DP Tool Club 12/CD_ASCQ_12_0294.iso/vrac/tc14_61.zip/TC14-61.TXT

Text File | 1994-02-06 | 28KB | 696 lines

TELECOM Digest     Fri, 4 Feb 94 01:46:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 61

Inside This Issue:                         Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Clock Slip and { Once More (Mike Long)
    610/215 Split - Now I Can't Call 1-800- (David Horvath)
    Calling 911 on a Cellphone When Out of Area (John Galloway)
    Cable Modem Manufacturers Wanted (Tom Simonds)
    SW56 Tutorial Wanted (J. Beatson)
    Hybrid (Wired and Wireless) Article Wanted (Jae-Soo Kim)
    Sources for Caller-ID Boxes (John Iacoletti)
    An Alternative to a Modem (Steve Waller)
    Caller ID Answering Machines Summary and Saga (Chris Garrigues)
    Re: Are Lata Maps Available? (Fred Heald)
    Help With 28 kpbs Test Number (Serge Burjak)
    Re: Are Lata Maps Available? (Tony Harminc)
    Caller-ID in UK? (Steven Cooper)
    Re: Cellular Phone (Analog) With Modem FAQ? (John R. Levine)
    Re: Telecommuting Centers in LA (Bob Schwartz)
    Re: Unmetered Local Service (Martin McCormick)
    Re: FCC $crews Pac Bell in PCS Race (Erik Ramberg)
    Re: Telephone Nunbers in France (Jean-Noel Marchalot)
    Re: Wiretapping Problems (Pawel Dobrowolski)

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

                 * [e-mail] *

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

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

Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
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TELECOM Digest is gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
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should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Mike Long)
Subject: Clock Slip and { Once More
Organization: HPC Consulting
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 03:52:40 GMT


About two years ago I first ran into the clock slip problem and seeing
{{{{ on my screen. The problem finally cleared up after a lot of
hassle with Pacific Bell. Now I'm at a different location and I have
just starting seeing it again with a slight twist.

Now I see ^?{ combination rather than {{{{ plus a few interspersed
random characters.

Now my question is this: what is it about clock slip that causes a {
character or 01111011 to appear on my screen? Now it is possible that
I saw ^?{ before but I only remember the {{{.

I know what to do about it, I'd just like to understand what is going
on. I was told before that the clock at the central office could be
slipping or was left in the wrong mode after a maintenance call.
Given that, how does the { get to my screen and why { and not some
other character?

Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks in advance.


Mike Long         J M Long & Associates
HPC Consultant    467-628 Saratoga Ave.
[phone]    San Jose, CA 95129

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

From: [e-mail] (David Horvath)
Subject: 610/215 Split - Now I Can't Call 1-800-
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 94 21:35:27 EST


With all the advertising about the 610/215 area code split, you'd
think they'd get it right -- I'm now in 610 (even my new cellular
phone reports 610).  But I can't make a lot of 1-800 calls.  I have
AT&T on one line and Sprint (remember the modem offer) on the other.
Same problem on both.

My wife was trying to order a video tape from a particular nationally
syndicated radio shock-jock but couldn't.  I tried it.  I tried it on
both lines.  The error messages were slightly different, but the
general message was that they don't take calls from our area.  Gee,
they took calls from us back in December.

A call to 611 ultimately resulted in a call back that it was AT&T's
problem and has been reported to them.  Now what?


David Horvath


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The trouble is, the long distance
carriers think you are in Canada (which is where 610 used to be) and
operating a TWX machine (which is what 610 used to be assigned for
in Canada.) It *is* the carriers' fault; all your local telco does
in the case of 800 numbers is detirmine which carrier handles the
traffic and give the call to them with a record of your calling number.
Very few 800 numbers in the USA are reachable from Canada which is
why 'calls are not accepted from your area'. Your telco may have
reported the problem to the carriers, but then again maybe they did
not do so, only saying that to appease you when you called. Try calling
the carriers yourself. Don't just complain to the first rep who answers
because you'll be wasting your time and your words. Instead, ask to
be connected to whichever department handles 800 numbers. If asked why,
don't say you have a complaint or you 'cannot get through on calls'
because you'll not be connected with anyone who can help you'; you'll
be told it is the problem of your local telco 'and we have reported it'
and you'll be written off as just another crank caller.

What you tell the first person, if asked, is that you want to inquire
about getting 800 service. That way, you will get connected to the
carrier's sales department and someone who knows about 800 service.
Tell *that person* about the problem which seems to me to be that the
carrier does not have its tables correctly installed, and refuses to
accept calls from 610 as a valid USA area code. And you know what
else? I'll betcha those folks with 800 numbers who *do* accept calls
from Canada are getting calls from your area okay -- but billed at
Canadian rates. Its a shame when customers have to run the repair
department and repair clerks act like subscribers, but that's the way
things are these days. Sprint is not alone; even Mother has got a
bunch of dingbats working for her also.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Galloway)
Subject: Calling 911 on a Cellphone When Out of Area
Organization: Galloway Research
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 01:15:47 GMT


When I call 911 on my cellular (having seen an accident just happen)
it appears that I get forwarded to a fixed site that just dispatches
the call to the proper 911 officem i.e. the first person answers "911
emergency" but just asks where you are, and then the phone rings a
second time and you get another "911 emergency".  This seems silly
since obviously the provider has the necessary info about where you
are to do this automatically.  I have not ever called 911 when out of
my area. Would I still get the same (Northern CA) based dispatch
operator who would then have to send me to (e.g.) Austin Texas 911???
(I am using Cellular-One).


jrg
internet    [e-mail]  John R. Galloway, Jr  795 Beaver Creek Way
applelink   D3413                  CEO...receptionist    San Jose, CA   95133
                                   Galloway Research     [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Simonds)
Subject: Cable Modem Manufacturers Wanted
Date: 3 Feb 1994 14:15:09 -0600
Organization: The second InterAccess INN server


Does anyone know the names of any cable modem manufacturers?
city/state and phone number information would be helpful, too.

Please email to [e-mail].

Thanks in advance,

Tom Simonds    InterAccess
[e-mail]   708-671-0112

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: SW56 Tutorial
Organization: Motorola Codex Corporation
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 22:02:14 GMT


Does anyone know of any telecom publication that discusses the
operation of SW56 services?  I'm looking for a tutorial type of
article that discusses SW56 call establishment. i.e. "How it works?"

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

From: [e-mail] (Jae-Soo Kim)
Subject: Hybrid (Wired and Wireless) Article Wanted
Organization: UB
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 18:24:45 GMT


Hello,

Does anyone know if there is any paper, article or standards for the
resource allocation or protocols in hybrid ( (fiber)wired and
wireless) networks?  If there is any ftp site for this, it would be
much better.

Please send e-mail to me; I will post the result if there is enough
interest.


Thanks,

Jae Kim     [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (John Iacoletti)
Subject: Sources For Caller-ID Boxes
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 19:03:03 GMT
Organization: IBM RISC System/6000 Division, Austin, TX


I figured this would be an FAQ, but I didn't find anything at the FAQ
site.

Is there a list of sources anywhere for Caller-ID display units?  SW
Bell has an arrangement with a vendor called Cidco, which will provide
a box for $59.95 + tax + $6.95 shipping.  This has a 60 number memory,
and an alphanumeric display which will support the "Calling Party
Name" service which will be offered next year.  I figure I can get a
better price elsewhere.  Any ideas?


John Iacoletti     IBM RISC System/6000 Division     [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Waller)
Subject: An Alternative to a Modem
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 16:01:00 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: TransAlta Utilities


I am currently developing an application that runs on an Apple
Macintosh.  This application will basically pull the caller id off of
a phone call then hang-up, there is no data transfered. I will have
three separate phone lines, so I need to distinguish which phone line
the call was received. I would need three modems capable of retrieving
the caller id. This seems like over kill to me.  Is there a way to do
this without modems. The company supplying the auto- dialer suggests I
order a "TYPE 1 interface, 4 Wire E & M trunk circuit.  The phone
company will install an E & M circuit card with 4 inputs and 6
outputs. The trunk is configured as follows:

standard feature group D protocol MF.

Now my questions:

What does the output look like? Do I need one or three modems, or do I
need a call processing card in my Mac capable of getting the caller's
telephone number?

Does a call processing card exist for Macintosh computers?

The cheapest solution is preferred. Please respond by e-mail.

Thanks for any help.


Steve    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Chris Garrigues)
Subject: Caller ID Answering Machines Summary and Saga
Organization: MCC
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 16:35:59 GMT


Last week I posted a query about answering machines which support Caller ID.

I got a total of three replies.

David Jones <[e-mail]> suggested getting an Amiga with a
ZyXEL modem and ZVM software (or alternately, there must be similar
software for the PC).  This seemed like overkill for my home and
besides I'm a Unix hacker by profession and a Mac user at home.

Both Jim Ray <[e-mail]> and Bill Berbenich <[e-mail]>
mentioned the PhoneMate 8900 and Bill mentioned that J&R Music World
in New York City carried it for $99.  This was the ad that I'd noticed
months ago in the {New York Times.}  Bill also relayed the following:

> If you call around looking for this machine,
> be sure that they know that it is the Phone Mate 8900, and not the
> Phone Mate 9800.  So many places that I called said "Oh yeah, we've got
> it," then when I questioned them about it ("Are you sure it is the
> 8900"?) they'd say something like "Oh, I thought you meant 9800."  I
> learned to ask after I went and waited in line at Circuit City for
> 20 minutes only to find out that they just had the 9800 and had never
> carried the 8900.

To find a local dealer, I tried calling PhoneMate directly.  1-800
directory assistance did not have a listing for them.  My old machine
was a PhoneMate, so I determined from my old literature that they're
located in Torrance, CA.  I called Torrance Directory assistance got
their main number.  Phone Mate sent me to a marketing company in
Dallas who sent me to a distributor in 800-land who told me that they
didn't carry this model.  I called the folks in Dallas again who
promised to call me back yesterday and haven't done so yet.  They also
asked if I'd tried OfficeMax or Circuit City.

Based on Bill's story above, I didn't try Circuit City, but I work
near OfficeMax, so I stopped by there after work yesterday.  No luck.
Office Max is next door to Best Buy, so I wandered in there as well.
They had exactly one and it was in a damaged box and marked down from
$97 to $89.  After inspecting it, I bought it from a salesman who
insisted that Caller ID wasn't available in Austin anyway.  (I don't
know how many salescritters have told me that in this past week.)

My next task is to call Southwestern Bell and assure that it will be
enabled on my line when Caller ID becomes real on February 7.


Chris Garrigues          [e-mail]
Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation [phone]
3500 West Balcones Center Drive       Fax [phone]
Austin, TX  78759-6509  USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Fred Heald)
Subject: Re: Are LATA Maps Available?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 1994 05:39:35 GMT


By the way, trivia question: are there LATAs that are in more than one
state?

Answer: Yes.  And surprisingly many, especially those with just one or
two exchanges in the 'other' state, but also (in the Dakotas, I
believe) covering large areas of two states.  I used to have a neat
color map but I forgot to steal it from my last job.

[e-mail] wrote:

> CCMI

> I don't know if they are still in business but it might be worth a try
> if you're still looking for a lata map.

I sure hope they're still in business, we depend on them for V+H files
once a month, for which we pay a handsome sum indeed.

They compile and sell all sorts of Bellcore and other data, including
rates and calling areas online (Qtel-1000).


Fred Heald   [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Serge Burjak)
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 94 22:16:52 +1000
Organization: SYSTECH (Australia)
Subject: Help With 28Kbps Modem Test Number


Hello Pat,

Have you not received my posts about looking for a test number for a
28000bps modem that I have on Beta test? This is the third try.

If it has gone into the bit bucket can you arrange for the following note
to go into an aritcle.

BEGIN

Subject: Looking for 28000bps test number

Looking for test number to do interoperability testing over a satellite
link on a 28000 bps modem.

Any info greatly appreciated.


Serge Burjak    [e-mail]

END


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: It looks like the problems here as a
result of the computer conversion a week ago are finally corrected. I
*know* a great deal of mail over the past several days was lost in
processing. All the scripts used here by telecom to filter and sort
incoming mail had to be re-written to suit the new hardware, and it
was a mess for a few days. My thanks go to the sysadmin here for his
all-day efforts on a couple of occassions when I reported a massive
leakage of mail. Probably 200-300 letters from over the last weekend
never reached me because they were destroyed in the delivery process
by the bugs in my scripts. At the rate the mail pours in here (literally
about a letter every 10-15 minutes day and night) I had to sit here
sort of helplessly and watch it vanish in the ether as the sysadmin
and myself kept diddling with the scripts trying to find out what the
new hardware did not like about 'awk' and 'sed' according to the way
the old hardware dealt with those things. To top it off -- to add a
little icing to the cake -- some obscure changes in sendmail (as it
is run here) and an *older* version of mail than what we had been
using before fixed things so no issues of the Digest got out over
that weekend at all, ergo four hundred plus messages in the queue
once things were running. Apparently all is now okay since incoming
mail has been literally pouring in all day Thursday. Allow for some
backlogs in the next few days; a few very old messages you never have
seen finally getting posted, etc. My sincere thanks to Bill L. and
others here at nwu.edu who dug into the problems and corrected them.
Their interest in it is partly academic: they are interested in
seeing how well the new hardware can handle the load caused by
telecom; they are interested in seeing how it responds over time as
I run four or five invocations of sendmail all at once to a list of
now about 2000 names; all the while the autoreply daemons humming
and buzzing and doing their thing; me editing more issues, etc.   PAT]

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

Date: Thu, 03 Feb 94 18:48:17 EST
From: Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Are LATA Maps Available?


[e-mail] (David Esan) wrote:

> Not true.  Most states (and provinces) have more than one LATA.
> Attached are a list of states/provinces and the number of LATAs
> associated with them.

Apart from the missing provinces, it should be pointed out that there
are no LATAs in Canada.  Why Bellcore has chosen to assign some magic
numbers to certain groupings of CO prefixes in Canada is a mystery to
me.  LATA is not a technical division -- it is purely a political
concept set up to match certain US politics of the early 1980s.  The
forces shaping LD competition in Canada in the 1990s are quite
different.  It seems extremely unlikely that an artificial split
between IXCs and local telcos as in the US model will ever happen
here.


Tony Harminc    In Toronto

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

From: [e-mail] (Steven Cooper)
Subject: Caller ID in UK?
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 00:00:00 GMT


Has anone got any idea if the caller ID facility will become available
in the UK?? Are there any moves on this by BT/Mercury?


Steve

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

Date: Thu, 03 Feb 94 17:56 EST
From: [e-mail] (John R Levine)
Subject: Re: Cellular Phone (Analog) With Modem FAQ?
Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass.


AMPS uses a vanilla analog radio connection between the cell site and
the phone.  There are a bunch of problems with using a modem:

-- the connection is just noisier than a normal typical landline;

-- when you switch from one cell site to another (which can happen even
when you're not moving) there's a very audible dropout which many modems
misinterpret as a hangup;

-- as you're moving, the characteristics of the connection change, which
is bad news for modems that adjust to the characteristics during the
initial handshake;

-- for dialout, the scheme used to place the call is totally different from
that used for a land line;

The new TDMA and CDMA schemes use a digital connection which have different
advantages and disadvantages.


Regards,

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

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

Subject: Re: Telecommuting Centers in LA
From: [e-mail] (Bob Schwartz)
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 94 20:53:21 PST
Organization: Bill Correctors, Inc., Marin County, California


Mike Lanza <[e-mail]> writes:

> Commentators have said that the LA earthquake forces many Angelenos to
> try mass transit and see if they like it.  More importantly, from my
> point of view, the quake will force many Angelenos to try
> telecommuting.

> I'd like to know about the telecommuting centers that exist today in
> the LA area, and any new plans for such centers in the aftermath of
> the quake.  How many are there?  How big?  What sort of equipment do
> they have?

> Has anyone in government thought about this?

> How about entrepreneurs?  If I were in LA right now, I'd be looking
> into setting up a telecommuting center myself ...

Here's  information on seven telecommuting centers in the affected area:

Lancaster - Suzette Cecchini - 805 726-7700
Highland - Chris Judy - 909 425-8060
Riverside - Tanya Love - 909 787-6600
Santa Clarita - Jim Backer - 805 255-4046
Apple Valley - Pete Peterson - 619 946 9675
Ontario - Steve PonTell - 909 460-7500
Simi Valley - Charles Coffey - 805 526-3900

This list was recieved by me today as a part of the efforts that Pacific
Bell is making to help.

Also, in an effort to "ease the pain" they are offering to waive
installation charges for many telecommuting related services-e.g.- PBX
Trunks (from switch to home), Centrex lines (main CO to homes), ISDN,
Switched 56, Business lines (in home or at commercial location),
Custom 800, voice mail, and Custiom Calling(call waiting, three way
calling, Call forwarding). They sent me this information as a
California consultant in order to help affected clients. I am not a
Pacific Bell employee. The toll free number for more information at
Pacific Bell is !  800 303 0309.  It is a very beneficial program for
those in need.


Regards,

Bob Schwartz                                       [e-mail]
Bill Correctors, Inc.   [phone]   Marin County, California

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

From: [e-mail] (Martin McCormick)
Subject: Re: Unmetered Local Service
Organization: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 17:26:23 GMT


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

> Maybe phone usage should be billed on a split-system,
> where people are charged by the minute during times when the usage is
> over 80%, but not charged when the usage is less than that.

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How would people know which condition
> was in effect at the time? Many folks would gladly wait until overall
> usage dropped below a certain point in order to use the service 'for
> free' if they knew what the usage was. How would you convey that?   PAT]

 The ideas expressed above are quite good ones.  It would seem
that the easiest way to let subscribers know would be to do something
to the dialtone like add a third frequency so that it sounded differently
during high-usage periods.

 Television and radio commercials could easily educate the
public as to the sounds they should listen for.

 TDD's and other devices such as fax machines and modems could
be designed to "listen" for the extra tones and either let their
operators know or wait a while to see if usage levels off and try
again.

 One would think that telephone companies would like this type
of system because it might make the difference between dealing with an
overload condition in which things start breaking and a nice comfortable
flat-topped usage peak in which the equipment is working at top effic-
iency, but is not overly taxed.


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

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

From: [e-mail] (Erik Ramberg)
Subject: Re: FCC $crews Pac Bell in PCS Race
Date: 3 Feb 1994 21:06:31 GMT
Organization: ESL Inc.


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

> (Geez, what a rip-off! We are serviced by Cox Cable here in Eureka, CA
> and I'm pretty sure Cox isn't the least bit interested in serving US
> with PCS!  We're also served by Pac Bell here as well, and I'm sure
> our area isn't 'lucrative' enough for them either. Why is it these
> 'pioneers' are being given the most financially lucrative cities to
> operate in? It's not like those areas really NEED improved, and
> expanded services. Great, my tax dollars are going to be spent on
                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> subsidizing a poor company like Cox Cable to provide state-of-the-art
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I'm not sure how the government is 'subsidizing' them ... they've
simply been granted a waiver from the auction ... not really a
subsidy.  In fact, lots of people are still complaining about the
decision to hold a spectrum auction.


Erik

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

From: [e-mail] (Jean-Noel Marchalot)
Subject: Re: Telephone Nunbers in France
Date: 3 Feb 1994 21:08:18 GMT
Organization: Alcatel Network Systems, Raleigh NC
Reply-To: [e-mail]


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

> Richard D G Cox said that the change in French phone numbers is put
> off due to complaints from users.  This I doubt, since almost no one
> in France is aware of any impending change.  There is almost complete
> ignorance of such questions in France, in part due to the few people
> who have access to Internet.

Never heard about something called Minitel? Any idea about the
penetration rate compared with Internet? (probably an order of
magnitude larger).

> Anyway, France Telecom does what it wants.  There's no competition
> and the French just bow and obey.

Sure, now they are still really lucky to enjoy a network that has
evolved in 15 years from one of the most backward to one of the most
advanced in the world. There must be some mysterious mechanism, beyond
competition, that made sure that France Telecom would be a little
responsive to the users' needs and the users do more than "bow and
obey"?


Jean-Noel Marchalot

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

From: [e-mail] (Pawel Dobrowolski)
Subject: Re: Wiretapping Problems
Date: 3 Feb 1994 21:27:35 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Science Center


> There is also a device (TDR, time-domain-
> reflectometer) that will bounce a signal down the line and give you a
> visual indication of bridge taps or irregularities in impedance along
> the circuit.  You can usually see any splice or terminal box.

Anyone care to answer the following questions?

 -how much tech. knowledge do I need to use it?
 -how to operate it?
 -how much does it cost?
 -where to get it?


Thanks a lot,

Pawel

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

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #61
*****************************


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