The World of Computer Software/The World of Computer Software.iso/tc13-019.zip/TC13-019.TXT

Text File | 1993-01-12 | 22KB | 540 lines

TELECOM Digest     Mon, 11 Jan 93 23:47:10 CST    Volume 13 : Issue 19

Index To This Issue:                     Moderator: Patrick A. Townson

    Rutgers Exchange-Changing Mayhem ([e-mail])
    Want Info on Ringing Voltages/Cadences Around the World (Steve Pershing)
    US Losing Lead in Telecom - USC Report (UPI via Ang Peng Hwa)
    Call for Volunteers at INTEROP 93 Spring (Ole J. Jacobsen)
    Bellcore NPA/NXX Information (Al Varney)
    Use a Phone, Go to Jail (Paul S. Sawyer)
    Canadian Competition Full Steam Ahead; Enter AT&T (Andrew M. Dunn)
    Visual "Bell" For a POTS Line (Kristobal Pedregal Martin)
    Re: Colorado Gets Caller ID (John Higdon)
    Re: Colorado Gets Caller ID (Conrad Kimball)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Shag)
Subject: Rutgers Exchange-Changing Mayhem
Date: 11 Jan 93 22:16:32 GMT
Organization: Screaming in Digital, the Queensryche Digest


Rutgers University has an outlying campus in Camden, NJ.  The campus
is in exchange 609-757, with some businesses.  Since that exchange has
become full, the campus is being moved to a new exchange, 609-225,
which went into service on Friday (1/8/93).

Banners to this effect were placed on the campus dialins early this
week.

Within a day, several users of a public system at Rutgers had left
posts saying that they would no longer be able to call in for free,
because NJ Bell had told them the new exchange wasn't local to them.

Naturally, since the "localness" of a call is based on the distance
between CO's (at least in NJ), and the CO's were quite obviously right
where they'd always been, this caused a lot of confusion for the rest
of us, who were quite certain it would be a free call, as always.

It turned out that a scenario like this was being repeatedly carried
out:

    User calls the operator to ask about 225.
    Operator keys 225 into the computer.
    Since 609-225 doesn't _exist_ yet, the computer decides that
    they must (of course) mean 908-225, which is some 60 miles
    away (and, coincidentally, a local call from a _different_
    Rutgers campus).
    Operator tells user that it's not local.
    User panics.

When I called NJ Bell, and explained to the operator that it was a
Rutgers campus changing exchanges, the operator's response was, "Oh, I
remember when they did that up here in New Brunswick, it'll still be
local."

Convincing all the users who had been told by NJ Bell that it _wasn't_
local was a bit of a challenge, though!

When I mentioned this to a friend in Rutgers Telecom (T.P. Brisco), he
pointed out another bit of trivia:

  "I understand when we split from 908-932 to 908-932 and 908-445,
  that originally NJB proposed that we take the newly available
  809 exchange (instead of 445).  We rescinded that proposal on
  the grounds that a phone number like 908-809-xxxx would lead to
  too many typographical errors, and confusion with the newly
  minted 908 area code.  Maybe we should've asked for 923 instead
  of 445?"

T.P. also posted a followup message mentioning that people had better
specify 609-225 when they called the operator.

I think all the users have caught onto the idea now, but there's bound
to be a few who stop calling in (particularly people from outside
Rutgers who just dial in to use the public system).  Of course, those
few who continue believing it's a toll call after all our explaining
are probably modem-incompetent anyway.


Shag
[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]
  Operator of ShagNet - Rutgers/NJIN dialup access for Burlington County, NJ
     Happy and informative user of a PPI 14400 FaxModem and GeoWorks Pro
       Editor of the Queensryche E-mail Digest - "Screaming in Digital"

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

Subject: Want Info on Ringing Voltages/Cadences Around the World
From: [e-mail] (Steve Pershing)
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 15:08:01 PST
Organization: Questor|Free Usenet News|Vancouver, BC: [phone]


I have sold a good few ZyXEL modems to various happy clients around
the world via our mail-server.

In one instance (and I suspect there are many more) the modems worked
fine, but would not answer when a call was incoming.  This particular
instance was in Japan.

After a call to ZyXEL's tech support, they had a hidden register which
had to be set, and voil`a, everything worked just fine.

Recently, I noticed a posting in comp.dcom.modems in which a Swedish
ZyXEL user seemed to be having similar problems.

Is there such a great diversity in ringing current and ringing
cadences, other than the ringing in country code 1 and country code
44?

If there is a FAQ describing this, please let me know about it and I
will get hold of it.  Thanks!


    Steve Pershing, SysAdmin  <[e-mail]>    The QUESTOR Project
  FREE access to Environ, Sci, Med, & AIDS news, and more.  [also UUCP]
    on a ZyXEL-U1496S+  =>  v.42bis, v.32bis, v.33, up to 16,800bps.
                 -=-         -=-         -=-         -=-
   Fones: (+1 604)  Data: 681-0670  Telefax: 682-6160  Voice: 682-6659

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 10:38:51 SST
From: Ang Peng Hwa <[e-mail]>
Subject: US Losing Lead in Telecom - USC Report


This report is from UPI:

Los Angeles -- America's traditional lead in telecommunications is
eroding very rapidly as other nations promote new technologies,
according to a study released Wednesday.

"The potential of new information communication technologies and
services is widely appreciated around the world and many nations are
making aggressive steps to promote their deployment," said the
University of Southern California study.

The study, produced by the USC's Center for Telecommunications
Management and covering 24 nations, found that the US lagged in a
number of key technologies compared with other nations, such as
converting analog networks to more efficient digital networks and
investment.

It said digitalization of the US network stood at just over 50 percent
at the end of 1991, which ranks ninth of 18 reporting countries, while
US investment in public network infrastructure was 12th among the 18
countries. It also said other nations were retiring used equipment
much faster than the US.

"While a number of other nations have dramatically increased their
capital investment in infrastructure, US investment is flat or
declining," it said. "Furthermore, depreciation trends in the US show
a shocking pattern."

The study added: "During this remarkable period of rapid technological
progress and obsolescence, asset lives for public network equipment of
local exchange companies have actually increased in the US. Nations
like Japan, the United Kingdom, Singapore and others write off and
replace equipment twice as fast as most US carriers."

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 18:52:32 PST
From: Ole J. Jacobsen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Call for Volunteers at INTEROP 93 Spring


Please distribute as widely as possible:

                        Call for Volunteers:

           The INTEROP Conference Assessment Team (CAT)

Interop Company is seeking student volunteers to serve as quality
control monitors for INTEROP 93 Spring, to be held in Washington, DC,
March 8-12, 1993.  This is a unique opportunity for students to attend
the industry's premier networking conference and tradeshow, while
helping us improve the quality and consistency of the conference.

As a CAT member you will receive:

* Complimentary conference registration for all three conference days;

* Complimentary conference notes;

* Complimentary registration for an INTEROP tutorial on Monday/Tuesday [NEW!]
  (You may be assigned to a tutorial that is not your "first choice",
  but we will make every effort to acommodate your requests.)


* Complimentary lunch all three days;

* Special INTEROP CAT T-shirts;

* A complimentary copy of the book "Exploring the Internet";

As a CAT member you will be asked to:

* Monitor preassigned conference sessions on one of the three conference
  days, by submitting written reports and acting as the "eyes and ears"
  of the conference organizers. We will provide you with a basic
  evaluation form to aid the preparation of the reports.

(You will be free to attend any conference session and the INTEROP
exhibition on your "days off.")

* Provide an accurate count of the number of people attending the
  sessions you are assigned to. ("Clickers" will be provided!)

Successful CAT candidates will be students currently enrolled in a
computer science or electrical engineering course at undergraduate,
graduate or post-graduate level. Applicants should have some
understanding of (and interest in) computer networking issues. All
applications must be received by February 15, 1993. Please note that
Interop Company cannot cover any travel or accommodation costs
associated with the CAT program, however as a CAT member you will be
elligible for the standard conference discount rate at a number of
Washington, DC hotels.

To apply, send e-mail to: [e-mail] with a brief biography and
relevant contact information. Don't forget to send a POSTAL address as
we will need to send you some hardcopy material.

*** PLEASE: Do not include my message in your reply. If you must
include it, please do so AFTER your reply rather than before it. Thank
you very much.***


Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher ConneXions--The Interoperability Report
Interop Company, 480 San Antonio Road, Suite 100, Mountain View, CA 94040,
Phone: [phone]  FAX: [phone]  Email: [e-mail]

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 08:31:03 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Bellcore NPA/NXX Information
Reply-To: Al Varney <[e-mail]>
Organization: AT&T


Patrick,

  Several folks have asked for information available in some form from
Bellcore -- and my e-mail to them failed.  Perhaps you could post this
AND include it in FAQ or archive.  Thanks.

To Bob Larribeau at <[e-mail]>, asking for NPA/NXX information:

   Information about which LEC "owns" an NPA/NXX, and lots of other
   data you might want, is in several Bellcore "products".  For example,
   the NPA-NXX V&H Coordinates Tape (primarily for billing) contains the
   OCN (Operating Company Number) for each NXX -- you can translate that
   to an LEC (or equivalent in Canada/Caribbean).

To Richard Cox, who asked for information on the NPA/NXX activity guide:

   I tried to reply, but both <[e-mail]> and
<att!compulink.co.uk!cix.comp> didn't work; SMTP says 'compulink.co.uk'
is unknown.

      -----

   So, I've attached a canned response I use for questions about
Bellcore, but the telephone numbers correspond to the normal TR/TA
document center.  The NPA/NXX information is maintained by the
(somewhat) separate Traffic Routing Administration (TRA) group, at +1
201 829 3071.

   To complicate matters, there are three PUBLIC documents published
by Bellcore's document center, but maintained by the TRA.  These are
available by contacting the document center as described in the
attachment.

 - FA20: "Telephone Area Code Directory (TACD) Microfiche"
   Contains all customer-dialable points in the North American Numbering
   Plan with the corresponding NPA.  Issued monthly.   $50

 - TR-EOP-000093: "TACD Paper Report"  As above, issued annually around
   September.  Ordered by State and Locality.  Carrier Identification
   Codes are included.

 - TR-OPT-001843: 800/900 List on Paper, giving company name and telephone
   contact for each NXX assigned with the 800 and 900 codes.  Issued
   quarterly.

  [Call the document HOTLINE in the attachment for prices of paper
  documents.]

   For all other TRA "products", or information about on-line access
to a database of routing data, contact the TRA Hotline at +1 201 829
3071, or write to:

   Traffic Routing Administration
   Bell Communications Research, Inc.
   435 South Street, Room 1J321
   Morristown, NJ  07962-1961

  These non-public documents and on-line access require signing a
"Terms and Conditions Agreement" before purchase.  You should ask for
a complete list of products and prices.  Some of the documents do not
include Canada.

   Some of the more "common-use" TRA documents are:

 - NPA-NXX Vertical and Horizontal Coordinates Tape (the "V&H Tape")
   is primarily for billing purposes, and lists (for each NXX) the type
   of NXX, major/minor V&H coordinates, LATA Code, the ROA, Time Zone,
   Place Name, OCN (TELCO) and indicators for IDDD and "Non-Dialable".

 - NPA/NXX Activity Guide lists all NPA/NXX codes schedules to be added,
   removed or "modified" (monthly).  There's also an Active Code List
   that lists all NPA/NXX codes that aren't planned to be removed or
   "modified" for the next 6 months.

 - Local Exchange Routing Guide (LERG)
   contains information on all USA/Caribbean destinations, switching
   entities, Rate Centers and Localities, Tandem Homing information,
   operator service codes, 800/900 NXX assignments, etc.
   (3 1600 BPI tapes!!!)  Mostly useful to IXCs and other TELCos.


  Good Luck,
  Al Varney     [e-mail]

 ------ (canned response follows:) -------------------

   Bellcore TAs and other preliminary "advisories" are only available
   by writing:
     Bellcore
     Document Registrar
     445 South Street - Room 2J-125
     P. O. Box 1910
     Morristown, NJ 07962-1910

 TRs and other "standard" documents can be ordered from:
     Bellcore Customer Service
     60 New England Avenue
     Piscataway, NJ 08854-4196

  or by calling the document HOTLINE (menu-monster) at

      1-800-521-CORE  (1-800-521-2673).

 They take AMEX, VISA and MasterCharge, International Money Orders,
 and Checks on US Banks.  If you don't have a document number handy,
 they can send you a catalog of technical documents.

 International calls are on [phone].

 (If you want to order a document, press 2 at the automated greeting.
 If you want to talk to a person about availability, prices, etc,
 press 4 at the automated greeting)

 FAX on [phone].

  If you want to talk to the "pub" folks, or a technical person, the
numbers/addresses are in the front of any TR (and the "Catalog").


Al Varney - the above represents my opinion, and not AT&T's....
  (And I do wish Bellcore paid commissions for these referrals!)

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

Subject: Use a Phone, Go to Jail
Date: 11 Jan 93 10:02:32 EST (Mon)
From: [e-mail] (Paul S. Sawyer)


Recently here (Strafford County, NH) a man was sentenced to four
months in jail for telephone harrasment for making two "hang up"
calls.

With this type of precedent, couldn't we give telemarketers at least
30 days (first offense...) and 800- number billing converters 5-10
years?  :-) :-)



Paul S. Sawyer    - University of New Hampshire CIS - [e-mail]
Telecommunications and Network Services             - VOX: [phone]
Durham, New Hampshire  03824-3523                   - FAX: [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Andrew M. Dunn)
Subject: Canadian Competition Full Steam Ahead; Enter AT&T
Organization: A. Dunn Systems Corporation, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 14:46:36 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (David
Leibold) writes:

> At least we're not getting any COCOTs ... yet :-)

No, but AT&T announced yesterday that they're entering the Canadian
market via a modified partnership/investment arrangement with Unitel.

Unitel is presently a joint venture of Canadian Pacific and Rogers
Communications.  Each will reduce their stake to 40% to give AT&T 20%
of Unitel in exchange for investment, market development, technical
expertise, and access to AT&T's American network.

Unitel President George Harvey commented that it was the right move to
make at the right time, that AT&T was a strong player in the world
telecommunications market, and that the arrangement would benefit all
parties.

He particularly stressed that the move would lead to faster, cheaper
communications throughout Canada, and that he expected rates to fall
quickly as new arrangements were made.

Unitel offers communications services in competition with Bell Canada
in the long-distance market, as well as private circuit facilities to
businesses (which has been their mainstay up until the present time).

It will be interesting to see what this venture brings.  It will, at
the very least, be a significant change to the Canadian telecommun-
ications marketplace.

I don't work for Unitel, Rogers, CP, or AT&T.  Nor am I a customer
(yet).  But I did once work for Unitel's predecessor...


Andy Dunn     <[e-mail]> or <[e-mail]>

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

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Visual "Bell" For a POTS Line
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 11:51:05 EST
Reply-To: [e-mail]


Greetings.  I have a couple of applications for a device that flashes
a light (maybe even a strobe) when a plain phone line rings.  Such a
thing must exist, but I can't find sources. Please email to me and
I'll summarize.  Thanks!


Cristobal Pedregal Martin     [e-mail]
Computer Science Department   UMass / Amherst, MA 01003


[Moderator's Note: The easiest way to do this is get a neon test thing
from Radio Shack (or anywhere else ...). Just wire it parallel to the
phone line. It does not draw enough current to take the phone off hook
but will flash in sync with the ringing of the phone. I have an
appliation here where there are several lines going into a computer
which is used for voicemail. No one wants to sit and listen to those
bells on the incoming phone lines ring all the time, yet it is very
important to know if for some reason the computer is not answering the
line ... with no bell it would never be noticed if something had gone
wrong. So, I have several 'beehive lamps' (the little plastic things
with a dome on top and a neon bulb mounted within) mounted on the wall
with double-sided tape. Wires run to each from the associated phone
line. They flash on for a couple seconds each time a call comes in on
that line. The only line with an actual bell on it is the final line
in the hunt group -- when it rings, it serves notice that the computer
has a full house, at least for the time being. I also have a little
counter installed on that line which increments by one each time that
line rings ... by viewing the register, one can see how often a full
house occurred since the last time the register was reset.   PAT]

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

Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 18:25 PST
From: [e-mail] (John Higdon)
Reply-To: John Higdon <[e-mail]>
Organization: Green Hills and Cows
Subject: Re: Colorado Gets Caller ID


tim gorman <[e-mail]> writes:

> Perhaps PacBell is making a marketing mistake by not offering caller
> id even though mandated blocking restrictions would apply? Perhaps
> their total revenues would be higher than if no blocking at all was
> available?

Maybe so. I, for one, would buy Caller-ID even if blocking applied to
99% of the state's telephones on a per-line basis. For me, the
telephone is an instrument whose purpose is to communicate with
friends, business associates, and customers -- plus people who could
potentially become one of these. ALL OTHERS are of no interest to me
whatsoever.  Those who fit into the desired category of callers would
never block CNID to me; those in the undesired category can block all
they like.

I look at CNID as sort of a "wired PL". Just as there are many users
on some commercial two-way radio bands who stay out of each others'
hair by the use of "private line" encoding, CNID allows a similar
enhancement when using the public telephone network. You know that
when the phone rings, it is a "desirable" rather than a wrong-number-
idiot, a mysterious one-ringer pest, a hangup-when-you-answer creep, a
telesales slime, or even a former customer whom you wish never to hear
 from again.

Now if I could just convince Pac*Bell that there are others like me
out there. Perhaps I could show them my e-mail ...


John Higdon  |   P. O. Box 7648   |   [phone]     |       FAX:
[e-mail] | San Jose, CA 95150 | 10288 0 700 FOR-A-MOO | [phone]

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

From: [e-mail] (Conrad Kimball)
Subject: Re: Colorado Gets Caller ID
Date: 11 Jan 93 22:17:39 GMT
Organization: Boeing Computer Services, Seattle, WA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Richard
Lucas) writes:

> The best gauge of consumer opinion is how they vote with their
> dollars, not with their words.  If Colorado's first-day results can be
> generalized to other areas, then John Higdon is quite correct that the
> PUC decision in California gives the voices of a few more weight than
> the desires of the majority.

Sometimes that is quite proper.  Tyranny of the majority, and all
that.  And that's assuming "the majority" is _fully_ informed of the
issues, which I doubt is the case in this particular situation.


Conrad Kimball       | Client Server Tech Services, Boeing Computer Services
[e-mail]   | P.O. Box 24346, MS 7A-35
[phone]       | Seattle, WA  98124-0346

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End of TELECOM Digest V13 #19
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