved for data transmission. Pretty slick system, and had lots of neat features. Travis Russell russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net Author of "Signaling System #7," McGraw-Hill ------------------------------ From: co057@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Steven H. Lichter) Subject: Re: The Unintentional Date/Chat Line Date: 2 Mar 1995 08:16:46 GMT Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA) Some time ago they also used the loop around numbers to talk back and forth. I don't know what we did, but I know we modified the circuits to prevent it. It was a long time ago, my mind is going because of deregulation. Sysop: Apple Elite II -=- an Ogg-Net Hub BBS Home of GBBS/LLUCE support (909) 359-5338 12/24/14.4 V32/V42bis [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I've heard complaints that the phone system in the USA had gone to hell because of deregulation ... this is the first time I've heard anyone say his mind went the same way for the same reasons. Or is that not what you meant? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 2 Mar 95 17:12:34 PST From: moinz@la.AirTouch.COM (Zuhair Moin) Subject: Computer Modeling Software For AM Tower/Antenna Studies Is there modeling software that can be used to construct an antenna system for AM tower studies for Cellular deployment effects? The one that I have heard about is called MININEC, originally developed for the Naval Ocean Systems Command, and is in the public domain. How can I get this software? Thanks, Zuhair Moin ------------------------------ From: Gene Retske Subject: Re: Saying Hello in Other Languages - Summary Date: 3 Mar 1995 01:03:17 GMT Organization: Tachyon Communications Corporation PAT - You forgot the New York "Talk to me!" Gene Retske [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I thought the New York answer phrase was "It's your nickle!" (As in, you paid for the call, go ahead and speak.) PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #130 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa11714; 3 Mar 95 20:22 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA09600; Fri, 3 Mar 95 14:45:07 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA09594; Fri, 3 Mar 95 14:45:05 CST Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 14:45:05 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503032045.AA09594@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #131 TELECOM Digest Fri, 3 Mar 95 14:45:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 131 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: E(TACS) and GSM (Sam Spens Clason) Re: Pair Gain Line Problem (William Bigelis) Re: ATM UNI 3.0 & 3.1 (Howard M. Weiner) Re: The Philosophy of CallerID (Hugh Pritchard) Smoking is Very Glamorous (Robert S. Helfman) Re: Pizza Hunt Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations (Eric Canale) Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery (Greg Abbott) Re: V.35 Interface (Edward Keating) Re: Sprint Fiber Cut; Any Information Available? (Kevin T. Smith) Re: What is ESF and D4? (William Wood) Re: Requesting Information About SDH (John DeHoog) Re: Help Needed With Modems for Telephony API (Joe Sulmar) Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received (Kenneth Rentz) Re: Wanted: Cellular Channel Measurements (Dr. R. Levine) Re: Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? (Dr. R. Levine) Re: Palm Size Message Recorder on a Chip (Kevin Stiles) Arcade Advice Needed (Van R. Hutchinson) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: d92-sam@black29.nada.kth.se (Sam Spens Clason) Subject: Re: E(TACS) and GSM Date: 2 Mar 1995 20:49:11 GMT In shirleyg@stanilite.com.au writes: > Alexander Cerna writes: >> Can someone explain to me what E(TACS) and GSM are in detail? > I'm sure lots of people can! Someone will correct the bits I get wrong. > ETACS is Extended Total Access Communication System or something > similar. TACS is the UK version of the U.S. analog cellular standard > AMPS. Major differences are in the frequency range (only slightly > different) with some minor ones in data on control channels etc. The > extended bit is because the TACS standard has a section for extended > frequencies with a lot more than the 1000 or so in AMPS. We don't have (E)TACS in Scandinavia, but I think that the ETACS system operates in the same 900MHz band as GSM (and NMT). I think I read somewhere that in the UK ETACS would have to close down by 1999 so that all frequencies in the GSM standard can be used for GSM only. > GSM is a French standard which is (roughly) translated as Group > Special Mobile or something similar. Someone else will know exactly. It started out as a European standard but has evolved into a world standard. Groupe Spiciale Mobile was the name of the first task force, GSM later came to mean Global Standard for Mobile Telephone (or something). CCITT is also a French name (commiti consultatif internationale ... (please mind my spelling)) but not a *French* organisation :-) > GSM is digital whereas TACS is analog. This means your calls are more > secure but the coverage will possibly be not as extensive as it is a > newer technology (thats the way with GSM and AMPS in Australia anyway). AMPS is on 800MHz, thus those radiowaves "travel farther". ETACS, NMT and GSM are the same however and should behave about the same. Older tech typically has better coverage since it's been around for a while. >> are around five cellular phone service providers in our country, and >> most of them use E(TACS). One uses GSM, and says that this is the >> latest technology in cellular telephony. They say that it would make >> international roaming possible (although they say that it isn't >> possible right now). In levine@seas.smu.edu (Dr. R. Levine) writes: > E(TACS) is a cellular system using analog FM radio for voice > transmission. GSM is a cellular system using digitally coded speech. > GSM is in use in about 7 European countries and will eventually > operate in over 14, thus making roaming theoretically feasible > technically (but in practical terms dependent on the existance of > business agreements between your home GSM system and the GSM system > operating company which you visit). GSM is up and running in *all* western european countries except for Spain. Other European countries are Hungary and Russia. Some none- European countries running or opening shortly are: Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zeeland, South, Africa, Namibia, Egypt, Marocco, United Arab Emirates, Argentine, Kamerun, China, India, Pakistan, Fidji. I probably forgot about half of them, but my point is that there are more than seven ... You can roam within Europe, at least one network per country and the "older" nets in Asia, such as Australasia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore. Sam Sam Spens Clason ------------------------------ From: wbigeli@Gateway.Uswnvg.COM (William Bigelis) Subject: Re: Pair Gain Line Problem Date: 2 Mar 1995 15:47:47 GMT Organization: U S WEST NewVector Group, Inc. Testmark Laboratories (0006718446@mcimail.com) wrote: > Modern carrier systems are also a threat to modems, such as the AT&T > SLC96. (pronounced slick 96) If the telco is trying to maximize the > number of customers serviced, the SLC96 has a feature called "channel > compression" which halves the available digital bandwidth allocated > for a single subscriber's line. This lowers the voice quality only > slightly, but it plays havoc with modems, even 1200bps speeds. No, it's not called channel compression, and isn't anything of the sort. SLC96 has a mode (MODE II) where 48 customer channels are served by 1 T1 (24 channels) which are switched via a time slot interchanger. if more than 24 of the 48 customers try to go off hook, (ie the 25th) they are denied dial tone. Other SLC systems (DMS-1 Urban, RTEC DISC*S) use similar approaches. Bill Bigelis (206) 450-8418 Network Engineer U S West NewVector ------------------------------ From: hmweine@PacBell.COM (Howard M. Weiner) Subject: Re: ATM UNI 3.0 & 3.1 Date: Thu, 02 Mar 1995 10:05:22 -0800 Organization: Pacific Bell Strategic Systems Architecture In article , Lionel JAQUET wrote: > I'm searching for the ATM UNI 3.0 & 3.1 papers. I'm interested for > LAN Emulation, ATM Virtual Routing and Q.2931, too. Does anybody know > where on the net I can read and copy this information? If you are referring to the ATM Forum specs, I believe that these are restricted to ATM Forum member companies. I know at least that some of the specs are. Howard M. Weiner hmweine@pacbell.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 03 Mar 95 01:15:00 EST From: Hugh Pritchard <0006348214@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: The Philosophy of CallerID I got Caller ID + Name service from Bell Atlantic (DC metro area) for $7.50/month, and a Radio Shack Caller ID + Name box (sorry, I forget the model number) for $70. Works fine, except for all the "Out Of Area" on long-distance calls. Only thing slightly wrong is when I call home (301-345, College Park, MD) from my cell-phone (301-648), the landline switch doesn't send its caller ID. Called CellOne/DC to see why; they said "Cell phones don't transmit Caller ID." Couldn't make them understand my question. Called 800-MY-ANI-IS from my cell phone: The landline switch is in 410 (northeast Maryland and Eastern Shore), not 301! Called 800-MY-ANI-IS from my cell phone while at work near the Pentagon in Virginia (703): Landline switch for cellphones in that area is 301-441, a prefix which is in use near my own house, not a 703 exchange (or even a 202, DC, exchange)! By the way, CellOne/DC's headquarters is only a few miles from my house, in Greenbelt, MD. Maybe things would be better if Bell Atlantic passed Caller ID received from IXCs. ------------------------------ From: helfman@aero.org (Robert S. Helfman) Subject: Smoking is Very Glamorous Date: Fri, 03 Mar 1995 06:59:26 -0800 Organization: The Aerospace Corporation In V15 #107 Pat comments: > Regards smoking, my rationale is if I were to quit today, and then twenty > years from now die from lung cancer anyway, I'd be mad as hell about it > and feel that I got cheated; better not take any chances. :) I started > smoking when I was 13 years old because a one of my teachers in school > smoked. I'd see that package of cigarettes in his shirt pocket and watch > him smoking -- not in school of course, but when we went on field trips > or when I went to his home to see him (I was always a teacher's pet, all > through elementary and high school) -- and it occurred to me it must be > the thing to do. After all, Arthur Erickson was very sophisticated and > intelligent, and I wanted to be sophisticated and intelligent also. He > taught the current events class (in those days many high schools named > the course 'Modern Problems'), was the Debate Team Coach, played the > piano and organ marvelously, had some great, and sometimes very unkind > remarks about President Eisenhower, and subscriptions to {Atlantic > Monthly}, {Harper's Magazine} and the {Christian Science Monitor}. He > smoked a pack or more daily, and it didn't seem to hurt him any... PAT, Erickson sounds like he was quite a character. But I'm curious what he died of (and was it smoking-related?). > forty years later I do it out of habit. I can't imagine *not* being > addicted. Unlike some smokers, or the tobacco companies, I don't make > any pretense of it being a 'choice', yet on the other hand, I don't > really want to quit. PAT] You're the last honest man. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It was through him that I met the author Ayn Rand. In 1957 she was on a tour promoting her (then) new book Atlas Shrugged. Since Erickson was in charge of all the special assembly programs at school, he invited her to be a speaker at one of the assemblies when she was in the Chicago area. I still have a hard- cover personally autographed copy of Atlas ... even promoting her book she did not come cheap; it used up quite a bit of the budget the school gave him for assembly programs. After school that day, he had agreed to drive her to Ohare Airport where she was getting a flight to go to the next stop on her itinerary, and he let me ride along. We stopped for dinner on the way and chatted while waiting for dinner to arrive. It so happens either that day or the day before -- I can't remember -- a very lengthy book review of Atlas Shrugged appeared in the {Christian Science Monitor}; a much longer book review than they usually did in those days, about three full page columns. She had not seen it so I gave her a copy which interested her quite a bit. She sat there for ten minutes or so reading it with that long cigarette holder in her fingers which was her trademark. She'd puff on that occassionally, and sip her martini as she read what the {Monitor} had to say. She had a habit of staring intently at people, and after she finished reading and was back to staring at me, finally she spoke up and said, "Such an intelligent young man! Too smart to believe in Gott! Why do you believe in Gott?" I guess I was startled and did not have any answer for that. Erickson in the meantime put a newspaper in front of his face and pretended to read it so he could hide behind it and laugh without her seeing him. I was 14 at the time; when I reached in my pocket brazenly and pulled out a cigarette (they were 23 cents per package at Walgreen's Drug Store) both of them nodded approvingly and Ms. Rand immediatly produced a lighter to light mine and the one Erickson produced, then she lighted her own. I stayed in touch with him for several years after I got out of high school, stopping in occassionally at his place to say hello. The visits got fewer and further apart, and about ten years ago there was a period of six months or so I had not seen or spoken to him. I tried calling his home number and it was disconnected. I called the school, and talked to Bill Mueller, who was literally the last of the teachers still around from when I had been there -- over the years the whole crew had retired or otherwise left. In fact he was on his final year of teaching, due to retire himself after thirty plus years of teaching at the end of that school year. He published a newsletter every three months or so which went to all the teachers who had retired in the twenty years or so after I graduated. I asked him how was Erickson doing and could I speak to him on the phone for a couple minutes. Erickson was not there. It seems about four months earlier he had not shown up for school one day. The school day started and the kids in his first class were standing around in the hall because his classroom door was locked. He hadn't shown up about a half hour after that and Bill Mueller said, "We tried calling him at home on the phone and did not get any answer so a couple of us went over to his house; he lived about two blocks away from school. When he did not answer the door we went in with the spare key he left at school and we found him dead. It was the result of a kidney infection he had had for several months which simply would not go away, despite his medication." PAT] ------------------------------ From: ansehl@MO.NET (Eric Canale) Subject: Re: Pizza Hunt Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations Date: 3 Mar 1995 18:07:23 GMT Organization: -=MO.NET=- P-Net, Inc's Missouri Operations Dave Sellers (sellers@on.bell.ca) wrote: > "No other food service company in Canada offers this level of > convenience for its customers," says Corbett. "Our goal now is to make > 310-1010 available across the country so no matter what city our > customers are in, they dial the same number for a Pizza Hut pizza." It's been a while since I lived in Canada, but Toronto based Pizza Pizza has had the single (416) 967-1111 delivery number for all its locations since the early 80s. I really don't see how Pizza Hut's system is any different, other than the fact it's 10 years late. Eric Canale 5756 West Park Ave (314) 781-1011 (v) TCA, Inc. St. Louis MO 63110 (314) 781-5233 fax Voice and Data Communications ecanale@tca.mo.net (314) 861-1361 vmb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 12:45:00 -0600 (CST) From: Greg Abbott Reply-To: gabbott@uiuc.edu Subject: Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery larson@net.com (Alan Larson) wrote: > In article david.chessler@neteast.com wrote: >> With a cellular battery of peculiar voltage and conformation, just >> build a small battery-drainer on a scrap of pegboard, using a >> flashlight bulb of appropriate size. > Doing this is a good way for the first cell to hit zero to be pushed > negative as the other cells continue to discharge. This is about the > worst thing you can do to te cell, and will ensure its shorter life. > The phone knows how low to take the battery. Trust it. > If you don't want to do that, use the intellicharger and don't leave > it on trickle. Not overcharging the battery will be the best move > towards keeping the battery away from voltage depression, and get good > service. I couldn't agree more, Alan! There is a reason that the manufacturers put features like this on electronic devices. It's not because they want the device to "die" mid-conversation, it's because they have spent lots of $ figuring out the best way to extend battery life. Stick with the manufacturers recommendation. If you need to talk longer, get a spare battery pack. On most flip-phones you can change the battery during a conversation. You have to be quick, but it is a feature of the phones. Another less convenient option is to buy or build a 12v battery back (I built a 4A pack for about $25 in a pretty nice case with a carry strap). Buy the cigarette lighter plug accessory for the flip phone and then plug it into your battery pack. This will give you a couple of days of standby and several hours of talk-time. I use mine if I know I'm going to be away from the charger for awhile (like at a transmitter site for an extended outage or allignment session). I built another one of these for my brother. He takes it out on his boat on weekends and talks quite a bit with no problems at all. Just a couple suggestions. Take care. GREG ABBOTT INTERNET: GABBOTT@UIUC.EDU 9-1-1 COORDINATOR COMPUSERVE: 76046,3107 VOICE: 217/333-4348 METCAD FAX: 217/384-7003 1905 E. MAIN ST. PAGER: 800/222-6651 URBANA, IL 61801 PIN # 9541 ------------------------------ From: keating@cig.mot.com (Edward Keating) Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 13:02:34 -0600 Subject: Re: V.35 Interface If you want to find out more about the V.35 interface history, you will need to find the Bell DataSet manual (DSU) circa 1973 where it describes a V.35 line driver schematic, (you won't find a chip that does TRUE v.35, you'll need several chips) and defines the cable length to be a maximum of 100ft. ------------------------------ From: ksmith@telesource.com (K. Smith) Subject: Re: Sprint Fiber Cut; Any Information Available? Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 00:46:18 GMT Organization: scruz-net > We were affected by a nasty fiber cut Sprint had in Texas way about > two weeks ago. (Over four hours!) Does anyone have any kind of > information or know where I can get it? Our account team is not being > very forthcoming. "Fiber cut" is the standard excuse these days, even if the problem is in switching hardware or software. I have not heard of any such "cut", and I doubt your account team will be able to give you anymore information than they have to date. What you need to think about is the implementation of a disaster recovery plan, so that when it happens again -- whether it's AT&T, SPRINT, or any other carrier- you can easily route your traffic to another network. Kevin T. Smith ksmith@telesource.com TeleSource U.S.A. Silicon Valley, California ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 10:45:23 -0800 From: wewood@ix.netcom.com (William Wood) Subject: What is ESF and D4? Dave Z davethez@netcom.com writes: > When ordering a T1 line for data, the local fiber company wants to > know whether I'd like "ESF" or "D4". Could someone please explain > what these terms mean? Dave, lots of folks will try to explain this to you, and most won't know they don't have a clue what they're talking about. To fully understand the differences between ESF and SF (D4) is a long explanation. Ive tried to put some of it into several of my postings with limited success. My suggestion to you is to order a book called The Guide to T-1 Networking. It is available from the Telecom Library Inc, 12 West 21 Street, New York, NY 10010. Call 212-691-8215 or FAX 212-691-1191. It is a paper back 8.5 x 11 size, 269 pages, ISBN 0-936648-26-0. It is well written, covers what you want to know, and requires no propeller on your beanie to understand. I have ordered many books from the Telecom Library folks over the years (you can also get Harry Newton's dictionary from them -- everyone should have this book) and they respond very quickly. After reading it, if you're still confused, you might want to check out our two day on-site only seminar Learning to Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk of Telecommunications. Much of what most people need to know about this industry can be easily understood if a person has the fundamental concepts correct and in logical order. Most do not. It is the single overriding factor I have seen in thousands of people I have addressed in my introductory seminars. Dazed and Confused is not just a movie title, it seems to describe many of the workers in our industry too. WE Wood Technotranslater Techtrans Animatics Group Techish to English Translations ------------------------------ From: dehoog@st.rim.or.jp (John DeHoog) Subject: Re: Requesting Information About SDH Date: Fri, 03 Mar 1995 19:11:13 +0900 Organization: TransNet International K.K. In article , wgan@netcom.com (willy gan) wrote: > I'd often seen the words SDH or SDH compatible equipment > advertised in data communication magazines. Can anyone explain > or give me examples of what SDH stands for? SDH stands for Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, for starters. I'm not sure that tells us much, and it's not even necessarily an apt term; but what I do know is that it's an optical signal interface standard used in optical fiber networks, to transport digital voice, data, and video signals over long distances. Here in Japan, some major telecom makers have developed SDH equipment based on the CTRON specifications. John De Hoog, Tokyo, Japan ------------------------------ From: jsulmar@shore.net (Joe Sulmar) Subject: Re: Help Needed With Modems for Telephony API Date: 03 Mar 1995 13:44:02 GMT Organization: Telecommunications Consultant In article , jmokeefe@nachos.engr.ucdavis. edu (John Michael Okeefe) says: > I'm looking for a voice/data/fax modem that supports Microsoft's > telephony API (TAPI). If you know of a modem that supports TAPI or > voice/data communication could you please E-Mail me with the name of > the modem and the manufacturers phone number? You should take a look at the following: IBM Windsurfer board 800-426-2255 Best Data ACE board 818-773-9600 Boca Research fax modem 407-997-6227 Spectrum Envoy Card 604-421-5422 Sierra WaveFax IPC VCOS board Good luck, Joseph J. Sulmar (jsulmar@shore.net) Computer-Telephony Consultant Lexington, MA ------------------------------ From: rentzk@ix.netcom.com (Kenneth Rentz) Subject: Re: Peculiar Callbacks Received Date: 03 Mar 1995 02:59:58 GMT Organization: Netcom In Jeff Regan writes: .. examples of causes of callbacks deleted... > rapidly. On that same note, a little far fetched, if the cordless has > your cell number programmed into it, and its stored in the base, not > the handset, then it could be triggered to dial that number while this > interference is occuring. On a like note, I read an article where a family around here went on vacation, and some tomatoes went bad and dripped juice on the phone shorting out the emergency dial button for 911. Since there was no-one on the other end when the operator answered, she sent the rescue people there to investigate, and when there was no answer they broke in. ------------------------------ From: levine@seas.smu.edu (Dr. R. Levine) Subject: Re: Wanted: Cellular Channel Measurements Date: 03 Mar 1995 03:22:39 GMT Organization: SMU - School of Engineering and Applied Science A good example of a fading signal envelope (power vs. time) is shown in a figure of a strip chart output from a calibrated UHF receiver in the "classic" book Microwave Mobile Radio by Jakes (recently reprinted by the IEEE Press, Originally printed by Wiley). This illustrates the almost periodic fading for a receiver moving at uniform velocity. Many papers have been published on delay spread. A review paper with many refrences to earlier work was published by prof Rappaport of VPI (Virginia Polytechnic) about three years ago in IEEE transactions. The GSM COST committee has also collected many measurements on delay spread during the development of GSM technology during the 1980s and these were published in both IEEE and IEE and other European journals from about 1986 onward. The report by Rappaport et al was also published by the CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association) who commissioned the study to address the question of the need for an adaptive equalizer for North American TDMA cellular. The power spectrum of a test signal transmitted via a multipath medium will be similar to that of the original signal, although the phase will be different. If the receiver antenna is in motion (or the scattering objects in the environment are moving) the spectrum will be broadened due to the differing Doppler shift of the various multipath components. This effect is very small and difficult to measure and I do not know of any published measurements. The effects of multipath are better displayed by looking at the first two types of data. Incidentally, the CTIA is in Washington, DC, and should not be confused with the TIA, which is a different organization and does not have the report in question. The telephone number of the CTIA is 202 785 0081. Please be prepared to pay for the cost of copying and mailing the report. ------------------------------ From: levine@seas.smu.edu (Dr. R. Levine) Subject: Re: Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? Date: 03 Mar 1995 05:22:56 GMT Organization: SMU - School of Engineering and Applied Science Unfortunately, there is a person born every minute who is prepared to devote his career to looking for the proverbial sucker who is also supposed to be born every minute. If all the guys who are promoting investment in various aspects of the "information highway" by naive investors were laid end to end in boiling oil, that would not be sufficient punishment for them in my opinion. If you get an SMR license and you do not personally have the necessary cash and technical resources to set up a working SMR system, but instead are only trying to resell it to another operator, you could lose the license for fraudulent claims. If licenses are directly available from the FCC in your community, then the "big guys" have just as good a chance of getting one as you, and have no reason to buy it from you. Ask the promoter why they don't merely get the licenses by themselves and then make the profit alone by reselling the licenses to others. Why do they need to try to get money from individuals who do not understand the laws, the risks, and the technologies? ------------------------------ From: stiles@drmail.dr.att.com (131A40000-StilesKL(DR9522)243) Subject: Re: Palm Size Message Recorder on a Chip Reply-To: stiles@drmail.dr.att.com Organization: AT&T Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 16:19:33 GMT telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) wrote: > I got an interesting advertisement a couple days ago I want to share > with you. I make no warranties or claims; I will just tell you what > they said. It cheap enough, you may want to order one or two. > "Message recorder records anything without tape". > This little thing fits in the palm of your hand and comes with a key > chain attachment. Two buttons on the front, one marked 'rec' and the > other marked 'play'. > Whenever you want to remember something later on, just take this thing > out of your pocket, press the record button and talk into it. It will > hold ten seconds of whatever it hears, but the deluxe version will > hold twenty seconds of talk. Later on when needed, you press the play > button and the ten/twenty seconds of speech comes over the tiny little > speaker attached. A new recording simply erases the old one. I bought a similar device a couple weeks ago at an office supply store (Staples in Phoenix, AZ). It's called "VOICE IT". It records a total of 40 seconds in up to 12 separate messages. In addition to REC and PLAY buttons it has a MESsage button to go to the beginning of the message list, previous message and next message buttons ( |< and >| ), and ERASE ALL and ERASE LAST buttons which you must hold down for about 1 second. Each press of PLAY plays the next message in the list. New messages recorded go on the end of the list. It's the same size as a credit card and about 1/4 inch thick. It was $49.95 (the store claimed suggested retail was $59.95). I don't know how long the four dime-sized lithium batteries will last since I haven't had it very long. The voice quality is good, better than I expected for a device of this size. I find it very useful while driving and I hear a phone number or a song title on the radio that I'd like to remember, or when someone gives me an address or phone number on the phone, I don't have to fish for a pen and paper. The only phone number I have is from the back of the unit: Customer Service: 1-800-47-VOICE Of course, I have NO connection with this product or the company who makes it (?), just a satisfied customer. Kevin Stiles stiles@drmail.dr.att.com AT&T Bell Laboratories Denver, Colorado ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 23:24 EST From: Van R. Hutchinson <0005493896@mcimail.com> Subject: Arcade Advice Needed A friend of mine in Hollywood, Florida USA is setting up an calling arcade, and would like to contact others who have done so success- fully. She is starting with three phones and is marketing on a low- keyed basis to local people, especially people without phones and recent immigrants, especially from Sou./Centr. America. Your contacts, leads or suggestions are needed! ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #131 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa12212; 3 Mar 95 21:20 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA13536; Fri, 3 Mar 95 16:28:04 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA13528; Fri, 3 Mar 95 16:28:01 CST Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 16:28:01 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503032228.AA13528@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #132 TELECOM Digest Fri, 3 Mar 95 16:28:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 132 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? (RRE/Russ Sadler via Peter Dorman) GSM Cellular Operators - Revised List (Robert Lindh) Faxmodem Problem Solved! (Randall Poe) Modem Line Tap (David O. Laney) Telecom in Vancouver? (Hien Quan) Re: True NANP and Common Dialing Practices (Bob Goudreau) Re: True NANP and Common Dialing Practices (Carl Moore) Re: Rio-1 ACS-CELP Information Wanted (Matt Noah) Re: CallerID and Dialogic Board (Donald L. Moore) Re: What is a Digital PBX? (Richard Parkinson) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 14:47:08 -0800 Reply-To: pen-l@ecst.csuchico.edu From: Peter.Dorman <23215MGR@MSU.EDU> Subject: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? Forwarded FYI to the Digest: Note the .sig line at the end, please. [This copyrighted article is forwarded to RRE by permission.] Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 12:53:16 -0800 From: rsadl@max.sosc.osshe.edu (Russell Sadler) I am enclosing a column I wrote a couple of weeks ago. I am a very mainstream, mass media journalist. For the last 25 years I have syndicated a daily radio and television commentary and a weekly newspaper column. The broadcasts are carried on five commercial television stations and six radio stations in Oregon and Northern California. Two radio stations are public, the rest are commercial. The column is carried in daily and weekly newspapers around Oregon. I think you will find this column is a different explanation for the new congressional leadership's effort to "defund" public broadcasting. *********Begin Column********** Rupert Murdoch, the Australian media baron, stupefied the media business when his Fox network outbid the venerable CBS for the rights to broadcast National Football League games this year. People in the television business knew Fox did not own enough stations in the top 50 media markets to charge enough for commercials to recover the $1.6 billion Murdoch spent taking the NFL away from CBS. Rupert Murdoch is no fool with his money. The industry waited for Murdoch to drop the other shoe. There was less surprise when Murdoch announced his holding company paid $500 million for a 20 percent interest in the New World Communication Group, Inc. New World owns six television stations in the top 20 markets, four in the top 50 markets and two in the top 70, including stations in Dallas, the 8th largest market and Detroit, the 9th largest. Murdoch switched most of these stations from CBS affiliates to his Fox network. Now Murdoch had the means to charge more for commercials in the NFL games. Despite this brilliant high stakes entrepreneurship, Murdoch apparently lost $350 million in his $2.1 billion bid to build a national network. He needs more stations in the largest television markets. There are no television frequencies available, especially the more lucrative VHF channels 2 - 13. They are licensed to ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates, a variety of independent stations and public television stations. Enter Big Bird and Barney, two of public television's artistic and financial success stories. The new Republican leadership began a campaign to convince the American people Big Bird and Barney and their "elitist" audience were responsible for the national debt. Government has no business doing what private enterprise can do better, chanted the ideologues. They do not explain why the vast wasteland of commercial television did not produce its own Big Bird and Barney instead of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Sen. Larry Pressler, R-South Dakota and chair of the Senate Commerce Committee announced Bell Atlantic was prepared to take Big Bird and Barney off the government's hands and syndicate it to cable, satellite and television outlets. Americans could still enjoy Big Bird -- for a fee, of course. There is a hollow, leaden ring to this heated, ideological rhetoric. Congress spends about as much on military bands as it spends on public broadcasting. Pressler comes from a sparsely populated state that has one of the largest public broadcasting audiences in the country. It can't be the money. Pressler can't be reflecting the views of his constituents. Congress really isn't after the public broadcasting's liberal bias - real or imagined. It turns out the new congressional leadership wants the public broadcasting channels, especially in the top 50 markets. Public broadcasting licenses are owned by a variety of state and local governments, non-profit groups, colleges and universities. If the congress cuts public broadcasting funds and these stations are forced off the air, the government can reissue the licenses. Guess who is waiting in line. Shortly after Murdoch's Harper Collins publishing company offered House Speaker Newt Gingrich the controversial $4.5 million book deal, Murdoch and other broadcasters asked for and got closed door meetings with House Republicans and Pressler's Commerce Committee staff. No one knows for sure what went on in these "private" meetings but reporters for Newsday and Los Angeles Times columnist Lars-Erik Nelson believe turning public broadcasting channels over to private broadcasters was a topic of discussion. Bell Atlantic tried to make a deal with Murdoch last year for the 20th Century Fox film library worth an estimated $4 billion. Murdoch wants to sell, apparently to raise cash to replace the money he is losing on the NFL. Bell Atlantic has cash from its telephone operations and wants the film library to supply its planned venture into home entertainment. The deal fell apart when Bell Atlantic decided it did not have enough broadcast outlets to pay the bill. Bell Atlantic executives met privately with Pressler to complain about the lack of broadcasting frequencies in major television markets. Privately, the new congressional leadership believes public broadcasting stands in the way of restructuring the new electronic media and the solution is just turn off the spigot that pays for Big Bird and Barney. The federal government holds a 13 year lien on any public broadcasting facility built with grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Those facilities include much of the modernized studio and transmission equipment in the largest markets and the extensive translator networks built by rural public stations like Jefferson Public Radio. If these stations cease broadcasting because of a lack of money, the federal government can just take over the property, issue the licenses to private operators and sell the lucrative studio and transmission facilities to their campaign contributors. There is a surprising reason for this intense interest in old-fashioned television stations in the age of cable, satellite transmission and optic fiber cables. Murdoch's satellite television service demonstrated a revolutionary transmission technology that compresses signals 8 to 1. Stripped of technobabble, that means within a decade it will be possible to transmit eight separate digital broadcast signals on television channels that can only transmit one now. If existing television stations can deliver 30 or more channels of home enetertainment into the Top 150 American television markets, it will drastically alter the economics of the cable and telephone industries. Murdoch's compression technology will permit today's commercial and public television broadcasters -- long dismissed as technological dinosaurs -- to compete with cable, telephone and satellite transmissions companies or even short-circuit their potentially lucrative market. Perhaps the bitter battle over Big Bird and Barney's future makes a bit more sense now. Russell Sadler Southern Oregon State College 519 South Mountain Avenue Department of Communication Ashland, OR 97520 1250 Siskiyou Blvd. 503-482-3959 Ashland, OR 97520 "Whatever hits the fan will not be distributed evenly." -Russell's Rule the Fourth ------------------------------ From: etxlndh@eos.ericsson.se (Robert Lindh) Subject: GSM Cellular Operators - Revised List Organization: Ericsson Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 16:17:58 GMT (Changes in the list marked by "*") Country Operator name Network code Tel to customer service ------ ------------- ------------ ----------------------- Andorra * STA Argentina Australia Optus 505 02 Int + 61 2 978 5678 * Telecom/Telstra 505 01 Int + 61 18 01 8287 Vodafone 505 03 Int + 61 2 415 7236 Austria PTV Austria 232 01 Bahrein * Batelco Belgium Belgacom 206 01 Int + 32 2205 4000 Cameroon China * Dubai * ETISALAT 424 ?? Cyprus * CYTA 280 01 Denmark * Sonofon 238 02 Int + 45 80 20 21 00 Tele Danmark Mobil 238 01 Int + 45 80 20 20 20 Egypt * Estonia * EMT 248 01 Int + 372 2639 7130 * Int + 372 2524 7000 Radiolinja Estonia Fiji * Finland Radiolinja Finland 244 05 Int + 358 800 95050 Telecom 244 91 Int + 358 800 7000 France SFR 208 10 Int + 33 1 44 16 20 16 * France Telecom 208 01 Int + 33 1 44 62 14 81 Gibraltar * GibTel Germany D1, DeTeMobil 262 01 Int + 49 511 288 0171 D2, Mannesmann 262 02 Int + 49 172 1212 G Britain Cellnet 234 10 Int + 44 753 50 45 48 Vodafon 234 15 Int + 44 836 1100 Greece Panafon 202 05 Int + 30 944 00 122 STET 202 10 Int + 30 93 333 333 Holland * PTT Netherlands 204 08 Int + 31 50 688 699 Hong Kong SmarTone 454 06 Int + 852 880 2688 Telecom CSL 454 00 Int + 852 803 8450 HK HTCLGSM 454 04 Hungary Pannon GSM 216 01 Int + 36 1 270 4120 Westel 900 216 30 Int + 36 30 303 100 Iceland * Post & Simi 274 01 Int + 354 96 330 India * PT SATELINDO Indonesia * TELKOMSEL 510 10 Ireland Telecom 272 01 Int + 353 42 31999 Israel Italy SIP 222 01 Int + 39 6615 20309 * Omnitel Japan * Jersey Jersey Telecom Laos * Lebanon Libancell Latvia * LMT 247 01 Int + 371 2256 7764 * Int + 371 2256 9183 * Int + 371 2934 0000 Luxemburg Telekom 270 01 Int + 352 4088 7088 Macao Malaysia * Namibia * New Zealand Bell South 530 01 Norway NetCom 242 02 Int + 47 92 00 01 68 * TeleNor Mobil 242 01 Int + 47 22 03 03 01 Quwait * MTC Phillipines* Portugal Telecel 268 01 Int + 351 931 1212 TMN 268 06 Int + 351 1 793 91 78 Russia * Moscow Cellular Int + 7 271 00 60 * MOBILE TELE SYSTEM Singapore Singapore Telecom 525 01 South Africa MTN 655 10 Int + 27 11 445 6000 Vodacom 655 01 Int + 27 82 111 Spain Telefonica Spain 214 07 Sweden * Comviq 240 07 Int + 46 586 686 10 * Europolitan 240 08 Int + 46 708 22 22 22 Telia 240 01 Int + 46 771 91 03 50 Switzerland* PTT Switzerland 228 01 Int + 41 46 05 64 64 Syria * SYR-01 223 01 * SYR MOBILE SYR 263 09 Thailand AIS GSM Turkey * Telsim 286 02 Turkcell 286 01 Int + 90 800 211 0211 UAE * ETISALAT 424 01 * UAE ETISALAT-G2 424 02 Uganda Vietnam * ------------------------------ From: Randall.Poe@aplmail.jhuapl.edu Subject: Faxmodem Problem Solved! Date: Fri, 03 Mar 95 14:18:20 PDT Organization: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD, USA Thanks for those who responded about my problems with a fax modem. The problem was with automatic answer: the modem seemed unable to hear CNG tones when an answering machine or handset was also online, despite the manufacturer's claims. Wayne Kosten suggested I make sure the modem was the first thing T-d off the incoming line. I did this by running a new line down to the junction box, and tieing it to the first set of connectors. It worked like a charm! Now I have to figure out how to do this right: I piggybacked on top of another pair of wires that was already there, and I'm sure this connector isn't designed to do that (it's the type where all you do is push the insulated wire in, and the connector cuts the insulation and clamps down on the copper. I'm out of places to plug into -- are you allowed to daisy chain? The telephone tech who installed this box brought in six pairs on the incoming line, only two of which are in use. I could disconnect one of them, I suppose, and daisy-chain line 1 down to a lower row of connectors. Am I making any sense? What is the recommended way to do this (besides "place a service call")? ------------------------------ From: ua291@fim.uni-erlangen.de (David O. Laney) Subject: Modem Line Tap Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 14:02:30 GMT Organization: Free-Net Erlangen Nuernberg, Germany Hello, I am wondering if any of you netters have come across a device called a Modem Line Tap. Apparently you can put it on a n RJ11 jack and hook it through and connect to a Data Line Monitor. Thus allowing direct monitoring of the phone line. I would like to have such a device, especially for decoding MNP transaction data. If anyone knows where I can get such equipment please reply to me at dl211@randr.com. David O. Laney Internet: ae711@dayton.wright.edu Voice: +1 (513) 443-2765 Fax: +1 (513) 443-2489 ------------------------------ From: quanh@camail.ca.nmp.nokia.com (Hien Quan) Subject: Telecom in Vancouver? Date: 3 Mar 1995 14:51:18 GMT Organization: Nokia Mobile Phones Hi, Can anyone tell me what sort of telecom companies exist in Vancouver? Thanks very much. Hien Quan (Mr.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Vancouver, *where*? There is one in Washington State and one in British Columbia. Maybe people from both places will respond. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 11:15:10 -0500 From: goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) Subject: Re: True NANP and Common Dialing Practices John Shelton writes: > When will we really have a true North American Numbering Plan, one > that is used consistently throughout US and Canada? > Is it really that hard to get everone to agree: > xxx - special service codes (e.g. Info, Emergency) > xxx xxxx - abbreviated form of 1+ ten digit dialing, > where the area code (NPA) is the same. Yes, I rather suspect it *is* really that hard to get everyone to agree to support this. The vast majority of the NANP prefers to use 1-NXX-NXX-XXXX for *all* long distance calls, both intra-NPA and inter-NPA. If you want to enforce some NANP-wide standard for intra-NPA long distance, it would make far more sense to change the minority than the majority. Personally, I don't mind leaving the situation alone, as long as 1-NXX-NXX-XXXX dialing would always be supported for any number. (Unfortunately, it isn't always supported for local numbers in many places :-(.) > 0 xxx xxxx - abbreviated form of 0+ ten digit dialing, > where the area code (NPA) is the same. Bad idea. See below ... > 1 xxx xxx xxxx - caller paid, direct dialed call > > 0 xxx xxx xxxx - alternate billing, direct dialed call > Using the long form should *always* be legal. Agreed! One should always be able to use 11-digit dialing, regardless of whether the call is local or long distance. Telcos that do this wrong should be fixed! > Seven digit dialing might require timeouts (or trailing #). I think you mean "8-digit dialing", in particular, your 0-NXX-XXXX example. But, as far as I know, there are no longer any places in the NANP that support 0 + 7D; all 0+ calls that I know of must now be dialed 0 + 10D. Why on earth do you want to bring 0 + 7D back? And if you do, why don't you also want to bring 1 + 7D back too? Personally, I don't want to see either return, since I think timeouts should be avoided. Bob Goudreau Data General Corporation goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com 62 Alexander Drive +1 919 248 6231 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Instead of avoidtime timeouts, which can actually always be avoided anyway with the # key, why not just have variable length numbers as needed. This would allow for quite a large supply of numbers without us getting trapped into shortages in one place and excess numbers available in others. Just have numbers of any length, and replace the '1' on the front with # on the end to inidicate we have finished dialing. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 10:39:14 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: True NANP and Common Dialing Practices No, the seven digit dialing does NOT require timeout or trailing #. But the 0 xxx xxxx could; timeout situation could arise in these published and now-obsolete cases: 1. for many years within old area 213 (before 818 and 310 split from it). 2. briefly at Denver and Adamstown, PA when they were in the old 215 area. In some areas, people object to seven digit dialing for long distance, so in order to keep "1 means toll" and avoid timeout situation, long distance within area code has mandatory 1 + 10D. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: See, even on here he cannot get agreement to his plan. I wonder how he thinks all the telcos will ever come to any sort of common consensus. PAT] ------------------------------ From: noah@rain.org (Matt Noah) Subject: Re: Rio-1 ACS-CELP Information Wanted Date: Fri, 03 Mar 95 01:57:26 GMT In article , lsing@hookup.net (Sing Li) wrote: > Does anyone know where I can obtain some technical information on the > Rio-1 ACS-CELP coder? e-mail to adoul@userb.gel.ca ------------------------------ From: donmoore@mercury.interpath.net (Donald L Moore) Subject: Re: CallerID and Dialogic Board Date: 3 Mar 1995 00:14:57 -0500 Organization: Interpath -- Public Access UNIX for North Carolina In article , Tatro Enterprises wrote: > Qustion is, what is the fastest and cheapest way of having the > CallerID information passed to the voicemail application. Can a modem > be used to intercept the information and pass it on? Brian, A modem that supports Caller ID might be the answer. All you need to do is open the comm port at 1200 8N1 (I think) to read the data. The Rockwell Chip Set requires that you send the modem "AT#CID=1" to get the formated Caller ID (DATE=, TIME=, NBR=), unformated is "AT#CID=2". DO NOT forget that some Bell companies block the data stream, only to offer it as an additional service. The Caller ID info is sent between the 1st & 2nd Ring. Depending on your Voice Mail Card, you should have no problem in working with your Caller ID Modem and Voice Mail Card. As a 'FUN' project, I am programming my Big Mouth Voice Mail Card to answer based on Caller ID data returned from my Zoom Modem. (If I spent the time, I could do it all on the Zoom card; I don't have the time to re-write my code for the Zoom card ... although it's real easy ... can be done in BASIC!) Don [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Would you care to share any of your programming on this with the Digest readers? I think this project sounds like one others -- including myself -- might be interested in, since I also have a Big Mouth card. PAT] ------------------------------ From: rparkins@direct.ca (Richard Parkinson) Subject: Re: What is a Digital PBX? Date: Thu, 02 Mar 1995 21:21:33 -0800 Organization: Infotel Systems Corp. In article , noah@rain.org (Matt Noah) wrote: > What is the definition of a "digital" PBX? > Assuming an analog PBX is one in which the trunk lines are strictly > analog, e.g. E&M, Ground Start, is a "digital" PBX one in which the > trunk lines all carry PCM voice with digital signalling? If so, what > type of digital signalling? Is it T1? Is it ISDN? Is it something > other than T1 or ISDN? Is it combinations of various digital standards? I like Fred R. Goldstein's reply the best. Travis Russel implies that you need digital phones to get fancy features. Northern Telecom's original SL-1 set was analog, as was Mitel's Supersets. In the case of the SL-1 the voice was transmitted from the set to a line card, digitized, then switched using standard 64 Kbps PCM. Richard ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #132 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa18508; 4 Mar 95 12:14 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24852; Sat, 4 Mar 95 08:04:58 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24846; Sat, 4 Mar 95 08:04:57 CST Date: Sat, 4 Mar 95 08:04:57 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503041404.AA24846@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #133 TELECOM Digest Sat, 4 Mar 95 08:04:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 133 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Local Competition in North Carolina (Donald E. Kimberlin) Major UK Network Failure (Richard Cox) PacBell Offers a "Taste of Interop" in LA, March 28 (Cherie Shore) Dialing the Falkland Islands (Richard Cox) IVR Application, Northern Telecom SL1 PBX (Chris Daniels) Questions About Format of Printed Telephone Numbers (Jeff Wolfe) Re: Pizza Hut Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations (Tony Harminc) Re: Pizza Hut Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations (Ian Angus) Looking for Remote Control Solution (Mark Breman) Question on Setting up Internet Users Group (James E. Law) Oh Yeah? (Cole Cooper) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 3 Mar 95 20:56 EST From: Donald E. Kimberlin <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: Local Competition in North Carolina Observers of U.S. telecommunications demonopolization history may recall that in early days of events like Hush-a-Phone and Carterfone, significant news focused on the Mebane Home Telephone Company of North Carolina. Mebane was the battleground upon which the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Communications Commission did battle concerning whether or not the public could own and attach its own telephones to lines of the local telephone company. At one point, the NC PUC even issued a widely-ridiculed decision that it would permit the public to connect its own telephones for interstate traffic only -- but that in order to do so, users would have to rent a separate telephone line to be used for interstate calls only. Saner heads eventually prevailed, and the matter was resolved by other means. Today, North Carolina appears to be among the earlier states contemplating statewide demonopolization of local telephone service, perhaps beginning as early as July 1, 1996. A bill was introduced into the North Garolina legislature only several weeks ago, with nearly enough co-sponsors to assure passage at introduction. Here's a story from the March 3, 1995 Charlotte, NC ... And so there you have it, Dear Moderator. I coincidentally note it was five years ago and less that my posts forecasting the demise of local competition in the U.S met with replies of incredulity in this forum, mostly from those who were certain the long-standing claims of massive capital cost would maintain the once-sacrosanct "natural monopoly" concept of 1913 in perpetuity. Yet, today, we see instead the telephone companies in North Carolina seizing the initiative to change their own status. Clearly, they have gotten the message as demonstrated in places like England and New Zealand that it's no longer such a massive, capital-intensive task to construct and maintaim a functioning local telephone plant. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 17:03:14 -0500 From: richard@mandarin.com Subject: Major UK Network Failure On the morning of Thursday, 2 March, workmen accidentally cut into a major fiber-optic cable near Banbury, which contained BT's main telecomms link between London and Birmingham. Details of the incident are not yet completely clear, but it is reported that approximately 18 fibres, each carrying 540Mb, plus the associated maintenance spares, were broken by the damage. Serious congestion followed - not only on BT's network, but also on other networks as customers and service providers tried to reroute their traffic by other means. Several of the mobile networks, who lease bulk capacity from BT, also suffered consequent disruption: as did JANET, the "Joint Academic NETwork" in the UK. This incident has raised some significant questions about BT's claims to have a resilient network, and to be able to reroute around a single point of failure. It took BT until late in the afternoon of the following day (Friday, 3 March) before service on the route was fully restored. Richard D G Cox Mandarin Technology, PO Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 3YG Voice: 0956 700111; Fax: 0956 700110; VoiceMail: 0941 151515 e-mail address: richard@mandarin.com; PGP2.6 public key on request ------------------------------ From: cashore@PacBell.COM (Cherie Shore) Subject: PacBell Offers a "Taste of Interop" in LA, March 28 Date: 4 Mar 1995 09:32:51 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Your time is extremely valuable, and Interop is over 300 miles away in Las Vegas. Why go? Pacific Bell will demonstrate cutting edge network interoperability applications right here in Los Angeles on March 28. Our 'A Taste of Interop' event will feature exhibits of: Telemedicine Multipoint Desktop Videoconferencing The Studio of the Future High Speed Internet Access Cupertino's CityNet Caltech's Real-Time Earthquake Monitoring We'll be showing examples of applications running on the following digital comunication technologies: ISDN Frame Relay SMDS Advanced Broadcast Video Service No reservations required; exhibits will be open between 12:00 and 5pm on March 28, at 1010 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles. Parking is provided. Cherie Shore cashore@pacbell.com ISDN Technology Manager, PacBell ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 07:37:39 -0500 From: richard@mandarin.com Subject: Dialing the Falkland Islands The TELECOM Digest Editor noted: > It does not matter how many digits the place has. If the number is > direct dialable, then it can be used. In most places where the local > numbers are less than seven digits, you will find the city code and > country code are longer, to fill in the blanks. The country originally referred to (the Falkland Islands) now has five digit numbers. Until recently there were only four digit numbers, and then they all changed to five digit by prepending all numbers with "2". International dialing to the Falkland Islands has been on +500 for as long as I can remember; before that it was operator-only connection via Cable and Wireless. Some of you may recall that the failure of the Cable and Wireless link just before the Falklands were invaded, was a point featured in a film made subsequently about the Falklands war. Obviously the service has since been improved -- possibly as a result of improvements in funding? There are no "city codes" for the Falklands Islands. It is unlikely that there is even more than one CO. So the Falklands have some of the shortest (international) numbers in the world, and from the UK dialling the Falklands takes less digits now than most inland numbers. Oddly enough, calls to the Falklands are also the most expensive calls (apart from Satellite and Ships calls) that can be made from the UK. As in the US, 500 has a special purpose in the UK -- it is one of our freephone (toll-free) codes, like 800. So if the initial digit 0 is repeated by accident, a call that should be free (such as 0500 224466) turns into one of the most expensive calls (00500 22446) that can be made. I believe there may still be shorter numbers than those in the Falklands, but until recently some of them could not be dialed in the normal way as Telco's equipment could not handle them correctly. Callers had to dial a dummy digit *after* the called number, to convince the COs that the digit string is valid. Either the numbers have been lengthened, or the COs have been fixed ... we no longer have to dial dummy digits. Richard D G Cox Mandarin Technology, PO Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 3YG Voice: 0956 700111; Fax: 0956 700110; VoiceMail: 0941 151515 e-mail address: richard@mandarin.com; PGP2.6 public key on request ------------------------------ From: cd2@access.digex.net (Chris Daniels) Subject: IVR Application, Northern Telecom SL1 PBX Date: 3 Mar 1995 16:33:42 -0500 Organization: 24 Hour Computers, Greenbelt, MD USA I am working on an IVR application which sits behind a Northern Telecom SL1 PBX and appears as an analog 2500 set; the problem is that the SL1 does not drop the loop current when the calling party hangs up, causing the IVR system to stay offhook and tie up the incoming line until a timeout occurs in the application. Does anyone know of a programming change that can be made to the SL1 which will return some form of call progress signalling, such as reorder or other tones? The voice board used is a Dialogic D41D, and the NT PBX is a SL1-XT release 19 issue 32. Please email your response to me, my provider is having news problems as usual. Thanks, Ken WIlliams Voicelink Communications, Inc. 202-541-9009 kenw@us.net ------------------------------ Subject: Questions About Format of Printed Telephone Numbers Date: Fri, 03 Mar 1995 18:01:52 -0500 From: Jeff Wolfe I got involved in a debate with some friends about the 'correct' way to write a telephone number. Is there an 'international standard'? Is it official or just commonly accepted? The guy I was debating with said that +1 814 555 1212 was the 'offical' way. What does the '+' mean? Jeff Wolfe Sysadmin, Newsadmin - Penn State - College of Earth and Mineral Sciences [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The '+' means 'international access code if required plus'. In other words, to dial a country in Europe for example, we dial 011 plus the country code and number. In the USA, '1' is by coincidence both the access code used internally when dialing long distance and it is the international access code for the USA and Canada when dialing here from elsewhere. So the way you would read your example is 'dial whatever you dial to place an international call, followed by 1 for the USA and then the area code 814 and local number 555-1212'. PAT ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 03 Mar 95 18:05:40 EST From: Tony Harminc Subject: Re: Pizza Hut Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations ansehl@MO.NET (Eric Canale) wrote: >> "No other food service company in Canada offers this level of >> convenience for its customers," says Corbett. "Our goal now is to make >> 310-1010 available across the country so no matter what city our >> customers are in, they dial the same number for a Pizza Hut pizza." > It's been a while since I lived in Canada, but Toronto based Pizza Pizza > has had the single (416) 967-1111 delivery number for all its locations > since the early 80s. I really don't see how Pizza Hut's system is any > different, other than the fact it's 10 years late. The problem with Pizza Pizza's system is that the famous 967-1111 works only from within the 416 area code (Metro. Toronto). Local callers in the surrounding 'burbs have to dial 416 967-1111, and callers further out have local numbers (e.g. Oshawa 905 567-1111) to reach their local dispatch centre. In fact I think there is only the one central dispatch site for all of southern Ontario. It's interesting to see the different approach taken by the chains. Pizza Pizza has all calls go to one place, and then sends the orders to the geographically appropriate store on a data network. This lets them track how busy each store is and avoid overloading by farming orders out further afield when necessary. I doubt that any phone-network based routing scheme will have such flexibility. Pizza Pizza has an overwhelming market presence in the Toronto area, to the point that customs people at the airport are reputed to ask suspicious travellers claiming to live in Toronto "what's Pizza Pizza's number?", or even to ask them to sing the little jingle "nine - six - seven -- eleven -- eleven". A number of other local chains have catchy numbers (Two-for-One Pizza is 241-0241 Get it: 241- oh - you did get it...), but nothing has close to the recognition of Pizza Pizza. Tony Harminc ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 18:42:19 EST From: Ian Angus Subject: Re: Pizza Hut Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations Eric Canale wrote: > (sellers@on.bell.ca) wrote: >> "No other food service company in Canada offers this level of >> convenience for its customers," says Corbett. "Our goal now is to make >> 310-1010 available across the country so no matter what city our >> customers are in, they dial the same number for a Pizza Hut pizza." > It's been a while since I lived in Canada, but Toronto based > Pizza Pizza has had the single (416) 967-1111 delivery number for all its > locations since the early 80s. I really don't see how Pizza Hut's system > :is any different, other than the fact it's 10 years late. There is a big difference. Pizza Pizza pioneered the single number for an entire city, covering multiple outlets. (Far in advance of Dominos in the US, for example.) But the Pizza Pizza system has two limitations, compared to the new one at Pizza Hut: 1. The Pizza Pizza number only works within the Toronto free calling area. Its long distance (or a different local number) from other areas. 2. The Pizza Pizza number goes to a central location, where the call is answered and the order taken. The order is then transmitted to the nearest franchise store by a data link. By contrast: 1. With the new service, Pizza Hut has the same seven-digit number (310-1010) over multiple area codes. The caller never has to dial a long distance call. 2. The public network automatically routes the call to the nearest Pizza Hut store, based on the caller's location. So there is no need for a central answering location or retransmission of the order. Actually, Bell Canada's 310-Service is just 800-Service in disguise. The rates (to Pizza Hut) are the same as 800 rates, with a premium charge added for using 7-digit access. The idea is to let multi-location companies have a "local" appearance, but only one number to advertise. Ian Angus Angus TeleManagement Group Ajax Ontario Canada 905-686-5050 ext 222 angus@accesspt.north.net ------------------------------ From: Mark Breman Subject: Looking For Remote Control Solution Organization: NLnet Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 12:10:06 GMT Hi there, Currently we are using a NetWare connect modem pool. To communicate with this pool we are using the windows nasi redirector (attnasi 1.0 loaded at windows startup) from NOVELL which redirects COM1 to the modem pool. As remote control software we wanted to use ReachOut because this supports Super VGA 1024*768. ReachOut doesn't seem to work with the modem pool (COM1 is not redirected) because it makes no use of the standard windows communications API. Can anyone tell me which remote control solution supports SVGA 1024*768 or higher and is able to make use of a modem pool through the windows nasi redirector mentioned above? Because of memory problems we're not able to use the DOS nasi redirector. We are using NetWare 3.11, IPXODI 2.12, NETX 3.32, Windows 3.1 upgraded to 3.11 (NOT WfW). Please reply by email to: breman@ideta.nl Thanks in advance, Mark Breman breman@ideta.nl ------------------------------ From: edlaw@chattanooga.net (James E. Law) Subject: Question on Setting up Internet Users Group Date: 04 Mar 1995 02:56:33 GMT Organization: Chattanooga Online! I would appreciate any suggestions you can provide on how to organize a successful internet users group. Such a group has just been initiated in Chattanooga, TN (CHATNET) and is in the process of getting organized. Things seem to be off to a good start with 47 in attendance of our Jan. meeting. I know that some of you have been through this start-up phase multiple time and can suggest how we do it right. In particular, I would like input on: 1. Would you send me a copy of your charters/by-laws? 2. What kinds of officers are in place for your group? 3. What is the format of your meetings? What kind of meeting activities do members find to be interesting and/or helpful? 4. What activities (other than meetings) are your group involved in (e.g. training, communnity service projects, internet promotion)? 5. Are there any organizations that provide support to internet users groups? Any industry sponsors out there? 6. Any other suggestions? Please send your response via e-mail. Thanks for your help. Ed Law (edlaw@chattanooga.net) ------------------------------ From: Cole Cooper Date: 3 Mar 1995 9:49:02 EDT Subject: Oh Yeah? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh go ahead, you can whisper it to me. > I won't tell anyone who doesn't read the Digest or Usenet. You think > Ma Bell is a bitch, is that it? PAT]<< More than likely -- if he told you -- he'd have to kill you. (grin) But I don't think he wants to - the paperwork afterwards can be grueling. It would be a RFT-PM007 (Request for Termination - Post Mortem), and the last time I used one of those it took six months for approval. REPLY-TO: C.M. (Cole) Cooper - Stentor Resource Centre Inc. 3W 3030 2nd Avenue S.E. Calgary, Alberta. CANADA T2A 5N7 Internet: cooperc@stentor.ca TN: 403-531-4205 Compuserve 73361,35 Fax 403-531-4248 or 1-800-269-7571 The Information Superhighway Construction Foreman's office ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #133 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa27680; 5 Mar 95 12:17 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12479; Sun, 5 Mar 95 07:55:13 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12473; Sun, 5 Mar 95 07:55:11 CST Date: Sun, 5 Mar 95 07:55:11 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503051355.AA12473@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #134 TELECOM Digest Sun, 5 Mar 95 07:55:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 134 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Delphi Forum (Scott Gordon) Cubix Remote Access Server (Scott Gordon) Radio Commentator Gets a Caller ID Callback (Dave Leibold) GSM Roaming (was E(TACS) and GSM) (Mark J. Elkins) POTs Wanted! (Jay W. Shoup) Analog Interface Parameters (Eli Cohen) 64 Kbps HDLC PCMCIA Interface (Milo S. Medin) Book Review: "USENIX Conference Keynote Address" by Barlow (Rob Slade) Help Wanted Wtih ISDN Service (Gregory Hicks) Pizza Hut in Atlanta (Ted Koppel) Re: Pizza Hunt Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations (Chris Hudel) Re: Pizza Hunt Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations (Scott Montague) Re: And the Grammy For Poor Planning Goes to ... (Bob Wilkins) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: GORDONSBBS@delphi.com Subject: New Delphi Forum Date: 5 Mar 1995 04:36:52 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation SBBS Communications has recently opened a CUSTOM FORUM on the DELPHI network. This forum is dedicated to Wireless communications (i.e. Numeric and Alphanumeric Pagers, Cellular Phones, PCMCIA Modems, Etc.). In addition to various discussions, wireless products will also be sold throughout this forum. Delphi Customer Forum #393 - SBBS Communications - Wireless Forum The following items are only a small sampling of the products SBBS currently offers: - Pagers (Motorola Numeric & Alphanumeric) - Cellular Phones (Motorola, Nokia, Audiovox, OKI) - Cellular Accessories (Batteries, Cigarette Adapters, Leather Cases) - PCMCIA Modems & Data-Links How To Get A Delphi Account: 1. Call 1-800-695-4002 Using Your Modem 2. When your prompted for a USERNAME, enter JOINDELPHI 3. When your prompted for a PASSWORD, enter CUSTOM393 New users are allotted their FIRST five (5) hours of usage FREE. * Brought To You By * SBBS Communications 444 Skokie Blvd. Suite #211 Wilmette, Illinois 60091 Voice: (708) 256-4600 Fax: (708) 256-4488 Scott Gordon - Internet ID: GORDONSBBS@DELPHI.COM Need A Pager and/or Cellular Phone? You need it, I've got it! Host Of Delphi Custom Forum #393 - SBBS Communications/Wireless Forum ------------------------------ From: GORDONSBBS@delphi.com Subject: Cubix Remote Access Server Date: 5 Mar 1995 04:36:21 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation Quoting dmorey from a message in comp.dcom.telecom > Has anyone used Cubix products? We are looking at their remote access > server solution for our dial-in lines. We have pretty much picked > their product but I wanted to get some comments from the field. I've used cubix boards along with Netware Connect. What info were you looking for? Scott Gordon - Internet ID: GORDONSBBS@DELPHI.COM ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 23:49:13 EST From: Dave Leibold Subject: Radio Commentator Gets a Caller ID Callback Andy Barrie's commentary on CFRB Radio Toronto on 3rd March dealt with the subject of Caller ID technology. Barrie told the story of a call he got at 2 am one morning from someone saying "you called me". He was mystified for a while until the mystery caller identified his last name. It turned out Barrie was trying to reach someone else with the same last name (two listings were found for the surname; call attempt #1 was for the mystery caller who didn't answer at the time; attempt #2 was the person being looked for). Caller #1 had a call display unit that recorded the Caller ID transactions, and thus Andy Barrie's unblocked call would have shown up as one of the calls. The commentary was on the CFRB 1010 access line at +1 416 872.2372 (872.CFRB) - select 4 on touch tone to hear the feature commentaries; Andy Barrie's material is then obtained by selecting 2). This will likely be replaced with Barrie's next commentary as of Monday 6th March. David Leibold -+- dleibold@gvc.com -+- aa070@freenet.toronto.on.ca ------------------------------ From: mje@posix.co.za (Mark J Elkins) Subject: GSM Roaming (was E(TACS) and GSM) Date: 5 Mar 1995 08:26:44 -0200 Organization: Posix Systems > GSM is up and running in *all* western european countries except for > Spain. Other European countries are Hungary and Russia. Some none- > European countries running or opening shortly are: > Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, New > Zealand, South, Africa, Namibia, Egypt, Marocco, United Arab Emirates, > Argentine, Kamerun, China, India, Pakistan, Fidji. I probably forgot > about half of them, but my point is that there are more than seven ... > You can roam within Europe, at least one network per country and the > "older" nets in Asia, such as Australasia, Hong Kong, Thailand, > Singapore. Just had some international people come to South Africa for some training. There were two people from Denmark and one from the UK. Their GSM phones worked just fine -- without any prior setup -- although the Danes reported that one local carrier - MTN - stopped working after two days -- were as Vodacom stayed working for the three week duration they were here for. My carrier says I must swap my SIM card before going overseas. (ie - Let them know). Some differences between networks, for voice mail, I am notified via SMS, they get a phone call from the provider. I can send SMS to other phones -- they can't (I believe). Olivetti Systems & Networks, Unix Support - Sth Africa mje@posix.co.za - Mark J. Elkins - Postmaster Tel: +27 11 456 3125 Cell: +27 83 601 0496 ------------------------------ From: jshoup@holli.com (Jay W. Shoup) Subject: POTs Wanted! Organization: Advanced Technologies Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 07:53:56 GMT Cute subject line ehh! This will sound like a really wierd request. My telco supplier does not have a telephone that will shortly be needed by one of my customers! If anyone has the name and telco number where I can locate a phone to "fill the bill" I would appreciate it! 1. Powered from AC wall adapter NOT telco lines); 2. Line busy indicator; 3. Ringer control (on/off); 4. CHEAP!; 5. Single line; 6. POTS (Plain old telephone service compatable). I have in mind a Northern Telcom model QT200 (NT2N17AA332) but can not locate where I bought it or where to get it now. Any help would be greatly appreciated! About 30 of the phones will be needed! Jshoup@holli.com 317-664-2066 ------------------------------ From: gandalf!elic@uunet.uu.net (Eli Cohen) Subject: Analog Interface Parameters Organization: Tel-Aviv University Computation Center Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 08:56:46 GMT I'm looking for information in the form of articles, research papers etc. on the topic: Analog Interface Parameters. The parameters I'm looking for (such as Line Impedance, Dial Tone, Cadences, etc.) should be categorized be country of origin. Thanks for your help. Eli Cohen elic@lannet.com ------------------------------ From: medin@nsipo.nasa.gov (Milo S. Medin) Subject: 64 Kbps HDLC PCMCIA interface Date: 5 Mar 1995 08:59:33 GMT Organization: Nasa Science Internet Hi. I'm looking for a way to interface an IBM ThinkPad 755 series computer with an INMARSAT-A ground station at 64 Kbps, without using a seperate device such as a router. Since the TP's onboard serial ports can't support this, I am thinking that the only way to pull this off is via some sort of PCMCIA interface, that could support sync. PPP at 64 Kbps (externally clocked). Does anyone know of anyone that makes such a beast? I know about ISA boards that can do this, but the TP has to operate (in this context) without a dock, so it's only the onboard interfaces or PCMCIA gear that works. Thanks, Milo Medin NASA Ames Research Center ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Mar 1995 14:09:22 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "USENIX Conference Keynote Address" by Barlow CSBARLOW.RVW 950110 "USENIX Conference Keynote Address: San Francisco, CA, January 17, 1994", Barlow, 1-56592-992-6, U$9.95 %A John Perry Barlow %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 1994 %G 1-56592-992-6 %I ORA Audio/O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. %O U$9.95 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com %P 70 min. %S Notable Speeches of the Information Age %T "USENIX Conference Keynote Address: San Francisco, CA, January 17, 1994" John Perry Barlow, lyricist for the Grateful Dead, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (and self-described "retired Wyoming cattle rancher") was the keynote speaker for the Usenix conference in San Francisco, January 17, 1994. This tape includes both his talk and the question period. (It is also available on Internet Talk Radio for those willing to consume that much bandwidth, and possibly spend longer downloading the file than the playing time of the speech.) Barlow primarily discusses the cultural conflict between the traditional Internet and the new commercial interests generally identified with the "information superhighway". There is discussion of government, cryptography, censorship, and the evolution of the aims and work of the EFF. One point reiterated throughout is the need for those deeply involved in the technology to study and become involved in the political forces which drive the use (and abuse) of advanced communications. A minor theme is the call for "rich media". Barlow laments the fact that human beings assimilate text at a very low rate (generally below 1200 bps), but take in experience far faster. Rich media (or multimedia) are therefore much more efficient for human communications purposes. Barlow ignores two, very vital, factors here. The first is that the bandwidth requirements for non-text messages are currently very expensive, and promote a dependence on an elite level of technology. (This is interesting in view of the link with Internet Talk Radio). The second consideration is that, despite almost a century of involvement with multimedia, people seem to be only marginally capable of generating communications in non-text forms. Automation isn't likely to effect that. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 CSBARLOW.RVW 950110. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver roberts@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into slade@freenet.victoria.bc.ca User rslade@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Mar 95 7:12:21 EST From: Gregory Hicks - Santa Clara Ca Subject: Help Wanted With ISDN Service Pat: I've been following -- off and on -- the discussion on ISDN for awhile, and, since I've been receiving quite a few complaints from my family (father) about the phone being busy (because of my online time), I thought I'd investigate ISDN Residential Service with PacBell. While the lady that I placed my order for a phone to the apartment with was quite helpful, she just didn't know much about ISDN. When the office she referred my call to called back, they grudgingly answered my questions, but didn't volunteer any info. (Most unhelpful.) My questions to you (or the readership) are: What equipment is required at the customer's site? Any recommended sources? Or, for that matter, *any* sources? (PacBell didn't want to provide info on this other than "We do have some 'associated' vendors") What are benefits to me? I want to have high speed access (I'm going to get *almost* full time access to the net after I get a house). I'd like to be able to get incoming/outgoing calls when online (I know! I know! get a second line!) Other than cost (metered 8am-5pm M-F) and expense of equipment, what are potential drawbacks? Any info will be appreciated. Regards, Gregory Hicks ------------------------------ From: tkoppel@carl.org (Ted Koppel) Subject: Pizza Hut in Atlanta Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 09:17:17 MST Organization: CARL Corporation (Atlanta) / The UnCover Company Reply-To: tkoppel@solaris.carl.org Curiously, the Pizza Huts in Atlanta are moving in a direction opposite to that in Toronto. Last fall, there was one number (662-5555) that was for the entire metro area, and they did the routing of the pizza order themselves. Now, a call to 662-5555 gets you to a person who asks your home phone number (don't they have caller ID?), and asks you to dial the Pizza Hut in your area (and supplies you that number). I haven't been buying nearly as much Pizza Hut pizza since they changed their system here. Ted Koppel * The UnCover Company * The CARL Corporation * tkoppel@carl.org Work: 404 242 8733 Fax: 404 242 8511 ------------------------------ From: hudel@waterloo.hp.com (Christopher Hudel) Subject: Re: Pizza Hunt Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations Date: 4 Mar 1995 14:48:09 GMT Organization: Hewlett Packard (Panacom Division) Eric Canale wrote: > Dave Sellers (sellers@on.bell.ca) wrote: >> "No other food service company in Canada offers this level of >> convenience for its customers," says Corbett. "Our goal now is to make >> 310-1010 available across the country so no matter what city our >> customers are in, they dial the same number for a Pizza Hut pizza." > It's been a while since I lived in Canada, but Toronto based Pizza Pizza > has had the single (416) 967-1111 delivery number for all its locations > since the early 80s. I really don't see how Pizza Hut's system is any > different, other than the fact it's 10 years late. The difference is that 967-1111 went to only *one* phone number (or hunt group) and Pizza Pizza dispatched the nearest franchise to take the order. With Pizza Hut, the 310-1010 number routes to the nearest franchise for *them* to take the order. Which probably saves Pizza Hut Inc. some money and puts more onus back on the franchises. Not to mention that Pizza Hut -- like most franchise operations -- will likely transfer 2x the 310* cost to its franchisees. (Unless they are all store owned in which case, we see another example of the distributed client-server model biting the dust!) Christopher Hudel -- hudel@waterloo.hp.com -- (519) 883-3013 Technial Support/Marketing ------------------------------ From: 4sam3@qlink.queensu.ca (Scott Montague) Subject: Re: Pizza Hunt Consolidated Phone Number - All Locations Date: Sat, 04 Mar 95 19:24:50 GMT Organization: Queen's University at Kingston >> "No other food service company in Canada offers this level of >> convenience for its customers," says Corbett. "Our goal now is to make >> 310-1010 available across the country so no matter what city our >> customers are in, they dial the same number for a Pizza Hut pizza." > It's been a while since I lived in Canada, but Toronto based Pizza Pizza > has had the single (416) 967-1111 delivery number for all its locations > since the early 80s. I really don't see how Pizza Hut's system is any > different, other than the fact it's 10 years late. It's been a long time since you lived up here, I see! About five years after Pizza Pizza instituted their well known 967-1111 number they stopped using it as their "main" number. Why? Because their operations had spread beyond Toronto, into many small towns outside of the local calling area. They first tried to solve this problem by telling people to call long-distance, and they would reimburse them $0.50 for their phone call. This did not go over well (people just don't like the idea of long distance) so they tried an 800 number (short-lived). So, since then, they have just tried to set up vanity phone numbers in the smaller community that end in 1111 (eg. 542-1111 in Kingston, 697-1111 in Bowmanville, etc.) Their 967-1111 number was just a plain old Toronto number. Pizza Hut's new "PrimeLine" number is a lot different from Pizza Pizza ... a) The 310 exchange is a local seven digit call from ALL places in Ontario (with the exception of some FAR FAR North exchanges), and soon all places in Canada (hopefully); b) When you dial 310-1010, it will connect you to your LOCAL Pizza Hut, not a big dispatch which would resend your order to your local store (such as Pizza Pizza's old 967-1111 service used to do), and c) Depending on such things as your postal code, your exchange, and the time of day, it will forward to the appropriate Pizza Hut. This is so that if I want to order a pizza at 2am, and my local Pizza Hut is closed, it will connect me to the next nearest open one. (This would only have to be programmed once, not forwarded nightly). BTW, The jingle <967-11-11 phone Pizza Pizza, yeah-yeah-yeah> was so well-known in Toronto (and still is) that there were some stories about customs officials who would ask people who claimed to be from Toronto and forgot to bring sufficent ID to prove that they were, what the number for Pizza Pizza is. If they knew the phone number, they could get across. Now a part of Pizza Pizza's jingle is . Almost makes a case for the ownership of a phone number, eh? Scott ------------------------------ From: rwilkins@ccnet.com (Bob Wilkins n6fri) Subject: Re: And the Grammy For Poor Planning Goes to ... Date: 4 Mar 1995 11:16:10 -0800 Organization: home in the cAVe Scott D Fybush (fybush@world.std.com) recently wrote in : > Seems to me if I were advertising something, especially if I were the > (well, "a") phone company, I'd try harder to have enough lines > available to handle expected caller demand ... I doubt if any carrier would be able to have a quarter million line touch tone interactive demonstration. Well maybe even a thousand lines. They gave a recording to call back in five minutes, sure beats the re-order you normally get from the rest of the pack. Bob Wilkins work bwilkins@cave.org Berkeley, California home rwilkins@ccnet.com 94701-0710 play n6fri@n6eeg.#nocal.ca.usa.noam ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #134 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02230; 6 Mar 95 15:20 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03672; Mon, 6 Mar 95 09:17:04 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03663; Mon, 6 Mar 95 09:17:01 CST Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 09:17:01 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503061517.AA03663@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #135 TELECOM Digest Mon, 6 Mar 95 09:17:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 135 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson India's Telecom Costs; Need Global Information (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Europe Postal Services and Datacom (Elizabeth Gardner) Problems Accessing '500' With "Other" Carriers (Danny Burstein) Phone Lines Aren't Transitive! (Randy Gellens) Thailand's Internet Information Requested (Krairut Phanich) Re: BA Files Waiver to Prevent Higher ISDN Costs (Fred Goodwin) Re: MCI Cashes AT&T Checks (Steve Friedlander) Kevin Mitnick - Advertising (James Bellaire) Area Code, Country Code Lists (Rich Greenberg) Question on ISDN (Stuart Brainerd) Northern Telecom POTS Phones (Stuart Brainerd) FTP Transfer Rate Using PPP (schween@uclink2.berkeley.edu) Modem Monitor Wanted (schween@uclink2.berkeley.edu) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: India's Telecom Costs; Need Global Information From: telco-rg@dxm.ernet.in (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Date: Mon, 06 Mar 95 00:55:33 IST Organization: Deus X Machina As readers of the Digest know, Indian telecom is governed by an archaic Telegraph Act of 1885. It is used by the Dept of Telecom (DoT) for, among other things, charging an annual $80,000 'license fee' for e-mail providers, and $50,000 for BBSes. No BBSes have paid, of course. Paying a license fee gives you no advantages -- no better line conditions, no priority in routing or allocating new numbers, no discount in call charges. It just gives you a license to operate. I've been unable to locate a source for comparision with other countries. I'd info on how others handle these things, especially in developing/Asian countries. Here's how the DoT monopoly runs the show: In India (prices in US$, = 31.50 Rupees) 1. local call 0.03/5 mins 2. long-distance 0.50/min (delhi to bombay peak) 0.06/min (nowhere to backwater, midnight) 3. international 1.00/min (south Asia) 1.75/min (Europe, Arabia, SE-Asia) 2.10/min (America) 4. cellular local 0.30/min (for proposed private duopoly,big cities) Datacom: 5. leased line, intra-city 50/km p.a. long-distance 30 - 10 /km p.a., depending on distance (these are voice-quality lines, officially 9.6kbps, can often do 28.8) 6. 64kbps digital circuits 5,000 (50 kms) to 30,000 (900 kms) p.a. 7. 2mbps 50,000 (50kms) to 230,000 (1000 kms) p.a. (for 5-7, if you build your own network with switching, you pay 2.5 the amount, as DoT is terrified that you may use these 'private data networks' instead of its volume-based lines!) 8. I-NET (DoT X.25 net) 0.30 (local, off-peak) to 7.50 (international) per 32k data transmitted 9. ISDN n.a. (technically feasible, but not offered) Licensing: 10. BBSes max(50,000 p.a , 40 * subscribers) (nobody's paid) 11. e-mail max(80,000 p.a. , 50 * subscribers) (Sprint, BIIT, others have paid) 12. Internet (full-service) "not permitted" (ERNET is an academic network; NICNET is the government's own; both are connected to the Net. VSNL, the public sector monopoly on all international comms, is happy to grant connectivity to net providers, and even asked for franchisees last year, though the DoT (which presumably controls VSNL) claims such things are not permitted) Licenses do not provide benefits, only the right to operate. Data comms users get no advantages at all, leased line maintenance is poor, and indeed is charged for in addition (along with the 'conditioning' of long-distance analogue leased lines). DoT PR repeats that (local) call charges are among the lowest in the world, that it needs to charge more for 'premium' services to pay for connecting villages etc. However DoT's companies make huge profits, of about 35%, which are among the highest in the world. While such profits may be spent on wiring remote areas, money for such purposes is better generated openly from investors who are aware of the risks and share the profits, rather than unsuspecting consumers. Rishab Aiyer Ghosh rishab@dxm.ernet.in rishab@arbornet.org Vox +91 11 6853410 Voxmail 3760335 H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA ------------------------------ From: 70262.2741@compuserve.com (Elizabeth Gardner) Subject: Europe Postal Services and Datacom Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 15:16:25 GMT I am researching an article about how postal services are coping with the increasing obsolescence of paper mail. I am trying to find out which European countries have postal services that also offer "information highway" services (for example, e-mail, Internet connections, EDI). Any information most welcome. You may post here or e-mail me at 70262.2741@compuserve.com. If anyone's interested, I'll be happy to post a compendium of replies here. TIA. Elizabeth Gardner ------------------------------ From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Problems Accessing '500' With "Other" Carriers Date: 5 Mar 1995 20:55:17 -0500 A -major- problem (some called it a feature) with the "700" area code (actually it's a service access code) was that it was carrier dependent. So you could have an AT&T subscriber with the -same- number as an RTI customer, and the person calling them would have to know which carrier code to prepend. Very confusing. This was kind-of addressed with the introduction of the "500" service access code, which, like more traditional numbers, did not depend on any carrier identification. (Well, for the moment the prefixes are specific to a carrier, but portability is supposed to be phased in just like with the earlier '800' SAC) However, I just discovered a potential problem. It's not the end of the world, but it caused me some difficulty. My personal phone line has -all- IEC, and most intra-lata long distance, service blocked (1). So to make such calls, I have a no-surcharge calling card with . I punch in the (free) 950-xxxx access number, my id, then the destination digits. Only problem previously was that, for fraud prevention reasons, one of the international destinations I would occassionally call was blocked. (No, not the sex lines. Well, they're blocked also ...) Now you may have noticed that our esteemed moderator recently got a '500' number. So I tried calling him. My carrier would -not- complete the call. On speaking to them they explained that since the call was "actually" going over an AT&T link, they had no provision to charge me for it and hand the money to their competitor. Kind of like the situation with '900' codes. Which suggests (and maybe someone with the calling card of another company can check on this) that unless you have an AT&T card, you -won't- be able to call 700 numbers from, for example, a coin phone. (Or, in the future, as the other companies put in their 700 numbers, you'll need their cards as well). Hopefully the different companies will, in fact, work out some mutual charge agreement. But for now the confusion is still there. *1: I wanted for years to get a restricted line with these blocks, but NY Tel told me it was either impossible or highly expensive. Then I fell behind on my phone bill payments and could only kick in enough to "maintain" local service. So they've blocked just about all calls outside my immediate calling area (all of NYC). And, for good measure, cut off access to the 'enhanced service' numbers as well. Fine by me ... dannyb@panix.com (or dburstein@mcimail.com) ------------------------------ From: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM Date: 05 Mar 1995 18:38:00 GMT Subject: Phone Lines Aren't Transitive! Pat, I saw this in R.H.F Date: Sat, 4 Mar 1995 2:14 pm PST (22:14:46 UT) Subject: Phone lines aren't transitive! From: Steve Goldman I'm building a new house in Pittsboro NC (served by GTE) and I wanted to get a leased line to run to my office in Cary (served by Southern Bell). I called Southern Bell and had this conversation. me: I'd like to find out the cost of getting a leased line that runs from my home in Pittsboro to my office in Cary. sb: I'm sorry sir but you will have to speak with GTE about this. me: Why is that? sb: Pittsboro is served by GTE and since the service originates in Pittsboro you must talk to them. me: Ok. I want the line to run from Cary to Pittsboro. sb: Ok then I can help you ... Steve Goldman, Encore Computer Corp (919) 481-3730 901 Kildaire Farm Rd., bldg D Cary, NC 27511 USA internet: sgoldman@encore.com Selected by Maddi Hausmann Sojourner. MAIL your joke to funny@clarinet.com. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 09:27:22 MST From: K Phanich Subject: Thailand's Internet Information Requseted I am a graduate student doing my master thesis on current development of Thai Internet. If you have info, comments or suggestions please email me. Thank you for your generous and constructive opinion. Krairut Phanich M. A. student Brigham Young University ------------------------------ From: fg8578@onr.com (Fred Goodwin) Subject: Re: BA Files Waiver to Prevent Higher ISDN Costs Date: 5 Mar 1995 01:06:50 GMT Organization: Onramp Access, Inc. In article , lars@spectrum.RNS.COM (Lars Poulsen) says: >(1) The definition of a telephone line must have been discussed before; > after all, delivery of local loops on T-spans predates the MFJ. > Surely, you pay the SLC PER CHANNEL on a T-span, no? >(2) Since the SLC goes directly to the LEC, the cost to the customer > (base subscription plus SLC) should be the same regardless of the > amount of the SLC, shouldn't it? > If the monthly amount is $10 per line plus $6 SLC, the customer pays > $16. If the SLC goes away, the LEC loses the SLC-funded subsidy, so > they will have to charge $16 per line per month. The difference is > entirely in the bookkeeping of amortization and depreciation > allocations. >(3) If the SLC is mandated by FCC, I would think that the amount would > be standardized across the country. How can it vary with the Bell > Atlantic Service Area ? > What is going on? Is my point two above completely wrong? In reverse order: (3) Yes, the FCC mandates the maximum allowable SLC, but LECs are not required to set their tariffed SLC at the maximum level. (2) Because the SLC is an FCC charge, whereas ISDN rates are primarily established by state PUCs/PCSs, a reduction in one will not automatically result in an increase of the other. The states are typically very careful to ensure that the FCC does not shift costs to the state jurisdiction. (1) Yes, I believe the SLC is assessed per channel on a digital loop carrier or other pair-gain system. The difference is that in pair- gain, the channels are provided to different customers. In ISDN, the chanels are all provided to the same customer. Although I've not followed BA's filing at the FCC, I assume the case they tried to make was that the SLC was intended to apply on a per wire-pair basis (it takes only one pair for a typical POTs line), and that since it takes only 2 pairs to derive 24 ISDN channels, the SLC should not be applied 24 times. Hope this helps. Fred Goodwin Southwestern Bell Austin, TX ------------------------------ From: stevef@mcs.com (steve friedlander) Subject: Re: MCI Cashes AT&T Checks Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 19:08:47 CST Organization: MCSNet In article gryphon@j51.com (Scott Lorditch) writes: > Over the past few months I've gotten several solicitations in the mail > to switch to AT&T. One of them was in the form of a check for $40. We > currently use MCI, so I called their customer service number. While > they don't publicize it, MCI will redeem these checks for their face > value in an "MCI Certificate of Savings". And further, for each month > that I hold the certificate before cashing it, it's value increases by > another $5, for up to 12 months. So, the useless $40 check from AT&T > will save me $100 on my MCI bill this time next year! Scott, be careful, those AT&T check have a short life span! Steve Friedlander e-mail: stevef@mcs.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is correct. Often times the checks sent out by carriers as an incentive to change carriers have a sixty or ninety day expiration on them. After that point, they are worthless. It would be quite silly of MCI to redeem them after that point. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Mar 95 11:29 EST From: bellaire@iquest.net (James Bellaire) Subject: Kevin Mitnick - Advertising I just saw a TV ad bragging that 'the best security is Digital', with a punchline of 'for more information contact inmate (number given) Leavenworth Kansas' It was one of those 'flashing picture' ads, so the convict was not on on the screen too long. Congratulations Pat! Looks like Digital Computers filled your prediction of Kevin's new job, even if just as a joke in an advertisement. :-) bellaire@iquest.net James E. Bellaire bellaire@tk.com (Soon? My stationary is waiting...) ------------------------------ From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Area Code, Country Code Lists Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 04:03:11 GMT One of the frequent topics that comes up on *.telecom.* is what area code is which or country code etc etc. I found the following on an ezine (a very interesting one BTW which you may wish to subscribe to). Reproduced with permission from: Chaos Corner V05 N01 27 February 1995 > Copyright 1995 by Robert D. Cowles; Ithaca, NY 14850. Permission is > hereby granted to republish complete issues in unaltered form. > Republication of partial issues must reference the source and state that > subscriptions to Chaos Corner are available (free) by sending electronic > mail to chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu. [....] > A document that is on its way to Internet RFC status is something you > might be interested in taking a look at. The document contains all US > and international area codes, telex codes, country codes, etc. The name > of the document is /internet-draft/draft-robinson-newtelex-01.txt and it > can be obtained by anonymous ftp from the following sites: } Africa: ftp.is.co.za (196.4.160.2) } Europe: nic.nordu.net (192.36.148.17) } Pacific Rim: munnari.oz.au (128.250.1.21) } US East Coast: ds.internic.net (198.49.45.10) } US West Coast: ftp.isi.edu (128.9.0.32) Rich Greenberg Work: TBA. Know anybody needing a VM guru? N6LRT TinselTown, USA Play: richgr@netcom.com 310-649-0238 Pacific time. I speak for myself & my dogs only. Canines: Val(Chinook,CGC), Red(Husky,(RIP)), Shasta(Husky) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Telecom Archives Email Information Service now offers something similar: the command AREACODE xxx will return information about that areacode. Still another new command available is CARRIERS xxx where 'xxx' is the three digits in 10xxx. For example, CARRIERS 288 would return the information that 10288 is assigned to AT&T. Try these out and let me know what you think. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Mar 95 23:09 CST From: synapse@mcs.com (Stuart Brainerd) Subject: Question on ISDN With regard to the submission from Gregory Hicks on ISDN, I would recommend that he contact Pacific Bell's ISDN group at 1-800-4PB-ISDN (1-800-472-4736), and request a copy of their excellent publication, "ISDN: A User's Guide to Services, Applications & Resources in California". It does a good job of explaining the concept of ISDN, its primary applications, and even has a (partial) list of vendors and equipment available. As for recommendations for terminal equipment, the best bet would be to check with a reputable equipment reseller or Pacific Bell authorized distributor. I believe it is important for any individual or company venturing into ISDN to work with a reseller with a reputation for providing technical support, and who is willing to act as a liaison with the local telephone company (Pacific Bell, in this case) AND long-distance carrier in the event of technical problems. It is not uncommon to have problems with missed installation dates, circuit problems (incorrect line provisioning, for example), and trunking problems. I have experienced a rash of trunking problems recently, mostly with MCI -- primarily due to incorrect routing of the data calls over voice trunks. This is a major aspect of what my company, Synapse, does in addition to selling ISDN equipment. Even with local telephone companies experienced with ISDN installations, such as Ameritech, these types of problems are frequent. It was amusing to read the recent article in Boardwatch Magazine (March 1995) describing the experiences of a hardly unsophisticated user with his residential ISDN installation. > What equipment is required at the customer's site? Any recommended sources? > Or, for that matter, *any* sources? (PacBell didn't want to provide info > on this other than "We do have some 'associated' vendors") > What are benefits to me? I want to have high speed access (I'm going > to get *almost* full time access to the net after I get a house). I'd > like to be able to get incoming/outgoing calls when online (I know! I > know! get a second line!) Perhaps the best value today for equipment supporting Internet access, with an analog phone port, is the QuickAccess Remote Internet from AccessWorks! Communications. There is a Macintosh and PC version available. We sell this unit, with the phone port and async to sync PPP firmware, for $499. SYNAPSE USA ISDN Products and Solutions Stuart Brainerd Tech. Info. : 312-871-1466 synapse@mcs.com Fax : 312-871-2083 Orders : 800-454-ISDN ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Mar 95 23:09 CST From: synapse@mcs.com (Stuart Brainerd) Subject: Northern Telecom POTS phones Reference a posting in a recent TELECOM Digest: > I have in mind a Northern Telcom model QT200 (NT2N17AA332) but can not > locate where I bought it or where to get it now. Any help would be > greatly appreciated! > About 30 of the phones will be needed! Here are a couple of sources worth checking out: Northern Telecom Fulfillment Dept. Telephone Products and ISDN Tel: 800-842-7439 Electronic Market Data, Inc. 1650 Elm Hill Pike Suite 8 Nashville, TN 37210 Autoquote: 1-800-260-8830 Voice: 615-885-2123 FAX: 615-885-9454 Bell Atlantic Teleproducts West Building, Suite 150 50 E. Swedesford Rd Frazer Pa, 19355 Tel: 800-221-0845 or 215-695-2300 SYNAPSE USA ISDN Products and Solutions Stuart Brainerd Tech. Info. : 312-871-1466 synapse@mcs.com Fax : 312-871-2083 Orders : 800-454-ISDN ------------------------------ From: schween@uclink2.berkeley.edu (Sven) Subject: FTP Transfer Rate Using PPP Date: 6 Mar 1995 08:29:22 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley Reply-To: schween@uclink2.berkeley.edu At a 14.4k dialup, binary rates hover around 1100, text from 1200-2400. Seems a little slow to me. Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated. Setup: Mac PB 165, GC Gold, MacTCP 2.0.4, sys 7.1, MacPPP. Please email me, I don't hang out here much. Thanks, Sven ------------------------------ From: schween@uclink2.berkeley.edu (Sven) Subject: Modem Monitor Wanted Date: 6 Mar 1995 08:33:21 GMT Organization: University of California, Berkeley Reply-To: schween@uclink2.berkeley.edu I am running MacPPP on my powerbook, using a GV Gold. The status bar seems not to work in that configuration. Anybody know of a ctrl panel/extension that would enable me to watch rate/compr/error corr? Please email me directly. Thanks a bunch, Sven ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #135 ****************************** From telecom Mon Mar 6 16:41:40 1995 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA20411; Mon, 6 Mar 95 16:41:38 CST Return-Path: Received: from news.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA20397; Mon, 6 Mar 95 16:41:33 CST Received: from zeta.eecs.nwu.edu by news.eecs.nwu.edu with SMTP id AA04617 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Mon, 6 Mar 1995 16:41:31 -0600 Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by zeta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-EECS-3) id AA22901; Mon, 6 Mar 95 16:41:30 CST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA20387; Mon, 6 Mar 95 16:41:30 CST Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 16:41:30 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503062241.AA20387@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #136 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 6 Mar 95 16:41:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 136 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Portable Computer and Wireless Exposition and Conference (Lawrence Grant) We Need a TDM; What Will Work For an Internet Provider? (Bruce M. Hahne) Book Review: "DNS and BIND" by Albitz/Liu (Rob Slade) GSM Rental in Germany (John R. Covert) Information Wanted About MFS Intelenet (Timothy D. Hunt) Video Dialtone, HFC, HDSL, or ADSL (Timothy Kreps) PHS Doesn't Work in Moving Vehicles? (Steve Samler) Switched 56 CSU/DSU Vendor Information Wanted (Bruce Parks) Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' (Steve Brack) Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? (Charles McGuinness) Re: Re: E(TACS) and GSM (Sergei Anfilofiev) Re: mu-law to a-law PCM (Finn Stafsnes) Re: AT&T Calling Card Mixup (Robert Scott) Re: New NPA in Colorado (Stan Schwartz) Re: New NPA in Colorado (Mike King) Re: New NPA in Colorado (David C. Bray) Re: 800 Directory Listings Wanted (stanford@algorhythms.com) Re: 800 Directory Listings Wanted (Fred Goodwin) Re: 800 Directory Listings Wanted (Carl Moore) Management Software Wanted (Rick J. Dosky) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: ir000579@interramp.com (LAWRENCE GRANT) Subject: Portable Computer and Wireless Exposition and Conference Date: 5 Mar 1995 17:55:27 GMT Organization: LAPTOP EXPOSITIONS This is our eighth year Portable Computing & Wireless Communications Exposition & Conference held at THE NEW YORK HILTON, 1335 6th Ave, New York NY,March 9th and 10th. The Exposition features all solutions under one roof, revolutionary PCMCIA intro's, working pen applications, new PDAs, PICs and Palmtops, InfraRed Intro's and IRdA, wireless communications and PCCA focus. At the Conferences and special hospitality functions,hear from our fifty industry experts and learn the latest on Laptops, EMail Services, LAN, WAN, Radio and Cellular Transmissions, System Security, integration and much more. In this fast changing era of field automation,you have to compete to survive. The information and contacts you make at the seminars,will be invaluable to you and your company. For more information and FREE pre-registration contact LAPTOP EXPOSITIONS: (800) 444-EXPO, (212) 682-7968 or FAX: (800) 569-LAPS. ------------------------------ From: hahne@gol.com (Bruce M. Hahne) Subject: We Need a TDM; What Will Work For an Internet Provider? Date: 6 Mar 1995 14:29:09 -0600 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway I'm no telco engineer, so hopefully somebody can give me a few pointers as to the right product(s) for this application. My guess is that I just need the right mux, but maybe I'm missing something. The goal is to bring in several sub-T1 leased connections, muxed over a single T1, and then break them out into separate lines again so that they can be fed into an Internet router such as a Cisco 7000 (or choose your favorite high-end IP router). Our site is at the hub as the (small but growing fast) Internet provider, and of course the sub-T1 connections are downstream sites such as businesses and organizations. Life gets a lot more interesting when you throw in the fact that we're in Japan. However, I don't believe that this changes the possible technical solutions; it's probably just going to limit the equipment that we're legally allowed to buy. The picture looks something like this: leased-line ---- ----- Cisco 7000 port customer \ / \ / \ fiber T1 NTT / leased-line ----- MUX1 -------------- DSU ---- TDM?? -------- Cisco 7000 port customer / to our site \ / \ / \ leased-line --- ----- Cisco 7000 port customer (Yes, T1 has to be pulled in over fiber in Japan). MUX1 is provided on our behalf by the phone company and is physically done at an NTT site. The DSU comes from NTT also. But what goes beyond the DSU is our problem. What I need information on is the "TDM??" piece above. It needs to be some sort of demux that goes from the DSU (which probably uses an RJ45 connector, and is definitely an I interface) to either V.35 connectors or RS449 connectors, since a Cisco understands V.35 and RS449. Any suggestions? There must be a canonical solution to this problem, right? More generally, is this the best way to pull in the multiple downstream clients, or is there a better method (perhaps an IP router that can split the T1 apart internally?) Feel free to bombard me with solutions, sales pitches, equipment lists, blatant advertising for telco gear, whatever. It's often tough to get information on IP and telco gear in Japan so I always welcome literature. If you're asking "why mess around with fractional T1; why doesn't everybody go for straight T1?", the answer is that Internet connections are so expensive here that only top-level providers can afford a T1. In fact, right now the _entire_ commercial Internet bandwidth coming into Japan is less than T1! Thanks, Bruce Hahne Engineer, Global OnLine Japan hahne@gol.com Oshima Building 302 1-56-1 Higashi Nakano Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164, Japan ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Mar 1995 15:26:14 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "DNS and BIND" by Albitz/Liu BKDNSBND.RVW 950131 "DNS and BIND", Paul Albitz/Cricket Liu, 1992, 1-56592-010-4 %A Paul Albitz %A Cricket Liu %C 103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA 95472 %D 1992 %G 1-56592-010-4 %I O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. %O 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 info@ora.com or nuts@ora.com %P 381 %T "DNS and BIND" Of the millions of users on the Internet, almost all are blissfully unaware of the complexity and magnitude of the task of network routing. How does the network know where to deliver a piece of email? In fact, given the packet nature of all Internet traffic, how do telnet or ftp packets get, reliably and generally quickly, to their destination? Few even recognize the term DNS, the Domain Name Service, which handles the problem. Administrators may have used BIND, the Berkeley Internet Name Domain program, to manage DNS, but may not fully understand the importance, use or finer aspects of it. This book gives both background and operational details. Given the nature of the netowrk routing problem, a full understanding of DNS likely requires actual hands-on work. Albitz and Liu have, however, put together clear, straightforward, and sometimes even lighthearted text to make the learning process as painless as possible. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKDNSBND.RVW 950131. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into rslade@cue.bc.ca User p1@CyberStore.ca Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 11:54:29 EST From: John R. Covert Subject: GSM Rental in Germany I want to rent a GSM phone with a German number in Germany in about three weeks, but I can't find any rental companies. I'll be in Germany for about nine days. I travel to Germany every year about this time, and since 1989, I have been able to rent telephones, through Budget rent-a-car, through Lufthansa, and last year through a small company which was in the process of going out of business even as I was renting from them. My investigations so far have yielded nothing. Noone is willing to rent a phone. Budget no longer has portables; only phones built into the cars. Lufthansa is out of the rental business, as it seems everyone is. Too many problems with people running up horrendous international call bills and then disappearing. I want a German number. This may not be possible. I'm also investigating buying a phone and signing up for a whole year's service in the U.K., since I expect to be there for a few weeks this summer on a separate trip, but even that may not be a real possibility, since I don't have residency in the U.K. At least in the U.K. rentals are available. But buying a phone and a year's service would cost about $700, not including call charges. If anyone can give me a contact to someone who _is_ renting phones in Germany, please send me mail as well as reporting back to the list. Please avoid the temptation to reply "I think so-and-so rents phones" without first checking to make sure they still do. /john [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John Covert is a *long time* participant in this Digest. I think he is a charter subscriber on the mailing list, going back to 1981. He has written to us in the past about his trips to Germany, and perhaps will do so again when he returns. If any of our readers in Germany can research this for him and report back to him in a timely way, I know he will appreciate it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tim@karl.fsg.com (Timothy D. Hunt) Subject: Information Wanted About MFS Intelenet Date: 6 Mar 1995 14:22:56 -0500 Organization: Fusion Systems Group, Inc. We have just switched our local phone service to MFS Intelenet. I would be interested in hearing from other MFS customers, especially in the New York area. Tim Hunt tim@fsg.com ------------------------------ From: tkreps@netcom.com (Timothy Kreps) Subject: Video Dialtone, HFC, HDSL, or ADSL Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:34:15 GMT Where can I find info or discussions on: - video dialtone, - Hybrid Fiber/Coax (HFC), - High-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Lines (HDSL), or - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines (ADSL) Timothy Kreps tkreps@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You'll find those discussions right here when they start from time to time. Feel free to present questions and comments. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 14:33:26 EST From: Steve Samler Subject: PHS Doesn't Work in Moving Vehicles? I read in {Kyodo} today that the Japanese PHS phones do not work in moving vehicles. Is this due to the Doppler effect? ------------------------------ From: ucbruce@nova.umuc.edu (Bruce Parks) Subject: Switched 56 CSU/DSU Vendor Information Wanted Date: 5 Mar 1995 21:30:40 -0500 Organization: University of Maryland University College I'm looking for a potential source for 50-100 switched 56/64 CSU/DSUs on behalf of a government agency. I would appreciate any referrals. Thanks, Bruce J. Parks ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Mar 95 22:32:42 -0500 From: Steve Brack Subject: Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' In article telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) wrote: > A new service from AT&T allows subscribers who make a lot of > international calls to cut through the wasted time so prevelant when > calling many international points with no circuit messages, busy > signals and such. > Nothing comes free: The cost is $3.00 per month, and it only works > to about twenty countries at the present time, however those twenty > include a few that are notorious for sending back that message saying > 'your call cannot be completed in the country you dialed at this > time'. Does that mean that the operator will no longer do the same thing for no additional charge, like (s)he used to? AT&T seems to be developing the same customer service attitude as the upstart IXCs, that is to say, nonexistent. Steve Brack, Consultant | sbrack@eng.utoledo.edu Toledo, OH 43613-1605 | sbrack@cse.utoledo.edu MY OWN OPINIONS | Tel: +1 419 534 7349 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not believe the AT&T operators would ever devote up to thirty minutes repeatedly redialing a call. I've had very courteous operators get the no circuits message and immediatly try again; even possibly try again a third time, but then they tell you to hang up and try again later. And that is assuming you go through the operator -- at operator assisted rates -- rather than dialing direct. This is not fifty years ago -- or even twenty years ago -- where the international operators in White Plains, NY would 'book' the call and call you back when they were able to get through, a half an hour or two days later. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 06 Mar 1995 10:12:34 -0500 From: charles@jyacc.jyacc.com (Charles McGuinness) Subject: Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? Let's see ... the Republicans are looking to axe public broadcasting because either ... (A) NPR and PBS are filled with lefties who have consistently used government money to oppose the things Republicans want to do, and in doing so have built up a huge resevoir of ill-will among Republicans. or .. (B) It's an elaborate conspiracy (involving a mysterious Aussie, the new Speaker of the House, a large east coast telephone company, and a talking purple dinosaur) to give away valuable public resources. Obviously, (A) isn't contrived enough to be believable. But (B) still doesn't explain cattle mutilations. Hmmm, which to believe, which to believe ... Charles McGuinness | JAM Product Manager | JYACC Inc. charles@jyacc.com | +1 212 267 7722 x 3026 | 116 John St, NY NY 10038 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you read the Sunday comics in the news- paper? Yesterday they had a very clever one about a woman who takes her car to the repair shop. She tells the mechanic that her car is not working properly. 'No matter how she turns the steering wheel, the car seems to keep gradually moving toward the left.' The mechanic gets in the car to check it out and the car radio is seen in the picture. He gets out and says, "I found the answer to your problem lady ... you had your car radio tuned to the local NPR affiliate station." Har har har! PAT] ------------------------------ From: Sergei Anfilofiev Subject: Re: Re: E(TACS) and GSM Date: 6 Mar 1995 18:24:16 +0300 Organization: ZNIIS Reply-To: sanfi@zniis.msk.su d92-sam@black29.nada.kth.se writes: >> GSM is a French standard which is (roughly) translated as Group >> Special Mobile or something similar. Someone else will know exactly. > It started out as a European standard but has evolved into a world > standard. Groupe Spiciale Mobile was the name of the first task > force, GSM later came to mean Global Standard for Mobile Telephone (or > something). Current meaning is Global System for Mobile Communications. > GSM is up and running in *all* western european countries except for > Spain. Other European countries are Hungary and Russia. Nowadays Russian operators support three standards: NMT-450, GSM, AMPS (as a regional standard). Some none-European countries running or opening shortly are: Dr. Sergei Anfilofiev | Tel:(7 095)368-9127 Chief Internat. Depart.| Fax:(7 095)274-0067 ZNIIS, Moscow, Russia | E-mail: sanfi@zniis.msk.su ------------------------------ From: Finn.Stafsnes@nta.no (Finn Stafsnes) Subject: Re: mu-law to a-law PCM Organization: Norwegian Telecom Research Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 15:22:32 GMT In article , Testmark Laboratories <0006718446@mcimail.com> writes: > I need to check the acoustics of the handset of a European ISDN BRI > phone. Unfortunately, I only have a North American ISDN BRI > simulator, which uses mu-law PCM, and the phone uses a-law PCM. I > know from prior experience that the two PCMs can be connected > together, and the phone conversation still sounds "normal." Provided you have a mu to A converter in between you will only get e few dB of degraded S/N ratio. If you feed a mu-encoded signal into an A-law receiver (or thew other way) you _may_ get an intelligible result (yes, I have tried), but the S/N ratio is probably well below zero (I have not measured it). Remember, in A-law encoding every second bit is inverted. I think you have two options: 1) Disconnect the handset and measure it separately. 2) Check if it is possible to strap the PCM codec to make it work in mu-law (many circuits can do both). > can anyone tell me what the error would be in dB when I sweep from 300 > to 3400 Hz at a constant level, and do a loudness calculation? If the converter is there I think the levels will be rather close, but without the converter the measurment will be usless. Finn Stafsnes ------------------------------ From: rbs@cs.city.ac.uk (Robert Scott) Subject: Re: AT&T Calling Card Mixup Date: 06 Mar 1995 11:53:32 GMT Organization: School of Informatics, City University, London Reply-To: rbs@cs.city.ac.uk TELECOM Digest Editor noted, regards subscriber entered in error in the AT&T Military Saver plan: > Or it went through and later a supervisor caught it. If you > keep on getting marketing and promotional materials for the military > plan *then* let us know, but I think you'll be okay. Honestly though, > if it were me, I'd hope they did *not* discover the error. AT&T gives > the soldiers a very good deal with absolutely rock-bottom pricing. PAT] I don't think the case has been resolved. I got sent some promotional literature about this military saver option. It costs $8.50 per month and you get something like 20% discount on your calls. BUT if you don't make any calls in a given month they credit the $8.50 back to your account the next month. This debiting-crediting cycle has happened three times now so they haven't discovered the mistake. It means that I'm always $8.50 out of pocket. Also the crediting and debiting are translated into UK$ using interantional exchange rates, and as the credit rate is different from the debit rate (the banks make a profit somewhere) then I get charged every time they do that trick (even though the credits and debits are make on the same day). I don't think the charges are particularly competitive with other services. There are services here that charge around 30c a minute to the US whereas AT&T charge you $2.50 before you've said anything (or something like that, I don't remember the exact terms). Anyway, my question still stands. Does AT&T Charge Card have an email address or even a fax number? Rob Scott Dept of Comp Sci, City University, London, UK. http://web.cs.city.ac.uk/homes/rbs/homepage.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I guess you have a valid complaint alright. Apparently someone punched the wrong plan number in the computer when you signed up. I don't know of any way to contact AT&T Customer Service by email, but why don't you try calling them at 800-222-0300. You will get representatives who, if they cannot help you, will transfer to representatives (for the correct plan) who can. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: New NPA in Colorado Date: 5 Mar 1995 16:52:13 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC THE PILOT (PHRANTIC@UWYO.EDU) wrote: > Does anyone have any information concerning the addition of a new NPA > in Colorado? Supposedly (from a USWest CSB guy) metro Denver will get > the new area code in April of '96. > Anyone able to confirm this and/or tell us what the new NPA might be? Yes, it was announced in September that the 303 NPA was splitting, leaving 303 for Denver and 970 for everywhere else that is not already 719. Stan ------------------------------ From: mk@TFS.COM (Mike King) Subject: Re: New NPA in Colorado Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 09:48:56 PST In TELECOM Digest V15 #128, THE PILOT asked: > Does anyone have any information concerning the addition of a new NPA > in Colorado? According to the NANP Status Report from Bellcore (1/31/95), NPA 303 in CO will split to 970. This is scheduled for April 2, 1995, and the permissive period ends October 1, 1995. Mike King mk@tfs.com ------------------------------ Date: 05 Mar 95 22:06:31 PST From: BRAY, DAVID C. Subject: Re: New NPA in Colorado Hi, All I can say is this ... Denver is retaining the 303 area code for now. Northwest Colorado is changing from 303 to 970 in *April, 1995*. All of us have the burden of getting the stationary updated, not the big city boys! Cheers! dcbr@chevron.com (970) 675-3838 <-- New number after April. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Can you believe they had the nerve to settle the 312/708/630 fiasco late last week by deciding that we in the northern suburbs will have to have *our* area code changed to 630 later this year. Chicago will retain 312 exclusively; the politicians and other hotshots would not hear otherwise. 708 will be almost directly straight west of Chicago in the western suburbs, with part of 708 in the southwestern suburbs moved into 815 (which for the most part is quite underused.) All we northerners have to move to 630. The few wireless customers already resident on 630 -- there maybe all of 500-1000 customers there, and that is it, period -- will be moved to the proper geographic code. So in other words, 630 will not be a wireless overlay, nor will it be co-resident with 708 as originally proposed on a first come, first served basis. Instead, 708 will be chopped in three parts. I wonder if there have been any other splits where part of a 'new' area code' (i.e. 708 in recent years) was given to an 'old' (i.e. 815, around since the beginning of area codes) rather than handed off to a newly created one? The cellular people gave Ameritech such a fuss about having all their stuff parked in 630, that they originally decided on the co-resident plan for 708 instead. Then when all the suburbanites made a stink about having their next door neighbor in a different area code, the decision was finally reached to do things in a more conventional manner. Forget ever expecting 312 to be inconvenienced in any way; Mayor Daley would never permit that. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 00:03:43 -0500 From: stanford@algorhythms.com Subject: Re: 800 Directory Listings Wanted > Is there any place to get the 800 directory listings and to whom the > numbers belong? The "Free Phone" CD ROM from ProCD (Danvers. MA. +1 (508) 750 0000) contains the AT&T 800 directory searchable on any field including SIC code. ------------------------------ From: fg8578@onr.com (Fred Goodwin) Subject: Re: 800 Directory Listings Wanted Date: 6 Mar 1995 07:23:12 GMT Organization: Onramp Access, Inc. In article , jps0723@aol.com (JPS0723) says: > Is there any place to get the 800 directory listings and to whom the > numbers belong? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think you are referring to a criss- > cross style directory for 800, and I do not think one has ever been > published. PAT] I believe AT&T has a web page for 800 numbers. It has several options, one of which is to input an 800 number, then the AT&T form returns the business that subscribes to the number. I'm not sure if AT&T's database includes all 800 numbers, or just their own. Hope this helps. Fred Goodwin Southwestern Bell Austin, TX ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 06:48:33 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: 800 Directory Listings Wanted Years ago, there was a "Toll Free Digest" published by someone in Claverack, New York. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yeah, that poor man -- if he is the person I am thinking of -- used to spend all his time calling one 800 number after another, rudely demanding of whoever answered the phone, "What company is this? What is this number used for?" When he called me and asked that, I told him it was a central repository for wrong numbers, a place where callers unable to dial ten consecutive digits without losing their train of thought called when they needed to release their anxiety and tensions. I told him the telephone company provided it as a public service to people who consistently dialed the wrong number. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 15:18:25 CST From: Rick J. Dosky Subject: Management Software Wanted I am looking for any information available on Telecommunications Management Software. Including: * Facilities Management * Call Accounting * Trouble/Service Ticket Management * Fraud Detection * Telephone Directory * Invoice/Vendor Management If any one has any information, please e-mail me at rdosky@free.org. Rick J. Dosky The Limited Stores ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #136 ****************************** From telecom Mon Mar 6 17:59:32 1995 Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA23635; Mon, 6 Mar 95 17:59:31 CST Return-Path: Received: from news.eecs.nwu.edu by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA23619; Mon, 6 Mar 95 17:59:26 CST Received: from zeta.eecs.nwu.edu by news.eecs.nwu.edu with SMTP id AA05393 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for ); Mon, 6 Mar 1995 17:59:24 -0600 Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by zeta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-EECS-3) id AA23727; Mon, 6 Mar 95 17:59:23 CST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA23612; Mon, 6 Mar 95 17:59:23 CST Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 17:59:23 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503062359.AA23612@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #137 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 6 Mar 95 17:59:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 137 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Conference: "Local Number Portability" April 25-26, 1995 (Kevin Shea) Voicemail System Wanted (sgrossin@carleton.edu) Need Help on Panasonic Fax KX-F90 (Marko Ruokonen) Information Wanted on Excell Telecommunications (Ian Eisenberg) Help! Telephony Programming (John Michael Okeefe) Intralata Database Wanted (wshatford@aol.com) T1 -> Modems (scottpcs@aol.com) E-Mail Privacy Bill Information Available (James Bass via Stephen Goodman) Information Wanted on Fiber Market in NYC (rWMyRQ78@interramp.com) Norstar DR5.1 and $$ (John W. Warne) Re: Requesting Information About SDH (Hendrik Rood) Re: Automatic Message Accounting Standard Wanted (Travis Russell) Dialogic H/W For Sale (Neil L. Kleeman) Paging Interface With Computer (Huang Zhengqian) This Newsgroup Demo'ed on PBS's "Internet Show" (Robert Casey) Re: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO (Benjamin P. Carter) Re: Pizza Hut in Atlanta (Steve Friedlander) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 17:30:52 -0500 From: kjshea@interactive.net Subject: Conference: "Local Number Portability" April 25-26, 1995 I believe most of the readers here will be pleased to read the following. TELECOM RESEARCH SERVICES PRESENTS A CONFERENCE ON "LOCAL NUMBER PORTABILITY" RADISSON HOTEL NEWARK AIRPORT NEWARK, NEW JERSEY APRIL 25-26, 1995 PURPOSE: The purpose of the conference is to inform those attending about current trials currently in progress or planned, explore the network architectures being considered, and discuss the issues facing the industry as it tries to balance the rush to local exchange competition and the absolute need to maintain high service quality. LOCATION: Radisson Hotel - Newark Airport 128 Frontage Road Newark, NJ 07114 (201) 690-5500 or (800) 333-3333. DATE: April 25 - 26, 1995 CONFERENCE AGENDA: IMPORTANT NOTE: Registration and continental breakfast will be at 7:45 am each day and the conference will begin promptly at 8:15 am. A buffet lunch will be served on Tuesday and a cocktail reception will be held on Tuesday evening. The conference will adjourn at 12:15 pm on Wednesday. While no significant changes in the agenda are planned, registrants will be provided with all updated information if additional topics and speakers are added. A panel discussion is planned to conclude the conference on Wednesday morning, but this has yet to be confirmed. Tuesday, April 25, 1995 (8:15 - 5:15) & Wednesday, April 26, 1995 (8:15 - 12:15) * Local Number Portability in Perspective - John F. Shea, Consultant (formally Bellcore) * Equal Access, 800 Portability, and now, Local Number Portability: the next major network transition! * Industry Numbering Committee (INC), An Update - Bob Hirsch, AT&T What progress is being made to implement Local Number Portability? What are the issues? * A Local Number Portability Trial In Washington State - Mark Foster, Stratus Computer Who's participating? What is the trial architecture? What's been learned? What's next? * A Local Number Portability Trial In New York State - Greg Patenaude, NYPSC Who's participating? What is the trial architecture? What's been learned? What's next? * National Local Number Portability? - Carol Mattey, FCC 800 Portability was mandated in 1993, will this be necessary for Local Number Portability? Will the FCC play the same role as it did with 800? Is there any action planned at this time? * A Database For Local Number Portability - Chris Sommers, Bellcore (invited) How does Local Number Portability compare to 800 Database? Capacity, performance, reliability? * Local Number Portability In Europe - David Rogerson, Ovum Ltd. Is Local Number Portability being implemented in the European networks? What form is it taking? Are there comparisons to the U.S. network? * A Local Number Portability RFP -Terry Appenzeller, Ameritech What is the RFP all about ( the purpose, expected outcome)? * The New York Trial & AIN Deployment - Representative, NYNEX (invited) Is AIN needed for Local Number Portability? Why? What's the status in the NYNEX network? CONFERENCE REGISTRATION SUGGESTION: We suggest you take advantage of the team registration which will save 10% on each additional registrant. Also, this conference will have a limited number of available seating. Early registration will ensure that your space is confirmed. CONFERENCE REGISTRATION INFORMATION: CONFERENCE FEES: The registration fee for this conference is $749. This fee covers continental breakfast on April 25 and 26, buffet deli style lunch and cocktail reception on April 25, break beverages and snacks, as well as, all conference materials. There is a 10% discount given for each additional team (same company) registrant. Standard Registration_________ $749 Additional Team Registrants __ $670 HOTEL REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION: If you will be utilizing the reduced rate of $125 per night, please call the Radisson Hotel, Newark Airport directly at (201) 690-5500 or their central reservations at (800) 333-3333. The Radisson provides free shuttle service to and from the Newark Airport. When registering at the hotel, be sure to mention that you are attending the "Telecom Research Services/Number Portability Conference". Reservations with the Radisson should be made no later than April 6, 1995. SPECIAL AIRFARE RATES AND INFORMATION: We have made special arrangements with Continental Airlines for reduced airfare rates. Call 1-800-468-7022 (ref. code: IWPXND) to utilize these low rates. QUESTIONS: Contact Kevin Shea at (201) 535-2765 or email to kjshea@interactive.net (subject: Telecom conf. #501). ------------------------------ From: sgrossin@carleton.edu (seth) Subject: Voicemail System Wanted Date: 6 Mar 95 12:52:53 CST Organization: Carleton College -- Northfield, MN My client is looking for an inbound voicemail/telenotification system for providing callers with messages ("listings"). This system must meet the following requirements: - A DOS or Windows-based solution; - Support for up to five different option levels (e.g. categories, subcate- gories, etc. ending with listings); - Excellent message management (delete, update, view); - Message copy/paste capabilities; - Automatic deletion of messages older than two weeks; - Support for up to 3000 1-minute messages; - Multiple paths to the same listings (e.g. by type, then area, then listing, or by area, then type, then the same listing); - Support for multiple phone lines (two to five). If anyone has information on a system that meets some or all of these requirements, would you let me know? Or if anyone has an idea of where else I could search for such a system, could you let me know that as well? Thanks much, Seth (sgrossin@carleton.edu) ------------------------------ Date: 06 Mar 95 11:26:36 EST From: Marko Ruokonen <100031.31@compuserve.com> Subject: Need Help on Panasonic Fax KX-F90 I need help in figuring out a problem with a Panasonic FAX KX-F90. A friend got that unit some time ago without manuals. The unit operates OK, except that on sending a fax, it prints an error message #05 indicating that the original did not feed correctly. However, the fax is delivered OK and the receiving unit indicates OK reception. I've tried to send faxes to different other machines; the problem exists with all of them. The exchange was converted from analog to digital last week, but the problem existed before, also. Does anybody have a clue to where the problem might be or if some config- uration is needed to get the unit working? Panasonic, Germany is not much help here; they say that unit is not sold in Europe and therefore, they do not support it here. Help is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Marko Ruokonen E-Mail: 100031.31@compuserve.com ------------------------------ From: ian@cyberspace.com (Ian Eisenberg) Subject: Information Wanted on Excell Telecommunications Date: 6 Mar 1995 22:11:39 GMT Organization: US NETWORK Does anyone know anything about Excell Telecommunications. I think they are a multi-level mkting type of deal. Any information would be appreciated. ian@cyberspace.com ------------------------------ From: jmokeefe@nachos.engr.ucdavis.edu (John Michael Okeefe) Subject: Help! Telephony Programming Date: 5 Mar 1995 00:51:38 GMT Organization: College of Engineering - University of California - Davis I'm trying to write a program for my ZOOM voice/data/fax modem. It uses the Rockwell chip for voice processing and the AT+V command set. I am writing this program in Visual Basic. My problem has two parts. First the documentation for the AT+V command set says that while playing or recording voice data the modem can receive and interpet DTMF tones. The documentation says that if a DTMF tone is played while voice processing the modem will send a shielded result code to the DTE. I have been able to receive normal result codes such as "OK" when issuing an AT command but I don't understand how to receive a shielded result code while I'm receiving voice data. My second problem is that there I have been unable to find information on writing communications software using Visual Basic and the AT command set. If you have experience writing a program using the AT+V command set I would appreciate any help you could give me in solving the above problems. Thanks, John O'Keefe University of California, Davis Dept. of Mechanical Engineering Biomechanics and Sports Lab E-Mail: JMOKEEFE@ENGR.UCDAVIS.EDU ------------------------------ From: wshatford@aol.com (WShatford) Subject: Intralata Database Wanted Date: 5 Mar 1995 13:11:37 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: wshatford@aol.com (WShatford) Is there a database I can access that will list the intralata NPA-NXX's for a given NPA-NXX? Thanks. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Carl Moore is a person that keeps rather extensive files on this. He or Dave Leibold might be able to help you. PAT] ------------------------------ From: scottpcs@aol.com (ScottPCS) Subject: T1 -> Modems Date: 5 Mar 1995 13:28:09 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: scottpcs@aol.com (ScottPCS) I need to bring in a T1 line to 24 1200 baud modems for my company. It seems like an inefficient solution to run the T1 into a channel bank to end up with 24 phone lines and then plug in 24 modems plugged into 24 serial ports. Is there any type of hardware that can handle this T1 / modem problem better? Preferrably something PC based (Windows NT) and cheap . ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 14:53:00 EST From: Stephen Goodman <0003945654@mcimail.com> Subject: Fwd: E-mail Privacy Bill Information Available Pat, I thought I would forward this along to readers of the Digest. Steve G. 3945654@mcimail.com ------- FORWARD, Original message follows ------- Date: Saturday, 04-Mar-95 10:17 AM From: Telecommunications and Information Marketing \ Internet: (ritim-l@uriacc.uri.edu) Subject: E-mail Privacy Bill For those of you interested in seeing the bill that was introduced in the house. access with a web browser: http://thomas.loc.gov Run a query with the following words: Workers and Consumers Privacy Act S.984 This will get you the entire bill. James Bass http://web.syr.edu/~jhbass jhbass@mailbox.syr.edu Syracuse University, NY ------------------------------ From: rWMyRQ78@interramp.com (Dr. Moreau) Subject: Information Wanted on Fiber Market in NYC Date: 5 Mar 1995 06:41:23 GMT Organization: PSI Public Usenet Link If anyone has and can forward, or knows where to find, information on the fiber optic network market in New York City, please let me know. Thanks. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 05 Mar 95 12:43:52 EST From: John W Warne <19064001@SBACVM.SBAC.EDU> Organization: School Board of Alachua County, FL. Subject: Norstar DR5.1 and $$. I have received a "Product Bulletin" from Northern Telecom, outlining some 14 "Design Changes" between DR5 and DR5.1 software. In my opinion, most (if not all) of the changes are to correct deficiencies in the existing DR5 software. For example, one change is called "End of conference Privacy Release lock-up." Sounds like a bug to me. Several other changes apply patches to areas known to allow a user to defeat the toll restriction in the Norstar. One vendor says there is no trade-in. We are faced with simply buying the new DR5.1 software package for the same price we paid for the original DR5 ($413.65), and chunking the DR5 in the trashcan. I'm not pleased with the prospect of spending over $4,000.00 for what I consider to be a "bug fix." Has anyone else received similar news? Better pricing? ------------------------------ From: roodh@dds.nl (Hendrik Rood) Subject: Re: Requesting Information About SDH Date: Mon, 06 Mar 95 02:47:28 GMT Organization: Hendriks Humble Home Hero In article , dehoog@st.rim.or.jp (John DeHoog) wrote: > In article , wgan@netcom.com (willy > gan) wrote: >> I'd often seen the words SDH or SDH compatible equipment >> advertised in data communication magazines. Can anyone explain >> or give me examples of what SDH stands for? > SDH stands for Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, for starters. I'm not > sure that tells us much, and it's not even necessarily an apt term; > but what I do know is that it's an optical signal interface standard > used in optical fiber networks, to transport digital voice, data, and > video signals over long distances. Here in Japan, some major telecom > makers have developed SDH equipment based on the CTRON specifications. SDH is the international (ITU) version of the US (ANSI) SONET-standards. SDH starts at bitrates of 155 Mbit/s which compares to US SONET-OC3. The major differences between SONET and SDH for 155 Mbit/s and above lies in the overhead and network management features, also terminology in SONET and SDH differs slightly. SONET talks about Virtual Tributaries, SDH about Virtual Containers. Although incompatible it is expected in future systems that conversion between SDH and SONET is more a software issue than a hardware issue. But in the first hardware implementations this is still not the case, because manufacturers have implemented some functions in firmware in the interface-cards. Hendrik Rood ------------------------------ From: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) Subject: Re: Automatic Message Accounting Standard Wanted Date: Sun, 5 Mar 1995 22:45:51 +0000 Organization: Travis Russell Reply-To: russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net (Travis Russell) In article , telenet!emerson!ggoldman@ uunet.uu.net (Gerry Goldman) writes: > Can anyone tell me where I can get information on the Automatic > Message Accounting (AMA) format. This is purported to be a Bellcore > format for ATM billing records. Try Bellcore. This is a Bellcore standard, and a Bellcore publication. Don't know the number off-hand, but I think you can find them on the WWW under http://www.bellcore.com. Travis Russell russell@trussell.pdial.interpath.net Author of "Signaling System #7," McGraw-Hill ------------------------------ From: ssinlk@solsys.com (Neil L. Kleeman) Subject: Dialogic H/W For Sale Organization: Solution Systems Inc. Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 10:44:11 GMT We have some surplus Dialogic hardware that has become available: QTY Description Retail Price Each --- ------------------------------- ----------------- 2 D41D Analog Interface Card $1,495 1 D121/A Analog Interface Card $1,495 1 DMX Digital Switch $ 995 1 DTI/101 T1 Interface Card $1,495 1 DID/40 DID Chassis w/ 4 Line Cards $ 595 This stuff made a great call-back system. Make me an offer that I can't refuse by email. Neil L. Kleeman, President Internet: ssinlk@solsys.com Solution Systems Incorporated Voice: (610) 668-4620 114 Forrest Avenue Fax: (610) 668-2157 Narberth, PA 19072 ------------------------------ From: zqhuang@sunmp.csd.hku.hk (HUANG Zhengqian) Subject: Paging Interface With Computer Organization: Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 06:08:42 GMT Hi, Does anybody know if there is a paging receiver that can be connected to a computer so that data received over the air can be sent to the computer? zqhuang ------------------------------ From: wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey) Subject: This Newsgroup Demo'ed on PBS's "Internet Show" Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 02:12:22 GMT I saw a show about the Internet on PBS Saturday, Mar 4. It actually talked about something other than porno and child molesters on the 'net. They actually did a reasonably good job talking about newsgroups, ftp'ing, telnet'ing, golpher, and such. They did a demo of newsgroup reading, think it was this very group, and they demo'ed how to post. They responded to a question about how many long distance lines crossed the USA (he said he was sure the number was 42). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Unfortunatly, I don't think it would have been this Digest, since I don't recall a question like that appearing here at any time in the recent past. It probably was one of the telecom related newsgroups on Usenet. None the less, the intentions were good and the producer of the show is to be congratulated for showing something positive and tasteful about the information superhighway. Lord knows there are enough newspaper writers out there more than willing to discuss the milieu of the public toilets at the rest stops along the information highway which disguise themselves as 'news groups'. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bpc@netcom.com (Benjamin P. Carter) Subject: Re: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO. Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 20:50:34 GMT gary.novosielski@sbaonline.gov writes: > I, for one, would not be willing to toss the privacy rights of the > caller on the trash heap merely on the strength of a "claim" by any > given residential customer that they found the call "obnoxious." With very few exceptions (e.g. to protect social workers who need to call anonymously), I WOULD be willing to deny the caller the right of anonymity. I would be equally willing to let him remain anonymous if I had the option of blocking all anonymous calls. In other words, I DON'T WANT TO RECEIVE ANONYMOUS CALLS. > There has been ample discussion of all the reasons against Caller-ID, > or at least in favor of blocking options. Many of these reasons are > very "good" ones, and in some cases arguably protect the very lives of > the callers involved. I won't rehash them all here. Neither will I, except to say that the valid reasons apply to very few callers. Most anonymous callers are up to no good. In general callers have too much privacy, and callees too little. It is time to strike a proper balance. > in this context, I think the list of "good" reasons for privacy should > should start with: > 1. "Because I Feel Like It." I agree, and that is why I don't want to receive anonymous calls, junk phone calls, repeated calls from jerks who won't leave messages, etc. On the other hand, I never call anyone with the intention of concealing my identity. Like 99.99% of callers, I have no valid reason to conceal my identity. For most of us, "callers' rights" are like "smokers' rights" -- a concept that doesn't withstand analysis. -- Ben Carter internet address: bpc@netcom.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The reason "smoker's rights" ever became an issue in this country in my opinion is because there are so many discourteous smokers. For example, it would never occur to me to light up in your presence if I knew that it offended you. I might not see you very often, perhaps of my own choice, but I would try and respect your feelings when we did have occassion to meet. I come to your home and see no ashtrays anywhere, I don't even bother asking 'may I smoke?'. I see ashtrays, then I will ask. It wouldn't occur to me to sit at dinner with others and light a cigarette after my meal until the others had finished eating and wanted to do the same. I often times ride in a car with a friend who is driving; he is not a smoker. In the summer when the windows are open he does not object if I smoke. In the winter when the car is closed up it matters. For a short ride I wait until we get to wherever we are going. We've gone on a couple of longer trips together and reached a compromise that I would sit in the back seat with the window open a bit and my cigarette out the window. Courteous smokers who care about the rights of non-smokers can nearly always reach a reasonable compromise with others. There are some smokers who are concerned enough about this courtesy that they never smoke at all outside their own home. But like the good guys on the Internet, you never hear about them. You only hear about the ones who light up in elevators, on the bus or right across the aisle from someone eating dinner who has an allergy to cigarette smoke. I certainly hope my smoking is never offensive to a non-smoker. PAT] ------------------------------ From: stevef@mcs.com (steve friedlander) Subject: Re: Pizza Hut in Atlanta Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 15:45:56 CST Organization: MCSNet In article tkoppel@carl.org (Ted Koppel) writes: > Curiously, the Pizza Huts in Atlanta are moving in a direction > opposite to that in Toronto. Last fall, there was one number > (662-5555) that was for the entire metro area, and they did the > routing of the pizza order themselves. > Now, a call to 662-5555 gets you to a person who asks your home phone > number (don't they have Caller ID?), and asks you to dial the Pizza > Hut in your area (and supplies you that number). > I haven't been buying nearly as much Pizza Hut pizza since they changed > their system here. Unfortunately, Pizza Hut is stuck in the Pepsico red tape. We have proposed tests anywhere in the US with an 800 service. We have full ten digit routing capabilities with instant updating when a new phone number hits the area. Imagine, no matter where you are, a single 800 number that routes you instantly to the closest physical location! To bad for red tape. Steve Friedlander e-mail: stevef@mcs.com Increasing productivity through enhanced communications. The leader in "Value Added" 800 service is Arch Telecom! ************************1.800.ARCH.TEL************************* url: http://www.onramp.net/ron/arch ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #137 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa23474; 7 Mar 95 16:53 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11519; Tue, 7 Mar 95 10:27:19 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA11512; Tue, 7 Mar 95 10:27:16 CST Date: Tue, 7 Mar 95 10:27:16 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503071627.AA11512@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #138 TELECOM Digest Tue, 7 Mar 95 10:27:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 138 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson CONY Baltimnore (Doug Reuben) Plug Pulled in Hong Kong (Rob Hall) VoiceMail, FaxMail, Fax-On-Demand Systems in European Market (I. Masood) Problems With Fax Switch (Georg Oehl) Position For a Research Associate at King's College London (udee059@bay) Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns...) (Robert Levandowski) 708/630/815 Split (was Re: New NPA in Colorado) (Carl Moore) Help: E Telco Step-by-Step Switch (Nadia Smyrniw) New NPA's Starting to Confuse/NPA 281 Activated (Stan Schwartz) Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? (Steve Cogorno) Wanted to Buy: Used PBX and Telephones (Ray Siegel) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dreuben@interpage.net (Doug Reuben) Subject: CONY Baltimnore Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 02:03:37 EST On 28 Feb 1995 03:37:34 -0500, stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) wrote: > We've all heard the stories of the "fun" I had trying to use my CellOne > NY/NJ phone while roaming in Canada. There are still problems there, and from what I hear, CanTel hasn't been too cooperative in trying to resolve them. > Last week, I visited some friends on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. > [I was] surprised, then, when I tried to call my CellOne phone from the > hotel room and I received my voice mail! I assume you had automatic call delivery turned "ON" (ie, you had hit *350 sometime in the past?). You may want to try that to (A) make sure that Call Delivery is ON (or in NACN terms, "Do Not Disturb" is off), and (B) to "force" a registration of your phone in the visited market. > I called CellOne's 800 number, and the rep told me that even though > Baltimore is a NACN city, incoming callers had to dial a roamer access > number! Totally untrue -- you do NOT need to use the access port as a CO/NY customer roaming in Baltimore. Indeed, you may be precluded from doing so. > (Where does it say that in CellOne's map?). It doesn't! :) Only a few counties in DE on the Delmarva Peninsula USED to lack auto call delivery; they have it now. When Call Delivery (was it NACN right away, I forget ...) was set up to DC, Baltimore got it too. There were/are MAJOR, MAJOR bugs with the "Roam America"/ "Nationlink" service ONLY in the Baltimore section of the Baltimore/DC system (00013), but no one there seems to care to listen to me about these problems, and now that I don't need to use that silly system, I gave up reporting them. > The first rep mentioned something about the lack of a mutual roaming > agreement, and I wonder if this is retribution for CellOne turning off > access to roamers in NY? I doubt it, as I've used my CO/NY phone there after this nonsense with SWBell suspending roaming in NYC. If anything, it might have to do with the problems I used to experience with Nationlink/Roam America. I would activate it it the Baltimore system after getting south of Havre De Grace on I-95. I'd get the SWBell/Baltimore- DC ack. message, and figure I'd be set up and start receiving calls shortly. Well, I'd be set up right away, but the phone would never ring when someone called me. I tried it over and over and over, and it NEVER worked. Then, as I passed Baltimore, and got into the DC "portion" of the system (south of MD-32, maybe a bit further south), it would ring just fine! If I went back into the Baltimore portion, nothing, and if I went back to DC, it worked fine again. I did this maybe ten times one day just to prove to SW Bell that they did indeed have a problem, and all I got from them was "poor coverage" excuses (even though they managed to hear me fine on *611!). Now without any experimentation, I can't say for sure what is/was going on -- could be switchwork or something on that particular day. But the point is that these intercarrier roaming problems DO occur, and I'm in some ways glad to see that I am not the only one who notices them! :) I've always wondered why *I* have to notice this stuff before anyone gets it fixed. I don't mean this in an boastful way, but rather, if I can find these problems, don't you think the cell co's could HIRE or PAY someone to just drive around or whatever and test these intercarrier problems? I mean, like on Monday drive down to DC and test service through to there, on Tuesday drive to Albany and test service up that way, Weds to Boston, etc. It wouldn't have to be as rigorous as all that, maybe once a week make an excursion somewhere to test this stuff out. The point is that if I and Stan and others can detect this, shouldn't the cell co's be able to detect this earlier, and try to correct the problem BEFORE it becomes one for the customer? I can deeply sympathize with Stan -- too many times I've had to meet friends while roaming and told them to call the carphone, only to find that service for some reason or another was "out", leaving me out of contact and very, very upset. This can only harm the overall impression that a customer has of his/her cellular service. I would (like to) think that most Cell Companies would want to mitigate against this, and put more efforts into locating and remedying intercarrier roaming problems BEFORE the customer is affected. Unfortunately, in most cases typified by Stan's problems in Baltimore or his earlier (and verified, may I add) problems in Canada, this is not always the case. > CellOne Strikes Again! Hmm ... Cell One/DC-Baltimore, sure ... let 'em have it! Cell One/NY, hmmm ... I'd be slightly more hesistant to blame them. I've been very mildly criticized for casting CO/NY in a "good light" all the time, but in all honesty, they deserve it. Perhaps it is due to the utter lack of responsiveness from other carriers which I deal with (hey, GTE/SF, did you EVER get Call Waiting working in Sac/Stockton? Or Atlantic Cellular/El Dorado County, CA -- ever manage to put something simple like confirmation tones up for CA access customers?). In the above examples, I made an honest and good faith effort to report some problems, and even follow up on them. Almost all were to no avail. GTE/SF even argued with me for 20 minutes that I should NOT have called their 800 number from my cellphone while roaming, even though I was on the phone with a switch tech who was trying to diagnose the problem. Right now, in the US Cellular Poughkeepsie (00503) system, ONLY CO/NY roamers are blocked from placing/receiving ANY calls, including 611 and 911 ! All other roamers, even those with invalid ESN/MIN combos, get at the very least 611/911 service just fine. The problem is very sporadic, and has gone on for 5 days or so. (More on this in another post) I noticed this a few months ago (much more infrequently), and since I bother the roam coordinator in NY enough as it is :), I reported the problem to US Cellular's roam people in Chicago and figured they would look into it. Apparently, no one did, or at the very least, no one ever got back to me. So now, CO/NY (and other NACN?) customers can not receive nor place calls, even emergency 911 calls, for extended periods of time during the day. It's not a coverage issue, the same phone in a very strong coverage area will NOT work with a CO/NY NAM (number), but will work with a Boston account, or even a totally fictitious number. It just will NOT allow any calls with a CO/NY number. (This is sporadic -- it will not work for a few hours, then work for a few minutes, then stop working, etc.) The point is that US Cellular couldn't seem to care less about this. They "diagnosed" the problem from Oklahoma or somewhere, and had no idea of where Poughkeepsie was let alone that it was interconnected with NY. On the other hand, the minute I called CO/NY they were very concerned, they checked a number of things out, they called US Cell, and they are now "escalating" the issue so that it will be quickly resolved. I guess this the way every carrier should respond when they get a verified trouble report, but sadly, most don't, so I'm very, very pleased to find that CO/NY will listen and be very responsive when these problems do arise. The next step is to detect these problems BEFORE the customer can. To some extent, for some problems, this may not be possible. Yet I feel that if *I* can detect these problems by performing a few simple tests when I get to a roaming market, that the major cell carriers could do this as well. It would go a LONG way towards eliminating "surprises" like Stan experienced in Baltimore or Canada, and like those which CO/NY customers are currently experiencing in Poughkeepsie and most of Dutches County, NY. Doug dreuben@interpage.net CID Technologies/Interpage NSG +1 (203) 499 - 5221 E-Mail Gateway to Voice, Fax, and Pagers --> http://interpage.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 17:23:08 +0800 From: robhall@hk.super.net Subject: Plug Pulled in Hong Kong First it was threats of draconian measures from the Cyber police to clean up the net. Then it was the Pakistan government shutting down cellular service because they couldn't eavesdrop. Now, it's the Hong Kong government practicing for after the handover of Hong Kong to the PRC in 1997? In case any of you are wondering why your messages to people in Hong Kong are not being answered ... Last Friday, the Commercial Crime Bureau shutdown seven of the eight Internet Service Providers, through raids on their offices, and seized all of their computer and telecommunications equipment. Seven men and one woman were detaied for questioning and later released on bail. According to police sources, the CCB raided the companies after a complaint by the Telecommunications Authority that these services providers were running telecommunications networks without the required license. But the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) has denied it instigated the CCB raids, stating that it has been conducting its own investigation into the telecommunications licensing issue in relation to Internet service providers. The investigation is still in progress. So if your message doesn't receive a response in a timely manner, fax it. The only public service provider still in operation is hk.super.net. Rob Hall Hong Kong [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I assume if they get their business licenses in order they will be able to resume operation, correct? PAT] ------------------------------ From: spearv@ix.netcom.com (Iftikhar Masood) Subject: VoiceMail, FaxMail, Fax-On-Demand systems in European Market Date: 7 Mar 1995 09:31:55 GMT Organization: Netcom Our company (Spear Voice Systems) is looking for distributors and marketing partners throughout Europe to market our products FaxLink, and Callink. Our systems are from 4 ports to 24 ports capacity and are based on Dialogic telephony/fax boards. Our company has been in business for 4 years and has a very good sized installed base in far-east Asia. Our systems provide full and extended integration with a variety of PBXs. Integrations methods include RS232 link, Inband DTMF, and digital/hybrid telephone interfaces. At this time we have voice prompts in nine languages. The partners we seek must meet the following criteria: - Experiened in PBX and any other telecommunication equipment installation with technical support staff. Must have emphasis on the customer problem solution, rather than making a quick sale. Strong after sale support committment necessary. - Optimistic and aware of VoiceMail/Faxmail and Fax-on-demand systems market in Europe. - Expecting lucrative return based on Commission and After sales service and maintenance contracts. - Targeting small to medium sized business organizations and service bureaus. We look forward to inquiries from individuals and companies, and will provide the details to the interested parties. Please respond to our internet address contained in this message. Ifti ------------------------------ From: oehl@student.uni-kl.de (Georg Oehl) Subject: Problems With Fax Switch Organization: University of Kaiserslautern, Germany Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 10:45:46 GMT Hello there, I have a problem with my ComShare 750 Fax Switch that I purchased from a friend in California about two weeks ago: it won't pick up when someone is calling. The ComShare 750 is an active Fax Switch with extra power supply. It has one input (line-in) and four outputs (for phone, answering machine, fax and modem). On an incoming call it's supposed to direct the call -- depending on what/who is calling -- to the right device attached. But, as I said, it just won't pick up any call. The weird thing is that at a friend's house it worked just fine, ie. picked up on an incoming call. Is there a way of finding out what's wrong with my phone line, like what are the specifications for a ring of an incoming call in terms of voltage drop or resistance/impedance of the attached telephone devices (or whatever)? Another problem is that I can't report this to the telephone company, because here in Germany devices that don't have an approval sticker on them are not quite legal to connect to the phone system. Georg ------------------------------ From: udee059@bay.cc.kcl.ac.uk Subject: Position for a Research Associate at King's College London Date: 7 Mar 95 12:31:34 GMT Organization: King's College London Position for a Research Associate at King's College London ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Applications are invited for a Research Associate for three years starting 1st of April or soon thereafter. The externally-funded project is to investigate "air interface migration" from GSM. Experience of packet transmission techniques and relevant software would be an advantage. Candidates should have, or expect to have, a PhD in a relevant area. Salary will be on the RA1A scale currently from 14,962 to 17,700 pounds sterling per annum which includes 2,134 pounds sterling London Allowance (LA) per annum. Applications consisting of a CV and the names of two academic refrees should be sent to: Personnel, Physical Sciences & Engineering, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS. The CLOSING DATE is 13 March 1995. Please quote the reference number Ref W1/EE/10/95 in your application. " Equality of opportunity is college policy. " ------------------------------ From: rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Robert Levandowski) Subject: Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns...) Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York Date: Tue, 7 Mar 95 15:21:51 GMT Here in Rochester NY, the phone company (Rochester Telephone / Frontier) has what I think is an elegant solution to the Caller ID vs. crank call problem. The problem, simply restated, is: How do you balance the need and desire for privacy with the need to easily identify crank callers? And how do you set up Caller-ID blocking, etc., to be useful but not intrusive? Well, here we have Caller-ID, and per-line and per-call blocking, but you don't need Caller-ID to take care of annoyance calls. If you get an annoyance call, you hang up, and then dial *64 (or 1164 if you only have a rotary phone). This will then automatically "trace" the number (or so it says in the phone book -- more likely just grab the CNID/ANI information) and report it to the Annoyance Call Bureau at the phone company. You do NOT get a copy of the number you traced; but you can then call Rochester PD and file a complaint, and RochesterTel will turn the traced number over to the police for investigation. To keep this service from being abused, there's a $1.50 charge for every call that is successfully traced. It makes a lot of sense to me. It avoids vigilante justice; it ensures the privacy of people who legitimately use Caller-ID blocking; and it preserves the right to freedom from annoying, harassing, and threatening phone calls. And, there's no need to invest in a Caller-ID box or service for just the occasional bad call ... Rob Levandowski Computer Interest Floor associate / University of Rochester macwhiz@cif.rochester.edu [Opinions expressed are mine, not UR's.] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Mar 95 10:32:47 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: 708/630/815 Split (was Re: New NPA in Colorado) There is some of that "messy" stuff in a very old area code map I received a while back in the mail, but you're looking at the 1950s with regard to that. I'd have to do some guesswork along the lines of what I have just been told (through Telecom) about 708/630 (and 815). Area code changes made in the 1950s then would have had less effect on the public due to there being less direct-dial facility as a percentage of the entire system. But someone did write about seeing a notice left over from 1958 of dialing area code 609 in New Jersey. As for the prefixes in southwestern 708 getting put in 815, I can draw on what I have seen regarding: 1. the Pentagon (moved from 202 to 703); 2. those three prefixes in Lancaster County which moved from old 215 to 717. In other words, my educated guess is that there will be a case by case review of each prefix which would go from 708 to 815. If possible, the prefix would be put "as is" in 815. But if the prefix is already used in 815, the prefix now used in 708 would have to be replaced, and in the above cases there were two such occurrences: 1. 202-694 switched to 703-614 (703-694 in use at Stuart, which is to go to area 540 this year); 2. 215-267 switched to 717-336 (717-267 in use at Chambersburg) Unfortunately, putting parts of present 708 into 815 and 630 means that some people have to change area code again after only about 5 1/2 years. The 312/708 split only became permissive in Nov. 1989. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 10:36:18 -0500 From: nadia (n.) smyrniw Subject: Help: E Telco Step-by-Step Switch Organization: Prism Systems / Bell-Northern Research Hi, I am looking for information about an E Telco Step-by-Step Switch. I am looking for any information (Manufacturer, type of test trunk ect....) All I know about it is that it was manufacured in England in the distant past, but I don't know by whom. Maybe Strowger? If anyone has any information please let me know. Thanks in advance, NADIA smyrniw@bnr.ca ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: New NPA's Starting to Confuse/NPA 281 Activated Date: 6 Mar 1995 19:59:11 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC An article in this week's {Information Week} mentioned that the new NPA's are confounding numerous PBX's that haven't had a recent software upgrade to handle the new NPA format (a graphic showed 360, with the '6' having devil-like horns and tail). They mentioned that 334 in Alabama, 360 in Washington State, and 281 in Texas were already active. I don't remember anyone here mentioning 281's activation, but upon dialing 1-281-555-1212 I received a "Southwestern Bell" chime and the DA operator told me that 281 is the cellular overlay area code for 713 (Houston), which became active 3/1/95. Stan ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 18:10:42 PST I am in the process of converting my two lines into an ISDN line, and while on the phone today the PacBell representative said somthing a little startling. She told me "You are served off a 5ESS (which I knew), so you need to buy AT&T equipment." I thought this was a little odd, so I asked her why. SHe said that AT&T ISDN equipment will not work with a DMS-100 and Northern equipment will not work with the 5ESS. So, if I move to an area that has a DMS-100, I will have to buy all new equipment. Is this _really_ true? Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: Ray siegel Subject: Wanted to Buy: Used PBX and Telephones Date: Mon, 06 Mar 95 22:51:30 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) Wanted to Buy: PBX, and used business telephones. Also buy Used Mainframes, such as IBM, UNIVAC, and used peripherals (Disk,tape,FEPs,printers). Please FAX list of such hardware, location, and your name, address and telephone number to 201-994-4669. Ray Siegel NUDT - National Used Digital Technologies fax:201-994-4669 or e-mail raysieg@delphi.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #138 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa25378; 7 Mar 95 18:35 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15331; Tue, 7 Mar 95 12:07:03 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA15322; Tue, 7 Mar 95 12:07:01 CST Date: Tue, 7 Mar 95 12:07:01 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503071807.AA15322@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #139 TELECOM Digest Tue, 7 Mar 95 12:07:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 139 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson North America's New Toll Free Code: 888 (Norman R. Tiedemann) Seeking GSM Contacts (Jack Hurst) Home PBX Wanted (Tom Blog) Help: Do You Know This Chip? Manufacturer? (D. Emilio Grimaldo) Re: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO (Fred Goodwin) Re: AT&T Calling Card Mixup (Kareem Hinedi) Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' (Kareem Hinedi) Re: Paging Interface With Computer (Michael Berlant) Re: Pair Gain Line Problem (Steve Satchell) Re: 800 Directory Listings Wanted (Gerry Brown) Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery (George Wang) Re: Europe Postal Services and Datacom (Francisco van Jole) Re: MCI Cashes AT&T Checks (Stan Schwartz) Re: Credit Checking on Cellular Customers (Javier Henderson) Re: Automatic Message Accounting Standard Wanted (Howard M. Weiner) Re: Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? (Glenn Blanc) Save Money by Proper Use of Tariffs (Leo Berz) Long Distance Re-Billers Wanted (Richard W. Kreutzer) Re: Book Review: "Modems Made Easy" by Hakala (Rich Brown) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Norman.R.Tiedemann@att.com Subject: North America's New Toll Free Code: 888 Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:52:15 GMT A little follow up information on the Numbering Committee recommendations. All NPA of the form 2yy-9yy (with y=y=2-8) i.e. 222,233,244...288 and so on to 922,933,944...988 are reserved for non-geographical services. Secondly NPA's of this form starting with 5 are for personal services (like the 500 numbers today). The NPA's of this form starting with 8 will be toll free. Currently the plan is to make them just like 800 i.e. exact same billing, features, ... This will start with 888 and as that gets close to exhaust 877 will be next, 866 on down to 822. Each one being opened only as the previous one nears exhaust. Why isn't 9 included in the "y" list, like 599 and 899? Because NPA's of the form 299,399,499...999 will be reserved for expanded dialing. So when we run out of ten digit numbers an NPA of this form will indicate that there will be more than seven following digits. This is still quite a ways in the future, but it's nice to see they're at least thinking about it. The only thing definite about these recommendation is the 888 currently, the others are just plans and we know how they may change. The other update to the previous mail is that the rate of assigned 800 numbers is now around 50,000 per week. It seems with the news of exhaust people are scrambling for numbers. Can you imagine how long it will take all PBX vendors and telcos to get this straight. Norm Tiedemann AT&T Bell Labs IH 2G-232 att!ihlpm!normt 2000 Naperville Rd. normt@ihlpm.att.com Naperville, IL 60566-7033 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 21:00:50 CST From: jkhurst@dfw.net (Jack Hurst) Subject: Seeking GSM Contacts I am involved in an extensive consulting project. Seeking to make contacts with GSM information sources -- particularly with individuals who have managed large GSM Cellular Network installation projects. Jack Hurst ------------------------------ From: tblog@eagle.ais.net (Tom Blog) Subject: Home PBX Wanted Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 03:27:24 GMT Organization: Com Designs I will be building a house soon, and am in the market for a simple PBX. There will be three incoming lines (perhaps one dedicated to computer/fax), serving eight to ten stations. Minimum features should include paging, hold and pickup. Not sure how to handle answering machine. All stations home run to punchdown block. Any suggestions/recommendations/sales pitches welcome. Thanks, t blog [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way you handle the answering machine is to assign it an extension of its own; let's say extension 21. Whatever extension you assign to it, that's the same extension you want to have the PBX use for calls when on 'night service', that is, where it rings through to given extensions direct when no one is available. Since most of the very small PBX things (2/3 lines, 8/10 extensions) don't have an 'operator' position as such, usually one of the extensions automatically accepts calls be default where the caller dials zero, and usually all incoming calls are automatically defaulted to one or two extensions unless you change the 'call forwarding'. The extension to which incoming calls are defaulted is the extension you want to have the answering machine. PAT] ------------------------------ From: D. Emilio Grimaldo Subject: Help: Do You Know This Chip? Manufacturer? Date: 7 Mar 1995 17:29:30 GMT Organization: Philips Electronics BV. Hello fellows, I have been looking around in the library at the data books, IC index, CD ROM and yet I have found absolutely no information on this chip, perhaps you can help me :) The chip is marked DAA-TDK, it is a 38-pin IC for telephony. I see it has pins for the TIP & RING signals (from telephone line) as well as for microphone, speaker, hook relay, Tx,Rx and other unknown signals (several Not Connected pins too). It seems the chip is also capable of Ring Detection but don't know to what extent, probably just rectifying the incoming signal without doing frequency discrimination. That's all I know, I have no idea who the manufacturers is, in any case I would like to obtain the name of the manufacturer and also the telephone/fax numbers so that I can obtain a data sheet. Please send responses to my email account as I can't check these newsgroups often enough :( Thanks in advance, Emilio ------------------------------ From: fg8578@onr.com (Fred Goodwin) Subject: Re: Yes, Yung'uns. CNID -is- Logged at Your Local CO Date: 7 Mar 1995 06:35:05 GMT Organization: Onramp Access, Inc. In article , bpc@netcom.com (Benjamin P. Carter) says: > With very few exceptions (e.g. to protect social workers who need to > call anonymously), I WOULD be willing to deny the caller the right of > anonymity. I would be equally willing to let him remain anonymous if > I had the option of blocking all anonymous calls. In other words, I > DON'T WANT TO RECEIVE ANONYMOUS CALLS. > Most anonymous callers are up to no good. In general callers have > too much privacy, and callees too little. It is time to strike a > proper balance. > I agree, and that is why I don't want to receive anonymous calls, junk > phone calls, repeated calls from jerks who won't leave messages, etc. Ben: I don't know about your local phone company, but in Texas, SW Bell provides a feature called Anonymous Call Rejection (ACR), which does what you want, i.e., it blocks calls from those who block the transmis- sion of their CID info ("blocks-the-blocker"). I have it, and I'm told the caller gets a message that the person he/she is calling (viz., ME) is not accepting anonymous calls, or something to that affect. In fact, my phone never rings, and my CID box never sees anything. You might try calling your local telco and ask if they offer a similar feature. Fred "No ad intended" Goodwin Southwestern Bell Austin, TX ------------------------------ From: khinedi@bu.edu (Kareem Hinedi) Subject: Re: AT&T Calling Card Mixup Date: 7 Mar 1995 07:12:30 GMT Organization: Boston University Robert Scott (rbs@cs.city.ac.uk) wrote: > Anyway, my question still stands. Does AT&T Charge Card have an email > address or even a fax number? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I guess you have a valid complaint > alright. Apparently someone punched the wrong plan number in the computer > when you signed up. I don't know of any way to contact AT&T Customer > Service by email, but why don't you try calling them at 800-222-0300. You > will get representatives who, if they cannot help you, will transfer to > representatives (for the correct plan) who can. PAT] Since this person is in the United Kingdom, he cannot call an 800 number (unless things have changed since I lived in Europe). AT&T's calling card customer service number is 304-341-3020 (they will accept collect calls from overseas). If this person has the AT&T Universal Card (I don't think he does, but just in case), the collect number is 904-448-8661 Kareem A. Hinedi Boston University School of Public Health [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, yes people in the UK can call 800 numbers in the USA now-a-days; at least quite a few 800 numbers. Over the past few months that has been changing quite a bit. Even if there were not the ability to dial 800 numbers direct, services such as USA Direct have for quite a long time accepted 800 numbers when requested through the operator. PAT] ------------------------------ From: khinedi@bu.edu (Kareem Hinedi) Subject: Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' Date: 7 Mar 1995 07:17:18 GMT Organization: Boston University Actually, as late as 1988 or 1989, there was no direct dial service to Syria. You had to "book" the call with the AT&T operator. You would call the operator and he or she would try up to three times. If unsuccesful, the operator would continue to try for up to two hours and call you back when the call went through. This was EXTREMELY costly: you paid the first three minutes up front whether the party answered or not unless you asked for person-to-person which was even more expensive. I am sure this is still used for the few countries which cannot be reached by direct dialing. Kareem A. Hinedi Boston University School of Public Health [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the majority -- maybe all -- of the still non-direct-dialable places in the world from the USA are in northern Africa and the Middle East. I think there are historic reasons for this going back many years ago when many countries in Africa were colonies of France. The telecom in France held very tight control over the cables between Europe and Africa; AT&T got to use them when the French telecom people said they could; no more, no less. I remember when I was quite young, to call Syria, Egypt, (what we then called) the Belgian Congo and places between there and Egypt to the north you would ask your operator for the international operator. In turn the AT&T inter- national operator would 'book' the call with the international operators in Paris. I think Paris allowed AT&T to have the circuit for two or three hours each day, and there were always more calls waiting to get through on the USA side than there was time or circuits allowed. So when your turn in the queue came up, as often as not the next day after you requested it or the day following, a call would be placed to the AT&T international operator: "Hello White Plains, this is Paris, we are ready now to attempt the call for your customer John Doe in Chicago. AT&T would ring up the subscriber and once they got him on the line, then Paris would try to place the call. No matter if it was 2 pm or 2 am ... and the Paris operator would ring the operator in the country you were calling; in turn that one would ring the operator in the town in particular and that one would ring the local number on their old-fashioned manual switchboard. Each of the African telephone operators along the way were quite mystified by the fact that 'an American is calling from the States ... '; it might well have been the first time they had ever had such a call. Sooner or later they would locate the party being called (telephone numbers meant nothing; maybe someone would leave the telephone exchange building and go outside to look for the person if he did not answer his phone). Presently the called party would come to the phone, and the sequence would reverse itself with each operator telling the one ahead of her that they now had the connection established. Although Paris (and for that matter the AT&T operator) could hear the African operators talking among themselves, protocol and courtesy dictated that Paris wait until the operator directly beneath her in the chain addressed her to say the connection was now up. Then Paris would respond, "go on now, White Plains, I have your call ready." The AT&T international operator in White Plains, NY would tell you to proceed, 'and flash me when you are through talking' (supervision was apparently zilch going across the ocean). When you finished you would flash, and in a second or two the operator would be back on the line, 'this is the operator, are you through?' (or 'are you finished?') and about the same time because the connection was coming down through all the interim points in Africa, Paris would see this and be back on the line asking, 'are you through?'. Now and then however, maybe you were not finished ... maybe you got cut off in error ... the AT&T operator would blame Paris, 'you disconnected me!'. Paris would staunchly deny doing any such thing and blame the operator in Africa. In fact it may have been your local exchange operator who screwed up, but none of them down the line would ever admit it. Cost of a five minute call to Africa in those days was about twenty to forty dollars. Rates of $12-15 for the first three minutes were average. All calls were 'person to person'. The non-diable points in Africa are still among the most expensive calls possible. PAT] ------------------------------ From: lnjptyo1.mberla01@eds.com (Michael Berlant) Subject: Re: Paging Interface With Computer Date: 7 Mar 1995 09:03:41 GMT Organization: EDS Japan In article , zqhuang@sunmp.csd.hku.hk says: > Does anybody know if there is a paging receiver that can be > connected to a computer so that data received over the air can be > sent to the computer? Motorola has a cradle which holds a Motorola Advisor pager and transfers received alphanumeric pages to an RS-232 line. They were demonstrating the system at COMDEX as a way for firefighting companies to receive call information over the air and interface the received page with their electronic map software in the fire truck. ------------------------------ From: ssatchell@BIX.com (ssatchell on BIX) Subject: Re: Pair Gain Line Problem Date: 7 Mar 95 09:16:06 GMT Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation The original question was why the "pair-gain" line restricted modem speed to 9600 bps. The problem is that most "pair-gain" systems use some form of ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse-Code Modulation) which reduces the bitstream rate from the standard 64 kilobits/s to something smaller. ITU-T G.721 (the most common pair-gain system used in US/Canada subscriber circuits) partially obliterates phase relationships, affecting V.29, V.32, V.32 bis, and V.34 significantally. Other algorithms (G.726, Oki-ECI) are less trouble but will slow down modem connections. France used to have a 4:1 algorithm that was guaranteed to kill *any* phase-modulation scheme, so that the only thing that worked was FSK. Stephen Satchell, Satchell Evaluations ------------------------------ From: gerryb@Eng.Sun.COM (Gerry Brown) Subject: Re: 800 Directory Listings Wanted Date: 6 Mar 1995 17:41:22 GMT Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc. Reply-To: gerryb@Eng.Sun.COM While not a crossdirectory, The following URL is great: http://att.net/800 I imagine that this is just AT&T 800 numbers. ------------------------------ From: gcw@hh.sbay.org (George Wang) Subject: Re: Motorola Flip Phone and Low Battery Date: 6 Mar 1995 11:39:56 -0800 Organization: Hip-Hop BBS Sunnyvale, California In Greg Abbott writes: > Another less convenient option is to buy or build a 12v battery back > (I built a 4A pack for about $25 in a pretty nice case with a carry > strap). Buy the cigarette lighter plug accessory for the flip phone > and then plug it into your battery pack. This will give you a couple > of days of standby and several hours of talk-time. I use mine if I > know I'm going to be away from the charger for awhile (like at a > transmitter site for an extended outage or allignment session). I > built another one of these for my brother. He takes it out on his > boat on weekends and talks quite a bit with no problems at all. Actually, Motorola sells such a battery (12V lead-acid type used in older VHS Camcorders) with a female cigarette lighter adapter. This could be used to plug into your portable cigarette lighter adapter (male plug). I believe the Motorla part number is SNN4170 (Soft-Pak Replacement Battery). Motorola has a direct sales order line at 800-331-6456. I do not know the price. I am not sure if Motorola officially approves of such a configuration as this. Since the 12V battery is about the same voltage as your car battery (Car batteries can go up to 14.5V I hear) I suppose it should work. Just remember you also need a cigarette adapter battery cable (SKN4292) for this to work. George C. Wang Email: gcw@hh.sbay.org Alternate: gwang@mail.ntu.edu ------------------------------ From: fvjole@xs4all.nl (Francisco van Jole) Subject: Re: Europe Postal Services and Datacom Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 23:50:35 +1000 In article 70262.2741@compuserve.com (Elizabeth Gardner) writes: > I am trying to find out which European countries have postal > services that also offer "information highway" services (for example, > e-mail, Internet In the Netherlands the Postal Service of the PTT exploits the most strange 'e-mail service' I've ever heard of. You can type a message (at the rate of about 1$ a minute) into a Videotex-system. Next the PTT prints the message, puts it in an envelope and takes it to the real mailbox of the receiver. The advantage they advertise with is that you can send mail until 21.30h (normal 19.00h) that will be delivered the next day. Regards, Francisco van Jole [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Can't you prepare the message ahead of time in a file, then quickly download the file in less than a minute to save time on the costs? PAT] ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: MCI Cashes AT&T Checks Date: 6 Mar 1995 19:52:07 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Scott Lorditch (gryphon@j51.com) wrote: > Over the past few months I've gotten several solicitations in the mail > to switch to AT&T. One of them was in the form of a check for $40. We > currently use MCI, so I called their customer service number. While > they don't publicize it, MCI will redeem these checks for their face > value in an "MCI Certificate of Savings". And further, for each month > that I hold the certificate before cashing it, it's value increases by > another $5, for up to 12 months. So, the useless $40 check from AT&T > will save me $100 on my MCI bill this time next year! Sprint did the same for me a while back -- gave me $75 in credits after I sent them my AT&T check. I showed my appreciation by switching to MCI for their 50% off all calls for six months promotion. Stan ------------------------------ From: javier@twg.com (Javier Henderson) Subject: Re: Credit Checking on Cellular Customers Organization: The Wollongong Group Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 11:58:11 GMT In article , Steve Samler writes: > What is the common practice today when someone applies for cellular > service? Credit check via one of the consumer credit agencies or via > D&B if a business is the applicant? > Is an additional credit check done if someone adds on a cellular modem? > Is anyone using the practice of approving to a certain dollar limit > and then cutting off service for the rest of the billing period if the > limit is reached? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A credit check is done, and a deposit > equal to what the carrier estimates will be the charges for one or two > months is required if the subscriber's credit rating is not up to the > standards the carrier wants. I don't think it matters if you use a modem > or not. PAT] There are two providers in LA: Cellular One and AirTouch. I applied with Cellular One first, and was told I needed to come up with a $1,000 deposit. I then called AirTouch, and was approved without a deposit at all. About a month later I had a chance to look at my credit reports from the three majors: TRW, TransUnion and Equifax. All is well there, so I've no idea with Cellular One wanted such a large deposit. TRW showed an inquiry from both carriers, so obviously they both looked at the same report. Javier Henderson javier@twg.com ------------------------------ From: hmweine@PacBell.COM (Howard M. Weiner) Subject: Re: Automatic Message Accounting Standard Wanted Date: Tue, 07 Mar 1995 09:36:08 -0800 Organization: Pacific Bell Strategic Systems Architecture In article , telenet!emerson!ggoldman@ uunet.uu.net (Gerry Goldman) wrote: > Can anyone tell me where I can get information on the Automatic > Message Accounting (AMA) format. This is purported to be a Bellcore > format for ATM billing records. If you are referring to the generic requirements for ATM/Cell Relay AMA, see Bellcore GR-1110. Most of the requirements are in section 10. If you are referring to the AMA message formats (layouts), those are always contained for all services in GR-1100. You really need GR-1110 to understand the requirements for ATM related AMA, though. For information on ordering, you can call Bellcore Customer Relations at 1-800-521-CORE or (908)699-5800. Howard M. Weiner hmweine@pacbell.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 11:25:14 -0700 From: Glenn Blanc Subject: Re: Anyone Heard of SMR - Specialized Mobile Radio? In article , murrays@clipper.robadome.com (Scott Murray) says: > I was wondering if anyone had any info on SMR -- Specialized Mobile > Radio. I have been approached by a company in Florida to buy an SMR > channel. The channel is in the 851-866Mhz range and is used by > companies to provided cellular like service at a cheaper rate. The > channels are supposedly given out by the government on a first come > first serve basis, but this company wants to charge by $3500 to file > all the paper work and guarantees me a channel or my money back. As others have speculated this kind of "investment" in SMR is most likely a Scam. I am the Director of Regulatory Affairs for OneComm (formerly CenCall). We are in the process of Merging with Nextel, DialCall and Motorola to become a Nationwide Digital SMR provider. Most of these Scams involve preparing an application that costs $125.00 to the FCC and $200.00 to a Frequency Coordinator. For this the Scam operator charges $3,500-$7,000. Several have been shut down by the FTC (Metropolitan and Columbia in NY, DCI in California and the SEC closed ComCoa in Florida. The sales people just set up shop somewhere new and the Scam goes on. The FTC has a hot line you can call for more info at 202-326-2527. As others have pointed out, we can apply for the same frequencies rather than buy or lease them from someone else. The big thing that these Scam operators say is that companies like OneComm will lease channels from you for a lot of money for ever. This is what drives the financial analysis they show you and it is not true. It is not common practice in the SMR industry to lease channels. OneComm has no channels under lease from anybody. The folks at Columbia/Metropolitan sold over 4000 licenses at $7,000 each before the FTC seized them and the court apointed a receiver. Hope this sheds some light on the situation. Glenn Blanc, OneComm (AKA CenCall) 303-721-3407 ------------------------------ From: berz@ix.netcom.com (Leo Berz) Subject: Save Money by Proper Use of Tariffs Date: 7 Mar 1995 19:17:14 GMT Organization: Netcom Most companies are overpaying for communication services and do not even know it. There are many causes for this such as: paying for services no longer in use, treating voice and data as seperate requirements and not being aware of loopholes in the tariffs. One such loophole is FCC Tariff #1, which allows Intra-Lata facilities to be billed at Inter-Lata rates. There are several requirements for use of this tariff, but basically you can save up to 66% of the monthly cost for local facilities if at least 10% of the traffic they carry is Contaminated, (Inter-Lata). If you would like more information on this or other ways to reduce communication costs please contact Berz Enterprises at: E-Mail: berz@ix.netcom.com S-Mail: PO Box 620492 Littleton CO, 80162-0492 Phone: (303)692-4711 We are a full service Consulting company specializing in Voice/Data Integration, Digital Network Design and Billing Audits. Leo Berz ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Mar 95 18:24:30 MST From: rwk@AmeriCom.com (Richard W. Kreutzer) Subject: Long Distance Re-Billers Wanted I am looking for companies who re-bill long distance. If you know of any, please reply to: rwk@AmeriCom.com Regards, Dick Kreutzer AmeriCom Inc. ------------------------------ From: rbrown@onramp.net (Rich Brown) Subject: Re: Book Review: "Modems Made Easy" by Hakala Date: 7 Mar 1995 05:47:18 GMT Organization: On-Ramp; Individual Internet Connections; Dallas/Ft Worth In article ,Mon, 27 Feb 1995 14:09:08 EST, roberts@mukluk.decus.ca talked about modems being easy. The words modem and easy should *never* be used in the same sentence! Rich Brown rbrown@onramp.net ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #139 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28425; 9 Mar 95 19:37 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03443; Thu, 9 Mar 95 14:02:29 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA03435; Thu, 9 Mar 95 14:02:26 CST Date: Thu, 9 Mar 95 14:02:26 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503092002.AA03435@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #140 TELECOM Digest Thu, 9 Mar 95 14:02:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 140 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson NYNEX Special Contracts Proprietary Treatment (Joe Scotti) Call Waiting Purgatory (Robohn Scott) NYNEX: Idiocy in Pricing (Chris Labatt-Simon) Need Help Getting AT&T 1050 Phone Fixed (David Sheafer) Satellite Information Request (Eduardo Kaftanski) Callback System Hardware and Software Wanted (Bernardo Lam) More Places You Cannot Place 500 Calls From (John Shelton) 500 NPA Expansion? (Jeff Spidle) Book Review: "The Internet Navigator" by Gilster (2nd Ed.) (Rob Slade) Caller ID Question (gttm@cais3.cais.com) Taxing Your Telco Service (Michael Johnson) Precision Delay Line Application (Wade Viland) Anything Cheaper Than LCI? (Andrew Lewis Tepper) Information Wanted About Comstar (Steve Sanders) Information Wanted About Geotek Communications Inc. (David Brown) Debit Cards for LD Calling (Glenn Foote) Information Wanted About Analog Interface Parameters (Eli Cohen) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 17:14:29 -0500 From: joes@auditel.com (Joe Scotti) Subject: NYNEX Special Contracts Proprietary Treatment Dear Fellow Telecom Professional: We are seeking assistance on a very major issue in NH. To be successful in our motion we need unified support from the business community. Some background: We are a telecom company located in Hampstead, NH interest the deregulation of telecommunications in NH. After spending 20 years with AT&T and NYNEX, I started AUDITEL two years ago with the intent on being the customer advocate. Our motion, is requesting that the PUC lift this restriction and allow full public access to these special contracts. It is our belief that price and industry discrimation has developed of the last year or so and that is why NYNEX has found this obscure law of privacy! We need public support for this motion to succeed. NYNEX cannot continue these practices. I have included a copy of the motion and an example of a letter of support to be sent to the PUC. Thanks for your support!! ----------------------------- March 3, 1995 Dr. Sarah P. Voll Executive Director and Secretary State of New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission 8 Old Suncook Road Concord, NH 03301 Re: Motion to remove Proprietary Treatment for Special Contracts filed by NYNEX Dear Dr. Voll: Enclosed is an original and eight copies of AUDITEL's motion for the removal of proprietary treatment of all special contracts filed and to be filed by NYNEX. Please note that AUDITEL has requested Staff's and Office of the Consumer Advocate's concurrence. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter and its enclosures by signing or stamping and dating the receipt copy hereof and returning it to me. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Joseph J. Scotti President Enclosure --------------------- STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION AUDITEL / NYNEX Proprietary Treatment MOTION FOR THE REMOVAL OF PROPRIETARY TREATMENT OF ALL PREVIOUSLY FILED SPECIAL CONTRACTS AND ANY FUTURE CONTRACTS TO BE FILED Pursuant to PUC 203.04, AUDITEL Inc. hereby moves that all Special Contracts filed, including DR 95-010, DR 94-276, DR 94-058, DR 93-028, DR 93-054, DR 92-105 and any future contracts to be filed are made available for full public viewing under the New Hampshire Right-To-Know Law, RSA 91A and RSA 378:19. As grounds for its motion, AUDITEL states as follows: 1. NYNEX has requested Proprietary Treatment and claims that the above dockets contain customer specific information and competitively sensitive data and that this falls within the scope of "confidential, commercial and financial information" exempt from public disclosure pursuant to RSA 91-A:5(IV). It is our belief, the information contained in the above dockets contain general information pertaining to the customer locations and line sizes. This information is available to any vendor upon the completion of a "letter of agency" which is signed by the customer. 2. It is our belief, based on working knowledge of the special contract process and a review of the recent contract with MEDNET Services that there is no specific client financial information disclosed in the above dockets. 3. It is our belief that customers who enter into these special contracts are not aware that NYNEX is requesting Proprietary Treatment. There is no authorization or awareness of the customer regarding this. 4. NYNEX is claiming that these dockets contain competitively sensitive data. To the contrary, Centrex and ISDN services are only available from NYNEX in New Hampshire. There are no competitors currently offering these services. 5. In accordance with RSA 378:18, we have received written intention by NYNEX to pursue a special contract for Centrex and other network services for the Public (K-12) Schools in New Hampshire. We are requesting that all special contracts be made available for public viewing, in accordance with RSA 378:19 to avoid price and industry segment discrimination. 6. AUDITEL requests that the Commission, Staff, and OCA uphold the New Hampshire Right-To-Know law, specifically RSA 91-A:4 which states that "minutes and records of such bodies or agencies are available for public inspection" and RSA 378:19 which states that "special contracts be made public in such manner as the commission shall require, and shall constitute a part of the published schedules of the public utility making the same". WHEREFORE, AUDITEL respectfully requests that the Commission allows full public view of all special contracts previously filed and all future filings by NYNEX and grant such other relief as is just and appropriate. Respectfully submitted, AUDITEL Inc. _______________________________ Joseph J. Scotti - President AUDITEL Inc. 213 Stage Road P.O. Box 336 Hampstead, NH 03841 (603) 329-5000 Dated: March 3, 1995 ------------------------- March xx, 1995 Dr. Sarah P. Voll Executive Director and Secretary State of New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission 8 Old Suncook Road Concord, NH 03301 Re: Motion to remove Proprietary Treatment for Special Contracts filed by NYNEX Dear Dr. Voll: I am writing this letter as a concerned citizen and businessperson. I would like to extend my support for the motion submitted by AUDITEL Inc. which provides full public disclosure of all "Special Contracts" filed by NYNEX. I firmly believe this freedom of information is of the utmost importance to the businesses and citizens of N.H. to assure a level playing field and prohibit any possible industry or pricing discrimination. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ...................................... Sincerely, AUDITEL Inc. Joe Scotti joes@auditel.com 603-329-5000 x22 "Fiber Keeps You Moving!" ------------------------------ From: Robohn Scott Subject: Call Waiting Purgatory Date: Thu, 09 Mar 95 09:25:00 PST I had an interesting experience with call waiting last night. During a conversation with Mike, he received another call and put me on "wait" (I guess it's not really on "hold" since it's call _waiting_). Mike's fairly gregarious and eventually forgot about me, but I was patient and caught a short piece on Dustin Hoffman being interviewed by Bob Costas while I waited. After at least five minutes, I received a call from James, which I took and put Mike's call on wait. Well, James received another call within 30 seconds of our call, so we just said we'd talk later, but he actually put me on wait also. So I was in deadlock: Mike and James both had me on wait. "I'm connected, but I can't hang up." I stayed that way for probably another 10 minutes, switching back and forth between both waiting calls. I tried several times to go on-hook for an extended period of time (approximately 15 seconds), but each time my phone responded with a single ring. I suppose this was to remind me that I had a call waiting. Thanks alot. Eventually, James finished his other call and found me still there. We talked for a bit and then terminated that call. Then I was free to hang up on Mike, who I was sure had some emergency at this point, but he did call back when he was done with his obviously more important call. Any similar experiences? Is there a way to remedy this without getting three-way calling? Bell Atlantic is my local service provider. BTW, no names were changed because these guys are definitely _not_ innocent. Scott F. Robohn robohns@bah.com ------------------------------ From: labatt@disaster.com (Chris Labatt-Simon) Subject: NYNEX: Idiocy in pricing Date: 9 Mar 1995 06:35:06 GMT Organization: D&D Consulting OK Gang. Can anyone tell me the rationale in the following? Two "FlexPath" T1s composed of 48 DIDs total cost ~$3500/month (FlexPath is based on mileage and the location is ~2 miles from the closest switch). 48 standard individual business lines will cost about $1,200/month. Now, I'd like to know (sarcastically speaking of course) which is more difficult to install and maintain?? 2 Ts or 48 individual jacks/lines? I can't wait until the LD carries get into the local loop market. Can anyone out there explain NYNEX's rationale in this? Chris Labatt-Simon Internet: labatt@disaster.com Design & Disaster Recovery Consulting CIS: 73542,2601 Albany, New York PHONE: (518) 495-5474 FAX: (518) 432-1829 Subscribe to the Lotus Notes Mailing List (LNOTES-L) - mail for info.. For info on D&D, mail to info@disaster.com or http://www.disaster.com INTERNET/UNIX/NETWARE/LAN/WAN SPECIALISTS AND MORE ALL UNDER ONE ROOF ------------------------------ From: David Sheafer Subject: Need Help Getting AT&T 1050 Phone Fixed Date: Wed, 8 Mar 95 12:33:06 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) Hi, I have an AT&T 1050 Business system, which basically compries of one AT&T 1050 phone and 3 AT&T 1020 phones. My problem is that the 1020 phones are slaves to the 1050 phone which is the master, and thus will not work w/out the 1050. My problem is the 1050 no longer works, from what I can tell by taking it apart is that the problem is a fuse that is hardwired. AT&T will replace the phone for a $90.00 repair fee and send me a reconditioned one, (the 90.00 is flat fee). Does anyone know how the hardwired fuse could be replaced by myself. I hate to pay 90.00 for something that only requires a a part that is going to cost a few dollars. Thanks for any help. david dsheafer@delphi.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you have tested the fuse and found that indeed that is the problem, why not just get in the phone, pull it out and replace it? Hardwired or not, that's not such a big deal. If you feel it might be kind of messy then consider this other possible way of dealing with it: Is this fuse for the power supply? Do you know its rating? If so, jump the fuse inside -- that is, just solder a wire around it, bypassing it completely, and install a similar fuse in a little fuse holder in that wire instead. Leave it easier to get to in the event it blows again. And remember, a fuse that blows repeatedly is trying to tell you something. DO NOT just jump the fuse out of the line entirely. You say the fuse is 'hardwired' ... is it similar to a zenner diode? PAT] ------------------------------ From: ekaftan@sci.cl (Eduardo Kaftanski) Subject: Satellite Information Request Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 17:04:17 CDT I am looking for information about satellite footprints and reception power. Pointers to books, gopher or WWW servers or such would be really appreciated. What I need to do is to listen to an audio channel from a Satellite for PageSat's newsfeed. [Begin dreaming part] I would also like to contact some ISP that would help me get a direct satellite link with him for IP access, if at all possible. [End dreaming part] Many thanks for any answer. Eduardo Kaftanski ekaftan@sci.cl ------------------------------ From: blam@panix.com (Bernardo Lam) Subject: Callback System Hardware and Software? Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 15:06:29 EDT Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Hi, Does anyone know where I can find information about the equipment and software required for setting up a callback system? Thanks in advance, Bernardo Lam ------------------------------ From: John Shelton Subject: More Places You Cannot Place 500 Calls From Date: Wed, 8 Mar 95 6:41:41 PDT I'm still holding out hope that AT&T will get its 500 service (True Connections) in high gear soon. But in the lat 24 hours, I've received two disappointments: * Bell Atlantic called back to say they had made a corporate-wide decision to DISALLOW 1+500 calling from Bell Atlantic cell phones. When I had originally called, they thought it was just a programming problem, and they said they would look into it. * AT&T will not place calls *to* a 500 number using the Place-a-Call feature of one's own 500 number. For example, if I dial 0+500-xxx-xxxx, and enter my own PIN, I have the option of placing a call. If I dial 1+500-yyy-yyyy, I get a message saying "You cannot use your personal number service to call the number you entered" AT&T customer service had two explanations. The first was that the number I was calling was not in service (not true.) The second explanation was that they didn't allow calling 500 numbers. Ahem. =John= [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: They are no idiots. What sort of fools do you take them for? You think they are going to allow *you* to run up *their* phone bill in an uncontrolled way with 500 calls forwarded all over the universe and you paying only 15/25 cents per minute? They figure its okay for hotel switchboards to have to eat it now and then, but not Ma Bell herself! Of course I guess you could say they must know who you are and have recourse to you since you entered a PIN (unlike a hotel switchboard where the guests come, and the guests go, and if you don't get the money before they check out you never will get it), but I guess they figure its more of a problem with billing than they want to bother with. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 95 11:02:31 EST From: jspidle@VNET.IBM.COM Subject: 500 NPA Expansion? What is going to happen after the 500 NPA is exhausted? I have heard rumour of there being a 522, 533 type of relief. Is this true? Thanks, jeff spidle ss7 architect and technician advantis jspidle@vnet.ibm.com (708)240-3808 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh dear, are we to that point already? This is going to get crazier and crazier until we reach the point no one knows quite for sure where they are calling or who they reached. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Mar 1995 13:28:40 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "The Internet Navigator" by Gilster (2nd Ed.) BKINTNAV.RVW 950206 "The Internet Navigator", Gilster, 1994, 0-471-05260-4, U$24.95 %A Paul Gilster gilster@interpath.net %C 22 Worchester Road, Rexdale, Ontario M9W 9Z9 %D 1994 %G 0-471-05260-4 %I John Wiley & Sons, Inc. %O U$24.95 800-263-1590 800-263-1590 212-850-6630 Fax: 212-850-6799 %P 624 %T "The Internet Navigator" There are, of course, a great many Internet guides. Even if you include only the longer guides, with resource information and suggested destinations, I have no less than thirteen on the shelf. "The Internet Navigator", however, is not on my shelf. It is on my desk, constantly. By and large, this is an Internet guide like other Internet guides. A bit of an introduction and some history, then coverage of the major applications (email, ftp, telnet) and the more esoteric ones (gopher, WAIS, World Wide Web). Right from the front cover, though, Gilster avoids the "whole Internet" bias of so many guides and aligns himself with the dial-up user. There is, in fact, a whole chapter devoted to the use of email to access Internet resources; particularly useful to those on commercial online services, business "mail only" connections or Fidonet. There is, perhaps, no one specific that sets this among the top four books that an Internet user must have. It is more a matter of tone and completeness. Gilster is friendly without being sarcastic; mature without being dictatorial; explanatory without being verbose; and comprehensive without being in any way boring. It is, of course, very much easier to point out the flaws. Although Gilster explains "why UNIX," there is a heavy emphasis on the specific commands of mail, trn, elm and other UNIX specific programs. (In the chapter on email access to resources, Gilster has improved the earlier emphasis on CompuServe.) In spite of minor shortcomings, however, this book has a very comfortable feel to it. The material is clear and well-written, with little attempt at the sarcasm or barbed wit of some other beginner materials. One positive factor may be the grouping of functional items together, so that archie, for example, is covered in the chapter on ftp. There is only one icon; a very helpful little ship which points out Internet accessible resources for the item under discussion. The bibliography is, perhaps, more exhaustive than useful. Overall, I highly recommend this either for the beginner to the Internet, or as a very helpful reference for the seasoned Internaut. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994, 1995 BKINTNAV.RVW 950206. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver roberts@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/ User .fidonet.org Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ From: gttm@cais3.cais.com (USCG TELECOMMS) Subject: Caller ID Question Date: 8 Mar 1995 15:17:01 GMT Organization: Capital Area Internet Service info@cais.com 703-448-4470 In Caller ID the privacy indicator can be overridden on 911, 800, and 900 calls. We understand that 911 is ANI-based and 800/900 is SS7-based. Is it technically feasible to override the privacy indicator to calls placed to a public agency's emergency seven-digit or ten-digit emergency number (non-911, non-800, non-900)? If not, what would be required to make this feasible? Please reply to gttm@cais.com. Telephone: (202) 267-2860 U.S. Coast Guard (G-TTM) Fax: (202) 267-4106 Washington DC 20593 Internet: CGComms/g-t07@cgsmtp.comdt.uscg.mil [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nope, not possible. Not at least without a massive lost of trust by the public in what telephone privacy is available. That is the purpose of 911: Emergency calls are to be placed to that number. *Non-emergency* calls are NOT to go to 911. 911 is to be used for dire emergencies requiring immediate intervention by the police/fire/medical people. If your call is a bonafide emergency then I can't imagine you would not want want your identity and whereabouts knowm. Your car was stolen yesterday or you want to report an offense you saw a couple hours ago? Those are not emergencies. They should go to your administrative seven digit number. But here is a secret for you: Equip all those phones wth Caller-ID and display units. *Never* admit to (or tell anyone) having it. 99 percent of the population is not sophisticated enough to block their ID anyway and you will wind up getting most all numbers. PAT] ------------------------------ From: mwjohns@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Michael Johnson) Subject: Taxing Your Telco Service Date: 7 Mar 1995 23:10:19 -0500 Organization: The Greater Columbus Freenet Ask your long distance provider or your cellular company or pcn or pcs to itemize and explain for you how they are taxing your calls. I think you will find it all very interesting. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Indeed you will. Even local telco service has tax piled on top of tax ... federal, state, local, others. And if you are a bureaucrat at heart, and love mountains of paper and regulations, then get a job in the tax accounting department at any large telco, or maybe even at AT&T. For example, Ameritech alone has to deal with several *hundred* taxing agencies; each with their own tax rates; each with their own ideas of what should be (most everything) and should not be (very little of anything) taxed. We had a fiasco here here a few years ago involving tax on pay telephone calls. The city of Chicago wanted a certain tax on payphone calls; the suburbs wanted a different tax on their pay- phones. Both taxes amounted to a couple cents per call. Since you cannot put pennies in the payphone, (then) Illinois Bell got a ruling that the tax could be calculated by taking the total amount of payphone calls in a year, figuring the tax on the total, and prorating it among all customers in their monthly phone bills. Even after getting that ruling, they got sued in a class action and lost. So all the residence subscribers got a refund of a few cents on their bill and all the payphones had to be raised to 30 cents per call. The call actually costs 25 cents, with (get this!) one penny going to the refund that was given to subscribers; two pennies going to the government to make up for taxes not collected by the formula earlier established; one penny going to pay for the current taxes, and one penny for administrative costs. Everyone screamed about how Illinois Bell was committing robbery by 'raising the cost of a payphone call' to 30 cents, but IBT had no choice in the matter at all. Now as those pennies accumulate (the amount of the refund they gave everyone has been paid off and most of the old tax bill) they are reducing the payphone charge to 25 cents again on a suburb by suburb basis. I think Chicagoans still pay 30 cents for a payphone call while we here in Skokie pay 25 cents. Yesiree, telco tax accounting ... its a wonderful place to work and a wonderful thing to try and figure out. By all means, ask for a breakdown; you will be amazed. At least here, they don't pay fractions of a penny to one agency and fractions of a penny to another; there is a central thing called the Cook County Collector (another bureaucratic maze) and they get all the pennies; they divide them up among the agencies, etc. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wade Viland Subject: Precision Delay Line Application Date: 8 Mar 1995 04:25:29 GMT Organization: Internet Connections, Inc. (507) 625-7320 I would appreciate responce regaurding possible appliations for a passive delay line chip I am currently developing. The device is designed in a 1210 format (3.2mmx2.5mm) utalizing a combination of microstrip and coplanar technologies. The characteristic impedence is 50 ohms with time delays from 0-200ps in 20ps steps. Insertion loss to 1.3Ghz is less than 0.5dB. I stopped here because of equiptment limitations, it appears it would perform to much higher frequencies. Any ideas as to how this device might be used in either an analog or digital envirnoment would be greatly appreciated. It seems that such a device might provide a solution to MCM timming. Or perhaps a low power RF application in the SHF band. Thanks for reading. Wade tft2@ic.mankato.mn.us ------------------------------ From: Andrew Lewis Tepper Subject: Anything Cheaper Than LCI? Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 23:40:02 -0500 Organization: Administrative Computing & Info Services, Carnegie Mellon Right now I'm using LCI for LD service. I've heard of two services that may be cheaper, but each had a catch of some kind. Recently LCI increased their rates in a sort of sneaky way and I'm looking to switch: Before: Day: 17c/min, 6 second increments Night/Weekend: 13c/min, 6 second increments Now: Day: 17c/min, 6 second increments, 18 second minimum Night/Weekend: 13c/min, 6 second increments, 18 second minimum I'm not sure what category evening calls fall into. Is there a company that does strictly 6 second increments (most important), with lower day rates (2nd most important), and lower Night rates (least important) ? Also, I'm looking for an 800-number provider that is cheaper than Sprint, but will let me keep my current number. Andy ------------------------------ From: sanders@tellabs.com (Steve Sanders) Subject: Info Wanted About Comstar Organization: Tellabs, Lisle,IL Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 13:50:55 GMT I'm trying to get some information for my brother who is currently teaching English in Moscow. He has a job possibility with a British- Russian joint telecom company called Comstar. He'd like to get more info on the company, so I'm trying to help him out. If you know something about "Comstar", could ya drop me a line? Thanks, steve sanders@tellabs.com ------------------------------ From: davidb@qpsx.oz.au (David Brown) Subject: Information Wanted on Geotek Communications Inc Organization: QPSX Communications Ltd Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 07:17:07 GMT Hi, anyone from Geotek on the net? Or anyone else have contacts for Geotek, in Montvale, NJ or Philadelphia? (prefer email/fax details) Geotek are supposed to be offering local area frequency hopping voice/data radio comms, not quite telecom but sort of related I guess. Thanks, David Brown, QPSX Communications Ltd 33 Richardson St, (Private Bag No. 24), West Perth 6005, Western AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 9 262 2218 Fax: +61 9 324 1642 Email: davidb@qpsx.oz.au ------------------------------ From: glnfoote@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Glenn Foote) Subject: Debit Cards for LD Calling Date: 9 Mar 1995 02:39:46 -0500 Organization: The Greater Columbus Freenet I am looking for companies who provide Debit "Pre Paid" Long Distance Calling cards. If you know of any, please send names and telephone numbers by E-Mail. Thanks, Glenn L Foote glnfoote@freenet.columbus.oh.us ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Mar 95 11:02:01 IST From: elic@lannet.com (Eli Cohen) Subject: Information Wanted on Analog Interface Parameters I'm looking for information in the form of articals research papers etc. on the topic: Analog Interface Parameters. The parameters I'm looking for (such as Line Impedance, Dial Tone, Cadences, etc.) should be categorized be country of origin. Thanks for your help. Eli Cohen elic@lannet.com ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #140 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa28771; 9 Mar 95 20:02 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05395; Thu, 9 Mar 95 14:50:06 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA05386; Thu, 9 Mar 95 14:50:02 CST Date: Thu, 9 Mar 95 14:50:02 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503092050.AA05386@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #141 TELECOM Digest Thu, 9 Mar 95 14:50:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 141 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson More on Hong Kong's Internet Debacle (Rob Hall) Who's the B Cell Carrier in Ithaca NY? (John Levine) Re: Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? (Howard M. Weiner) Re: Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? (Michael Berlant) Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' (Al Varney) Re: Paging Interface With Computer (Raymond Abbitt) Re: Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns) (John R. Levine) Re: Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns) (Craig Steinberger) Re: Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns) (Benjamin Carter) Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? (Richard F. Masoner) Re: Pair Gain Line Problem (Gordon D. Woods) Re: E(TACS) and GSM (Samir Soliman) Re: E(TACS) and GSM (John Leske) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 11:08:27 +0800 From: robhall@hk.super.net Subject: More on Hong Kong's Internet Debacle From the March 8, 1995 {South China Morning Post}: Police blame Internet raids on expansion ======================================== Rapid growth of the Internet was partly responsible for police raids that left thousands of users with their links to the global information superhighway severed, police said yesterday. "In the last few months, the Internet area has grown wild," head of the Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) Chief Superintendent Neil McCabe said. "Suddenly a large number of unlicensed providers [came on the market]. "We felft now was the time to do something rather than wait till it becomes a very huge and out of control commercial enterprise. It is vital that the service providers operate on a commercial footing." Last Friday, the CCB raided seven Internet service providers. Computer equipment was seized and seven men and one woman were detained for questioning and later released on police bail. An estimated 5,000 Internet subscribers in Hong Kong were disconnected as a result. The CCB initially claimed it was acting on complaints by the Telecommunications Authority that a number of Internet service providers were operating without a license. The search warrant used by the CCB to gain access to at least two of these companies' premises stated they were under suspicion of "maintaining any means of telecommunication without license" in contravention of Caption 106 Section 8(1)(a) of the Telecommunicaitons Ordinance. However, police said on Monday the raids were related to an investigation into computer hacking. The office of the Telecommunicaions Authority (OFTA), which is carrying out its own investigation into the licensing issue, has distanced itself from the CCB's actions. Since January, OFTA has been looking into what if has publicly called "grey areas" in the applicability of telecommunications licenses to Internet access providers. However, Mr McCabe said the CCB had received advise from Legal Department that no such grey areas existed. He said the primary reason for the CCB raids was hacking. "We know that hacking took place via one of the unlicensed platforms and that's what we're investigating," Mr McCabe said. The CCB move has sparked widespread criticism of the Government among Internet users. Industry analysts believe the CCB failed to consider the public interest when it cut access to the Internet without warning. "I fully appreciate people's concern, but my view is that the concerns should be expressed to the providers who have set themselves up as legitimate [but were not]," Mr McCabe said. Provider Hong Kong Internet & Gateway Services will be back in operation this morning, a company official said yesterday. The firm was yesterday granted a permit which allows it to restore the Internet to about 2,000 subscribers. end of article ------------------- Locally, this situation is being likened to Liquor and Restaurant Licensing. The current laws and procedures would require that an establishment be fully renovated, then sit empty for six to nine months before licenses would be granted. This, in a city with the second most expensive rents in the world. The government body tasked with issuing PNETS licenses (OFTA) says there are "grey areas" in its licensing policies, but the government's lawyers say there are none. I wonder, if I shared the fact that two of our three Internet IDs have been hacked (with the only licensed provider) if they would shut them down also?! Rob Hall Hong Kong ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 08 Mar 1995 19:18:06 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Who's the B Cell Carrier in Ithaca NY? I find that I'm spending enough time in Ithaca NY that I'm thinking of getting a cell phone. Oddly, there seems only to be an A carrier here, and no B carrier. This is the only part of New York with no B carrier, and it's nowhere near as rural as areas farther north and east. So can anyone tell me who has the B franchise for the NY-4 RSA? It consists of Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Schuyler, Seneca, Tompkins, and Yates counties. NYNEX/NYT is the dominant wireline carrier with some Contel and several tiny independents with one or two exchanges. TIA. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" ------------------------------ From: hmweine@PacBell.COM (Howard M. Weiner) Subject: Re: Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? Date: Thu, 09 Mar 1995 09:36:46 -0800 Organization: Pacific Bell Strategic Systems Architecture In article , cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) wrote: > I am in the process of converting my two lines into an ISDN line, and > while on the phone today the PacBell representative said somthing a > little startling. She told me "You are served off a 5ESS (which I > knew), so you need to buy AT&T equipment." I thought this was a little > odd, so I asked her why. SHe said that AT&T ISDN equipment will not > work with a DMS-100 and Northern equipment will not work with the > 5ESS. So, if I move to an area that has a DMS-100, I will have to buy > all new equipment. Is this _really_ true? Depends ... First, a small piece of the background in the ISDN saga. CCITT (now ITU) built specifications for ISDN service a long time ago. Within those standards, there is much room for interpretation and unique implementations. In early implementations, AT&T and NTI went different ways, in access protocol as well as architecture. They, of course, also felt the need to come up with unique features to distinguish themselves. Since many of the RBOCs who are deploying ISDN must work in a multivendor environment, these non-transparencies caused many problems, customer equipment being one of the major ones. Because of these issues, the major stakeholders got together and eventually hammered out something called "National ISDN" (NI), as documented by Bellcore. NI is implemented in phases, NI-1, NI-2, NI-3, etc., where NI-2 does not obsolete NI-1, but builds on it without changing the basic protocol. So, your NI-1 compliant CPE will still work (all the NI-1 supported features) after the switch has been upgraded to NI-2. Depending on the particular feature and CPE vendor, upgrading the set to accomodate the NI-2 feature could be as simple as an EPROM change. Keep in mind that because there were so many differences in implementations between the major switch vendors, the NI-1 feature set that could be agreed upon by them, is really a small subset of a combination. Of course, the feature set grows more robust in NI-2 and NI-3. PacBell is in the process of retrofitting their 5e`s and DMS100`s with NI-1 software. How far along in the process this conversion is, I longer have contact with. It sounds to me like the switch from which you are served offers only Custom (Classic ) ISDN. I think you might want to ask for more in depth technical help than that first tier rep you are talking with. Find out what the upgrade plans are, etc., etc. I'm sure they can hook you up with someone who will be able to help you. If not, send me direct email and I will see if any of my old contacts can help. Howard M. Weiner hmweine@pacbell.com ------------------------------ From: lnjptyo1.mberla01@eds.com (Michael Berlant) Subject: Re: Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? Date: 9 Mar 1995 02:08:18 GMT Organization: EDS Japan In article , cogorno@netcom.com says: > She told me "You are served off a 5ESS (which I knew), so you need > to buy AT&T equipment." This is partly true. You need to by AT&T-*compatible* equipment. You will not need to buy AT&T brand equipment. I have successfully installed ITT Cortelco equipment, which is program-switchable between AT&T Custom, Northern Telecom DMS-100, and NI-1 from the keypad. Aside from this versatility, this equipment is more feature-rich and user friendly. For example, AT&T equipment will not pass call progress information to the caller (such as "Number Busy" or "Number Not Assigned"), but the ITT equipment will. ------------------------------ From: varney@usgp2.ih.att.com (Al Varney) Subject: Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' Organization: AT&T Network Systems Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 17:18:17 GMT In article , Kareem Hinedi wrote: > Actually, as late as 1988 or 1989, there was no direct dial service to > Syria. You had to "book" the call with the AT&T operator. > I am sure this is still used for the few countries which cannot be > reached by direct dialing. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the majority -- maybe all -- of > the still non-direct-dialable places in the world from the USA are in > northern Africa and the Middle East. I think there are historic reasons > for this going back many years ago when many countries in Africa were > colonies of France. The telecom in France held very tight control.... While I enjoy banging on the French telecom as much as anyone, I'm not sure that this reasoning accounts entirely for "non-dial" countries. And certainly not the current list (circa 1994): North Africa/Middle East Other ------------------------ ----- Somali Republic Afghanistan Spanish Sahara Burma Sudan Easter Island Laos Midway Pitcairn Island Wake This excludes Cuba, which used to be "non-dial" except for City Code 99, Guantanamo Bay. (Or you could say 5399 is the Guantanamo COUNTRY CODE.) Hmm ... Could you blame Afghanistan/Burma/Laos on the French telecom too? :) Then they would be responsible for all the non-island non-dial countries ... Al Varney - just my opinion - and I don't really believe France and its telephone empire are to blame for all the ills of the world. ------------------------------ From: rabbitt@ccnet.com (Raymond Abbitt) Subject: Re: Paging Interface With Computer Date: 9 Mar 1995 08:11:39 -0800 Organization: CCnet Communications (510-988-7140 guest) HUANG Zhengqian (zqhuang@sunmp.csd.hku.hk) wrote: > Does anybody know if there is a paging receiver that can be > connected to a computer so that data received over the air can be > sent to the computer? Depends on what you want to do with the data. I haven't seen any fully integrated system (I looked into this a couple of years ago) but there are a number of ways to do it. Depending on the paging format used, the decoding can be decidedly non-trivial, but if you are more of a software than hardware type a modified pager can be used. If you would rather spend money than time, there are a number of solutions on the market ranging from stand-alone systems meant to control some device to hardware/software packages meant for system monitoring and testing (the application that I was interested in). Check the mobile radio trade magazines. There are a number of manufacturers out there. Ray ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Mar 95 13:09 EST From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns...) Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass. That Call Trace feature is available every place CNID is, and in many places like California where it isn't. Of course, Call Trace is more work and less money for the telco, so they've done their best to make it hard for people to use it, e.g. in some places you have to presubscribe for a monthly fee in order to use it, they charge several dollars per use (unlike the traditional annoyance call bureau which is available at no extra charge), and they usually make you state that you're willing to go to court before they'll do anything with the traced numbers. Another feature far more useful than CNID for stopping crank calls is Call Block. With that service, you dial a few digits after an unwanted call and all further calls from that number go to a recording. Your phone won't even ring. Both of these services are unaffected by CNID blocking, by the way. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" ------------------------------ From: stein-c@acsu.buffalo.edu (Craig Steinberger) Subject: Re: Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns...) Reply-To: stein-c@eng.buffalo.edu Organization: SUNY at Buffalo CFD Lab Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 20:58:38 GMT In article , Robert Levandowski wrote: > Here in Rochester NY, the phone company (Rochester Telephone / Frontier) > has what I think is an elegant solution to the Caller ID vs. crank call > problem. > To keep this service from being abused, there's a $1.50 charge for > every call that is successfully traced. Why should the customer (aka "the victim") have to pay in order to prosecute someone who is violating the law by placing annoyance calls. What's next? Should I have a major credit card available before I call the police to investigate a break in? IMHO, the cost for the call should be waived if the customer decides to file a complaint. Craig Steinberger stein-c@eng.buffalo.edu SUNY at Buffalo, Computational Fluid Dynamics Lab http://cfd20.eng.buffalo.edu/~stein-c/craig.html send email with subject "PGPKEY" for PGP public key ------------------------------ From: bpc@netcom.com (Benjamin P. Carter) Subject: Re: Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns...) Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest) Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 00:59:39 GMT rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Robert Levandowski) writes: > Well, here we have Caller-ID, and per-line and per-call blocking, but you > don't need Caller-ID to take care of annoyance calls. > If you get an annoyance call, you hang up, and then dial *64 (or > 1164 if you only have a rotary phone). > This will then automatically "trace" the number (or so it says in > the phone book -- more likely just grab the CNID/ANI information) > and report it to the Annoyance Call Bureau at the phone company. You > do NOT get a copy of the number you traced; but you can then call > Rochester PD and file a complaint, and RochesterTel will turn the > traced number over to the police for investigation. Sounds interesting. I have a couple of questions. Does this system work even if the caller attempts to block his ID, or if he is far enough away to defeat the usual Caller ID, or if he is calling from a place with its own switchboard? Do the cops feel obliged to investigate every complaint? Ben Carter internet address: bpc@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: richardm@cd.com (Richard F. Masoner) Subject: Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? Date: 8 Mar 1995 21:30:51 GMT Organization: Central Data Corp. This piece of professionally crafted rhetoric is indeed a clever bit of writing, designed to make you react emotionally without making any real arguments. Anyway ... > Power Rangers. Sen. Larry Pressler, R-South Dakota and chair of the > Senate Commerce Committee announced Bell Atlantic was prepared to take > Big Bird and Barney off the government's hands and syndicate it to > cable, satellite and television outlets. Americans could still enjoy > Big Bird -- for a fee, of course. Barney and Big Bird would obviously have a life if Federal PBS funding were axed. I'm not sure about the "for a fee, of course" phrase, since we *already* pay a fee through our tax dollars. I, myself, enjoy listening to Click & Clack on NPR's "Car Talk," but I would have no problems cutting funding for left-leaning shows such as "Morning Edition." There is *much* more to PBS than Sesame Street, boys and girls. [Notes about attempts by evil capitalist foreigner who talks with a funny accent to compete with 'Merican networks, by Jingo!] Did anyone else catch this? This is propoganda pure and simple -- the writer is trying to pull the wool over yer eyes, yanking your chain with Jingoistic "America First!" language to hide the fact that this guy's a socialist. > Perhaps the bitter battle over Big Bird and Barney's future > makes a bit more sense now. Makes perfect sense: "Capitalism is evil, communism is good." Richard [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You sir, are going to be turned in to Senator McCarthy for investigation based on that comment. The last time I talked to Joe, he said I needed to supply a hundred more names to keep from getting investigated myself. Thanks for making my job a lot easier for me. On a related note, did you see the report in the papers a couple days ago where some little kid goes in the kitchen to get his mother? He has been watching television and is crying. He says, "mama, Barney says he has to go away and I won't be able to see him any more unless you send him some money." I thought to myself, those #$$%# !! Appealing to the little kids like that ... but the station which aired that said later it was only coincidental that the plea to 'help save public broacasting' went over the air at the time it did; they say they are trying to keep the kids out of it. Sure they are ... they know the success the commercial advertisers have each week on Saturday morning advertising during the children's programs. The little brats see the products advertised, then harrass their parents until they get their way and have one (of whatever) of their own. PAT] ------------------------------ From: gdw@fozzie.wh.att.com (-gordon.d.woods) Subject: Re: Pair Gain Line Problem Organization: AT&T Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 15:09:41 GMT In article , ssatchell on BIX wrote: > The original question was why the "pair-gain" line restricted modem > speed to 9600 bps. > The problem is that most "pair-gain" systems use some form of ADPCM > (Adaptive Differential Pulse-Code Modulation) which reduces the > bitstream rate from the standard 64 kilobits/s to something smaller. Most seems to be a bit strong. Although most pair gain systems can support low bit rate voice (ADPCM above), it is a special option and the equipment costs more. I don't think it is actually installed much just because of the problems it causes. We should remember that many telcos are moving toward "integrated" environments where the PCM is not converted to voice at the local CO but remains PCM until the destination end office. In this environment ADPCM needs to be translated back to regular PCM with special hardware. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 08:25:34 -0800 From: ssoliman@qualcomm.com (Samir Soliman) Subject: Re: E(TACS) and GSM In Sam Spens Clason wrote: > In shirleyg@stanilite.com.au writes: >> GSM is digital whereas TACS is analog. This means your calls are more >> secure but the coverage will possibly be not as extensive as it is a >> newer technology (thats the way with GSM and AMPS in Australia anyway). > AMPS is on 800MHz, thus those radiowaves "travel farther". ETACS, NMT > and GSM are the same however and should behave about the same. Older > tech typically has better coverage since it's been around for a while. It is not really older vs. newer technology issue, it is the difference in the base station receiver sensitivity that accounts for the better coverage. Analog technologies have narrower receiver bandwidth (AMPS 30 KHz and TACS 25 KHz/ 12.5 KHz) as compared to 271 KHz for GSM and hence has 10 dB better base station receiver sensitivity. CDMA on the other hand, being a spread spectrum system, enjoys 21 dB processing gain that offsets the degradation in base station receiver sensitivity and provides better coverage than alanog and other digital systems. Samir Soliman QUALCOMM Incorporated ------------------------------ From: johnl@ctin.adelaide.edu.au (John Leske) Subject: Re: E(TACS) and GSM Date: 8 Mar 1995 07:14:16 GMT Organization: Centre for Telecommunications Information Networking Reply-To: johnl@ctin.adelaide.edu.au In article 5@eecs.nwu.edu, shirleyg@stanilite.com.au writes: > Alexander Cerna writes: >> Can someone explain to me what E(TACS) and GSM are in detail? > I'm sure lots of people can! Someone will correct the bits I get wrong. frequencies with a lot more than the 1000 or so in AMPS. > GSM is a French standard which is (roughly) translated as Group > Special Mobile or something similar. Someone else will know exactly. GSM is Global System for Mobiles. It is a EUROPEAN standard. But I am sure the French reading your post can understand your confusion (France being of course the centre of not only Europe, but the world) Of course originally it _was_ an abbreviation of the french name. > GSM is digital whereas TACS is analog. This means your calls are more > secure but the coverage will possibly be not as extensive as it is a > newer technology (thats the way with GSM and AMPS in Australia anyway). Meaning that more time and effort has been spent so far providing coverage on the analogue network. However GSM is generally limited to 35km range from the base station, because of timing considerations in the TDMA technology. I have been told that on a good day, in the correct phase of the moon, while standing on four leaf clovers, you can get (some sort of) reception out to 100km with an AMPS phone. [Accurate advice on this appreciated!] So it is easier to build a larger coverage in laarge geographic areas with AMPs (and TACS for that matter) - though the quality will suffer. >> Also, this service provider that uses GSM says that they're the only >> provider that's 100% digital. One of the implications of this, they >> claim, is that their phones can't be cloned as easily as the analog >> ones. Is this true? >> Also, they say that analog systems are very prone to charge errors. >> Is this also true? Or are they just trying to scare me from going to >> the other service providers? The main charging errors that I hear about in analog systems are due to fraud and poor billing systems. There have been many comments in this news group regarding cloning and the use of stolen phone numbers. The cloning issue is certainly stopped in GSM. Phone theft is still an issue though, because SIM cards can be changed. So while there would not be extra calls on your account, there is still a reason to steal phones. Regarding the comments of levine@seas.smu.edu (Dr. R. Levine), GSM is in operation in a large number of countries: over 15 european and more than 40 worldwide. Roaming certainly is dependent on the existance of buisness agreements between operators in different countries. The GSM-MoU group is there to facilitate exactly this, and there is a lot of emphasis placed on producing these agreements. However note that there is a difference between GSM and DCS1800 - DCS1800 is a GSM system running in a different frequency band. As such these handsets can only be used in the countries (7 so far I think) that have this system. Regards, John Leske ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #141 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa29098; 9 Mar 95 20:23 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06946; Thu, 9 Mar 95 15:16:04 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA06937; Thu, 9 Mar 95 15:16:01 CST Date: Thu, 9 Mar 95 15:16:01 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503092116.AA06937@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #142 TELECOM Digest Thu, 9 Mar 95 15:16:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 142 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Questions About Format of Printed Telephone Numbers (Rob Hall) Re: New NPA in Colorado (David W. Tamkin) Re: True NANP and Common Dialing Practices (Al Varney) Re: What is ESF and D4? (Al Varney) Re: Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? (Bob Larribeau) Re: Credit Checking on Cellular Customers (Robert Levandowski) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Mar 1995 17:21:58 +0800 From: robhall@hk.super.net Subject: Questions About Format of Printed Telephone Numbers Below is recommendation E.123 in response to the question posed by Jeff Wolfe in Volume 15, Issue 133. Please note that a number of special characters cannot be reproduced here. Suggest you might wish to access the PostScript format files available from the ITU which will include these symbols. Recommendation E.123 NOTATION FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE NUMBERS 1 General The statements below apply specifically to the printing of national and international telephone numbers on letterheads, business cards, bills, etc. Regard has been given to the printing of existing telephone directories. The standard notation for printing telephone numbers on letterheads, directories, etc., helps to reduce subscriber difficulties and errors. 1.1 The international number should be printed below the national number, with corresponding digits lined up one under the other to facilitate understanding of the composition of the international number as shown in the examples in 1.3 and 1.4 below. 1.2 The words "National" and "International" in the appropriate language should be placed to the left of the national and international numbers, and these should be separated by a horizontal line. 1.3 Either the symbol for telephone given in Recommendation E.121 or the word "Telephone" in the appropriate language should be placed to the left of (or above) the national and international numbers (to avoid confusion with other letterhead numbers). The + (plus) signifies the international prefix (see ' 4.1). Example: Telephone National Inter (0607) 123 4567 International +22 607 123 4567 (Additional examples are shown in ' 6 below.) 1.4 Because the countries of World Numbering Zone 1 (North America) have the country code 1, the same number as is used for the trunk prefix, and because dialling between these countries is the same as long-distance dialling within them, subscriber difficulties are avoided by using an alternative notation that has been found superior for use within these countries and equally good for subscribers in other countries dialling to Zone 1. This is to substitute for "National" on the upper line the phrase "Within N. Amer. zone". Example: Telephone Within N. Amer. zone (302) 123 4567 International +1 302 123 4567 1.5 If it is desirable to write only the international number, it should be written in the form: Telephone International +22 607 123 4567 1.6 To show an extension number of a PABX without direct in-dialling, the nationally used word or abbreviation for "extension" should be written immediately after the telephone numbers and on the same line as the word "telephone", followed by the extension number itself. Example 1: Telephone Within N. Amer. zone (302) 123 4567 International +1 302 123 4567 ext. 876 Example 2: Telephone International +22 607 123 4567 ext. 876 In this way, the extension number is separated from the digits to be dialed and, where it must be typed onto a letterhead, for example, it need be typed only once. 1.7 It is often necessary to draw the attention of subscribers to the need to omit the foreign national trunk prefix when dialling an international call. This need occurs when the destination country conventionally writes its telephone numbers such that the trunk prefix appears with the trunk code (in parentheses). To compose a comprehensible and accurate statement can prove difficult: suitable forms are given in Recommendation E.122, '3.2. 1.8 Grouping the digits of a telephone number is advisable for reasons of memorizing, oral presentation, and printing. 2 Classes of symbols 2.1 There are four classes of symbols in national or international numbers. No symbol should be used in more than one class, nor should any symbol within a class have more than one meaning. 2.2 These classes are: - diallable symbols (in French: symboles servant ` la composition du numiro); - procedural symbols (in French: symboles opiratoires); - information symbols (in French: symboles d'information); - spacing symbols (in French: symboles d'espacement). 3 Dialable symbols A dialable symbol is a symbol which is to be dialled and appears on a telephone set to designate either a finger hole of a dial or a push button of a keyset. These symbols can be digits, letters, or other signs. Some desirable properties to be considered when selecting diallable symbols are listed in Annex A. 4 Procedural symbols A procedural symbol is a symbol which tells the subscriber how to dial. Such symbols should not appear in a finger hole or on a push button because they are not to be dialled. 4.1 International prefix symbol The international prefix symbol should be + (plus) and should precede the country code in the international number. It serves to remind the subscriber to dial the international prefix which differs from country to country and also serves to identify the number following as the international telephone number. 4.2 Use of parentheses The symbol ( ) (parentheses) should be used to indicate that the digits within the ( ) are not always dialed. The ( ) should enclose: - the trunk prefix and trunk code in a national number, - the trunk code when the trunk prefix is not in universal use within a country. This is done to remind the user not to dial the enclosed digits for calls within the same numbering area. The ( ) should not be used in an international number. 4.3 Multiple numbers reached through automatic search For a subscriber with multiple numbers reached through automatic search from the main number, only the main number should be printed, without any symbol to denote the existence of the multiple numbers. This avoids encouraging subscribers to dial other numbers in a group immediately after finding the main number busy, a problem that is particularly important when only calls to the main number are capable of triggering automatic search. 4.4 Multiple numbers without automatic search For a subscriber with multiple numbers who does not have automatic search, the symbol / (oblique stroke, solidus, or slant) may be used to separate the alternative numbers. Example A: (0607) 123 4567 / 123 7272 / 627 1876 (0607) 123 4567 / 393 9844 / 564 1692 +22 607 123 4567 / 393 9844 To avoid dialing confusion in Example A, it is especially important that there be a space on either side of the symbol /. When it is desired to abbreviate the alternative numbers and they are consecutive, only the last digit should be shown for the alternative numbers. Example B: (0607) 123 4567/8/9 To avoid dialing confusion in Example B, it is especially important that there be no space on either side of the symbol /. The general use of / is to indicate a choice when dialing. It may therefore also be used to indicate a choice of prefix codes as, for example, the choice of dialing personal or station calls. 4.5 In-dialling In the national and international number no symbol should be used to show that a subscriber number is an in-dialling number of a PBX. Where it is desired to indicate the existence of in-dialling within a PBX and to indicate the in-dialling access code the following format is recommended: (0607) 123 . . . . (0607) 1 23 4 . . . The number of dots (periods) is equal to the number of digits in the extension number of the PBX. The spacing between numbers and dots should conform to national standards. On letterheads, subscribers could insert their own in-dialing numbers in the dotted spaces. Presentation of the main listed number should conform to 1.3 above. 4.6 Symbol to indicate the existence of an additional dial tone Some Administrations use one or more additional dial tone responses as procedural elements, after the calling customer obtains access to the public network. Where a symbol is needed to indicate the existence of an additional dial tone, that symbol should be the graphical representation of a full cycle of a sine wave, or a close approximation to such a representation. It should be placed at the point in the number where it is expected to occur, and it should be preceded and followed by a space to avoid confusion with a hyphen used as a spacing symbol (' 6.1). Its meaning is to tell the user to wait for the additional dial tone. 5 Information symbols An information symbol is a symbol associated with the subscriber number describing special features of the subscriber telephone service, e.g., the symbol , where used, indicates that the subscriber has an answering device attached to his telephone [reference should be made to Recommendation E.117, '' 1a) and 1b)]. 5.1 Such symbols are not to be dialled and therefore should not appear in a finger hole or on a push button, nor can such symbols be procedural in instructing the subscriber how to dial. 5.2 Information symbols should be associated with the word "Telephone". To avoid confusion in dialling, they should not appear either as prefixes or suffixes to the telephone number. Example: Telephone (0607) 123 4567 or Telephone (0607) 123 4567 Some commonly used existing groupings are: Telephone National Inter (0211) 5432 International +39 211 5432 Telephone National Inter (071) 78 901 International +41 71 78 901 Telephone National Inter (06) 65 43 21 International +49 6 65 43 21 See also the example below. 6 Spacing symbols Spacing symbols are symbols which are used solely to separate parts of a telephone number from each other. They cannot be diallable, procedural or information symbols. 6.1 Grouping of digits in a telephone number should be accomplished by means of spaces unless an agreed upon explicit symbol (e.g. hyphen) is necessary for procedural purposes. Only spaces should be used in an international number. 6.2 In the international number, spacing shall occur between the country code and the trunk code and between the trunk code and the subscriber number. 6.3 The major separation among digits in a telephone number (national or international) should occur between trunk code and subscriber number. This separation should therefore always be wider than any other separation within the number. This requirement is automatically met in the notation recommended, as in the examples. 7 Facsimile number notation The printed format for facsimile numbers should follow the conventions set forth for voice telephone numbers except that facsimile numbers should be clearly labeled with the upper-case letters FAX printed to the left of the numbers as illustrated here: FAX National Inter (06) 65 43 21 International +49 6 65 43 21 The recommended appearance of the printed facsimile symbol (FAX) is specified in Recommendation E.121. ANNEX A (to Recommendation E.123) Desirable properties of dialable symbols This annex lists some desirable properties to be considered by the CCITT when this body standardizes new dialable symbols. There are a large number of properties which are desirable for such symbols, and those indicated below seem particularly relevant. However, their relative importance has not been evaluated, and it is recognized that it may not always be possible to fulfil all these conditions when selecting symbols. The properties of diallable symbols should be: A.1 Distinct from other dialable symbols As used here, "distinct" refers to dissimilarity from other symbols compared with them visually, or aurally. The dissimilarity should be evident in low probability of confusion with other symbols under degraded perceptual conditions. A.1.1 The symbols should be visually distinct in their designated form as well as in typewritten, handwritten, or printed form, including variations which might occur in each. A.1.2 The symbols should be aurally distinct in naming them in at least the official languages of the ITU. A.2 Widely known name The name of the symbol should be as widely known as possible and be constant over as wide a range of population as possible. A.3 Reproducible The symbol should be easily reproducible in handwritten and typewritten form. A.4 CCITT-ISO compatible The symbol should be one which is given as a member of the CCITT Alphabet No. 5 and the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard code for information interchange. A.5 Made up of a single character The symbol should not be composed of more than one individually valid symbol. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 95 00:42 CST From: dattier@wwa.com (David W. Tamkin) Subject: Re: New NPA in Colorado TELECOM Digest Editor noted in : > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Can you believe they had the nerve to > settle the 312/708/630 fiasco late last week by deciding that we in > the northern suburbs will have to have *our* area code changed to 630 > later this year. ... 708 will be almost directly straight west of > Chicago in the western suburbs, with part of 708 in the southwestern > suburbs moved into 815 (which for the most part is quite underused.) > All we northerners have to move to 630. ... ] That's very different from what I read: I saw nothing about moving any portion of 708 into 815. Rather western and southern Cook County and eastern Will will remain 708; 630 will cover DuPage, slices of north- western Cook, Lemont Township in southwestern Cook, southern Kane, northern Will, and Kendall; northern Cook County (including PAT's home turf), most of northwestern Cook, Lake, McHenry, and northern Kane would get a new area code as yet to be determined. The three-way geographic split of 708 will thus be into 630, the new NPA, and what will retain 708. 312's boundaries will not change. (The portions of Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties currently in 815 will stay in 815; above references to those counties are only to the parts currently in 708.) The recommendation came from several suburban business associations and got the nod from an Illinois Commerce Commission's committee but is not final until the ICC's executive board ratifies it. It seems they were the first proponents of a purely geographical split who actually proposed specific boundaries; Ameritech had discarded the notion of a geographical division as impracticable from the beginning, but they've acknowledged that this one can work; they'll just need a little more time to get it going, likely until the end of 1995. [The associations' other suggestion was to keep suburban Cook County and eastern Will as 708 and to assign 630 to Lake, McHenry, DuPage, Kane, and northern Will. Lemont Township and slices of northwestern Cook would also have gone into 630, but PAT would have stayed in 708. It would have meant a two-way split of 708 rather than three-way.] This might be the first time that one NPA has split into three in a single change; some have split repeatedly and there are several cases where three or four area codes were once one, but I don't know of any other instance where one code has divided into three at once. Some prefixes moved into 717 when 610 split from 215, but perhaps this is still the first time that one NPA has been divided in one move into three entire NPA's. I could live with 630 as an overlay for wireless services, but the idea to mix 630 landlines with 708 and 312 landlines is terrible. Even five and a half years after the 312/708 split I find that people, even right here in my own border neighborhood, still rattle off phone numbers with only seven digits. That's despite there being several prefixes for which the 312 incarnation and its 708 counterpart are both close by. It would have been hell to retrain the entire populace if geographic location did not imply area code. And heck, if we're going to mix landline area codes together, couldn't 708's problems have been staved off a year or two by assigning spare prefixes from 312 in the suburbs? If that couldn't be done because suburbanites would hate to be mistaken for city dwellers, why would they accept sharing 630 with the city? I tend to think that that was another motivation behind protesting any overlay plans. Personally, I hope the new NPA gets a code beginning with 5 or 9; I find it easier to tell local area codes apart when people speak fast if they all begin with different digits, and we already have 219, 312, 414, 708, and 815 in the region, with 630 soon to join them. Also there is a practice in the area of writing "N/NXX-XXXX" as shorthand for "1 NPA NXX XXXX". That convenience would be lost if the new code starts with a digit other than 5 or 9. David W. Tamkin Box 3284 Skokie, Illinois 60076-6284 dattier@wwa.com MCI Mail: 426-1818 +1 312 714 5610 ------------------------------ From: varney@usgp4.ih.att.com (Al Varney) Subject: Re: True NANP and Common Dialing Practices Organization: AT&T Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 11:13:19 GMT In article , John Shelton wrote: > When will we really have a true North American Numbering Plan, one > that is used consistently throughout US and Canada? You have something against the other members of the NANP? (NPA 809.) > Is it really that hard to get everone to agree: > xxx - special service codes (e.g. Info, Emergency) Varies by country, if nothing else. You want to give them money to make it standard? > xxx xxxx - abbreviated form of 1+ ten digit dialing, > where the area code (NPA) is the same. We have a North American Numbering Plan: All World Zone 1 subscribers (with very few exceptions) have ten-digit telephone numbers. That's the NUMBERING plan. You're asking for a single DIALING plan. And those are under the control of individual state PUCs and various national organizations such as the FCC. You are welcome to plead your case to them and answer the complaints of their constituents, who probably like their current dialing plan just fine ... The dialing plans for North America are actually much more standardized than they were 20 years ago, so progress is being made. Be thankful that you don't have four, five and six digit "local" numbers to handle. Al Varney ------------------------------ From: varney@usgp4.ih.att.com (Al Varney) Subject: Re: What is ESF and D4? Organization: AT&T Network Systems Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 19:56:40 GMT In article , Michael Jennings wrote: > In davethez@netcom.com (Dave) writes: >> When ordering a T1 line for data, the local fiber company wants to >> know whether I'd like "ESF" or "D4". Could someone please explain >> what these terms mean? > D4 was the original AT&T (Western Electric) product used by the Bell > System for digital multiplexing of voice and data circuits at 1.544 Mb/s > over copper transmission lines. Minor nit: "D4" is the 4th generation of digital voice transmission (channel bank) technology. D1, D2, D3 and D1D were all earlier versions. D1 saw extensive deployment in the 1960s. D4 was deployed beginning in 1976. They all ran at 1.544 Mb/s over 4-wire copper pairs. Al Varney ------------------------------ From: bob@larribeau.com (Bob Larribeau) Subject: Re: Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? Date: 8 Mar 1995 01:48:54 GMT Organization: Larribeau Associates In article , cogorno@netcom.com says ... > I am in the process of converting my two lines into an ISDN line, and > while on the phone today the PacBell representative said somthing a > little startling. She told me "You are served off a 5ESS (which I > knew), so you need to buy AT&T equipment." I thought this was a little > odd, so I asked her why. SHe said that AT&T ISDN equipment will not > work with a DMS-100 and Northern equipment will not work with the > 5ESS. So, if I move to an area that has a DMS-100, I will have to buy > all new equipment. Is this _really_ true? This is very likely to be true if you buy your equipment from AT&T. If you are buying ISDN phones try Fujitsu or Lodestar. If you are talking about data there is a whole host of equipment out ther that will work on either switch. Bob Larribeau ISDN Consultant San Francisco ------------------------------ From: rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Robert Levandowski) Subject: Re: Credit Checking on Cellular Customers Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York Date: Wed, 8 Mar 95 04:39:41 GMT In javier@twg.com (Javier Henderson) writes: > In article , Steve Samler com> writes: >> What is the common practice today when someone applies for cellular >> service? Credit check via one of the consumer credit agencies or via >> D&B if a business is the applicant? > There are two providers in LA: Cellular One and AirTouch. I applied > with Cellular One first, and was told I needed to come up with a > $1,000 deposit. I then called AirTouch, and was approved without a > deposit at all. When I applied with RochesterTel Mobile, they wanted a $250 deposit. Since I am a college student, I don't usually have that much money lining my wallet, anxious to sit in someone else's pocket. :) It seems that since I haven't had residential telephone service for three continuous years (time on the campus CBX doesn't count), they think I'm a risk. Of course, the cellular business is a lot like the used-car business. As soon as my face fell, the salesman "suddenly" remembered a recent memo. It seems they can just take my credit-card number (even though I didn't have $250 credit left on it) and charge my MasterCard if I fail to pay the bill. This tune changed so quickly that I couldn't help but think it was fishy, but that's the nature of the game :/ Rob Levandowski Computer Interest Floor associate / University of Rochester macwhiz@cif.rochester.edu [Opinions expressed are mine, not UR's.] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #142 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa04077; 10 Mar 95 3:44 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA21749; Thu, 9 Mar 95 22:44:05 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA21742; Thu, 9 Mar 95 22:44:03 CST Date: Thu, 9 Mar 95 22:44:03 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503100444.AA21742@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #143 TELECOM Digest Thu, 9 Mar 95 22:44:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 143 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Singapore's Strange Info-Police (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act (Tony LiCausi) Re: Requesting Information About SDH (Claes Gussing) Re: Help Needed With Modems for Telephony API (Tony Zuccarino) Re: T1 -> Modems (John Lundgren) Re: T1 -> Modems (Doug Fields) Re: Analog Interface Parameters (John Lundgren) Re: Caller ID Question (Stan Schwartz) Re: X.25 Over ISDN - Addressing (Bob Stone) Re: Fax Modems and Voice Lines (Tony Zuccarino) Re: GSM Rental in Germany (Axel Schmidt) Re: This Newsgroup Demo'ed on PBS's "Internet Show" (Chris Hiner) Re: New NPA for Houston TX(Jeff Brielmaier) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Singapore's Strange Info-Police From: rishab@dxm.ernet.in (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Date: Thu, 09 Mar 95 23:42:40 IST Organization: Deus X Machina --==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (rishab@dxm.ernet.in) Recently the Singapore authorities have been making various announcements on the matter of creating the first fully wired country. In particular, they have been trying to address the possible conflicts between the individualistic, liberal Internet, and the paternalistic governance of the 'Asian Way'. In doing so, they have shown an interesting mix of ignorance, hope and a remarkable pragmatism. The government will not allow Singapore to become a source of pornography or other improper material, according to George Yeo, the minister for information and the arts. "Those who notice any kind of criminal or anti-social behaviour should alert each other and the Singapore Broadcasting Authority [SBA, their proposed Internet police]" said Mr Yeo. Nice, law-abiding Singaporeans - all 3,100 of them who are on-line currently - may obey. Considering that the "information island" will eventually reach all 3 million, this call for voluntary (or even imposed) censorship does appear somewhat dreamy-eyed. How exactly does Singapore plan to counter the anonymous remailers, DC-nets and other cryptoanarchic technologies that may defeat even the American National Security Agency? Ask the three people from the National Computer Board of Singapore, who are subscribed to the Cypherpunk's mailing list -- a discussion forum on cryptographic technologies and their implications for free speech and privacy. Singaporean pragmatism? The same Mr Yeo who would like well-behaved wired citizens has another remedy for the anti-establishment rantings cyberspace gives birth to, one that reflects the free spirit of the Internet more than do the usual responses of other governments. Mr. Yeo, who believes that "if we leave cyberspace to those with axes to grind, there will only be ourselves to blame," would like patriotic Singaporeans such as members of the youth league of the ruling party to counter annoying posts on newsgroups such as soc.culture.singapore. This reflects Singapore's "right to reply" (or "have the last word") policy when dealing with perceived falsehoods in the country's press. Unlike mainstream media, discussion on the Internet never ends, and there may never be a last word. Government sponsored flame-wars? Better than overt censorship, devious surveillance and lengthy lawsuits, surely. --==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (rishab@dxm.ernet.in) --==May be distributed electronically provided that only compilation or --==transmission charges are applied. Other uses require written permission. Rishab Aiyer Ghosh For Electric Dreams subscriptions rishab@dxm.ernet.in and back issues, send a mail to rishab@arbornet.org rishab@arbornet.org with Vox +91 11 6853410 Voxmail 3760335 'help' in lower case, without H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA the quotes, as the Subject. ------------------------------ From: Tony LiCausi Subject: Re: Non-Published Phone Number and Privacy Act Organization: Northrop Grumman Automation Sciences Lab, Pico Rivera, CA Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 07:52:00 GMT There is a better way. You may not own your number, but you own your name. And the company doesn't really care what name appears in the book. Pick a name, your wife's maiden name, dog's name, favorite book character ... and choose that to be published. If an unwanted call comes in then "Mr. Chip's is on vacation, I'm only house sitting ..." will get rid of 99% of unwanted calls. Anthony LiCausi tlicausi@aol.com ------------------------------ From: Claes Gussing Subject: Re: Requesting Information About SDH Date: 9 Mar 1995 10:32:42 GMT Organization: Ericsson dehoog@st.rim.or.jp (John DeHoog) wrote: > In article , wgan@netcom.com (willy > gan) wrote: >> I'd often seen the words SDH or SDH compatible equipment >> advertised in data communication magazines. Can anyone explain >> or give me examples of what SDH stands for? > SDH stands for Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, for starters. I'm not > sure that tells us much, and it's not even necessarily an apt term; > but what I do know is that it's an optical signal interface standard > used in optical fiber networks, to transport digital voice, data, and > video signals over long distances. Here in Japan, some major telecom > makers have developed SDH equipment based on the CTRON specifications. SDH - Synchrounous Digital Hierarchy SDH is the latest way of transporting digital signals. It is defined to be able to carry both the old US standards (1.5, 6.3, 45 Mbps), and the old standards for the rest of the world (2, (8), 34, 140 Mbps). All these signals are to be mapped into the SDH-signals, which are: (M = Mbps = Million bits per second) STM1: 155 M, maps 1 * 140M, or 3 * 34/45M, or 21 * 6.3M, or 63 * 2M, or 84 * 1.5M STM4: 620 M = 4 * STM1 STM16: 2.5 Gbps = 4 * STM4 = 16 * STM1 STM64: 10Gbps (standardized??) Also will the SDH-networks be able to carry the ATM-signals. Part for pure data, the SDH-signals carry a lot of overhead information, etc. I know that "Artech House Books" offer a few books with plenty of informtation about SDH. Fax: +44-71-630-0166. Regards, Claes Gussing etxguss@tnssupport.ericsson.se ------------------------------ From: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com (Tony Zuccarino) Subject: Re: Help Needed With Modems for Telephony API Organization: Rockwell International Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 02:24:48 GMT In article , stanford@algorhythms.com wrote: > All modems support Microsoft's Telephony API, but only if they have a > suitable driver. Modem manufacturers have been slow to provide these > drivers because Microsoft distributes a free generic modem driver with > the TAPI SDK, because Microsoft distributes the source code for a > rudimentary voice modem driver free (by ftp "ftp.microsoft.com" and > Compuserve "go winext"), and because Microsoft intends to provide a > generic modem driver (Unimodem) bundled with Windows 9x. > The problem with these Microsoft drivers is that they are limited, > since they do not properly support voice features. Also the Unimodem > driver appears to be a "dial only" driver since it does not pass rings > back to the application. > Regular modems are actually poor candidates for TAPI, since they > provide meager call control features. Best for telephony are boards > like the IBM Mwave, which allow for full duplex speaker phone, touch > tone recognition, Caller ID, handset state detection, control over the > handset connection to the line and software upgradability to features > such as VoiceView. Somewhere between regular modems and Mwave type Actually, there are chipsets other than MWave which do deliver all these features today. In fact, most of Rockwell chip based voice/fax modems provide DTMF tone detection, CID, handset state detection, VoiceView today (not future availability). Check out the voice command set available on the WWW server posted by Steve Palm of Rockwell (comp.dcom.modems). You can easily see the extent to which you can control the telephony functions. > cards in terms of telephony features are voice/fax/modems, which can > record and play sound from the line, but still provide poor status > sensing (like handset on/off hook), and which are intrinsically See above. > unreliable for two reasons: 1. the burden of voice data through the > serial port and 2. the inclusion of status and control signals in-band Voice data in 90% of Rockwell based boards goes through a soft UART that provides greater than the 16 byte FIFO of the typical 16550 UART. How do you avoid inband signalling? Two hardware ports? How does that make things more reliable? > in the voice data stream. The first of these deficiencies is > addressed by some modems, such as those based on chip sets by Sierra > and Cirrus that do their voice with DMA rather than through the serial > port. Of course modems using this technique must be internal. Cirrus does not use DMA. Rockwell uses a sort of soft DMA that allows for upwards of 2 Mbps of data rate transfer. Work on a TAPI driver is underway for the Rockwell voice chipset. Tony Zuccarino Internet: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com Product Marketing Rockwell International ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: T1 -> Modems Date: 8 Mar 1995 06:45:57 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network ScottPCS (scottpcs@aol.com) wrote: > I need to bring in a T1 line to 24 1200 baud modems for my company. > It seems like an inefficient solution to run the T1 into a channel > bank to end up with 24 phone lines and then plug in 24 modems plugged > into 24 serial ports. Is there any type of hardware that can handle > this T1 / modem problem better? Preferrably something PC based > (Windows NT) and cheap . It might be that the cables from the modems to the PCs will be more expensive than the modems. Modems of 2400 baud and below are being practically given away. In fact, you may not be able to get 1200, and have to use 2400 baud modems instead. Maybe. At the prices that 14,400 modems are going for, you may end up with them instead. Cheap. But the hardware isn't going to be the main expense. The installation and monthly charges for the phone lines are going to be. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ From: admiral@panix.com (Doug Fields) Subject: Re: T1 -> Modems Date: 9 Mar 1995 12:59:39 -0500 Organization: Panix in NYC, Admiral's Account In article scottpcs@aol.com (ScottPCS) writes: > I need to bring in a T1 line to 24 1200 baud modems for my company. > It seems like an inefficient solution to run the T1 into a channel > bank to end up with 24 phone lines and then plug in 24 modems plugged > into 24 serial ports. Is there any type of hardware that can handle > this T1 / modem problem better? Preferrably something PC based > (Windows NT) and cheap . I don't know about cheap, but US Robotics has exactly what you need. A rack-mount system which will take the T1 and directly put it into modems (you'll need six 4-modem cards). They have it with V.34 modems, I'd imagine slower ones are available. They also have lots of other networking cards for the rack, so you can do more than just run 24 modems. I don't remember the phone number off the top of my head; it's in the 800-directory. Maybe it's 800-DIAL-USR. Cheers, Doug Fields, http://www.interpage.net PGP key: "finger admiral@panix.com" ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Analog Interface Parameters Date: 8 Mar 1995 07:08:42 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network Eli Cohen (gandalf!elic@uunet.uu.net) wrote: > I'm looking for information in the form of articles research papers > etc. on the topic of Analog Interface Parameters. > The parameters I'm looking for (such as Line Impedance, Dial Tone, > Cadences, etc.) should be categorized be country of origin. Bell has a book called Transmission Systems for Communications that should have some of this info. Also, the Radio Amateur's Handbook has some info on this in the phone patch chapter. Of course, this is for the U.S. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: Caller ID Question Date: 9 Mar 1995 22:18:49 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC USCG TELECOMMS (gttm@cais3.cais.com) wrote: > In Caller ID the privacy indicator can be overridden on 911, 800, and > 900 calls. We understand that 911 is ANI-based and 800/900 is > SS7-based. Is it technically feasible to override the privacy > indicator to calls placed to a public agency's emergency seven-digit or > ten-digit emergency number (non-911, non-800, non-900)? If not, what > would be required to make this feasible? Please reply to gttm@cais.com. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nope, not possible. Not at least > without a massive lost of trust by the public in what telephone > privacy is available. That is the purpose of 911: Emergency calls are Here in the NYC/Metro area, NYNEX has tariffed four exchanges that WILL provide ANI, regardless of the privacy indicator. I don't know of any companies using them yet, but they are: 212/718: 810, 910 516: 820, 920 There was a bill insert about these exchanges about a year ago, but I haven't heard anything about them since. Stan ------------------------------ From: Bob Stone Subject: Re: X.25 Over ISDN - Addressing Date: 10 Mar 1995 03:49:50 GMT Organization: JT&T, Inc. In article Azriel Heuman, azi@mofet.elex.co.il writes: > or other X.25 network providers shed some light on this subject? Our company, Voice & Data Systems, manufactures a new telecom technology, based on a recent ITU Recommendation called FaxPAD. FaxPAD sends fax in real-time compressed 16 to 1, as packets of X.25 data. This is a very powerful fax solution both for multinational companies and soon for small users, as well. Multinational companies may intall FaxPADs in their offices connected to their data network. If the data network is paid for on a fixed monthly fee basis, then the fax which used to travel over voice circuits generating toll charges, is now sent at no cost! Our company is working with international carriers to set up a FaxPAD based, discount, fax service that can be accessed by a local phone call. Please let me know if either of these solutions would be helpful to you. I can fax you more information, specs, etc. Rgds. ------------------------------ From: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com (Tony Zuccarino) Subject: Re: Fax Modems and Voice Lines Organization: Rockwell International Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 22:14:13 GMT In article , KMP@portal.vpharm.com (K. M. Peterson) wrote: > My advice is to purchase an inexpensive desktop modem for home use. > ZyXELs offer "distinctive ring" decoding, which is an alternative to > "Silent Answer" requiring "Ringmate" or some other type of distinctive > ring service from your local telco. ZyXELs, however, are _not_ > inexpensive; if you don't want to go this route call Hello Direct > (1-800-HI-HELLO), and order a box from them that will do this > discrimination externally and allow you to use any modem you wish. ZOOM has just announced their distinctive ring solution as well, at what should be economical prices. Tony Zuccarino Internet: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com Product Marketing Rockwell International ------------------------------ From: schmidt@berlin.snafu.de (Axel Schmidt) Subject: Re: GSM Rental in Germany Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 09:41:50 GMT In article , John R. Covert wrote: > I want to rent a GSM phone with a German number in Germany in about > three weeks, but I can't find any rental companies. I'll be in > Germany for about nine days. Uff, I'm a bit surprised. There are many rental companies around. I took a quick look at the magazine "Connect" and found two ads immediately. One of the companies is here in Berlin, so I could inquire for you. I don't want to advertise here, so I'm sending you the addresses seperately. Greetings from Berlin, Axel schmidt@berlin.snafu.de | FidoNet 2:2410/121.21 Homepage: http://www.snafu.de/~schmidt Erstellen von WWW-Seiten (HTML) ------------------------------ From: chiner@quark.gmi.edu (Chris Hiner) Subject: Re: This Newsgroup Demo'ed on PBS's "Internet Show" Date: 10 Mar 1995 01:23:00 GMT Organization: GMI Engin. & Mgt. Institute, Flint, MI Robert Casey (wa2ise@netcom.com) wrote: > I saw a show about the Internet on PBS Saturday, Mar 4. It actually > talked about something other than porno and child molesters on the 'net. > They actually did a reasonably good job talking about newsgroups, ftp'ing, > telnet'ing, golpher, and such. > They did a demo of newsgroup reading, think it was this very group, and they > demo'ed how to post. They responded to a question about how many long > distance lines crossed the USA (he said he was sure the number was 42). > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Unfortunatly, I don't think it would have > been this Digest, since I don't recall a question like that appearing here > at any time in the recent past. It probably was one of the telecom related > newsgroups on Usenet. None the less, the intentions were good and the > producer of the show is to be congratulated for showing something positive > and tasteful about the information superhighway. Lord knows there are > enough newspaper writers out there more than willing to discuss the milieu > of the public toilets at the rest stops along the information highway which > disguise themselves as 'news groups'. PAT] Actually, I'm positive that was comp.dcom.telecom that they chose for a newsgroup to demo ... the dates on the postings, I recall, were about August 1994. Not a bad show. Chris Hiner chiner@quark.gmi.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: According to John Levine, who seems to have had something to do with it, it *was* this newsgroup; he said the reason the commentary he 'posted' to the group on the show was just a demo; in fact the question/answer/comment was not really sent out. That is aparently why I did not see it here. Hearing about this show from the person who wrote was the first I knew anything about the show and its content. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: New NPA for Houston TX From: jeff.brielmaier@yob.com (Jeff Brielmaier) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 95 06:13:00 -0600 Organization: Ye Olde Bailey BBS - Houston, TX - 713-520-1569 Reply-To: jeff.brielmaier@yob.com (Jeff Brielmaier) > An article in this week's {Information Week} mentioned that the new > NPA's are confounding numerous PBX's that haven't had a recent > software upgrade to handle the new NPA format (a graphic showed 360, > with the '6' having devil-like horns and tail). That's not surprising ... it's unfortunate since the change has been publicized by the telcos (perhaps not as well as it should have though). Of course, here and in other telephone related conferences we have known about this change over a lot longer :) > They mentioned that 334 in Alabama, 360 in Washington State, and 281 > in Texas were already active. I don't remember anyone here mentioning > 281's activation, but upon dialing 1-281-555-1212 I received a > "Southwestern Bell" chime and the DA operator told me that 281 is the > cellular overlay area code for 713 (Houston), which became active > 3/1/95. 281 is an overlay on top of the 713 area code. Until 03/01/96, SWBell will assign "wireless" (pager, cellular, etc) callers to the new area code. After 03/01/96, SWBell will begin assigning "normal" (wired) users to the new area code. Until 03/01/96, local calls w/i the 713 area code can be dialed as seven-digits while all calls to the 281 AC will be 1 + 10D. After 03/01/96, all calls will have to be dialed as 1 + 10D. * KingQWK 1.05 # [PK] * Houston: Home of the "Houston Livestock & Rodeo Show" Ye Olde Bailey BBS Zyxel 713-520-1569(V.32bis) USR 713-520-9566(V.34/FC) Houston,Texas yob.com Home of alt.cosuard ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #143 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa05152; 10 Mar 95 6:27 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24165; Fri, 10 Mar 95 00:26:40 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24159; Fri, 10 Mar 95 00:26:38 CST Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 00:26:38 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503100626.AA24159@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #144 TELECOM Digest Fri, 10 Mar 95 00:27:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 144 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Voicemail System Wanted (Skot Magnum) Re: What is Loop Start? (Tony Zuccarino) Re: Tired of S.314 Hysteria (Tony Zuccarino) Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? (Steve Cogorno) Re: Help: E Telco Step-by-Step Switch (John Lundgren) Re: Video Dialtone, HFC, HDSL, or ADSL (John Lundgren) Re: CONY Baltimnore (Stan Schwartz) Marine Communications (Carter Thomasson) Inexpensive Caller ID Boxes by Mail-Order? (Darrin Smith) LATA Maps Wanted (Phillip Schuman) ADCPM and CO's (Steven Bergman) Hello Direct on the WWW (Bill Seward) Reliability Analysis Programs Wanted (Phil McMillan) Help! Telecommuting Options (dperlmutte1@vaxa.hofstra.edu) FM Radio Stock Data (ronxx@aol.com) Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' (Axel Schmidt) Re: Europe Postal Services and Datacom (Axel Schmidt) Tables of Long Distance Rates (Joubert Berger) CPE Outsourcing - Anecdotes Wanted (Mark Peacock) Re: Legal Notice: MCI Class Action Settlement (Charleen Bunjiovianna) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Skot Subject: Re: Voicemail System Wanted Date: 9 Mar 1995 01:09:07 GMT Organization: Primenet sgrossin@carleton.edu (seth) wrote: > My client is looking for an inbound voicemail/telenotification system for > providing callers with messages ("listings"). This system must meet the > following requirements: > - A DOS or Windows-based solution; > - Support for up to five different option levels (e.g. categories, subcate- > gories, etc. ending with listings); > - Excellent message management (delete, update, view); > - Message copy/paste capabilities; > - Automatic deletion of messages older than two weeks; > - Support for up to 3000 1-minute messages; > - Multiple paths to the same listings (e.g. by type, then area, then listing, > or by area, then type, then the same listing); > - Support for multiple phone lines (two to five). Yes you can do it all with DUET by Magnum & Ram Research. Call for more info (818) 701-5051. Skot Magnum Software ------------------------------ From: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com (Tony Zuccarino) Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Organization: Rockwell International Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 01:30:40 GMT Is there a reliable way for local telephone equipment to determine that the remote caller has disconnected? In other words, when someone hangs up after recording a message on my answering machine, is there a way for the answering machine DAA to detect that this caller has hung up, apart from detecting silence for some time? Tony Zuccarino Internet: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com Product Marketing Rockwell Telecommunications [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sure there is. I think CPC -- Called Party Control -- does that. I've had answering machines and voicemail equipment at various times that did that. As soon as the calling party disconnected, my equipment did the same immediatly. In fact I have a Big Mouth card here now which operates that way. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com (Tony Zuccarino) Subject: Re: Tired of S.314 Hysteria Organization: Rockwell International Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 22:24:39 GMT In article , /G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU1=0205465@ mhs-mc.attmail.com wrote: > Am I the only person tired of being spammed about S.314, or just the > first one to complain about it? Do I have to read seven to ten copies > of this in every newsgroup, even areas as obscure as alt.games.whitewolf? > All this, on top of the maybe twenty or thirty copies I've gotten as > e-mail? > Can there possibly be anyone on the planet with an e-mail address who > =doesn't= know about S.314? > The easily alarmed might worry that some court will say that you =could= > have known, and therefore =should= have known. But that's not up to > prosecutors, that's up to juries. When witnesses testify as to how many > kilobytes or megabytes flow through your system per night, no jury is > going to say that you should have read it all. If you present evidence > that you couldn't have known, because those bits were all encrypted and > people didn't tell you what was in them, nobody's going to rule that you > =could= have known, let alone =should= have. So it's ok to be brought up on charges and go in front of jury, because after all they are going to decide in favour of common sense and acquit you. In general I am not in favour of any law that via loose interpretation nets in just about any information service provider to spend time, money, and reputation in court just to prove what you seem to agree would be their foregone innocence. Tony Zuccarino Internet: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com Product Marketing Rockwell International [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Neither am I, but remember, none of the big guys will be affected anyway. It all depends on you having a lawyer who, umm ... can properly make his point to the lawyers who work for the government. You and I cannot afford that type, so the law will apply only to small organizations and individual users, which basically means if they pass the law we wil be right where we started out anyway. Overall, its a dumb idea. I urge a no vote. PAT] ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 20:28:04 PST > Barney and Big Bird would obviously have a life if Federal PBS funding > were axed. I'm not sure about the "for a fee, of course" phrase, > since we *already* pay a fee through our tax dollars. I, myself, > enjoy listening to Click & Clack on NPR's "Car Talk," but I would have > no problems cutting funding for left-leaning shows such as "Morning > Edition." There is *much* more to PBS than Sesame Street, boys and > girls. "Your tax dollars" amounts to about $0.75 for PBS. THe federal government only gives PBS $147 million a year. Did you know that military marching bands cost over $250 million a year? Which would you rather support? By the way, Morning Edition is most certainly NOT "left-leaning." The reporters are fair, generally accurate, and sometimes talk about controversial topics, but they most certainly are not leftist. > Did anyone else catch this? This is propoganda pure and simple -- > the writer is trying to pull the wool over yer eyes, yanking your > chain with Jingoistic "America First!" language to hide the fact > that this guy's a socialist. >> Perhaps the bitter battle over Big Bird and Barney's future >> makes a bit more sense now. > Makes perfect sense: "Capitalism is evil, communism is good." And what exactly is a socialist in your eyes? Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Help: E Telco Step-by-Step Switch Date: 8 Mar 1995 05:49:20 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network nadia (n.) smyrniw (smyrniw@bnr.ca) wrote: > I am looking for information about an E Telco Step-by-Step Switch. I > am looking for any information (Manufacturer, type of test trunk > ect....) All I know about it is that it was manufacured in England in > the distant past, but I don't know by whom. Maybe Strowger? > If anyone has any information please let me know. Often the old equipment had a 'KS' or 'KSS' on it, and this meant that the equipment maker was Kellogg Switch and Signal, I think the name was. Just something that I remembered from my military days long ago. I hope I'm not too far off. If so, there will probably be someone correcting me in a followup. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Video Dialtone, HFC, HDSL, or ADSL Date: 8 Mar 1995 06:19:45 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network Timothy Kreps (tkreps@netcom.com) wrote: > Where can I find info or discussions on: > - video dialtone, > - Hybrid Fiber/Coax (HFC), We were talking in a meeting with our Pac Bell service reps last week and we brought up the subject of ISDN and pair gain, and one of the reps said that if we get the SLICs, they might be connected to the CO by fiber. And PacBell is looking into installing fiber into neighborhoods, and there will be some coax going from the fiber 'hub' (I don't know what they will be calling it), to the individual subscribers. I guess this is what is being talked about among others besides the telcos because it involves competition for the cable TV companies' customers. John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: CONY Baltimnore Date: 8 Mar 1995 00:01:01 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Doug Reuben (dreuben@interpage.net) wrote: > I assume you had automatic call delivery turned "ON" (ie, you had hit > *350 sometime in the past?). You may want to try that to (A) make sure > that Call Delivery is ON (or in NACN terms, "Do Not Disturb" is off), > and (B) to "force" a registration of your phone in the visited market. I tried that and I received confirmation tones. I was also able to make outgoing calls, so I know I was registered. >> I called CellOne's 800 number, and the rep told me that even though >> Baltimore is a NACN city, incoming callers had to dial a roamer access >> number! > Totally untrue -- you do NOT need to use the access port as a CO/NY > customer roaming in Baltimore. Indeed, you may be precluded from doing so. The roamer access numbers for 202 and 410 both reached me. > Bell that they did indeed have a problem, and all I got from them was > "poor coverage" excuses (even though they managed to hear me fine on *611!). CO/NY has told me that 611 uses "Separate channels". Does this sound like a load or what? ;-) > Now without any >> CellOne Strikes Again! > Hmm ... Cell One/DC-Baltimore, sure ... let 'em have it! Cell One/NY, > hmmm ... I'd be slightly more hesistant to blame them. Well their weekend help has once again proven that they don't know how roaming works. > The next step is to detect these problems BEFORE the customer can. To > some extent, for some problems, this may not be possible. Yet I feel > that if *I* can detect these problems by performing a few simple tests > when I get to a roaming market, that the major cell carriers could do > this as well. It would go a LONG way towards eliminating "surprises" > like Stan experienced in Baltimore or Canada, and like those which > CO/NY customers are currently experiencing in Poughkeepsie and most of > Dutches County, NY. Sometimes I just get the feeling that I am paying to beta test some future large communications system. On a related note, does anyone know why the cell companies won't give us *70 Call Wait Blocking (other than they won't get twice the air charges when I answer the second call?) Stan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The ultimate *70 Call Wait Blocking is to take Call Waiting off your cell phone entirely. Do you really need such a frivilous feature? That would end the double airtime charges once and for all wouldn't it? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 16:55:51 -0500 From: CTHOMASSON@aol.com Subject: Marine Communications I am investigating communication alternatives for offshore vessels. These are not large ocean going ships, but are ones that operate in coastal (up to a hundred or so miles out) and inland waters. As with the larger ocean ships these too must have single-side band radio, but that technology is not suitable for data transmission. Currently the best alternative seems to be a system and service from "BoatTracs", a subsidiary of QualCom. They use small satellite antennas on the vessels to access a satellite and their earth station in CA. This is the same technology that QualComm uses for the trucking industry. On ship-to-shore messages the earth station provides a store and forward service, with an alert process for urgent, emergency messages. Shore-to-ship messages are passed to the ship within three to five minutes, there is no store and forward. Messages may be or contain files. The major advantages of this technology are reliable data transmissions from all N. American waters and relatively low costs. The disadvantages are that only data traffic is possible, service is limited to North. America, and the user is tied to Qualcomm as a single source for both equipment and service. Cellular has been investigated. Its equipment costs is less, but it suffers greatly in range and reliability. The low reliability drives up costs through retransmissions. It is also not easily used in other world areas. LEO systems may offer an alternative, but that is at least three to five years away. Imarsat services, as are used on larger ocean going ships, offer global access and voice, but with significantly higher costs. Does anyone know of other alternatives, either to the technology or to Qualcomm as a provider? Is this a sound investment for the user over the next five to seven years? Comments and references will be appreciated, either directly to my email address or via the Digest. I will provide a follow-up to the Digest. Carter Thomasson CThomasson@aol.com ------------------------------ From: dsmith01@ccun.eds.com (Darrin Smith) Subject: Inexpensive Caller ID Boxes by Mail-Order? Date: 9 Mar 1995 22:32:00 GMT Organization: CUSD The subject says it all. I'm looking for an inexpensive caller id box for my home in TX, USA. Any suggestions? You may email me at darrinps@aol.com. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ From: Phillip Schuman <72510.1164@CompuServe.COM> Subject: LATA Maps Wanted Date: 9 Mar 1995 22:35:16 GMT Organization: via CompuServe Information Service I'm looking for a company that sells LATA maps -- I've seen them but don't have one handy or the names of the folks that market them. Please respond to the E-mail address - tnx. Phil - Chicago ------------------------------ From: sbergman@ix.netcom.com (Steven Bergman) Subject: ADCPM and CO's Date: 9 Mar 1995 23:12:10 GMT Organization: Netcom Hi, I was wondering if anyone know of a resource whereby I could determine whether a particular CO supported both ISDN and ADPCM. Also, what devices, if any, are out there that currently combine the two of them in some way. Tia, Steve Bergman Teleconvergence Beaverton, OR ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Mar 95 18:58:56 EST From: wjs@nr.infi.net Subject: Hello Direct on the WWW Just in case I'm not the last person on earth to see this, Hello Direct has a WWW site: http://www.hello-direct.com/hd Bill Seward wjs@nr.infi.net ------------------------------ From: phil.p.a.mcmillan@msmail.bhp.com.au (Phil McMillan) Subject: Reliability Analysis Programs Wanted Date: 10 Mar 1995 04:02:04 GMT Organization: BHP Steel Slab and Plate Products Division Hi all, Does anybody know of any commercially available Reliability Analysis programs of use in the design of high speed computer networks? Phil phil.p.a.mcmillan@msmail.bhp.com.au ------------------------------ Subject: Help! Telecommuting Options From: dperlmutte1@vaxa.hofstra.edu Date: 9 Mar 95 23:09:43 EST Organization: Hofstra University I am an MBA student researching people's experiences (Advantages/disad- vantages) with telecommuting. I would also like some company specific data regarding their experiences with employees telecommuting. Whether their employees were more productive or had better morale. Any response is appreciated. Thank you in advance. ------------------------------ From: ronxx@aol.com (Ron XX) Subject: FM Radio Stock Data Date: 9 Mar 1995 23:40:47 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: ronxx@aol.com (Ron XX) Does anyone know the format of stock market data (baud rate, word length, etc) transmitted on the sub-carrier of FM radio stations in major cities? ------------------------------ From: schmidt@berlin.snafu.de (Axel Schmidt) Subject: Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' Date: Wed, 08 Mar 95 04:01:55 GMT In article , khinedi@bu.edu (Kareem Hinedi) wrote: > Actually, as late as 1988 or 1989, there was no direct dial service to > Syria. You had to "book" the call with the AT&T operator. You would > I am sure this is still used for the few countries which cannot be > reached by direct dialing. There is (and has been) direct dial from Germany (at $2 per minute). Didn't know there's a difference from the country you're calling ... Axel schmidt@berlin.snafu.de | FidoNet 2:2410/121.21 Homepage: http://www.snafu.de/~schmidt Erstellen von WWW-Seiten (HTML) ------------------------------ From: schmidt@berlin.snafu.de (Axel Schmidt) Subject: Re: Europe Postal Services and Datacom Date: Wed, 08 Mar 95 04:06:07 GMT In article , fvjole@xs4all.nl (Francisco van Jole) wrote: >> I am trying to find out which European countries have postal >> services that also offer "information highway" services (for example, >> e-mail, Internet Here in Germany Deutsche Post AG has invented something they call ePost: you hand in your letters on disk, they'll "transport" them via computer networks and print them out at the town of destination, where it will be delivered as an ordinary letter. Don't know about the costs. Axel schmidt@berlin.snafu.de | FidoNet 2:2410/121.21 Homepage: http://www.snafu.de/~schmidt Erstellen von WWW-Seiten (HTML) ------------------------------ From: Joubert Berger Subject: Tables of Long Distance Rates Wanted Date: 9 Mar 1995 19:58:19 GMT Organization: MindSpring Enterprises I am looking for long distance rate tables from all the long distance carriers. Anyone know where I can get this information? Thanks in advance ... Joubert P.S. I am having problems my email. If you can't reach me at joubert@teldata.com, try joubert%teldata@mathcs.emory.edu. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Mar 95 13:12:40 CST From: Peacock, Mark Subject: CPE Outsourcing - Anecdotes Wanted As outsourcing of all types has boomed over the past 3 years, I have noticed an increasing interest in CPE (customer-premise equipment) outsourcing, with a specific focus on PBX outsourcing. I am researching this area for a magazine article and would be interested in any thoughts or anecdotes that TELECOM Digest readers could pass along. In my experience and research, I have seen two types of CPE outsourcing scenarios: 1) Conversion to Centrex -- A sort of Back-to-the-Future outsourcing scenario; Centrex is what businesses used before the PBX explosion of the late 1970's and early 1980's. When converting to Centrex as part of an outsourcing strategy, companies are not only buying lines, but also system administration, capacity/configuration engineering and route optimization. Comparing this to the more common field of data processing outsourcing, conversion to Centrex is similar to moving your data center to an outsourcer's IPC (integrated processing center). Conversion to Centrex seems to work best for companies with fairly straightforward telecom environments. 2) PBX Management -- In this strategy, the company stays on its PBX, but all service and administration is performed by the outsourcer. The assets themselves (PBX, phones, miscellaneous switch room equipment) may be transferred or sold to the outsourcer as part of the deal. This strategy allows a company to move toward outsourcing without changing their current environment (and so incurring retraining costs), and to move assets off of their balance sheet (without booking a loss for undepreciated equipment if the transfer price is negotiated correctly). This strategy is similar to facility management deals in the data processing outsourcing industry. PBX Management seems to be most attractive to companies with more complex telecom applications -- examples include ACD applications, data switching through the PBX, private voice/data networks. And, as with all things in the world, there are also approaches that are hybrids between the two. I would appreciate any thoughts or anecdotes that digest readers could pass along. Private e-mail is fine -- I will summarize the results and post here if the sender does not indicate a desire otherwise. Thanks, Mark Peacock ------------------------------ From: charleen@goonsquad.spies.com (Charleen Bunjiovianna) Subject: Re: Legal Notice: MCI Class Action Settlement Date: 9 Mar 1995 11:13:10 -0800 Organization: Diadem Vintage Costume Jewelry, courtesy of Internet wiretap In article <95.03.06.02efd@eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Moderator writes: > [quoting class action legalese] > MCI has made available $43 million in long distance certificates (herein- > after, 'Certificates') to cover potential claims by members of the > Settlement Classes. [.. ] The Certificates are non-transferrable > and must be used exclusively toward charges for making future long distance > calls on MCI's network. [...] In addition, $17 million is included in the > amount of the settlement for attorney fees and Court costs, including > the fee of the administrator employed by the Court to oversee the > settlement process. OK, I've got to ask: If "Certificates" are a suitable settlement for members of the aggrieved Classes, why is it that the attorneys, Court, and administrator get $17 million in CASH? Lawyers make phone calls, too. Let 'em take their fee in stacks of MCI long-distance Certificates. Heh-heh. Charleen [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ha ha ha Charleen. You're a real riot, you know that? Not only that, there are only a half-dozen of them compared to how many hundreds of thousands of customers to get the $43 million in certificates parcelled out among them at $40-50 per person. So a half-dozen lawyers get $2-3 million dollars in cash each; you get the husks. So what else is old? I have an idea! This has probably never been done before: let's tell 'bash-the-lawyers' jokes ... I'll start! So these three guys traveling through the countryside one night get caught in a terrible snow storm, and they have to seek refuge at the farmer's house. No, the farmer does not have any daughters and this is not *that kind* of joke ... be quiet and listen up! One guy is a Hindu; another is a Jew, and the third is a lawyer. The farmer says well okay, you can stay at my house overnight, but the problem is I only have two spare bedrooms, so one of you is going to have to sleep in the barn. Well the three grumble about this at first but since it is National Brotherhood Week (as Tom Leher nicely phrased it, "Everyone Smile at One Anotherhood Week") the Jew decides to show he is a good guy and he agrees to sleep in the barn. So he picks up his stuff, goes out to the barn and the farmer and his two guests go to their respective chambers and retire for the night. Within ten minutes there is a knock at the door. Everyone wakes up and goes downstairs, only to find the Jew standing at the door with a look of disgust on his face. "I can't sleep out there," he says. "In that barn I saw a pig. It is against my religion to have anything to do with pork at all; I don't even want to be near it." After some debate about this, the Hindu decides to show he is willing to cooperate so he agrees to sleep in the barn. Upstairs to his bedroom he goes, gets all of his stuff and carries it out the door and over to the barn. The Jew now moves into the bedroom where the Hindu had been, and everyone goes back to sleep. But not for long ... a few minutes later there is a knock at the door. Everyone wakes up, goes downstairs and there stands the Hindu. It seems in the barn there was also a cow. The Hindu explains that 'in my religion, cows are very sacred animals ... why, it would be heresy and very sacrilgious to actually live in a barn with one ...' and he asks to trade places. Well, that only leaves the lawyer, and he does not like this one iota. Sleeping in a barn is quite beneath his stature you see. Realizing his options are limited at this point, he agrees, and after going upstairs and packing his things, he takes it all out to the barn. Soon everyone has gone back to their chambers and fallen asleep, only to be awakened a few minutes later by yet another knock on the door. Everyone comes downstairs again, and the farmer opens the door, this time to be greeted by ...... the cow and the pig standing there. May your weekend be a pleasant one! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #144 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa09834; 13 Mar 95 15:22 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA02308; Mon, 13 Mar 95 09:15:13 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA02302; Mon, 13 Mar 95 09:15:11 CST Date: Mon, 13 Mar 95 09:15:11 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503131515.AA02302@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #145 TELECOM Digest Mon, 13 Mar 95 09:15:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 145 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Phantom Circuits (was 'Do Bridges Affect Modems?') (Danny Burstein) Increased Taxes on ISDN by FCC? (Ed Goldgehn) MCI To Use Pirelli (0003436453@mcimail.com) Ukraine Telecom Company Looking For Foreign Investors (Nigel Allen) Projected Area Code Splits Through 2003 (David E. Sorkin) North Carolina Competition Bill Passes Lower House (Donald E. Kimberlin) Obituary: Dave Neibuhr, Long-Time Internet Citizen (Carl Moore) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) Subject: Phantom Circuits, (was 'Do Bridges Affect Modems?') Date: 12 Mar 1995 11:53:19 -0500 Organization: mostly unorganized In an earlier thread, lots of ?ink? was used describing what "bridges" are in telecom lingo (namely multiple 'extra' wires that carry the circuit of interest in all sorts of superfluous directions) and how these extra nanoseconds, inductances, impedances, and other nasties cause all sorts of terrible problems to voice and data (not to mention making it trivial to tap into someone's phone line). In a followup, I posted that one of the earliest methods of adding circuits to a limited number of wire pairs was through the use of a "phantom circuit", in which a third voice grade line would be superimposed over two original lines, thus giving a 50% increase in capacity. Numerous folk, some of whom date from carrier pigeon days, wrote back to say they'd never heard of this. So I plopped over to my pile of cuniform tablets and came up with this gem: from a classic in the telecom field, Study of Vulnerability of Emectronic Communication Systems to Electronic Interception US Gov't publication, NTIS PB-264-447, 264-448 (2 vols) Prepared for OTA by Mitre Corp, Jan 1977 Page 35 of volume 2 A.3.4 Phantom Circuit The phantom circuit is a "bonus" circuit derived from two other physical cable circuits. Although the phantom circuit is virtually extinct, they are still found scattered around the country in the Bell System and independent telephone companies. Phantom circuit operation is found in both the open wire and cable plants. A two-wire, one directional phantom circuit is created by superimposing a "simplexed" conductor over each of two cable pairs which are members of the same quad. Thus the two-wire, one directional members of the quad, called the "side circuits", are used to derive a third two-wire, one-directional circuit called the phantom. Since the three circuits of most phantom/side circuit combinations operate as two-wire uni-directional paths, practical four-wire telephone circuits require two quads to achieve three four-wire, bi-direcitonal telephone circuits. (comment by dannyb follows:) The publication, although a bit dated, is still quite fascinating. Think of it as a US Gov't "how to wiretap" book. In the 1970s and early 1980s it was the #2 seller by the NTIS/GPO. (#1 was a solar energy do-it-yourself publication). dannyb@panix.com (or dburstein@mcimail.com) ------------------------------ From: edg@ocn.com (Ed Goldgehn) Subject: Increased Taxes on ISDN by FCC? Date: 12 Mar 1995 16:55:43 GMT Organization: The INTERNET Connection, LLC Reply-To: fccfees@ocn.com In some previous posts on comp.dcom.isdn, I noted the e-mail address for users to send their comments about the increased access line fees proposed by the FCC on ISDN lines (see below). To date, we've received quite a few responses (we'd like much more) but I'm surprised *no one* has taken the following approach: =========================================================================== The justification of the fee increase by the FCC is that ISDN lines provide more than one access line and therefore should be taxed accordingly. The problem here is that is just not true on many occassions. My ISDN line at home is constantly used for 128K data. In BONDED form, this is still one access line as the two B channels are combined at both ends. With the advent of Multilink Protocol, this is all to likely to be true in an even greater number of connections as well. This is almost always true when ISDN is used for videoconferencing. With PRI service, this is also true for any BONDED service. As Multi-Rate (Nx64) service becomes available from the telcos, the nature of single access via multiple channel connectivity will be even more prevelant for PRI's as well. If the FCC fee increase is approved, many data applications of ISDN utilizing more than one B channel will be taxed without cause. This type of use is in the application of an ISDN line but signficantly different than the intent of the tax itself. As a result, a large number of ISDN users will be taxed inappropriately. Therefore, before any additional tax is levied by the FCC, it is imperative that the FCC *also* create a structure for the ordinary user to request a waiver or an exemption (similar to road tax exemptions in gasoline purchases) for those of us that do not use our lines in the manner which are outside the intention or interpretation of the tax. ============================================================================ Please let the Mass Markets Industries Group of the North American ISDN Users Forum (NIUF) know your feelings about this proposed increase. Simply respond to this post or send e-mail to: fccfees@ocn.com Please include the words FOR INCREASE or AGAINST INCREASE in the body of your message along with any additional comments. Thanks, Ed Goldgehn E-Mail: edg@ocn.com Sr. Vice President Voice: (404) 919-1561 Open Communication Networks, Inc. Fax: (404) 919-1568 Co-Chair of the Mass Markets Industries Group of the North American ISDN Users Forum (NIUF) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Mar 95 09:48 EST From: Hardwire <0003436453@mcimail.com> Subject: MCI To Use Pirelli Contact: networkMCI Services Jim Collins, Public Relations 214/918-5569 Mike Cirella, Pirelli 803/951-4849 MCI FIRST TO DEPLOY NEW PIRELLI LIGHT AMPLIFICATION TECHNOLOGY DALLAS, March 7, 1995 -- Adding another first to its list of technology innovations, MCI today announced it has deployed in its network an advanced light amplification technology, manufactured by Pirelli, that can boost two light signals entering from opposite directions over a single hair thin fiber optic strand. The new Pirelli T-31 Bi-Directional Line Amplifiers (BDLA) can accommodate two light signals instead of one, by routing them at different light wavelengths through the use of narrow band wave division multiplexing. With this method, lightwaves are received in at 1557 nanometers (nm) and 1533nm from opposite directions on an optical fiber system. After amplification, the signals are rerouted and transmitted out their respective directions making it possible for a single amplifier to handle two signals over the same fiber. This will eventually allow MCI to cut by half the number of optical line amplifiers it needs, while increasing the distance between regenerators from 140 kilometers (km) to 400km. The line amplifiers, which are as small as laptop computers, can be deployed in series of three, each approximately 100km apart. The Pirelli BDLA system features full telemetry for communicating status of all network elements. "These new amplifiers will improve reliability and cut maintenance requirements by lowering the number and complexity of system components, as well as significantly reducing cost," said Frank J. Kozel, Jr., senior vice president of Network Implementation. "This will automatically translate to more efficient services for our customers." According to Eugenio Razelli, President of Pirelli Cable Corporation (PCC), "Pirelli continues to develop new optical products aimed at increasing efficiency through technology innovation. We are pleased to offer this advantage to MCI." The first BDLA system was recently turned up by MCI engineers in Richardson, Texas, where the company maintains its test labs and engineering headquarters. MCI has also tested and deployed Pirelli's emergency restoration optical line amplifiers that can restore up to four fiber paths in the event of an outage at a regenerator site. These amplifiers have been installed into "Fly Away" kits that can be easily handled by one or two persons, and can be rapidly deployed anywhere in the network. MCI will include Pirelli's Restoration Transponder as well in order to complement the optical line amplifiers and complete a fully portable restoration kit. The transponder converts lightwave systems into the 1550 spectrum, which is necessary to meet the requirements of the optical line amplifiers. "The introduction of these technologies will also allow MCI to decrease the number of regenerators within the system, further reducing equipment costs," said Kozel. "It will also be possible for us to upgrade transmission speeds in the future without having to change or add new equipment. These amplifiers can handle any speed we want." Pirelli is the world's largest supplier of optical amplifier systems, with research centers located in Milan, Italy and Lexington, S.C.. Currently, it has deployed more than 1,000 optical amplifier systems in North America. PCC is part of Pirelli Group which also provides cable products to the telecommunications and power industries, as well as tires to the automotive industry, generating annual revenue of more than $6 billion. MCI, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has expanded from its core long distance business to become the world's third largest carrier of international calling and a premier provider of data communications over the vast Internet computer network. With annual revenue of more than $13.3 billion, the company today provides a wide array of consumer and business long distance and local services, data and video communications, on-line information, electronic mail, network management services and communications software. networkMCI Services is the division responsible for developing MCI's information technology and operating its global intelligent network. ------------------------------ From: Nigel Allen Subject: Ukraine Telecom Company Looking For Foreign Investors Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 19:48:41 EST Organization: 52 Manchester Ave., Toronto M6G 1V3 The following message was posted to the Business Marketing Consulting (biz-marketing-consulting@world.std.com) mailing list. I am sorry about my wrong grammar. I'll try to explane You my wonder step by step: My final purpose is angage a foreign investitions (money). The proposition is folow: The Ukrainian firm with city administration looking for investor for reconstraction the moral-elder equipment of city telephon comunication. We are ready to consider Your proposition about joint managmant of this project. I would like to send this massage directly to future investors. I want from You the adress of such organization. If You can't understand, write me again. Mark V. Popov. E-Mail -- mark@kvss.dnepropetrovsk.ua FIDO -- 2:4642/3.2 (message forwarded by Nigel Allen, ndallen@io.org) ------------------------------ From: David E. Sorkin Subject: Projected Area Code Splits Through 2003 Date: 12 Mar 1995 23:42:21 GMT Organization: MCSNet Services Projected Area Code Splits (from Bellcore?) The following information is from a file contained in FAC (Find Area Code, an MS-DOS shareware program from Mountain Data Systems (available on CompuServe and many BBSs; their CIS address is 72737, 3237). The closest thing I've seen in the Digest or Digest Archives is Carl Moore's History of Area Code Splits (ftp://lcs.mit.edu/telecom- archives/areacodes/history.of.area.splits), which includes splits projected through 1995. So, here it is ... Area Codes Projected to Exhaust An area code is said to exhaust when it has more telephone numbers than the area code can support. Well before exhaustion occurs, a new area code must be "split" out from the existing area code. Bell Communications Research (Bellcore) conducts an annual survey projecting when each existing area code will exhaust. These are area codes currently projected by Bellcore to exhaust in the next ten years (as of 1/3/94). Area Proj Exhaust State Code Year & Quarter Alabama 205 1995 Q2 Texas 713 1995 Q4 Texas 214 1996 Q2 Illinois 708 1996 Q3 Washington 206 1996 Q4 Georgia 404 1996 Q4 Florida 305 1997 Q2 Arizona 602 1997 Q4 Texas 817 1998 Q1 California 310 1998 Q2 Virginia 703 1998 Q3 Ohio 216 1998 Q4 Oregon 503 1998 Q4 Florida 813 1998 Q4 Tennessee 615 1998 Q4 California 619 1999 Q1 Colorado 303 1999 Q3 Caribbean 809 1999 Q4 British Col 604 2000 Q1 Indiana 317 2000 Q2 Connecticut 203 2001 Q1 Illinois 312 2001 Q2 Minnesota 612 2001 Q2 Florida 904 2001 Q3 Maryland 301 2001 Q3 Ohio 513 2002 Q2 Kansas 913 2002 Q3 Florida 407 2003 Q2 New Jersey 201 2003 Q3 California 714 2003 Q3 California 909 2003 Q3 David E. Sorkin Ass't Prof., John Marshall Law School, Chicago sorkin@mcs.com; 7sorkin@jmls.edu http://www.mcs.com/~sorkin/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Mar 95 20:17 EST From: Donald E. Kimberlin <0004133373@mcimail.com> Subject: North Carolina Competition Bill Passes Lower Housee The March 10 reports unanimous passage of a telephone competition bill the preceding day, along with some details of its implementation once it passes the state Senate and is signed into law: House OKs Telephone Deregulation Proposal By Emery P. Dalesio, Associated Press RALEIGH -- The (NC) state Housee placed its trust in the ability of utilities regulators to referee competition and passed a deregulation bill Thursday that would eliminate many local telephone service monopolies. "It's a tremendously complicated affair, and for the General Assembly to micromanage this would be idiocy," said Rep. Dub Dickson (R-Gaston), the bill's sponsor. The measure, which passed the House 114-0 and now goes to the Senate, would allow competition for local phone service by July 1996. The delay would allow the state Utilities Commission to come to grips with the technical and legal problems, Dickson said. A coalition of cable companies and long-distance providers like MCI and AT&T have demanded immediate competition in an advertising campaign. Lawmakers backing the House bill said immediate competition would put currnt local-telephone providers like Southern Bell, Carolina Telephone and GTE at a disadvantage. They are bound by the Utilities Commission to a set profit margin, service area and other conditions. The commission's staff needs time to work out a plan that will protect the public's interest in reasonably priced, high quality service that would be available statewide, supporters said. "New competitors seek to contract with major business users like the major hospital, major university," said Rep. George Miller (D-Durham). "If you pick off the cherry, someone on the other side is going to have to make up the cost of servicee." Small companies with fewer than 200,000 access lines are exempt from competition under the bill. Some of the cities served by those companies include High Point, Mebane, Concord, and Lexington, said Robert Wells of the Alliance of N.C. Independent Telephone Companies. About 20 other states are addressing deregulation of local phone service before Congress takes the issue out of their hands, Miller said. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 6:00:38 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Obituary: Dave Neibuhr, Long-time Internet Citizen He was from Long Island, NY; this was sent from his account, and may or may not be automatically generated. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A call to the Roma Funeral Parlor in Shirley, NY confirmed that this message is valid. PAT] ----- Forwarded message # 1: Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 18:47:15 -0500 From: Dave Niebuhr It is with great remorse that we announce the passing of Dave Niebuhr. A Sr. Technical Specialist in the Computer operations group, Dave had been at BNL since March of 1965. Dave passed away on Wednesday night after a brief illness. Funeral arrangements for Dave have been made at the Roma funeral parlor for this Saturday and Sunday. Visiting hours are from 14:00 - 16:30 and 19:00 - 21:30. Service will be held on Sunday night at 20:00. Internment will be at Calverton National Cemetery on Monday afternoon departing from Roma at 14:30. Tony Natoli [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Dave was a long-time participant in this Digest and a frequent contributor of articles. I will miss him. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #145 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa01616; 14 Mar 95 21:20 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18936; Tue, 14 Mar 95 15:42:35 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA18919; Tue, 14 Mar 95 15:42:28 CST Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 15:42:28 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503142142.AA18919@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #146 TELECOM Digest Tue, 14 Mar 95 15:42:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 146 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Novell's Guide to Integrating UNIX and NetWares" (Rob Slade) Ex-Chairman Telecom Commission Suggests Deregulating Indian Datacom (Ghosh) Gouging at Pay Phones; a War Story (John W. Pan) Latencies on T-1, 56kb, etc. (Kevin Wang) Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant (Ward Larkin) Leased Line Options Outside U.S.A (Hemant Shah) Denver International Airport (Greg Monti) Number Assignment Psychology (mstrandrew@aol.com) Wanted: Help Setting up Automated 900 Service (Michael Diehr) Atlanta Install Help Needed (Les Reeves) Busying Out a Line (thouse@sol.uvic.ca) T1->10BaseT: How? (luisg@hadar.fujitsu.com) NetCom13, Pizzas and Me (Anthony Spierings) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 17:24:42 EST From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "Novell's Guide to Integrating UNIX and NetWare" BKNGIUNN.RVW 950206 "Novell's Guide to Integrating UNIX and NetWare Networks", James Gaskin, 1993, 0-7821-1129-7, U$34.95/C$44.95 %A James Gaskin 4553186@mcimail.com, jgaskin@onramp.net %C 2021 Challenger Drive, Alameda, CA 94501 %D 1993 %G 0-7821-1129-7 %I Novell Press/Sybex Computer Books %O U$34.95/C$44.95 510-523-8233 800-227-2346 Fax: 510-523-2373 %P 346 %T "Novell's Guide to Integrating UNIX and NetWare Networks" This book is addressed to managers or administrators who are faced with unifying access to, and operations of, networks which comprise both UNIX and NetWare components. The first four chapters can be seen as background material for the whole, discussing history, network basics and concepts, interconnections, and NetWare for UNIX. Following chapters look at terminal emulation, file transfer, NFS and NetWare, printing, and shared application services. A major strength is the extensive coverage of integration and interconnection products. (The UNIX/NetWare and NetWare/UNIX glossary could be a major help.) Those who have followed Gaskin's columns (where has "Karl's Konsultancy" gone?) in "Open Systems Today" will not be surprised to find that this is readable, practical and even enjoyable material. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995 BKNGIUNN.RVW 950206. Distribution permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications. Rob Slade's book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest. Vancouver ROBERTS@decus.ca Institute for Robert_Slade@sfu.ca Research into Rob.Slade@f733.n153.z1/ User .fidonet.org Security Canada V7K 2G6 ------------------------------ Subject: Ex-Chairman Telecom Commission Suggests Deregulating Indian Datacom From: rishab@dxm.ernet.in (Rishab Aiyer Ghosh) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 01:46:01 IST Organization: Deus X Machina --==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (rishab@dxm.ernet.in) Ex-Chairman Telecom Commission suggests deregulation of Indian datacom In a seminar today (13th March, 1995) N Vittal, Secretary, Department of Electronics suggested that Bulletin Board Service and other datacom providers may ignore licencing requirements that stunt their growth. Mr Vittal, who until recently was also Secretary, Dept of Telecom (DoT) and ex-officio Chairman, Telecom Commission, Government of India, used the explosive (and originally illegal) growth of the cable TV industry in India as an example of how technology can bypass government regulation. The seminar on Networking Educational Institutions (where Rishab Ghosh, the author of this report, was a panelist) was organized by the public sector Educational Consultants India Ltd. Mr Vittal, who is known for his out-of-line remarks, made these in response to complaints from other panelists that what is technologically possible, such as the growth of BBSes and other datacom providers, is being constrained out of fear of DoT licence fees and irrational regulations - one of which prevents two networks from connecting without paying double the charges for all, even intra-network, traffic. Mr. Vittal waxed poetic, recalling how Hanuman, the semi-divine monkey in Indian legend, had the power to leap over the oceans but waited for the urging of his Lord Rama to actually do so. Mr Vittal repeatedly said that Indian datacom providers need not play Hanuman and should not wait for the go-ahead from the DoT in order to expand, if such expansion was technologically feasible. However when asked specifically by a member of the audience whether he would suggest that the datacom industry grow in the same "underground" manner as did cable TV (which ignored DoT rules against laying cables across public roads), he dodged the question with an ambiguous reply. When it was pointed out by P.S. Saran, a member of the Telecom Commission, that it was Mr. Vittal himself who signed the order asking for $50,000 annual licence fees from BBSes and $80,000 from e-mail providers, when he was in charge of the DoT last year, he announced to loud applause from the audience that the licence fees should be reduced, "even to zero." It was unclear whether he referred to all datacom, or only BBS, licences. Mr. Vittal is no longer in control of telecom policy, so his (perhaps only momentary) calls for the rescission of his previous order may be no more than rhetoric. However, as proponent of the relatively progressive National Telecom Policy of 1994 his views are widely respected. Mr. Saran did join Mr. Vittal in expressing the DoT's willingness to support the growth of datacom, and asked that the industry and public make specific suggestions on licencing and other regulations. Ominously, Mr Vittal justified this possible relaxation of rules by saying that one should not restrict growth "till the golden goose has reached the egg-laying stage," implying that licences once lifted could be reimposed once there is considerable growth. But this would be unlikely. As the attempts at cable TV regulation (including the recent Act) show, once growth is permitted, it cannot be stopped. In addition, the government will eventually have to act on a Supreme Court ruling in January against the government monopoly of the airwaves, and against the 1885 (British) Indian Telegraph Act that gives the DoT its power. Once the government forms the recommended independent regulatory authority, Indian telecom will not be imprisoned again. --==(C) Copyright 1995 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh (rishab@dxm.ernet.in) --==May be distributed electronically provided that only compilation or --==transmission charges are applied. Other uses require written permission. Rishab Aiyer Ghosh rishab@dxm.ernet.in rishab@arbornet.org Vox +91 11 6853410 Voxmail 3760335 H 34C Saket, New Delhi 110017, INDIA ------------------------------ From: johnwpan@aol.com (JohnWPan) Subject: Gouging at Pay Phones; a War Story Date: 13 Mar 1995 15:54:13 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: johnwpan@aol.com (JohnWPan) Being an experienced traveler, I thought I knew all the tricks. Alas, but no. I was stumped vacationing in FL. At a COCOT, first I dialed 10xxx0 nnx xxxx. Magically, the COCOT transferred me back to rip-off company at the last moment. Fortunately, I was using a carrier specific code rather than a LEC code. Thus I got a response "invalid code, try again". Had I used my LEC number and code, I would only discover this illegal ruse a month later. Next I dialed my carrier's 800 number. Magically, the dial pad becomes disabled after I reached my carrier. Thus I could proceed no further. Finally, I dialed my carrier's human operator, and was able to talk my way through a credit card call. However, the dial pad was still disabled so I could not access my voice mail. Years ago, I used to carry a DTMF generator with me. I have to do that now, again. Ah progress. ------------------------------ From: kwang@data.acs.CSC.CalPoly.Edu (Kevin Wang (The Scarecrow)) Subject: Latencies on T-1, 56kb, etc. Date: 14 Mar 1995 01:51:12 GMT Organization: The Outland Riders Question for all: Does anyone know the various latencies of the various data lines? (Context: running tcp/ip over the link) Also, I'm curious about the latencies of adding Frame-relay to this picture ... From what I know: >> T1 latency is usu ~1-2ms >> 56kb leased latency is usu ~10ms >> our 128kb multi-ppp Ascend Pipeline 50 gets about 40ms pingtimes >> and some PC-Imacs get about 80ms pingtimes. > Do you know anything about frame relay ping times? We're seeing > 15-20ms ping times on T1 FR and ~45ms on 56K FR. This is going > through the NYNEX frame relay network. These seem to be significantly > higher than point to point non-FR links. All of these connections > are under 50 miles between sites. I don't know what port-speed these people are connected to the CO at, I assume they're at max speeds (This clarification is needed, because this is what PacBell does here in California.) Kevin Wang, kwang@lore.acs.calpoly.edu ------------------------------ From: adelante@sccsi.com (Ward Larkin) Subject: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 01:42:34 GMT Organization: Adelante I'm fairly new to telephony, but I have installed a couple smaller automated attendant, fax-on-demand, voice mail systems. I was recently told that it is technically against FCC regulations to use live radio broadcasts for when people are placed on hold (or choose to be placed on hold). Does anyone know the associated details? It's not that big a deal to use audio CD, or a tape deck, I simply want to know what specific FCC regulations (if any) prohibit use of live radio on telephony systems. Ward Larkin Adelante adelante@sccsi.com 15327 Pebble Bend Drive voice: (713) 444-3840 Houston, TX 77068-1839 ------------------------------ From: shah@xnet.com (Hemant Shah) Subject: Leased Line Options Outside USA Date: 13 Mar 1995 17:04:26 GMT Organization: XNet - A Full Service Internet Provider - (708) 983-6064 Hello, I am looking for different options for getting direct connection from the USA (Chicago) to Phillipines. We are currently talking with a prospective client in Phillipines, regarding software sales and support. We are trying to put together a proposal. One of the requirements is an online support for 12 to 18 months. We have leased line to several customers in the USA, but we are not sure what options are available to go outside of USA. We need a good data connection with good response time, since we will be logging into their system. Hemant Shah LIDP, Inc. Voice: (708) 960 0133 Ext: 64 Fax: (708) 960 0717 E-mail: shah@xnet.com WWW: http://www.xnet.com/~shah ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 15:04:56 EST From: Greg Monti Subject: Denver International Airport Telecom tidbits from the new Denver International Airport. The local serving company is US West. Default 0+ carrier for the pay phones is MCI. DIA is its own rate area for local call determination. The local calling area from DIA only extends one rate area or so in every direction, perhaps ten prefixes in all. DIA is about 25 miles from downtown Denver and is a toll call from there. Washington Dulles is about 25 miles from downtown Washington and they are local to each other. Wonder if they'll stretch the local calling areas in Denver? The prefix on the pay phones is 303-342-XXXX. 342 spells DIA on a telephone dial. Cute. Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division National Public Radio Phone: +1 202 414-3343 635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: +1 202 414-3036 Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org ------------------------------ From: mstrandrew@aol.com (MSTRANDREW) Subject: Number Assignment Psychology Date: 13 Mar 1995 15:04:17 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: mstrandrew@aol.com (MSTRANDREW) Considering the recent events with NPA assignment in Chicago, is anyone familiar with any psychological studies regarding number assignment upon individuals or communities? Examples of interesting behaviors that I have found include: --- individuals who are "troubled" with the notion of non-geographically based NPAs in North America as well as the concept of dual NPAs, e.g. Houston. --- individuals who are concerned about local prefix assignment, and have avoided accepting numbes with x00 through x19. (Their arguement is that these are not "real" prefixes.) --- a desire to have a prefix which has existed for some time or a prefix that can be linked to historical use, e.g. current use of 873 and historical use of TRinity 3 (which is the case in my family and the small town where I grew up). --- anger over communities being "split" as with the anger that occured in the division of 213/310 in which the community of West Hollywood was split in half. Any information or observations would in useful. ------------------------------ From: mdiehr@ucsd.edu (Michael Diehr) Subject: Wanted: Help Setting up Automated 900 Service Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 08:34:31 -0800 Organization: University of California, San Diego I'd greatly appreciate any tips that can be provided. Fee-for-hire consultants are encouraged to respond, as I do have money available. Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think may be able to help. I'm looking to set up a nationwide 900 service that will work as follows: Customer calls in. Prompt: "The call will call $XXX if completed" Prompt: "Please enter your ID #" Customer Keys in ID. Check to see if ID is valid. Prompt: "Please enter the number of the service you wish to purchase" Prompt: "Make sure you have a pen ready to write down the key number." Customer keys in service number. Check the database to return a key code. Prompt: "Your Key code is ####. Please write this down." Prompt: "Once again, your key code is ####" Hang up, and charge the caller. Projected call volume is five to ten per day to start, but final volume could be hundreds per day, so I would like it to handle several calls simultaneously. The database of ID numbers, service numbers, and key numbers needs to be under my control, so ideally I would like this to be running on a Macintosh-based system in my office. A PC-based system would be an acceptable alternative. I am a programmer (Mac and PC) and can handle most maintentance and setup myself. The system needs to be online in about three to four months, and located in Los Angeles, California. Please respond via e-mail. Thank you! Michael Diehr VP Engineering Hunter Communications ------------------------------ From: lreeves@crl.com (Les Reeves) Subject: Atlanta Install Help Needed Date: 14 Mar 1995 10:20:08 -0800 Organization: CR Labs The AIDS Survival Project, (ASP), is moving at the end of this month and is in need of telephone installation help. They have been donated a used Tadiran 8X24 Electronic Key system in good condition, but they need someone to do the premise install. ASP is a non-profit organization which supports those living with AIDS and their caregivers. They are moving a few blocks from their current location in midtown Atlanta to the new location at Fifth St and West Peachtree. As a non-profit organization, they have very little funds available for this project. They can probably cover the cost of the supplies, but are looking for a donation of installation labor. If you have experience in installing premise key systems, and would have any free time between now and April 1, please contact me. Access to the new location can be arranged as needed. Please reply via phone to me at the number below. Thanks, Les Reeves (404) 874 7806 ------------------------------ From: thouse@sol.UVic.CA Subject: Busying Out a Line Organization: University of Victoria, Victoria B.C. CANADA Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 18:35:12 GMT How does one busy out a line so that overlining will pass it by if the equipment on this line is faulty? I am an electronics tech but with very little knowledge of the phone system and am having to learn piecemeal. Whilst on the subject of learning, are there any reasonably priced books I can acquire on how systems work? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Most commonly, one just shorts the tip and ring on the affected pair. If you want to be absolutely correct about it, it would be a good idea to short the tip and ring through a resistor added to the line of the proper value to trick the central office into thinking an 'actual telephone' was on the line and was off hook. Or, just get an unused telephone and plug it into that line and leave it off hook. When incoming calls are hunting along looking for an idle pair, they'll see that line is 'busy' and move to the next available pair. PAT] ------------------------------ From: luisg@hadar.fujitsu.com (Lewis) Subject: T1->10BaseT: How? Date: 14 Mar 1995 20:08:33 GMT Organization: Fujitsu NTS My company is spliting into two sites joined by a T1 line. Do I need separate network segments assigned to these two sites or can I still keep it as a SINGLE network joined by the T1? What additional equipment do I need to do this? One site will have 120 workstations the other 20 workstations. We have been assigned only one class C IP network number. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 12:11:01 EST From: Anthony Spierings Subject: NetCom13, Pizzas and Me Telecom (Australian) have a similar service to Bell ServiceFinder (TM) called NetCom13(TM). I have a little story to tell about NetCom 13 which I get a kick out of telling if you bear with me but first some background information is required. The organization I work for is a small power utility located in the south east corner of Queensland, Australia. We have a bit over one million customers and a geographic area 250kms long by 100kms wide. NetCom13 fit in perfectly with our decentralised structure. During normal hours the customer calls our number (131377 for general enquires and 131366 for power failures) and is routed to the responsible local branch. After hours the calls are diverted to the "SEQEB Control Room" which operates 24 hours a day. In a similar manner to Canada Bell ServiceFinder(TM) the link between who you should be connected to is driven by which exchange you are connected to (1000 lines per exchange I think). Telecom offers NetCom13 across Australia. Some companies have an Australian wide NetCom13 number and from where ever you call that number you could be routed anywhere across Australia depending on that company's internal structure. Considering that Australia is the world largest island it is pretty impressive. However since we only want NetCom13 in our small part of Australia "our" number is reused in geographic location remote from us. A few months ago I spent some time at our control room to requalify for my switching co-ordinator's authorization. Part of my duties include receiving customer calls. While it is hard to put a precise figure on it about ten calls per week were for a well known pizza parlour franchise located in two cities 1200kms and 2000Kms away who 'share' our NetCom13 number. During my time at the control room Brisbane got hit by a storm one evening and 24 hours later we when still mopping up small bits and pieces. Now most people who ring us up in these situations are very understanding and just want an idea of when the power is going to come back on. To filter these calls we place a recording on which says "Good Evening, you have reaches SEQEB's emergency after hours service number, blah, blah,blah, we are aware of problems in the following areas, 'area', 'approximate restoration time', if you have further enquires please hold the line." This particular night the NetCom13 service was also playing up and we where getting quite a few pizza calls. Now this is what gets me: 1. A person rings for a pizza. 2. They listen to a 20 second recording talking about power problems 2000kms away. 3. Then they listen to me say; "Good evening, SEQEB Control, myname speaking, how my I help you?" 4. They then try to order a pizza. (Uugggggggghhhhhhhhhhh) Anthony Spierings | as029@un.seqeb.gov.au SEQEB, (Power Utility), Brisbane, Australia.| "When the weight of the paperwork equals the weight of the plane, the plane will fly", D.Douglas [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Two comments occurred to me reading this. Our own Commonwealth Edison (electric utility for northern Illinois) does much the same thing. Their main number rings into customer service at all hours, however after normal business hours, in the middle of the night, etc, a recording comes on with any known outages listed and a request to hold the line if there are other things to be discussed. The other point concerns a wrong number I received just yesterday which had me absolutely infuriated by the time I got done with the caller. I answer the phone 'hello'. The caller says, "This is Lutheran General Hospital calling, I need your mailing address ...". I ask what for? Why does she need it. "Well, its regarding an insurance matter." Who are you trying to call? What number do you want? "Its about the surgery for a patient". (Repeat above: Who are you trying to call; what number do you want" (She repeats it is about insurance payments for a patient.) I repeat asking what number she is calling. She repeats her request. By now I am screaming in the phone at her: WHAT COMPANY ARE YOU TRYING TO CALL? WHO IS IT *YOU* ARE TRYING TO REACH NOW? After going through this dialogue maybe two or three more times, she finally catches on. "I am trying to reach the Chicago Transit Authority." Me: You have the wrong number. This is not Transit Authority. Her: "Well what number should I be calling for their employee benefits office then?" Me: How should I know? You have the completely wrong number! Her: "I was told this was the right number." Me: What number did you dial? Her: "I was calling about insurance payments for the patient." Here we go again ... At this point, with all logic and reason having failed me, I am soon to be reduced to simply chanting. I hang up the phone. And yes, I have had people call and reach my voicemail and still try to place an order for merchandise from whatever company they thought they were calling. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #146 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa02579; 14 Mar 95 22:31 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA23360; Tue, 14 Mar 95 17:41:37 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA23354; Tue, 14 Mar 95 17:41:35 CST Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 17:41:35 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503142341.AA23354@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #147 TELECOM Digest Tue, 14 Mar 95 17:41:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 147 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Jake Baker Released on Bond Pending Trial (TELECOM Digest Editor) Wavelet Software (Hemant Singh) Interactive Television Infractructure Development (rez24@aol.com) LAPD and Variants Implementation (Bhaktha Keshavachar) Benchmarking Internet Providers (Marc Shafroth) White Pages on the Internet (Karen M. Brady) v.35 BERT Test Sets (John Dearing) T1 Interface For PC (Jeremy Sam Sewall) GSM Business: An Invitation for Expressions of Interest (D. Gerald Forrest) Book Wanted: "Number Please - Early London Telephone Exchanges" (N. Allen) Information Wanted on Globalstar, Odyssey, Aries (Asghar Motaabbed) Help! Information Needed on Kerberos (Alex Fan) PCN Engineer Needed (Recruiter) (Media Management Resources) Switched Network Planner Needed (Recruiter) (Media Management Resources) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 16:47:48 CST From: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Subject: Jake Baker Released on Bond Pending Trial The University of Michigan student arrested a month or so ago accused of sending threatening communications over the Internet as a result of his story in alt.sex dealing with the torture rape of a classmate has been released on bond pending trial. Jake Baker, age 20, had been held for about a month until this past weekend at the federal prison in Detroit, Michigan after the Magistrate in an earlier court appearance had refused to set bond. In a subsequent hearing this past Friday, a psychologist testified that Baker is unlikely to act out his fantasies. United States District Court Judge Avern Cohn listened to arguments from Baker's attorney (including the psychologist's testimony) in favor of bond, and arguments from the government which still allege that Baker is a danger to the community and urge his retention in prison pending trial. Judge Cohn ruled that Baker was eligible for bond, and having done so, set his bond at ten thousand dollars. He then permitted Baker to go free without posting the cash bond, through a process known as Recognizance. In this process, a defendant is permitted freedom pending trial without depositing bond money under very strict circumstances: 1) The defendant must refrain from using or being in possession of intoxicating liquors, illegal drugs or other similar substances. He cannot be in possession of any weapons. 2) The defendant acknowleges or recognizes the authority and jurisdiction of the Court, and promises to appear at all sessions of the Court. Should he not appear at some session of court, he can be tried in abstenia. He waives his consitutional right to a speedy trial. (Only if you are in prison awaiting trial can you make a demand for immediate trial; that is to protect you from being locked up forever with nothing being done.) 3) The defendant promises to obey all laws of every jurisdiction. He must meet with a federal probation officer in regular appointments before his trial which is probably several months away. Should he be arrested for any reason at all or stopped by the police, when they inquire they will find a federal court hold on Baker; he will go back to prison and his bond revoked. 4) Regards the victim of his alleged actions, he must keep his distance. No communications, telephone, written or otherwise with the victim. Quite obviously, no threats, no harassment, no contact. Whether or not he can write about it on the Internet is a sort of grey area. The court did not comment on this. Baker cannot be denied the right to speak about his predicament and attempt to gather public sympathy and assistance for his defense. Although the government continued to argue against Baker's release on bond, the court stated its opinion that justice would be best served by permitting Baker to be released so that he might continue his school work, and be in a better position to cooperate with his attorney in preparing his defense. He is not to leave the jurisdiction of the court or the immediate vicinity of the university, etc without the permission of his probation officer. -------------------------- If you missed the beginning of this saga a month or so ago, Jake Baker was accused of sending threats interstate via the Internet. He named a classmate at University of Michigan he 'wanted to torture and rape'. After a Usenet reader of alt.sex.stories saw this and reported it to university authorities, Baker was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and taken (from the school at Ann Arbor) to Detroit where he has been held until this past weekend. It must be remembered that in the United States, our consitution requires a presumption of innocence on the part of Baker until his guilt has been proven without any doubt in a court of law. PAT ------------------------------ From: singh@aware.com (Hemant Singh) Subject: Wavelet Software Date: 14 Mar 1995 22:41:41 GMT Organization: Aware, Incorporated Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge, MA - March 15, 1995 Aware announces WaveTool 1.1, a general wavelet and multirate software toolbox for signal processing and scientific applications. WaveTool enables the user to quickly and easily apply wavelet methods to a wide range of applications from data compression to telecommunications, from feature extraction to numerical analysis. WaveTool is an interactive system for exploring this innovative new technology. The software is available in two versions, WaveTool Filter Design and WaveTool Signal Analysis. Features of WaveTool Filter Design include: Interactive design of wavelet and multirate filter banks, from 2 to 4096 channels; Point-and-click graphical user interface; A library of predesigned wavelet (orthogonal and biorthogonal) and cosine-modulated filter banks. The ability to set filter performance parameters such as: - stopband attenuation; - transition bandwidth; - flatness (vanishing of wavelet moments). Interactive graphical display, featuring: -time and frequency domain plotting; -the ability to measure perfect reconstruction error; -display of wavelet scaling functions. The capability to save filters in ASCII and MATLAB formats. Log files recording user actions for editing, playback, and software support. WaveTool Signal Analysis includes all the features of WaveTool Filter Design plus extensive algorithm prototyping functions, including: Interactive creation of arbitrary tree structures of filter banks; (such as Mallat's wavelet tree); Graphical display of filter bank responses at any node of the tree; Multirate analysis and synthesis operations on user data; Choice of boundary handling methods; Choice of subband analyzer or transmultiplexer modes. Graphical display of subband outputs. The ability to read and write transform data to ASCII and MATLAB files; The capability to invoke these algorithms via MATLAB-callable functions for inclusion in larger simulations. With Wavetool's easy-to-use GUI and MATLAB compatibility, the user doesn't have to learn a new language or make a big investment. A graphical demonstration of WaveTool is available on Aware's World Wide Web site, http://www.aware.com. WaveTool is available for Sun O/S, Solaris and IRIX systems. Aware, Inc., founded in 1987, is a leader in providing bandwidth management solutions imaging systems, and broadband communications including ADSL modems, and telephony over fiber/coax networks. Aware's modem software and chipsets, and image compression software and chipsets, allow users to effectively use scarce bandwidth resources. For more information, a free demo disk, or to place an order, contact: Aware, Inc. One Memorial Drive Cambridge, MA 02142 USA Phone: (617) 577-1700 FAX: (617) 577-1710 email: sales@aware.com ------------------------------ From: rez24@aol.com (Rez24) Subject: Interactive Television Infractructure Development Date: 14 Mar 1995 16:59:19 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: rez24@aol.com (Rez24) I am an MBA student with a BCIS concentration. I am doing a paper on Interactive Television and need additional information on infrastructure costs and the feasibility of wiring the nation for IATV. I would appreciate ANY feedback. Thanks, Rez24@aol.com ------------------------------ From: keshavac@enuxsa.eas.asu.edu (Bhaktha Keshavachar) Subject: LAPD and Variants Implementation Organization: Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 22:37:25 GMT Hi, Are there any examples or application notes on the implementation of the data link layer of ISDN, LAPD (Q.921). Any information on the variants of LAPD like LAPM, LAPDm etc. are most welcome. Is it too naive to expect the source code for LAPD on the internet ? Since LAPD has been around for quite a long time I thought there might be some source code available. Regards, Bhaktha ------------------------------ From: 76054.166@compuserve.com (Marc Shafroth) Subject: Benchmarking Internet Providers Date: 14 Mar 1995 04:18:46 GMT Organization: Division of Information Technology My employer is working on an RFP for Internet access. SLIP/PPP at first and dedicated link later. I assume that because of the variation in the bandwidth that different vendors have into the backbone and because of the variation in the geography of those connections to the backbone, some vendors may be able to provide much faster transport across the net than others. I thought it would be possible to measure the speed and throughput of a vendor's offering by doing some standardized FTPs and PINGs to a variety of sites across the country at a variety of times of the day and week. Has anyone established any test suites or other ways of benchmarking speed and thoughput for internet vendors? Alternatively, are vendors normally able to provide data from simulations to show the effect of various types of network congestion on their ability to provide timely, high-volume transport across the net? Marc Shafroth ------------------------------ From: Brady, Karen M Subject: White Pages on the Internet Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 10:40:00 EST Dear Pat, I'd appreciate it if you could publish this question in TELECOM Digest. I am interested in getting information about the publication of telephone White Pages on the Internet. I have heard that some telcos do publish their directories on the Internet and I am interested in the following: 1. Which companies publish their directories on the Internet? 2. What does it cost people to look up numbers? 3. Do people use it ? How many searches per day? 4. How easy is it to verify bulk lists of directory telephone numbers? 5. Are there any Australian telephone directory information currently available? Please reply directly to my internet address, as I do not have a subscription to TELECOM Digest. Regards, Karen Brady +61 7838 2069 +61 78351018 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't know any instances of telcos having their directories on the Internet. Am I missing something? Readers with some knowledge on this should write Ms. Brady; if you want to copy us here I'll be happy to receive a copy. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jdearing@netaxs.com (John Dearing) Subject: v.35 BERT Test Sets Date: 14 Mar 1995 00:39:10 GMT Organization: Netaxs Internet BBS and Shell Accounts My employer is looking for a v.35 BERT test set. We've seen literature for protocol analyzers that will do everything but start your car in the morning (with a price to boot!!). While flipping through a catalog, I saw a device made by: Datacom Technologies Inc. ... called the ET-2. It is a v.35 BERT which is supposed to work at speeds up to 2.048 MB/s (external clocking). The catalog lists the price at $739.00 but I think that's probably a little high. Does anyone have a mailing address or phone number for Datacom Technologies? Thanks in advance! John Dearing jdearing@netaxs.com ------------------------------ From: sewall@ee.ualberta.ca (Jeremy Sam Sewall) Subject: T1 Interface For PC Date: 13 Mar 1995 23:34:31 GMT Organization: Univ. of Alberta Hello folks, I am trying to put together a system for doing some experiments. What I need to do is run DSP algorithms on the pcm samples from a T1 line. I would like to put together a PC based system that has a T1 interface, and a DSP board. So, I have to pass the PCM samples from the 24 T1 channels to a DSP, and perform some processing tasks. If possible, getting both components on the same board, with a good development system would be a bonus. I am considering using a T1 interface board from GL Communications. Anyone have a suggestion? Thanks! Jeremy Sewall TRLabs, Edmonton, Canada jsewall@trlabs.ca sewall@ee.ualberta.ca ------------------------------ From: forrestdg@cityscape.co.uk (D. Gerald Forrest) Subject: GSM Business: An Invitation for Expressions of Interest Date: Mon, 13 Mar 95 16:44:02 GMT Organization: PIPEX news server (posting doesn't reflect the views of PIPEX) GSM - Business - An Invitation for Expressions of Interest Background: Potential opportunities exist in with several United States based companies which are active in provision of GSM related products and services. The scope of needs includes such options as direct buy-outs, the formation of strategic alliances and the provision of engineering expertise. General expressions of interest are invited from European and Scandinavian based organisations that have proven technical expertise in the design and development of GSM telephones and related networks. An Example - Expressions of interest are invited: A United States company (name withheld upon request) with annual sales in excess of US$100M is looking to form a strategic alliance(s) with an organisation(s) that has technical expertise in the design and development of GSM cellular telephones. This expertise can be as a consultancy or as a seller of hardware design, call processing software or both. The company would be willing to discuss terms for licensing, a direct buy-out, or engineering on a time and material basis. The ultimate goal of the company is to develop a line of wireless communications devices based on the GSM design. The need for this expertise is immediate. The company is in negotiation with a customer who wants to purchase wireless communication devices. Upon successful completion of negotiations, the company will commence the design effort. It is expected that an agreement will be reached by the end of April 1995. Respondents should have significant GSM related business base and be willing to travel to the U.S. at short notice to provide corporate level presentations of capability and expertise. In the first instance, expressions of interest should be sent by E-mail or fax only as directed below. D. Gerald Forrest International Technology Transfer Specialist P.O. Box 139 ST ALBANS Hertfordshire, AL3 8US United Kingdom Direct Tel: +44 (0)1582 842559 Mobile Tel: +44 (0)860 307536 Direct Fax: +44 (0)1582 841881 E-mail: forrestdg@cityscape.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 02:44:45 -0500 From: nigel.allen@utoronto.ca (Nigel Allen) Subject: Book Wanted: "Number Please - Early London Telephone Exchanges" The following message was posted to HOUNDS-L, the Sherlock Holmes discussion list (HOUNDS-L@GITVM1.GATECH.EDU). Has anyone seen the book in question? From: Catherine Cooke Number Please - early London telephone exchanges by David Occomore, the book sought by Toby (B.Harkness) was published by a British publisher last month. Empire Publishing is just his US distributor. As it happens, I know the publisher, so checked the details with him today. It is unlikely that copies will be available in the US before June. The good news is that he can take US$ cheques. Write to: Ian Henry Ltd., 20, Park Drive, Romford, Essex, RM1 4LH, England. $17.50 will cover the cost of the book and its postage to the States. Hope you get hold of your book, Toby! Catherine Cooke c.cooke@bbcnc.org.uk Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada nigel.allen@utoronto.ca ------------------------------ From: ece_0429@bigdog.engr.arizona.edu (Asghar Motaabbed) Subject: Globalstar, Odyssey, Aries Date: 12 Mar 1995 21:47:40 GMT Organization: The University of Arizona I would appreciate if someone tells me where to get information on Globalstar, Odyssey, Aries. Thanks, Asghar Motabed Computer Engineering Research Group Electrical and Compter Engineering Department University of Arizona 85720 motabed@ece.arizona.edu ------------------------------ From: aymfan@hkuxa.hku.hk (Alex Fan) Subject: Help! Information Needed on Kerberos Organization: HKU Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 02:04:03 GMT I would like to configure the user access control for a Xyplex comm server. Can anyone tell me where can I find the Kerberos package? Regards, Alex aymfan@hkuxb.hku.hk ------------------------------ From: mediamgt@gulf.net (Media Management Resources) Subject: PCN Engineer Needed (Recruiter) Date: 10 Mar 1995 23:10:27 GMT Organization: Media Management PCN ENGINEER NEEDED We on behalf of our client are in search of an individual to act as an interim PCN Engineer. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing deployment recommendations for PCN over broadband architecture. A working knowledge of GSM, CDMA, and Cable Television Hybrid Fiber Coax architectures preferred. If you would like to be considered by us on the above listed opportunity, please forward an updated resume along with a list of professional references with current contact information. A cover letter that will be used for our internal use only should also accompany the resume and contain the following information: % Minimum salary requirements; % Telephone numbers where you can be contacted; % Significant accomplishments; % Any personal information you wish to share. In all cases, this information should be sent to us via U.S. Mail. Faxes are kept by our office for a period of only 20 days before being discarded. Please direct your response to: InterimManagement Solutions, Inc. 1101 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Box 141 Gulf Breeze, FL 32561 904.934.4880 (v) 904.934.4756 (f) InterimMgt@aol.com InterimManagement Solutions (IMS) is an Executive Search firm that specializes in the entertainment and information delivery systems environments. IMS provides the services of high level executive and technical personnel for a specified period of time. This provides an organization and a candidate with the ability to be flexible and adaptable by taking advantage of a very interesting, non-traditional approach to problem solving. IMSU principals have specific experience with issues such as: integrated voice, data and video services; alternative technologies including MMDS, PCS and DBS (TVRO); advanced technologies for local access (bypass); transactional order processing; fiber optic signal delivery; high definition television; interactive services; new cable, wireless and telephony services; digital audio, residential security and home shopping; competitive technology assessment; finance and administration, marketing and new business development. All of our fees are paid by our client companies. ------------------------------ From: mediamgt@gulf.net (Media Management Resources) Subject: Switched Network Planner (Recruiter) Date: 13 Mar 1995 15:25:11 GMT Organization: Media Management Switched Network Planner Needed Our firm has been retained by one of the worlds largest cable television operators to identify, interview and refer for hire a candidate for the position of Switched Network Planner. The successful candidate will be responsible for the following: 1. Develop fundamental plans for switched services networks. 2. Provide assistance to Marketing and Corporate Engineering Divisions in the areas of switched services technology upon request. 3. Assist Divisions in the development of switched network business plan. 4. Work closely with transport and switching engineers on network design. 5. Work with marketing on product and services delivery. 6. Conduct special studies as required to support market needs. 7. Develop long-term SS7 implementation plan. REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: % BS/EE or 5 years equivalent experience. % Thorough understanding of digital network switched services and network architecture planning. % Ability to develop capital budgets. % Outside Plant engineering with working knowledge of TR-008 and TR-303. % Excellent interpersonal skills, including conflict resolution, negotiation, problem solving, flexibility, and ability to work well in unstructured, ambiguous, dynamic conditions. % Strong oral and written communications skills. DESIRED SKILLS: % Knowledge of high capacity digital network principles including Asynchronous, Synchronous, SONET, ATM, Frame Relay, Fiber Optics. % Knowledge of CATV engineering. % Knowledge of and experience in the budgeting process. If you would like to be considered by us on the above listed opportunity, please forward an updated resume along with a list of professional references with current contact information. A cover letter that will be used for our internal use only should also accompany the resume and contain the following information: % Minimum salary requirements; % Telephone numbers where you can be contacted; % Significant accomplishments; % Any personal information you wish to share. In all cases, this information should be sent to us via U.S. Mail. Faxes are kept by our office for a period of only 20 days before being discarded. Please direct your response to: Media Management Resources, Inc. 1101 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Box 141 Gulf Breeze, FL 32561 904.934.4756 (f) mediamgt@gulf.net Media Management Resources (MMR) is an Executive Search firm that specializes in the entertainment and information delivery systems environments. Our long standing relationships in these markets and the reputation that we have built, give us the ability to successfully meet our clients personnel needs as well as your own personal needs. MMRU principals have specific experience with issues such as: integrated voice, data and video services; alternative technologies including MMDS, PCS and DBS (TVRO); advanced technologies for local access (bypass); transactional order processing; fiber optic signal delivery; high definition television; interactive services; new cable, wireless and telephony services; digital audio, residential security and home shopping; competitive technology assessment; finance and administration, marketing and new business development. All of our fees are paid by our client companies. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #147 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa03597; 14 Mar 95 23:47 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA25140; Tue, 14 Mar 95 18:57:10 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA25134; Tue, 14 Mar 95 18:57:08 CST Date: Tue, 14 Mar 95 18:57:08 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503150057.AA25134@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #148 TELECOM Digest Tue, 14 Mar 95 18:57:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 148 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Nokia 2112 NAM Programming (Alexander Cerna) More on Hong Kong (Rich Greenberg) Computer Communications Books For Sale (Tuan T. Ho) URLs for CATV in Europe (Ed Cox) Views and Comments of the Future (Terrell L. Adams) SMS/800 Batch Tapes? (Clarence Dold) A Fortune 500 Network Services VP Speaks re 800 (Judith Oppenheimer) Help Wanted With Nokia 6050 GSM Car Phone (Jurgen Morhofer) Telecom Hardware Newsgroup (Wade Viland) ATT Phone Compatibles Wanted (Randy Fine) Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? (Jerry McCollom) Re: Paging Interface With Computer (Ricardo Cardoso) Re: T1 -> Modems (Bill Grenoble) Re: Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? (Ed Goldgehn) Re: Who's the B Cell Carrier in Ithaca NY? (John Levine) Re: Credit Checking on Cellular Customers (mfrere@limestone.kosone.com) Citizens in Support of Public Broadcasting (citcomp@essential.org) Last Laugh - Technology Notes (James Bellaire) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply-To: Alexander Cerna Subject: Nokia 2112 NAM Programming Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 13:25:42 +0800 From: Alexander Cerna I'd like to thank all those who responded to my question on NAM Programming for the Nokia 121. I've used it to change the 5-digit security code, and change the initial boot-up message from my provider's name to a cheerful greeting. 8^) Three days ago I bought my wife a Nokia 2112 from another service provider. I'd like to know how to do NAM Programming on it too. Could someone please provide me the details? Thanks very much in advance. Regards, Alexander Cerna cerna@ntep.tmg.nec.co.jp VOX: +63 (32) 400-451 NEC Technologies MEPZ, Lapulapu, Phils 6015 FAX: +63 (32) 400-457 ------------------------------ From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 18:33:36 PST Reply-To: richgr@netcom.com Subject: More on Hong Kong From an email newsletter: In, Around and Online- Issue 2.10 - Week Ending 3/10/95 ======================================================= Copyright (C) 1995 Robert Seidman (robert@clark.net). All rights reserved. May be reproduced in any medium for non-commercial purposes. HONG KONG POLICE told Internet providers whose equipment was seized in March 3rd raids that they could pick up their equipment. The raid left only one provider up and running in the British colony. There is still some confusion on why the police bothered to raid them over the lack of a $96 (750 Hong Kong Dollars) license. The operators of services shut down in the raid have stated they will not put their services back online until they have received their licenses. The seven operators, mostly newcomers to the exploding market had been engaged in a price war with the one commercial service left operational after the March 3 raid, Hong Kong SuperNet. We have it easy in the states, SuperNet charges about $25/hour for daytime use and about $12.50/hr. off-peak. The grounded competitors offered services at a cheaper prices ranging from about $6-$8/hr. Rich Greenberg Work: TBA. Know anybody needing a VM guru? N6LRT TinselTown, USA Play: richgr@netcom.com 310-649-0238 Pacific time. I speak for myself & my dogs only. Canines: Val(Chinook,CGC), Red(Husky,(RIP)), Shasta(Husky) ------------------------------ From: tuanho@netway.net (Tuan T. Ho) Subject: Computer Communications Books For Sale Date: 14 Mar 1995 15:39:05 GMT Organization: Netway 2001 I have the following books for sale: Please note the book condition: Brand New = (!) Good = (***) Excellent = (****) Average = (**) Poor = (*) All books are hard bound unless otherwise noted. - W. Stallings, Local Networks: An Introduction, Macmillan, 1984, $20 (***). - K. Kummerle, J. O. Limb, F. A. Tobagi, eds., Advances in Local Area Networks, IEEE Press, 1987, $19 (****). - M. Santifeller, TCP/IP and ONC/NFS Internetworking in a UNIX Environment, Addison Wesley, 1994, $29 (!). - M. P. Clark, Networks and Telecommunications: Design and Operation, John Wiley, 1991, $29 (!). - K. Terplan, Communication Networks Management, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 1992, $29 (!). - J. D. Spragins, J. L. Hammond, and K. Pawlikowski, Telecommunication Protocols and Design, Addison Wesley, 1991, $29 (!). - T. C. Bartee, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Communications, Howard Sams & Co., 1986, $29 (!). - T. Saadawl, M. Ammar, and A. Hakeem, Fundamentals of Tecommunication Networks, John Wiley & Sons, 1994, $39 (!). - P. J. Fortier, Handbook of LAN Technology, McGraw Hill, 1989, $39 (!). - J. Martin, Telecommunications and the Computer, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 1976, $25 (!). - J. D. Gibson, Principles of Digital and Analog Communications, 2nd ed., Macmillan, 1993, $29 (****). - L. W. Couch II, Digital and Analog Communication Systems, Macmillan, 1983, $25 (***). - D. R. Smith, Digital Transmission Systems, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985, $20 (****). - M. Barkat, Signal Detection and Estimation, Artech House, 1991, $30 (!). If interested, Please e-mail me at: tuanho@netway.net or Phone me at : (303) 364-4426 Thanks, Tuan ------------------------------ Date: 10 Mar 95 08:30:00 -0800 From: COX_ED@tandem.com Subject: URLs For CATV in Europe I'm looking for online sources for CATV activities in Europe. I've had no luck except for the RACE page, which contains more research than market information. Email address is cox_ed@tandem.com Thanks, Ed ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Mar 95 12:59 WET From: niteowl@aloha.net (Terrell L. Adams) Subject: Views and Comments of the Future Hello Internet community, I need some feedback on this question below, your ideal, your view of the future for education with tomorrow's technology. 1. Describe what you think Community College or University will be like one hundred years from now in the year 2095? a) From a student's point of view. b) From a teacher's point of view. Please e-mail your comments to niteowl@aloha.net niteowl@aloha.net = @@E-Mail Welcome@@ Terrell L. Adams Ewa Beach, Hawaii ------------------------------ From: Clarence Dold Subject: SMS/800 Batch Tapes Date: 14 Mar 1995 23:32:48 GMT Organization: a2i network I am preparing to submit SMS/800 batch update tapes to BellCore for the first time. This is according to BellCore Doc GR-1514-CORE. Might someone have a UNIX or MSDOS tool for creating these tapes? I'm crafting one at the moment, but it would be nice to have some existing c-code to steal. Clarence A Dold - dold@rahul.net - Pope Valley & Napa CA. ------------------------------ From: producer@pipeline.com (Judith Oppenheimer) Subject: A Fortune 500 Network Services VP Speaks re 800 Date: 14 Mar 1995 01:02:40 -0500 Organization: Interactive CallBrand(TM) Last night I posted a notice for concerned marketers to fax the State Department re their concerns about proposed international freephone. I've been copied on a number of letters that were sent this morning, including the following, which I was given permission to post sans company name. It might help clarify issues for some of you. The writer is a VP of network services at a Fortune 500. ------------------ Mr. Earl Barberly US State Department Washington, DC Subject: Universal International Freephone Service Dear Mr. Barberly, I write you to express the concerns of (XYZ Company) regarding the upcoming UIFS offering pending approval in September. My understanding is that current 800 users whom have spent heavily in marketing their vanity 800 numbers (1-800-XXXXXXX in our case) will possibly loose the ability to continue to be known by the Branding we have done with the new service. It is not clear that if the new service if instituted as defined, will infringe on the de-facto trademark it represents to (XYZ Company). We are just now exploring with our legal department what proprietary rights we have with this number. I also believe that issues regarding misdialed calls, domestic versus international billing for call generated within the US have not been properly addressed. Anything that you can do to extend the stable state of the existing document to allow the user community to continue, and in most cases begin, to investigate the issues would be greatly appreciated. Ideally, the Federal Trade Commission might need to come into this issue re trademarks, etc. and how they are protected across international boundaries. Sincerely yours, -------------------------------- J. Oppenheimer, Producer@Pipeline.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 11:35:09 +0100 From: jurgen@dataflash.it (Jurgen Morhofer) Subject: Help Wanted With Nokia 6050 GSM Car Phone Dear Mr. Townson, I already submitted you this help request once, on Jan 27, and you published it on Jan 31, but up to now I haven't seen any answer to it in your Digest. In the last month my old Internet-provider had a lot of problems and I'm afraid that maybe somebody answered me directly but the mail went lost. If it is possible for you I would kindly ask you to republish it again, as it is very important to me to resolve this problem. Anyone who should write me will receive a reply from me to know that his mail arrived. -------------------- Recently I bought a Nokia 6050 GSM car phone with built-in hands-free-kit and I experienced some trouble with my antenna. Before switching to GSM I had a NEC P3 (ETACS version; the same system that is used in UK and Austria too) with a Hands-Free-Kit and external antenna. During installation of the new Nokia phone I connected the existing antenna, that always had worked fine with my NEC P3, to it. When making phone calls everything works fine if I use the handset but in case of using the hands-free option the called or calling party on the other side hears some very loud interference-like sounds mixed together with my voice. First I thought that the hands-free section of my phone would be defect but then by case I tried to turn off my antenna leaving the antenna cable connected to my phone and surprise, surprise, everything was perfect. I called Nokia Customer service but their representitive did not understand very much about GSM phones as they are still not very popular here in Italy. For now I attached a small FM-antenna to cover the ugly knob that comes out of my trunk, but I'm afraid to burn my amplifier (8W) without a proper antenna. Who has any idea of what happened and what I should do? Please e-mail! Thanks in advance, jurgen@dataflash.it Tel:+39-6-780-8093 FAX:+39-6-780-8777 Rome, Italy ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 08:21:41 -0600 From: tft2@ic.mankato.mn.us (Thin Film Technology) Subject: Telecom Hardware Newsgroup Thanks for including us on your mailing list. I find that of the information interesting to say the least. It brings back memories of my military days were I was a player in the wideband com. game. Working with mobile systems in a tactical unit, and at a hub of the DEB link. Your list is a wealth of contacts in many avenues of telecomunications and I thank you again. Is there an area for telecom hardware discussion? This would be more direct to my interests in my present profession. If so please mail me an address. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you ... Wade Viland [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't think there is any Usenet group specifically for telecom hardware. Generally the topic is discussed right here. Feel free to submit questions; I am sure the experts will respond. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Randy Fine Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 11:53:51 +0000 Subject: ATT Phone Compatibles One of my clients is loking to replace a telephone instrument on his ATT Merlin system. He is looking for a full featured phone that especially includes a mute button. Any suggestions for brands, models, vendors, etc would be appreciated. Randy Fine Computer Partners comppart@albany.net ------------------------------ From: jmc@cnd.hp.com (Jerry McCollom) Subject: Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? Date: 14 Mar 1995 04:12:31 GMT Organization: Hewlett Packard In article cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) writes: > "Your tax dollars" amounts to about $0.75 for PBS. Well, to get this back to telecom issues: Can I keep my $0.75 in my own pocket so I can use 1-900-GET-INFO? :-) Jerry McCollom Hewlett Packard Co., Network and System Management Division jmc@cnd.hp.com ------------------------------ From: abgportu@puug.pt (Ricardo Cardoso) Subject: Re: Paging Interface With Computer Date: 14 Mar 1995 18:31:01 GMT Organization: AGB HUANG Zhengqian (zqhuang@sunmp.csd.hku.hk) wrote: > Does anybody know if there is a paging receiver that can be > connected to a computer so that data received over the air can be > sent to the computer? Have you ever seen any software that uses the Sound Blaster to recieve PAGER signal at 512kbits/s? ------------------------------ From: billg@Radix.Net (Bill Grenoble) Subject: Re: T1 -> Modems Date: 14 Mar 1995 20:57:59 GMT Organization: RadixNet Internet Services ScottPCS (scottpcs@aol.com) wrote: > I need to bring in a T1 line to 24 1200 baud modems for my company. > It seems like an inefficient solution to run the T1 into a channel > bank to end up with 24 phone lines and then plug in 24 modems plugged > into 24 serial ports. Is there any type of hardware that can handle > this T1 / modem problem better? Preferrably something PC based > (Windows NT) and cheap . Scott, I have seen a T1 rack mount modem (V.Fast I think), but it cost more than a channel bank and a rackmount modem. Try Penril in Rockville MD (I think) or Racal/Vadic. What type modems? 212? And why sooo s l o w? My 2400 modem cost $19 and came with FAX software! And it is s l o w! Good Hunting! Bill Grenoble billg@radix.net billg@radixii.com ------------------------------ From: edg@ocn.com (Ed Goldgehn) Subject: Re: Is ISDN Equipment Limited by Switch? Date: 14 Mar 1995 23:44:12 GMT Organization: The INTERNET Connection, LLC In article , cogorno@netcom.com says: > I am in the process of converting my two lines into an ISDN line, and > while on the phone today the PacBell representative said somthing a > little startling. She told me "You are served off a 5ESS (which I > knew), so you need to buy AT&T equipment." I thought this was a little > odd, so I asked her why. SHe said that AT&T ISDN equipment will not > work with a DMS-100 and Northern equipment will not work with the > 5ESS. So, if I move to an area that has a DMS-100, I will have to buy > all new equipment. Is this _really_ true? No. If you are served by an AT&T Switch which has not been upgraded to provide ISDN via National 1 (NI-1) standards (in other words custom only), then this is definitely the case. This can also be the case if you have requested some services which are not included in the NI-1 standards and, therefore, PacBell is providing you the service via custom settings on the 5ESS. With NI-1 service, you can use anyone's equipment that complies to the services provided under that standard. In most cases, though, when you request NI-1 service you either can get it or find out *when* you can get it. Also, non NI-1 service will become more and more rate as NI-2 starts getting deployed as well. My understanding is that PacBell is moving to providing all ISDN service through NI-1 where they have been providing custom services from their switches. In any event, even if you need to buy AT&T equipment today, you should still be able to use it if you move. You might not get all the same features as originally provided on the AT&T switch, but the majority of services needed by most end-users will be available via NI-1, NI-2 and beyond. Ed Goldgehn E-Mail: edg@ocn.com Sr. Vice President Voice: (404) 919-1561 Open Communication Networks, Inc. Fax: (404) 919-1568 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 19:04:54 -0500 From: johnl@iecc.com (John Levine) Subject: Re: Who's the B Cell Carrier in Ithaca NY? I asked why there's no B cellular carrier in the NY-4 RSA which includes Ithaca, Cortland, and Auburn NY. A correspondent reports that NYNEX, The Trumansburg Home Telephone Company (a small telco that serves a few rural towns) and an area Indian group have been involved in a legal dispute over the license. The same problem held up the Cape Cod B system for years. In that case, the contestants were NYNEX, who provides wireline service for 99.9% of the service area, the Elizabeth Islands Telephone Company, which provides service on one small island (and doesn't even have a switch, its wires all run across the harbor to the NET CO in Falmouth, but was owned by magazine zillionaire Malcolm Forbes who knew a potential gold mine when he saw one), and the Gay Head tribe on Martha's Vineyard who had set up a paper telco purely to try to get the franchise and claimed preference under some minority preference law. That was finally resolved in favor of NYNEX, who quickly built it and made it part of the Boston system. Elizabeth Islands may have a tiny minority stake; the Indians lost out because their telco was clearly nonexistant, having no plant, no franchise, and no customers. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com Primary perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies" ------------------------------ From: Mfrere Subject: Re: Credit Checking on Cellular Customers Date: 14 Mar 1995 03:22:50 GMT Organization: Solect Technology Group > When I applied with RochesterTel Mobile, they wanted a $250 deposit. > Since I am a college student, I don't usually have that much money > lining my wallet, anxious to sit in someone else's pocket. :) It seems > that since I haven't had residential telephone service for three > continuous years (time on the campus CBX doesn't count), they think > I'm a risk. > Of course, the cellular business is a lot like the used-car business. > As soon as my face fell, the salesman "suddenly" remembered a recent > memo. It seems they can just take my credit-card number (even though I > didn't have $250 credit left on it) and charge my MasterCard if I fail > to pay the bill. This tune changed so quickly that I couldn't help > but think it was fishy, but that's the nature of the game :/ The Cellular carrier I work for, on average, was writing off at least 10% of it's revenue due to bad credit! With tighter credit checks, it's down below 3%. This might give you something to think about. Cellular is a business, not a right. Later, Mike [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are correct it is a business, and not a 'right'; in the sense that landline telco is regulated and must accept all customers, and even the landline telco has the right to require a deposit or advance payment from customers it thinks will default on the bill. One thing cellular companies might do however to decrease their risks while encouraging new customers with credit which is not the best to subscribe is make adaptations in their switches so that credit limits could be set and honored. For example, John Doe has poor credit, but wants a cell phone. Why can't the carrier turn on his account and set it up so that he has a fifty dollar per month (as an example) limit then cut him off at that point? Why require a thousand dollar deposit that John Doe cannot raise? The callback services all do this. The customer and the company mutually agree on a credit limit; at that point the service gets turned off until payment is received. Would that be so hard for a cellular carrier to accomplish? PAT] ------------------------------ From: citcomp@essential.org ([Citizens' Committee for Public Broadcasting]) Subject: Citizens in Support of Public Broadcasting Date: 15 Mar 1995 00:10:51 GMT Organization: Citizens Committee for Public Broadcasting National Citizens Organization forms in response to the threat of drastic funding cuts to public broadcasting. The Citizens Committee for Public Broadcasting is a nationwide coalition of viewers, listeners, and organizations dedicated to preserving the independence, integrity, and quality of America s public broadcasting system. CCPB is fighting efforts to eliminate the federal subsidies that ensure the quality, diversity and availability of public broadcasting for the American people. Annual subsidies -- which cost each American about $1.09 each year -- provide funds for both programming and station operating expenses, and are critical to the system s survival. The House of Representatives has already proposed substantial cuts to fiscal year 1996 and 1997. In order to preserve funding and quality programming for 1998 we must act now. The committee is encouraging additional local organizers and community groups to add their voice to the campaign. CCPB can provide background information on public broadcasting, congressional updates, and grassroots organizing expertise. For more information, contact ccpb@essential.org or call 202-463-0020. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Mar 95 01:03 EST From: bellaire@iquest.net (James Bellaire) Subject: Last Laugh! Technology Notes A few notes on technology ... Earlier this week I was looking at computer software in a department store, I turned around to leave and spotted a dictionary/encyclopedia. Immediately I was thinking. Is this PC or MAC? It is CDROM or floppies? What memory does it need? Then I noticed that it was a book. (Ah, they still do publish on paper!) It's not all my fault, of course. The store was selling plastic bookshelves as "Multimedia Racks." I keep wondering how my children will be affected by these changes. Then my six year old nephew visited my parents. He found an old typewriter, pulled it out and began typing... LOAD "GAMES", 8,1 After he pressed enter he complained that the typewriter wasn't working. Too used to computers. He did manage to teach my dad how to turn on, load and run Hoyle's Solitare on the PC yesterday. And so it goes ... James E. Bellaire bellaire@iquest.net "True intelegence is showing the knowledge that the people you are talking to want to hear." ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #148 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa04830; 16 Mar 95 17:12 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12050; Thu, 16 Mar 95 11:14:34 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA12036; Thu, 16 Mar 95 11:14:29 CST Date: Thu, 16 Mar 95 11:14:29 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503161714.AA12036@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #149 TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Mar 95 11:14:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 149 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Fiber-Optic Network To Be Installed In High School (David Brouda) Study of Universal Service (or Lack Thereof) (Rutgers via Jerry Leichter) Pac Bell, California PUC and "Reasonable Level of Service" (Jon Tara) Reinvention Team Dials in on U.S. Federal Phone Improvements (Nigel Allen) Serial Communications Controller for V.35 (dasdanh@aol.com) IEEE 802.14 Progress and Contacts Wanted (Phil Potter) Benchmarking Internet Providers (Marc Shafroth) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dbrouda@netaxs.com (David Brouda) Subject: Fiber-Optic Network To Be Installed In High School Date: Tue, 14 Mar 1995 20:16:55 -0500 Organization: Net Access - Philadelphia's Internet Connection My high school (Haverford High School in Havertown, PA (suburb of Philadelphia) is going to be renovated (actually, rebuilt, except for the outside walls and floors), and they are putting in a fiber-optic netowrk all through the school. Currently, we have a 140 node LocalTalk Network ... all for STUDENT use. (1500 students, who MUST use computers for English papers at least once a quarter). There are four Mac SE/30's acting as servers which are on an EtherNet backbone ... the nodes for the network are divided into Zones and each Zone has their own Router which is on the EtherNet backbone ... so the routers route information to and from the servers on the EtherNet backbone. When they renovate the building (starting in the summer, ending sometime in early 1998), the backbone will be built into the building (in conduits probably, currently the ethernet backbone is just in one small room along a wall connecting the servers and routers) ... but the backbone must last for 50 years (as long as the builing ... haha, something designed today will never last that long ... but we can try). The plan is to make the backbone fiber ... and since the current design of Zones and routers works well (especially for LocalTalk) we figured we'd stick with it. So we are currently planning to have finger (of undecided rating) running from the central servers vertically down to the first floor, the servers are on the third (there are only three floors). Then have less rated fiber run on each floor to four sections of the building (four branches off the vertical fiber) on each floor. Now, I also came up with the idea that the netowrk should NOT have a central point, at least one that the entire network was dependent on. So I thought to add fiber from each area of the building to the other, forming an outer circle of fiber. The outer cirlce would connect at each area to the router/hub (whatever) that the fiber is connected to that comes from the vertical fiber from the central area. In each area, I thought there should be lesser grade fiber (than what comes into each area from the central part) going to each classroom (or two classrooms, or whatever) and having it go into hubs which each computer (most likely all Macs, since that's all we use now) would be connected to using Category 5, 4-pair Twisted Pair. Now, I think this is a great design (kinda like the Internet, if there is a problem with the central hubs/router, the network is not down, only the central server can't be accessed ... which is still an unlikely thing to happen ... that the servers would not be accessable for some reason. Anyway, the MAIN problem with this is that I am graduating this year, and will not be around to do any of this, or even use it. :-( BTW, it will also be connected to the Internet; probably with a T1. Anyway, the problem is that the school needs someone who KNOWS how to put this network together ... there are people out there that say they know how, but then they submit something that looks like it is right out of a text book (which I saw a diagram today that was just that ... the guy that put it together was a moron). So if anyone know of anyone that is knowledgable in that area of fiber-optic networking, or knowledgeable themselves, PLEASE post a reply or e-mail me (both preferred). (You don't even have to have a degree ... hell, the school trusts me, and is taking my advice, and I am only a senior in high school! I told them if they wait five years until I get my degree in Telcom Engineering, I'd be able to help, no problem.) This must been done now though ... renovations start this summer so they need to know where to put conduits and such, and how big to make to conduits, etc ... and maybe even what to put in them. Again, let me know if you even have the slightest clue of any of this stuff. David Brouda Program Director/General Manager, WHHS-FM Computer Technology Assistant Haverford High School Havertown, PA ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 08:19:45 EDT From: Jerry Leichter Subject: Study of Universal Service (or Lack Thereof) [I'm very surprised no one has forwarded this to TELECOM yet. This version, and the material above the *'s, is from a mailing list maintained by Phil Agre.] -- Jerry From: Phil Agre To: rre@weber.ucsd.edu Subject: Rutgers Universal Service Study [I have taken the liberty of reformatting some of this so that it can be read on computer screens, but I have not changed the text. I have also removed some forwarding headers.] From: Bell Atlantic To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Rutgers Universal Service Study NEWS RELEASE ********************************************************* ************************************************************** RUTGERS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: February 23, 1995 Dr. Milton Mueller, (908) 932-7910 Dr. Jorge Schement, (908) 932-7919 RUTGERS UNIVERSITY STUDY DEBUNKS MYTHS ABOUT TELEPHONE SERVICES NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- A major Rutgers University study released today concludes that long-distance calling, not basic service rates, drive people off the phone network; young people, not senior citizens, have less access to telephones -- especially racial or ethnic minorities; and telephone usage varies significantly among races and genders, even though everyone has access to the same services. The report, entitled "Universal service from the bottom up: A profile of telecommunications access in Camden, New Jersey," is based on interviews with Camden residents, but it also reviews and interprets nationwide statistical data. In addition, Camden's racial and ethnic composition and income levels match that of many other low-penetration areas in the Unites States. Therefore, lessons learned in Camden offer insight into nationwide conditions of low telephone penetration. The universal phone service concept is a national goal to make telephone service affordable and available to all American households. Published by Rutgers University professors Dr. Milton Mueller and Dr. Jorge Reina Schement, the report attempts to answer three basic questions: Who are the phoneless? Why are they without phones? What policy is needed to connect them to the network? "Fifteen percent of the households headed by 15-to-24-year-olds are without telephones; for African-American households in that age group it is 26%," Schement said. "The bottom line is this: one of the major factors affecting the employment of young Hispanics and African- Americans is the low level of telephones in their households. You need a phone to get a job and to improve your economic standing." Mueller added that among his most interesting findings was that some people chose not to have telephone service. "When given a choice, some people prefer entertainment services like cable TV." He added that the study shows a principal emphasis of a universal service policy should be on the cost of usage [i.e. long-distance calling], not the cost of access [basic monthly service]. "Phones are similar to credit cards," he said. "Credit cards have limits. When credit cards get maxed out, they can no longer be used and some people have trouble paying. The same thing can happen with phone service. " The study looks at universal service and the myths that have grown up around telephone penetration and the social condition of being without a telephone. The research implications go against the grain of many common assumptions about universal service because they expose the following as misconceptions: 0 Myth 1: Basic monthly service rates control how affordable telephone service is. Thus, these rates should be the focus of universal service policy. 0 Fact: Marginal users are driven off the network by usage related costs, such as long-distance calling. In addition, the chief economic barrier for low-income users is the initial deposit required for new service (at least $100.00). 0 Myth 2: Universal service subsidies should be focused on the elderly. 0 Fact: Ninety-seven percent of Americans 65 years and older have telephone service. This is three percent above the national average. Even when their income is very low, more older people have telephones than younger people in corresponding age groups. 0 Myth 3: Maintaining universal service is primarily a problem for rural areas. 0 Fact: There is a greater percentage of people without phones in inner cities than in rural areas. Social isolation, once the concern of rural planners, now occurs more often in inner cities. 0 Myth 4: Low income and minority areas are denied access to advanced telecommunication services. 0 Fact: Minority, low-income urban areas such as Camden consume a disproportionately high amount of advanced telecommunications and premium cable TV services. The biggest risk is not that poor Americans will be denied access to these services, but that they will buy services they cannot afford. 0 Myth 5: Telephone service is more valuable than cable television because being able to communicate is more important than being entertained. 0 Fact: Many inner-city households in Camden prefer cable TV service to telephone service. Their reasons are not irrational: a) telephones often expose them to charges they perceive as uncontrollable; b) telephones can be a channel for undesirable interaction involving drugs and crime; and c) government agencies and businesses, which these household view as threatening, may call them for matters like bill collection. These households believe, a) cable TV offers inexpensive entertainment; b) the many hours and large variety of entertainment provides more satisfaction to more members of the household than telephone conversations; c) cable may keep children at home and away from dangerous streets; and d) cable offers a visible sign of well-being in households with few material comforts. 0 Myth 6: There is no difference in telephone usage between races or genders. 0 Fact: The percentage of people with telephones varies significantly between whites, blacks and Hispanics, even when household income is held constant. Households headed by women have lower penetration levels than do households headed by men. "We found that telephone service does make a difference in people's lives," Schement said. "People go on and come off the network all the time. Society benefits by keeping them on. But to do so will require a true understanding of why they are off, and the cooperation of telephone companies, regulators and independent researchers." The study was funded by Bell Atlantic, and is based on in depth interviews with families who do not have telephone service now, or have lost service in the recent past. The interviews were conducted in Camden, N.J. as part of the ongoing research of the Rutgers University Project on Information Policy. The report concludes that, with a telephone penetration level of 80.6%, Camden falls significantly below the national average of 94%. ------------------------------ From: jtara@cts.com (Jon Tara) Subject: Pac Bell, Cal. PUC, and "Reasonable Level of Service" Date: Wed, 15 Mar 1995 09:46:30 GMT Here's the latest in my ongoing debate with my Internet service provider: They currently have 225 dialup lines (whoops, make that 250) in four locations. I don't believe that any of the locations are co-located on telco premises. The largest number of lines are at their headquarters in a fairly mature business/industrial area of San Diego. (There is some new construction in the area, however.) All of the lines are delivered to them as single conventional lines. (i.e. no T1s). They've experienced quite a growth rate -- they went from 3000 to 3700 subscribers in the past two months. Busy signals are chronic from about 4:30PM to 11PM, and now starting to occur during the day also. They've had 25 (actually 23 ... gee, sure SOUNDS like a T1, but, no, they gotta give it to them on all those tiny little wires ...) lines on order forever -- well, we've been hearing about it for a couple of months. They finally did get the lines installed today, and, of course, it didn't help the busy signal situation one whit. The provider claims that they are trying to provide good service, but that Pac Bell and the PUC block them at every step. I'm wondering how true these claims may be, and how others manage to get this many lines installed. I'm SURE that Compuserve, Sprint, and others DO manage to get this many lines and more installed. So, what do they do different? The provider claims that "Pac Bell has plenty of cable" in the area, but admitted that they did have to pull cable for the last installation. (I keep urging them to co-locate, both for better avilability of lines and for better quality on modem connections.) But they claim that the *real* culprit is the California Public Utilites Commission, who has some rules about "reasonable level of service", and that Pac Bell cannot (though sometimes they quote this as "will not") install more lines because of these rules. They also say that Pac Tel says that they are "line compulsive" (sounds like a psychiatric diagnosis! :) ) My guess as to what is really going on is that they really didn't plan far enough in advance. (Telephone companies like to plan this stuff *years* in advance -- I have talked to a friend who is a capacity planner for Michigan Bell about this in the past). I suspect Pac Bell would really rather not install all those lines and would rather they just went away -- so they cite PUC rules that technically get them out of it. I also suspect that things would be a lot easier if they co-located, but the provider is unconvinced. I'm also wondering if they're talking to the right people at Pac Bell -- they may be dealing with people used to installing voice lines in office buildings, and can't understand why such a small building needs 250 lines. Comments? Have you sucessfully had 200, 300, 500 lines installed by Pac Bell? (For dial-up modem use in a small facility -- not lines for 500 desks in an office building.) If so, what did you have to do to get them to do it? What's the real scoop on the mysterious PUC "reasonable level of service" rule? Oh, yes, they also said that Pac Bell "wouldn't" install T1s instead of all the individual lines. Can anyone imagine why? jtara@cts.com A new picture of San Diego Bay every half hour: San Diego BayCam jtara@mediashare.com Tools and services for CD-ROM and online catalogs: MediaShare Corporation [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I am no big fan of T-1. That is, I can take it or leave it, I worked in this business for so many years before T-1 came around that to me, thousands of 'those tiny little wires' is where its at. I've never had anything to do with Pac Bell either, but it sounds to me like someone did not plan ahead properly, and perhaps still are not planning for the future. I would think as a practical matter they should go with T-1 at this point, although I've seen many a telco demarc for buildings with more -- a lot more -- than 500 phone lines with a big variety of services involved -- voice, data, other special circuits -- and properly planned, they work just fine also. In some cases also, the many thousands of 'tiny little wires' are easier for the person on location to repair and maintain. Lose a T-1 for whatever reason and bunches of lines go out; lose a single wire and its not that big of a hassle to start tracing the problem and fix it. Even if your demarc is a mess -- and I have seen some *messy* ones with nothing tagged, wires in a jumble, etc, you can still put your sounder or noise maker on the wire where it terminates (at the modem, or phone or whatever) then 'ring out the line' back to the demarc, find it there by listening and repair, replace or remove it or whatever. Ten lines or ten thousand lines, no matter. I do not know anything about the California PUC 'reasonable level of service' rules, however I cannot imagine Pac Bell deliberatly turning away additional business. I cannot imagine them saying they do not want the business they will get from 50-150 new lines from an already established customer. I can see where they might want to cut a deal with the customer regards the installation and startup costs for the new service. For example several years ago when the University of Chicago decided to upgrade from all manual cord switchboards to centrex, the decision was reached to relocate the phone room several blocks from its old location on Ellis Avenue to 60th Street in a building directly across the alley from Illinois Bell's Kenwood central office at 61st and Kenwood. UC helped pay for it, and plans were made for a transition over a two year period. I might add the alley along with part of Kenwood Avenue was dug up for about the same two years to the inconvenience of any number of motorists (grin) but the job was properly executed ... tens of thousands of 'tiny little wires'. It may be your Internet provider needs to sit down with Pac Bell and make a legitimate, realistic plan rather than continually trying to rush new service into place. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Nigel Allen Subject: Reinvention Team Dials in on U.S. Federal Phone Improvements Date: Wed, 15 Mar 1995 21:38:15 EST Organization: NDA, 52 Manchester Ave., Toronto, Ont. M6G 1V3, Canada Here is a press release from the National Performance Review. I downloaded the press release from the U.S. Newswire BBS in Maryland at 410-363-0834. I do not work for the U.S. government. Reinvention Team Dials in on Federal Phone Service Improvements Contact: Phyllis Anderson or Mike Russell, 202-632-0150, both of the National Performance Review WASHINGTON, March 10 -- The National Performance Review (NPR) team has begun working with federal agencies to improve their customer telephone service, a growing area of complaints from countless frustrated Americans. Already, NPR has found service problems to be drastically compounded by the sheer volume of calls from citizens to their government. On one January day, for instance, Americans placed 1.7 million calls to Social Security. In 1994, they placed 68.7 million calls to the Internal Revenue Service. In the same year, the Immigration and Naturalization Service received 12 million calls. Some front-line federal telephone workers are expected to handle up to 25,000 customer calls each per year. Americans call about health benefits, tax refunds, travel information, product safety and flood aid. While some get good responses, far too many often get slow responses, terse conversations, busy signals, and inaccurate information during very short hours of operation. Over one quarter of these callers hang up. Thus, what might have been their first direct contact with the federal government becomes a bad experience. President Clinton and Vice President Gore, though, got their message and told NPR to fix it. A result is SERVING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC: BEST PRACTICES IN TELEPHONE SERVICE, a summary of the world class customer telephone practices of eight of North America's most successful corporations. These "best in the business" practices will soon be implemented at several customer-intensive federal agencies including Social Security, Census, State, the IRS, INS, GSA, and OPM. All have promised President Clinton -- in writing -- that by September, 1995, they'll provide the American people with the first class telephone service they deserve. It will include: -- answering in 15-20 seconds or rarely allowing a busy signal. -- operating more hours a day, more days a year. -- giving accurate information. -- giving front line employees authority to solve problems. The report also stresses the cost-effectiveness of telephone service, which NPR calculates to be one third the cost of producing a written response. The benchmark study was produced in cooperation with American Express, AT&T, Bell Canada, Citibank, Duke Power, GE, Saturn, and USAA Insurance. Copies are available from the NPR office, 750 17th Street, NW, Suite 200; Washington, DC 20006, or by calling NPR at 202-632-0150. Press contacts are Phyllis Anderson or Mike Russell. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This will be great if they accmplish it. The trouble is, like with the Internet provider mentioned in the article before this one, is the *lack of planning*. No one, but no one anticipated the HUGE increase in the use of telecommunications we have seen in the past ten years. No one anticipated the HUGE increase in connections on the Internet. For example, some of the people who are sysadmins for their site are pulling their hair out trying to merely keep up with the volume of email, news and other network traffic in a day's time. I'm not surprised that the federal government is experiencing the same kind of sluggishness where their phones are concerned. Do any of you old-timers who remember the days of manual telephone service remember the Bell System comment that 'if manual service were to be continued, within the next several years, if every single woman in the USA over the age of 18 was employed as a telephone operator, there still wouldn't be any way to keep up with the demand for connections.' Yes, Bell made that comment after a study in the 1950's as they were beginning to phase in dial service. Now I have to wonder if by the year 2000, and everyone in the USA was employed as a customer service/ telephone attendant/operator if there would be any way to keep up with demand for on the spot, telephone information. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dasdanh@aol.com (DAS DanH) Subject: Serial Communications Controller for V.35 Date: 14 Mar 1995 22:09:49 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: dasdanh@aol.com (DAS DanH) I am in the process of trying to design a V.35 connection into a piece of equipment and am having a really hard time finding any information about the protocols used in conjunction with V.35. I have the CCITT specs for V.35 and have the physical/electrical end under control. Does anyone know what the stupid serial protocol is? Is there a good understandable/readable specification that explains V.35. Also I don't need a lecture on V.35 being an old modem spec, etc. I am using the V.35 interface for nX56Kbps transmission into a CSU/DSU. Please help. ------------------------------ From: p.potter@trl.oz.au (Phil Potter) Subject: IEEE 802.14 Progress and Contacts Wanted Date: 16 Mar 1995 07:01:53 GMT Organization: TRL Can anyone please help me with contacts or information sources on the progress of the IEEE P802.14 committee looking into cable TV modems. I know that they have a PAR, but also have been told that there is already a (shell of a ?) draft standard. Ideally I would like to get the full documentation relevant to 802.14 from the March 6-10 meeting of the 802 Plenary, but it is not available from the IEEE document order source. Can someone please direct me (preferably e-mail or fax) to the secretary or editor or someone who can provide us with the documentation; we hope to be able to attend future meetings. I have been involved with 802.6 previously. Thanks for any help you can give. Phil Potter (p.potter@trl.oz.au) Telecom Australia Research Laboratories ------------------------------ From: shafroth@students.wisc.edu (Marc Shafroth) Subject: Benchmarking Internet Providers Date: 16 Mar 1995 05:31:54 GMT Organization: Division of Information Technology My employer is working on an RFP for Internet access. SLIP/PPP at first and dedicated link later. I assume that because of the variation in the bandwidth that different vendors have into the backbone and because of the variation in the geography of those connections to the backbone, some vendors may be able to provide much faster transport across the net than others. I thought it would be possible to measure the speed and throughput of a vendor's offering by doing some standardized FTPs and PINGs to a variety of sites across the country at a variety of times of the day and week. Has anyone established any test suites or other ways of benchmarking speed and thoughput for internet vendors? Alternatively, are vendors normally able to provide data from simulations to show the effect of various types of network congestion on their ability to provide timely, high-volume transport across the net? Marc Shafroth ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #149 ****************************** Received: from delta.eecs.nwu.edu by MINTAKA.LCS.MIT.EDU id aa08832; 16 Mar 95 22:54 EST Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24254; Thu, 16 Mar 95 17:51:14 CST Return-Path: Received: by delta.eecs.nwu.edu (4.1/SMI-4.0-proxy) id AA24247; Thu, 16 Mar 95 17:51:12 CST Date: Thu, 16 Mar 95 17:51:12 CST From: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Digest (Patrick Townson)) Message-Id: <9503162351.AA24247@delta.eecs.nwu.edu> To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Subject: TELECOM Digest V15 #150 TELECOM Digest Thu, 16 Mar 95 17:51:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 150 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Serial Communications Controller for V.35 (Steve Bunning) Re: Serial Communications Controller for V.35 (Bud Couch) Re: Phantom Circuits, (was 'Do Bridges Affect Modems?') (Michael Dawson) Re: T1->10BaseT: How? (John Combs) Re: T1->10BaseT: How? (John Dearing) Re: T1->10BaseT: How? (Doug Fields) Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant (John Combs) Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant (Fritz Whittington) Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant (Michael Berlant) Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant (John J. Butz) Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant (Brian Smith) Re: Paging Interface With Computer (David S. Rose) Re: Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns...) (Rob Levandowski) Re: Caller ID Question (gttm@cais2.cais.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 500-677-1616 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 15:37:30 -0500 From: bunning@acec.com (Steve Bunning) Subject: Re: Serial Communications Controller for V.35 dasdanh@aol.com (DAS DanH) writes: > I have the CCITT specs for V.35 and have the physical/electrical end > under control. Does anyone know what the stupid serial protocol is? I guess the easy answer is all of them. I've used V.35 with X.25, SS7 and several others. V.35 encompasses the physical layer, and is not tied to a specific higher layer protocol. > Is there a good understandable/readable specification that explains V.35. The CCITT Red Book (1984) is _the_ standard, but would probably fail your requirement for understandable/readable. I've seen V.35 covered briefly in several books including _The V Series Recommendations_ by Uyless Black. > Also I don't need a lecture on V.35 being an old modem spec, etc. I am using > the V.35 interface for nX56Kbps transmission into a CSU/DSU. If you're not already, you might want to use V.10/V.11 compatible drivers which could interwork with many different physical interfaces including V.35. See TD a week ago or so for the John Combs/Testmark Laboratories posting on V.35. (Thanks for the information, John!) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John Combs has more input for us in this issue on some topics which came up recently. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bud@kentrox.com (Bud Couch) Subject: Re: Serial Communications Controller for V.35 Organization: ADC Kentrox Industries, Inc. Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 20:58:02 GMT In article dasdanh@aol.com (DAS DanH) writes: > I am in the process of trying to design a V.35 connection into a piece > of equipment and am having a really hard time finding any information > about the protocols used in conjunction with V.35. I have the CCITT > specs for V.35 and have the physical/electrical end under control. > Does anyone know what the stupid serial protocol is? Is there a good > understandable/readable specification that explains V.35. Also I > don't need a lecture on V.35 being an old modem spec, etc. I am using > the V.35 interface for nX56Kbps transmission into a CSU/DSU. V.35, the non-spec that will not die. The short answer is: V.24, section 3. This section defines *all* of the serial interchange circuits, by number. A slightly longer answer is that a minimal implementation (the equivalent of the "pins 2,3 and 7" RS-232) uses Transmit Data on P&S, Receive Data on R&T, and Receive Signal Element Timing (Clock) on V&X. All the other signals are either support for those three signals, or to enable the circuit to handle more stringent conditions. The support signals commonly used are DSR and DTR (Circuits 107 and 108) on E and H, RTS and CTS (Circuits 105 and 106) on C and D, and DCD (Circuit 109) on F. The signals needed for extended length cable, or local timing, are Transmit Signal Element Timing (transmit clock) on Y&AA, and DTE-sourced Transmit signal Element Timing (external clock) on U&W. The definitions for the support interchange signals is essentially the same as RS-232. The major problem that I have seen over the years has to do with the clocks required for synchronous services, including V.35. All of the specifications phrase the requirements a little differently, but they all say the same thing: V.24, RS232, EIA-530, EIA-449, X-21, whatever. Since Receive Data (RD) is an output for DCE and and input for DTE, and Transmit Data (TD) is an input for DCE and an output for DTE, the definition of which clock edge is important changes for DTE and DCE, and this causes much confusion. I can't count the number of times I have seen these signals inverted. Many times it is a wiring error, but it's not that rare to have them bass-ackwards from the equipment. The simple guideline to remember is: If your equipment is outputting the signal, CHANGE it on the POSITIVE edge of the controlling clock. If your equipment is receiving the signal SAMPLE it on the NEGATIVE edge. If you have any further questions, feel free to e-mail me (address below). After all, it may be one of my designs that your equipment ends up talking to. ;-) Bud Couch - ADC Kentrox When correctly viewed, everything is lewd. bud@kentrox.com (192.228.59.2) -Tom Lehrer insert legalistic bs disclaimer here ... - me ------------------------------ From: tpcomms@atlantis.actrix.gen.nz (Michael Dawson) Subject: Re: Phantom Circuits, (was 'Do Bridges Affect Modems?') Organization: Actrix Information Exchange Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 19:44:22 GMT In article , danny burstein wrote: > The phantom circuit is a "bonus" circuit derived from two other > physical cable circuits. Although the phantom circuit is virtually > extinct, they are still found scattered around the country in the Bell > System and independent telephone companies. There are also "Spook" circuits. A Spook circuit is dervived from two phantom ciruits the same way you derive a phantom circuit. I have never seen a spook circuit but have heard of their existence. I believe they were not too popular because it was harder to maintain balanced conditions. Regards. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 22:56 EST From: Testmark Laboratories <0006718446@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: T1->10BaseT: How? In TELECOM Digest V15 Issue 146, Lewis wrote: > My company is spliting into two sites joined by a T1 line. Do I need > separate network segments assigned to these two sites or can I still > keep it as a SINGLE network joined by the T1? I did the same thing a few years ago for our two buildings for our Ethernet LAN. I kept it as a single LAN, and simply used a set of Larsecom Access-T DSUs, connected via their V.35 high speed serial ports to 3Com Netbuilder routers set to bridging mode. By the way, with a fractional T1 rate of 1 Mbps, the PCs on the far side of the T1 line only saw about a 15% performance hit accessing our LAN servers at the main building. I believe it would have been transparent to the users if I hadn't taken ten DS0 channels away for voice lines. John Combs, Project Engineer, TestMark Laboratories, testmark@mcimail.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank John Combs and Testmark Laboratories for the donation of a Wyse-50 terminal to the Digest, replacing the same kind of terminal which had been in use for a few years but died in the middle of last week. I rushed my standby Qume terminal into service only to find lots of little kinks in the scripts I use for the Digest which did not agree with the way the Qume saw fit to do things. After a couple days limping along, and my message here asking for documents on the Qume, John found a Wyse-50 in reserve at Testmark and sent it along. My gratitude is unceasing. PAT] ------------------------------ From: jdearing@netaxs.com (John Dearing) Subject: Re: T1->10BaseT: How? Date: 16 Mar 1995 14:26:34 GMT Organization: Philadlephia's Complete Internet Provider Lewis (luisg@hadar.fujitsu.com) wrote: > My company is spliting into two sites joined by a T1 line. Do I need > separate network segments assigned to these two sites or can I still > keep it as a SINGLE network joined by the T1? If you simply try to bridge the two networks together, you will suffer severe performance problems at the side of the network that is on "the other side" of the T-1. All of the traffic will be trying to get squeezed through that 1.5MB/s bottleneck. What you probably want to do is route only the traffic that needs to get to the other side and keep local traffic local. This means that you will propbably have to subnet your network. > What additional equipment do I need to do this? One site will have > 120 workstations the other 20 workstations. Besides the T-1 CSU/DSU's you'll also need two routers. > We have been assigned only one class C IP network number. You'll probably have to subnet the Class C network into two segments. John Dearing jdearing@netaxs.com ------------------------------ From: admiral@panix.com (Doug Fields) Subject: Re: T1->10BaseT: How? Date: 15 Mar 1995 10:19:24 -0500 Organization: Panix in NYC, Admiral's Account In article luisg@hadar.fujitsu.com (Lewis) writes: > My company is spliting into two sites joined by a T1 line. Do I need > separate network segments assigned to these two sites or can I still > keep it as a SINGLE network joined by the T1? > We have been assigned only one class C IP network number. Well, from a network-layout point of view, and considering your size (120 and 20), I'd suggest this: Get another class C; it's not worth subnetting your single class C because $5 says you'll expand that 120 and boy does it suck to run out of IP-space. Give your new network the new class C IP addresses. Get each network running individually. Then, take your favorite Ethernet to T1 routers and add them to the networks and route between them. Depending on the software/hardware/operating system on the machines on each LAN, you probably have more work to do. Call Cisco - a tech rep would explain this to you down to the cable connector you'd need. Cheers, Doug Fields, http://www.interpage.net PGP key: "finger admiral@panix.com" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 22:54 EST From: Testmark Laboratories <0006718446@mcimail.com> Subject: Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant In TELECOM Digest V15 #146, Ward Larkin wrote: > I was recently told that it is technically against FCC regulations to use > live radio broadcasts for when people are placed on hold (or choose to > be placed on hold) I'm not aware of any FCC rulings of that sort. The only FCC issue is that the music on hold being transmitted out of your PBX into the telco trunk cannot exceed a power of -9 dBm averaged over three seconds. Most music on hold is set to a higher power in the real world, and violates this rule, otherwise it is really too low to be comfortably heard by the listener at the far end. However, a human talking very loudly into a telephone can average as much as 0 dBm output power! The supposed reasoning behind this FCC rule is that if it is too loud, the listener cannot ask it to lower its "voice," as they could a live talker who was too loud. There is a second issue. The radio station is playing copyrighted music, and if you are using its broadcast for commercial purposes, you are actually supposed to pay a body such as ASCAP a yearly fee. I don't think that ASCAP polices music on hold too closely, though. I know they used to do things like send inspectors around to a city, and they would check to see if restaurants, roller skating rinks, etc., were playing music that was copyrighted by an ASCAP artist. If they caught a business, they threatened a lawsuit if the business wouldn't sign a contract to pay ASCAP, who would then pass royalties on to the various artists signed with them. John Combs, Project Engineer, TestMark Laboratories, testmark@mcimail.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Quite a few years ago I had a phone line which about once a month would present me with very soft, very distant background music whenever I went off hook. Complaints to telco about it brought the response that the grocery store a few doors away from me 'has their background music incorrectly set again ... we will advise them.' And they always did, and the music on my line would go away. I think they got their background music over a phone line from a company which provided it. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Mar 95 12:22:44 CST From: fritz@mirage.hc.ti.com (Fritz Whittington) Subject: Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant In comp.dcom.telecom is written: > I'm fairly new to telephony, but I have installed a couple smaller > automated attendant, fax-on-demand, voice mail systems. I was > recently told that it is technically against FCC regulations to use > live radio broadcasts for when people are placed on hold (or choose to > be placed on hold). > Does anyone know the associated details? I'm not sure if there is any FCC regulation on this. But I am sure that such use is held to be a "public performance" and you therefore run afoul of copyright laws. The radio station pays a (small) fee to the copyright holders of the music they play, because it's a "public performance". (This is usually handled through a clearinghouse such as ASCAP or BMI.) As long as you are listening to the radio privately, no problem. But if you hook up a radio to a PA system in your business to have background music, then that's a *second* "public performance", and you are liable to pay royalties. Same thing for using it as music-on-hold. > It's not that big a deal to use audio CD, or a tape deck, I simply > want to know what specific FCC regulations (if any) prohibit use of > live radio on telephony systems. You'd have the same problem as if you used a radio. You'd either have to pay royalties, or find some audio that's royalty-free, or hold the copyright yourself. Fritz Whittington Texas Instruments, P.O. Box 655474, MS 446 Dallas, TX 75265 Shipping address: 13510 North Central Expressway, MS 446 Dallas, TX 75243 fritz@ti.com Office: +1 214 995 0397 FAX: +1 214 995 6194 ------------------------------ From: lnjptyo1.mberla01@eds.com (Michael Berlant) Subject: Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant Date: 16 Mar 1995 00:48:19 GMT Organization: EDS Japan In article , adelante@sccsi.com says... > recently told that it is technically against FCC regulations to use > live radio broadcasts for when people are placed on hold The restriction is not against using radio, per se. It is regarding copyright enforcement and royalty payments. If you use any copyrighted material for your Music-on-Hold, then you must meter its transmission and pay the appropriate royalties. Fail to do that and you'll have lawyers more powerful than the FCC's breathing down your neck if and when you get caught. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 15:16:14 EST From: jbutz@hogpa.ho.att.com (John J Butz) Subject: Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant On a similar note. I once phoned into the Microsoft Word Help Line, where I was greeted by a "DJ" who told me how many people were in the MS Word queue, the average hold time, and the name of the song she had just played. I assume this "broadcast" was done live due to the dynamic nature of the information presented and the smooth continuity of the speech. That is, as queue length, hold time and song title data were "voiced back" there was no discontinuity like typical voice response systems reading back host information. ("There are five callers in the `Excel` queue with a ten minute hold time, you just heard Sting perform `Heavy Cloud No Rain`" vs. "The next train from"...."Belmar"...."arriving at"...."New York, Penn Station"...."departs at"...."4"..."oh"..."1"..."p m") It would be hardly a problem to bridge queued channels together to a DJ to entertain them while they waited, but man what a boring job it must be spin tunes and read back queue times. J Butz AT&T-GCCS Service SW Development jbutz@hogpa.att.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The thing that bugs me about that help line and the DJ is that for what they pay the DJ to put on this show for people on hold, they could easily afford to pay one or two more experienced techs to be there taking phone calls. If callers are there long enough to listen to an entire song and get a traffic congestion report, etc then they are on hold far too long. It seems to me someone is unclear on the concept of what the phone people there are supposed to be doing. People don't call phone rooms to listen to music; that should be coincidental to it all. I wonder also if they have considered hiring two or three *less experienced* persons to field the most elementary questions they must get all day long sending only the more difficult calls to the actual techs. This would serve to weed out the queue quickly also. Also, why not recorded Q/A messages to help callers, i.e. 'while you wait, you may listen to some pre-recorded messages which may solve your problem ...'. Compuserve does this and it weeds out the crowd of callers pretty nicely, even though you still can get waits of 10-15 minutes during their busiest hours. PAT] ------------------------------ From: SMITHB@nutra.monsanto.com (Brian Smith) Subject: Re: Using Live Radio With Automated Attendant Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 09:53:27 -0500 Organization: NSC Technologies Last year I had to install a new music on hold system and found out too much information about this subject. Basically, as far as I know, there is no FCC rule against the use to radio for music-on-hold, it's more a question of royalties that are supposed to be paid to music licensing companies like BMI, ASCAP or SESAC. Even if you are using a CD or tape that you buy at a store or use a radio station, that is free to begin with, you are still expected to pay a fee when you broadcast it through your phone/voice mail system. It is considered a "public" performance for which you are supposed to pay a licensing fee. There are a few exceptions, but this is not one of them. ASCAP sent me information that included a list of the rates based on the number of trunk lines used. The fees ranged from $156.00 to $1254.00 annually. BMI had a similar set-up. I finally bought a music-on-hold player that included licensed music for one year. I'm not sure what I'll do about this next year. A friend I know works a music promotion/management firm and said that the issue of paying royalties is usually on the honor system. Potentially you could have legal troubles if someone wants to enforce the rules. You'll have to decide. There are offices in most major cities. For ASCAP, the Houston office phone is (713) 270-0506. For BMI, the number is 800-699-4264. For SECAC, the number is 615-320-0055. They can send you more information than you probably want about licensing fees and royalties. Good luck! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why not just move the queue a little faster? Why not do a better job of scheduling your help so you have the people you need there at peak times? It used to be that people in charge of phone rooms had statistics on their traffic so they had a very good idea what to expect, i.e. its Thursday at 10 AM, therefore we are gonna have X calls and need Y employees. At least most of the music on hold's are usually not too bad to listen to. Try this one: Ask the international operator for your long distance carrier to connect you with directory assistance in France at one of their peak times (in France). After a ring or two, a most uncreative recording comes on the line. A man with perfect English, with a very British accent says, "Tel-eee-com! Please stand by, we are trying to extend you ... ". There then follows eight or ten bars of some jolly music, and the message is repeated. The whole thing takes perhaps fifteen seconds to play out and it immediatly repeats, "Tel-eee-com! Please stand by, we are trying to extend you ...", followed by the same music, almost like a needle which has gotten stuck on a turntable. Over and over; if you wait on hold three minutes for the Inward operator to respond, you'll hear that recording 12-13 times. If you wait on hold five minutes, then you get it about 19-20 times, once every fifteen seconds or so. Whoever France got that equipment from, the company sold the same junk to the telco in Singapore, because theirs has the same man's voice with the same request to hold and the same eight to ten bars of music. The last time I called France the AT&T operator landed in that queue and I could almost sense her eyes rolling backward in her head, and her thinking, 'why me, Lord?' ... She said some days she hears that recording *dozens* of times before the operators finally answer. Better they should go back to the old ways; when you called from the USA to *certain countries* (names not necessary) it just rang for twenty minutes before Inward responded, provided they ever did respond, provided the AT&T operator was willing to wait that long. PAT] ------------------------------ From: dsr@delphi.com Subject: Re: Paging Interface With Computer Date: Wed, 15 Mar 95 21:26:37 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) HUANG Zhengqian writes: > Does anybody know if there is a paging receiver that can be > connected to a computer so that data received over the air can be > sent to the computer? Sure! There are actually quite a few. The first was the Motorola NewsStream, an external device about the size of an Advisor pager that had no display but did have a serial port. It was introduced in 1992. Shortly thereafter came a raft of paging data receivers in PCMCIA format, which just slip into a PCMCIA Type II slot on virtually any notebook computer or PDA. Motorola released the first (the NewsCard) at the same time as the Apple Newton (it has since been released for many other platforms). Shortly thereafter came Wireless Access with the AccessCard (completely internal PCMCIA Type II) and Socket Communications with the PageCard (PCMCIA plus an alphanumeric display). Other companies that have shown off data receivers include RC&T, Chaplet, Novalink and a few others. During the past year, many paging carriers (including MobileComm, PageMart, SkyTel, MobileMedia, etc.) and computer manufacturers (such as Apple, IBM, Hewlett Packard, etc.) have come out with their own privately labeled packages, usually including one of the above cards together with paging service, software, and everything else you need to get going. Our company, Ex Machina, is the leading developer of software for receiving paging data for computers. We wrote the new paging data protocols, together with Motorola and Glenayre, did the first receiving software for both the NewsStream and the NewsCard for Motorola, did SkyTel and MobileComm's first software for the cards, and just finished doing all the software for the Apple Mobile Message System (sending and receiving on Windows, Mac and Newton.) If you'd like some more information about our products or developer programs, please feel free to drop us a line at notify@exmachina.com, or give us a call at (800) 238-4738. David S. Rose Ex Machina, Inc. david@exmachina.com ------------------------------ From: rlvd_cif@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Robert Levandowski) Subject: Re: Caller ID, Privacy, and Cranks (was Yes, Yung'uns...) Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York Date: Thu, 16 Mar 95 06:22:43 GMT In bpc@netcom.com (Benjamin P. Carter) writes: > Does this system work even if the caller attempts to block his ID, or > if he is far enough away to defeat the usual Caller ID, or if he is > calling from a place with its own switchboard? The telephone book doesn't say; however, I would assume that since it is designed for use against harassment calls, that it probably doesn't honor Caller ID blocking. I imagine that if you called from a PBX, it would at least report the billing address for the PBX' trunk, which is as good as Caller ID would do in many cases. As far as I can see, it should be at least as effective as Caller ID, and you don't have to pay for a box and a fee for service. You only pay a small fee if you actually need it. That's good for folks like me who don't feel too guilty about hanging up on telemarketers, and thus don't need to verify their phone number before answering. :) > Do the cops feel obliged to investigate every complaint? They're legally obliged to investigate every complaint, as far as I know. It would look bad if they blew off a complaint and someone got hurt. I haven't had cause to use this service; however, when RochTel recommended that I call the police to complain about unsolicited, automated phone advertising that latched onto my line for a good five minutes, I received an incident report that listed a crime of "aggrivated harassment," which is not trivial. (The RochTel operator said that I was not the first person she'd sent to RPD that night. :) On that basis, I'd say the Rochester police take phone crimes fairly seriously. Rob Levandowski Computer Interest Floor associate / University of Rochester macwhiz@cif.rochester.edu [Opinions expressed are mine, not UR's.] [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It depends of course on *where* you live and the nature of other crime going on around you. In most bigger cities phone harassment takes a back seat to the increasing number of violent crimes going on. In Chicago, if you complain to Illinois Bell, they will put a trap on your line subject to certain conditions. You have to sign a form saying you agree to have the trap results turned over to the police and you absolutely promise to prosecute the person involved. They will not tell you the trap results; they will only turn it over to the police and you have to go from there with it. The Chicago Police Department has a couple of officers specifically trained to handle complaints involving telephone harassment, and you are NOT given the name of the person involved until after you sign off on the form authorizing the arrest and prosecution of the offender. But what if the offender turns out to be (a) spouse, (b) co-worker, (c) your blood relative, (d) lover or former lover, (e) assorted others who you'd rather deal with on your own. Too bad, says Illinois Bell, we are not your private detective agency. And the attitude of the police is either you are alleging a crime has been committed or you are not. Which is it? They won't violate the 'privacy rights' of the calling party, and subject them- selves to a lawsuit -- same as Illinois Bell under the circumstances -- until you stick your neck out first. The sad thing about most phone harassment is that it *rarely* is a stranger. Yes, now and then someone might pick a name out of the phone book, or dial a number (the first time) at random and then persist in a campaign of harassment. But that isn't what usually happens. That's why when telco puts a trap on your line they warn you DO NOT DISCUSS THIS WITH ANYONE. DO NOT TELL ANYONE -- EVEN FAMILY MEMBERS OR NEIGHBORS -- THAT A TRAP IS IN PLACE. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING AT WORK OR SCHOOL. NOTHING. PERIOD. KEEP QUIET. Because they know, time and again, when the harasser is caught, it is going to be someone you know; someone part of your life or previously part of it. Telco says you want this problem cured? We'll cure it alright ... someone will get locked up. This is why, in my opinion, Caller-ID and Automatic Call Back are good tools. They provide the kind of 'self-help' mechanisms that one can use when one doesn't immediatly want more extreme action taken. Yes, difficult cases will still slip through, but you can turn those over to telco and police when necessary. PAT] ------------------------------ From: gttm@cais2.cais.com (USCG TELECOMMS) Subject: Re: Caller ID Question Date: 16 Mar 1995 13:40:29 GMT Organization: Capital Area Internet Service > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nope, not possible. Not at least > without a massive lost of trust by the public in what telephone > privacy is available. That is the purpose of 911: Emergency calls are > to be placed to that number. *Non-emergency* calls are NOT to go to > 911. 911 is to be used for dire emergencies requiring immediate > intervention by the police/fire/medical people. If your call is a > bonafide emergency then I can't imagine you would not want want your > identity and whereabouts known. Your car was stolen yesterday or you > want to report an offense you saw a couple hours ago? Those are not > emergencies. They should go to your administrative seven digit > number. But here is a secret for you: Equip all those phones wth > Caller-ID and display units. *Never* admit to (or tell anyone) having > it. 99 percent of the population is not sophisticated enough to block > their ID anyway and you will wind up getting most all numbers. PAT] We, US Coast Guard, have direct dial lines (non-911) that are used by mariners for seeking emergency assistance from the Coast Guard. Our search and rescue centers often need to identify the person in distress in the event we lose contact with him and also for identfying hoax calls for assistance. We asked the FCC in the Caller ID proceeding to override the blocking mechanism, if used by a caller, on calls made to our lines. As you can see this feature is very important in hoaxes for us to be able to prosecute. The FCC agreed with us and is now requiring telephone carriers to override the privacy indicator to all calls made to USCG lines; these rules become effective this April. Well, now several phone companies have filed petitions with the FCC requesting a waiver of this new rule on the basis that it is not technologically feasible to override the privacy indicator on non-911 calls. Now you see what our problem is. Ron Telephone: (202) 267-2860 U.S. Coast Guard (G-TTM) Fax: (202) 267-4106 Washington DC 20593 Internet: CGComms/g-t07@cgsmtp.comdt.uscg.mil [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Am I correct that your sole jurisdiction is in the *water*? Do you have any jurisdiction on *land*? If your jurisdiction is in the water, don't mariners -- by definition of what they are if for no other reason -- contact you by marine radio from their vessels? *Should* emergency calls from landline phones ever be coming to you? Let us say I am on the shore of Lake Michigan on the beach. I wish to report a crime in progress or obtain emergency medical assistance. Why would I call you instead of the local emergency line in the community in which I am located? Now on the other hand, if your mariners are using cellular phones to call you, and dialing your administrative numbers, blocking or the lack thereof isn't going to matter unless/until cellphone carrier and telco get together and properly hand off the ANI. Even the land-based 911 people have trouble with getting a 'fix' on the location of cellular phones. Now yes, there are instances of 'landline' phones actually out in the lake; for instance, for quite a few years 312-HYde Park-3-6040/41 were listed as 'City of Chicago Water Department, Foot of 68th Street'. In fact the phones were two miles out in Lake Michigan at what is known as the '68th Street Crib', or water intake station where workers are stationed for a week at a time to tend the pumps and intake machinery, etc. I suppose one of the men could become ill or injured and an emergency call would be made to 911, in which case the Chicago Police Marine Unit would respond. Do you suppose they would dial any seven digit administrative number -- yours or the city of Chicago or whatever -- and dial *67 first to block their identity? I would think by the nature of your work, getting a fix on the location of the incident would involve beacons or other radio equipment, or simply asking the person where they are at. Now I have heard of instances where, for example, fishermen in a small boat got in trouble where the boat turned over, or perhaps someone sitting at a pier fishing or whatever fell in the water and someone nearby *on land* saw the incident and called for emergency help; but still, shouldn't the local land-based 911 be the first to respond, asking for assistance from your agency as necessary? In such a case, surely the police would know where to tell you to respond even if they could not for some reason. I guess my question is, what kind of emergencies do you deal with where calls come direct to your office *from landline phones* -- the only kind with 911 anyway -- where the call should not rightfully have gone to a land-based emergency response agency? And if you do have jurisdiction in some land-based incidents, are the telephones within that land-based area; i.e. a large harbor area for example, 'unique enough' in the telco central office serving them that when those phones made 911 calls those calls could be handed off to you for processing like other 911 agencies? In other words could 911 be routed to you in those cases? Could local police agencies hand off calls to you the same way they presently hand off calls to the Fire Department? You dial 911 here and ask for Fire, the dispatcher taps a button on her console and off you go ... when Fire answers, she is on there listening, ready to speak up and assist as needed. Why not to Coast Guard also if you think you need it? You also need to amend your listings in telephone directories so that under the listings for Coast Guard it says 'from land-based phones in an emergency, dial 911; local authorities will coordinate with USCG as required' or some words to that effect. This has gone on quite long enough; I won't get into the *politics* of 911; agencies that are afraid to let other agencies handle their calls because if something goes wrong they'll be the ones to catch hell and if something goes right the other guys will get all the praise. I know that does not apply to USCG; you're probably way above that sort of petty behavior. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #150 ******************************