The World of Computer Software/The World of Computer Software.iso/tc13-024.zip/TC13-024.TXT

Text File | 1993-01-16 | 18KB | 444 lines

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 13 Jan 93 02:42:15 CST    Volume 13 : Issue 24

Index To This Issue:                     Moderator: Patrick A. Townson

    Re: CNID on Answering Machines? (Toby Nixon)
    Re: CNID on Answering Machines? (Lance Neustaeter)
    Re: Legality of City Ordinances Against Junk Calls? (Paul Buder)
    Re: AC 215/610 Split (Rudolph T. Maceyko)
    Re: New AnswerCall Features (Rudolph T. Maceyko)
    Re: A Minor Nit With the Telecom FAQ (Matt Healy)
    Re: Cell Phone SID in US / My Friend, Nynex Mobile ... (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Equivalence Charges (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Why Does Phone Bell 'Ping' on a Regular Basis? (Timothy Hu)
    Re: Why Does Phone Bell 'Ping' on a Regular Basis? (Steve Hutzley)
    Re: Mission Impossible: IBT Getting My Order Correct (Michael Rosen)
    Re: Prodigy <> Internet (Tom Benham)
    Re: Additional Phone Charges (Chuck Munro)
    Re: Out of Town Businesses on Local Numbers? (Joe Bergstein)
    Re: Out of Town Businesses on Local Numbers? (Barton F. Bruce)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Toby Nixon <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: CNID on Answering Machines?
Date: 12 Jan 93 17:47:39 EDT
Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail]
(David H. Close) writes:

> I find the current discussion of CNID features on modems very
> interesting.  But, being in the market for a new answering machine, I
> want to know if there are any which store CNID, if received, and play
> it back when messages are retrieved.  Or are there other techniques
> available?  Anybody?

I don't know of any answering machines that store Caller ID info along
with the message, but the system we have here at home provides almost
the same level of functionality.  We have an answering machine that
stores the date and time of the call, and a separate caller ID box
that also stores date and time along with the number (almost all boxes
do that).  It's easy to match up the message time with the info in the
caller ID box.  I'll bet that you can buy a machine with date and time
stamping and a separate caller ID box for less than the combination of
the two, and without doing much searching.


Toby Nixon, Principal Engineer      | Voice   [phone]  Telex 401243420
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc.  | Fax     [phone]  CIS   70271,404
P.O. Box 105203                     | BBS     [phone]  AT&T    !tnixon
Atlanta, Georgia  30348             | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon  Fido   1:114/15
USA                                 | Internet                [e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 20:21:53 PST
From: [e-mail] (Lance Neustaeter)
Subject: Re: CNID on Answering Machines?


David H. Close Had some good questions regarding CNID and answering
machines.  I've also wondered about the same possibilities and would
also note that it would also be very handy for a (digital, of course)
answering machine to be able to play a number of different personal
outgoing messages depending on which number is calling ("Hi, Joe. I'm
not in right now...").  This would also be very useful if you had a
message you wanted to get to someone but you haven't been able to get
ahold of.  You could leave the message on the machine waiting for that
person in case they call you -- and you can go about your business
without having to keep trying to call them.

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

From: [e-mail] (Paul Buder)
Subject: Re: Legality of City Ordinances Against Junk Calls?
Organization: TECHbooks --- Public Access UNIX --- [phone]
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 14:02:51 GMT


[e-mail] (Lawrence V Cipriani) writes:

> Some Ohio cities [e.g., Bedford] have ordinances against telephone
> solicitations.  What is the legality of such an ordinance?  Does

> [Moderator's Note: Well, it is a lot like the soon-to-be and ex-cons
> in the Chicago City Council passing an ordinance saying Chicago is a
> 'nuclear free zone ...'  .. about as stupid as they come. We can no
> more keep bombs from landing here than Bedford, OH can keep people out
> of their jurisdiction from ringing their telephones or citizens in CA
> or PA can keep people out of state from seeing their phone numbers.
> Maybe the Bedford authorities had nothing better to work on that day.  PAT]

Here in Oregon it is illegal to do computer telemarketing, that is, a
machines recording, no human.  It seems to work.  I haven't gotten any
machine based sales pitches.


[e-mail]  Not affiliated with TECHbooks  Paul Buder
Public Access UNIX at [phone] (1200/2400, N81)

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

From: [e-mail] (Rudolph T Maceyko)
Subject: Re: AC 215/610 Split
Date: 12 Jan 93 17:28:06 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh


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

> I just heard on the news today that Bell of Pennsylvania will announce
> an Area Code split in AC 215.

I just read this on clari.tw.telecom.  I'm sure others will notice
that this seems to conflict with "TWX" use ...

 ... or has that been abandoned by everyone (including Canada)?


Rudy Maceyko <[e-mail]>      Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Rudolph T Maceyko)
Subject: Re: New AnswerCall Features
Date: 12 Jan 93 17:38:55 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh


In article <[e-mail]> Joe.Bergstein@p501.f544.n
109.z1.fidonet.org (Joe Bergstein) writes:

> [Note that the announcement does not clarify what an "urgent" message
> is, and whether callers will have an option to flag a message as
> "urgent"].

For the uninitiated, we're discussing Answer Call and its call-me-
when-I- get-a-message feature.

Callers may mark a message as "urgent" by pressing "#" to end the
recording of their message, then pressing "9" for options, "1" for
marking the message urgent, then "1" to send the message.

Interestingly, callers aren't *told* that they can press "9"; it's
absent from the menu (for me anyway, 412-441 in Bell of PA land).

When I first tried the service, it called me whenever *any* message
was left, not just urgent ones.  After a few repair calls (with the
repeated response from them of "perhaps your touch-tone pad is sending
the wrong tones ..."), someone finally found out what was really wrong
and fixed it.

A limitation of the service that's described in the "brochure" is that
the number you define to have the service call you at must be within
your regional calling area.  It will accept any number but will
silently ignore "long-distance" numbers.


Rudy Maceyko <[e-mail]>    Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

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

From: [e-mail] (Matt Healy)
Subject: Re: A Minor Nit With the Telecom FAQ
Organization: Yale University--Genetics
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 15:07:45 GMT


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

>> However, two wires normally suffice to complete a connection
>> between a telephone and the central office; any extra wiring
>> would be for purposes such as grounding or for party line ringing.

> Also to supply dial light for the Princess phones.

A few years ago, I got a notice from SW BELL in Texas about old
dial-light transformers that presented a fire hazard.  The letter
included templates to hold over any transformers located near phones
to check if they were the suspect models, with an 800 number printed
to call if I had any.

Since there were no transformers in my apartment, I put the letter in
file 13.


Matt Healy     [e-mail]

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


From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Cell Phone SID in US / My Friend, Nynex Mobile ...
Date: 12 Jan 1993 20:25:42 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA


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

> I have the SID chart from the telecom archives, but it's quite old.
> Has anyone managed to get a list of SIDs for US cellular service
> providers?

There is a company in Florida whose name escapes me at the moment that
publishes a varity of material about cellular roaming.  They make the
popular "Official Cellular Roaming Handbook" that lists every cellular
system in the country, along with coverage maps, local and roaming
rates, roam port numbers, customer service numbers, and System ID's.
It costs around $16, and is very helpful for frequent roamers.

They also make higher-end publications, and you can purchase data on
magnetic media if you wish.  Perhaps another Digest reader can
contribute their name and phone number.


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Equivalence Charges
Date: 12 Jan 1993 22:28:11 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Tony
Harminc) writes:

> I was reviewing the phone bill for a company where I am consulting,
> and realized that Bell Canada is charging for one more equivalence
> feature than I would expect, e.g. there is a hunt group of three lines
> - the one published number hunts to the second if busy, which hunts to
> the third if second is busy, and that's the end - busy signal.  Bell
> charges for three equivalence features for this.

> The droid in the business office insists that there is an 'ending
> feature' that must be installed on the third line to make it all work.
> I believe this is complete nonsense, but just before I open my mouth
> wide, could someone confirm that technically there is no 'feature'
> that need be installed on the last line of a hunt group?

This is the way hunt groups are tariffed by US West in Washington
State, and Pacific Bell in California.  It's not for technical
reasons, but that is indeed the correct price.  When I've only wanted
a two-line hunt group, I've found that busy-transfer is a better deal.
The monthly cost is a bit more, but you pay for it only on one line,
and the installation cost is often a lot less than hunting.


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Timothy Hu)
Subject: Re: Why Does Phone Bell 'Ping' on a Regular Basis?
Organization: Interactive Systems Corp., Boulder CO
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 23:40:14 GMT


> Same thing happens to us in Clinton, NY, each evening (sometimes
> weekends, too) at just about 11 PM.  I've always assumed some sort of
> telco testing was going on, but it would be nice to know exactly what
> they are doing!

It happens to us in Cheyenne, Wyoming, too.


Timothy Hu [e-mail]     | The intelligence (or lack of) expressed
Interactive Systems Corporation  | above does not necessarily reflect the
Resource Solutions International | that of anyone else.

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Hutzley)
Subject: Re: Why Does Phone Bell 'Ping' on a Regular Basis?
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 23:16:15 GMT


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Fred
Schimmel) writes ...

> It used to be that there was something called a line integrity test
> (LIT) that occured in the interval just before the ring cycle began.
> The circuit was re-arranged to test the line between the CO and the
> phone. This is one reason why Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) needs
> to identify its Ringer Equivalence Number (REN) because the test had
> differing results depending on the number of ringers on the line.
> Perhaps you added or removed some phones, modems, answering machines,
> etc. Perhaps your local CO routinely at 10:15PM does a maintenance
> check of all its lines, and this is when the ping occurs. Try calling
> and asking for a test supervisor to see if they do something like
> this.  Or count your equipment total REN and inform the phone company.
> It could just be a misprogrammed test, or an indicator that the line
> is faulty.

> Perhaps someone else remembers more about LIT. I believe this was a #5
> crossbar feature.

Just a note on RENs, When I got my first, 1200 baud (wow!) modem, I
called New England Telephone, told them about the modem, and the REN,
basically, they said "YEAH, SO!"... so maybe they have some equipment
than can compensate for this, or the DROID I talked to got him/her out
of a situation he/she didn't understand ...

Comments?


Steve

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael Rosen)
Subject: Re: Mission Impossible: IBT Getting My Order Correct
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 05:13:09 GMT


Wow, what incompetence.  Next time, I'd suggest putting your request
in writing and faxing the damn thing.  That way they can't
misunderstand or claim to have different orders, etc.



Michael Rosen    Tau Epsilon Phi - George Washington University
[e-mail]  [e-mail]  or  @lambada.oit.unc.edu

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

From: [e-mail] (Tom Benham)
Subject: Re: Prodigy <> Internet
Organization: Cybernet BBS, Boca Raton, Florida
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 01:52:27 GMT


[e-mail] writes:

> About a month or so ago, someone posted that a gateway for Email from
> Internet to/from Prodigy would probably be in business by Christmas.
> Anyone have the latest status on that "activation"?

I just got a note from Prodigy that advised me to look for Internet
mail access in January, but I haven't seen it yet.


Tom

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

From: [e-mail] (Chuck Munro)
Subject: Re: Additional Phone Charges
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 19:02:58 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Canada Ltd, Dartmouth, N.S.


And what about the charge made to keep your number from popping up on
those new Caller-ID telephones!  I'm miffed!

A one-time charge I could understand (after all, somebody has to enter
a few keystrokes into the switch software), but a *monthly* charge
that goes on and on like the Energizer Bunny ???


Chuck

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

From: [e-mail] (Joe Bergstein)
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 23:32:42 -0500
Subject: Re: Out of Town Businesses on Local Numbers?


On Jan. 6 in a message from lunatix![e-mail], a TELECOM Digest
reader inquired about an apparent local telephone number for a
business outside the local calling area.

Our Esteemed Moderator, Pat, provided an explanation of FX service.

I wonder if this reader really encountered remote call forwarding
(RCF), a switched inbound service, rather than FX, which is quite
costly and requires a substantial amount of usage for cost justification.


For our reader(s), RCF establishes a local calling number, that when
dialed, forwards the call to a predesignated number.  In this case,
the predesignated number would be a toll call to the distant business.
The business picks up the toll charges for these calls.  Why would a
business do this?  Just as in this reader's case, to maintain what
appears to be a local presence by providing a local calling number for
the customers.

In the Washington D.C. metro area, there are many firms located just
beyond the metro calling area.  They can be reached from a portion of
the metro area adjacent to theirs, but not from the entire metro area.
Many of these firms establish RCF numbers which are accesible from the
entire Washington D.C. metro area to ensure that the large number of
potential customers can reach them via a local call.

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

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 01:04:34 -0500 (EST)
From: Barton F. Bruce <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Out of Town Businesses on Local Numbers?
Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc.


lunatix![e-mail] wrote:

> The other day, I saw the number for a business located in a nearby
> town (which is not normally in the local calling area), however, the

> [Moderator's Note: Businesses (actually, anyone, but it is mostly
> businesses) can have a 'foreign exchange' line -- commonly known as an
> FX. When they use that phone, or receive calls on it, it is as though

FX lines are ONLY one of many ways to do this. An FX line makes sense
if there is a LOT of traffic or sometimes if it is also needed to be
able to dial back out into the foreign area.

Very often, folks will have the phone line delivered to some business
there (friend, lawyer, answering service, or whatever) and then simply
order call forwarding on the line and set it to forwward to the remote
location. Paying for that service, and some modest amount of toll
calls is often FAR cheaper than a leased FX line.

Some folks instead get that same line and BUY some call forwarding box
and simply plug it into a second line they pay for at into the same
location.  Connection quality may suffer, but you don't need telco to
be running the latest generic on their stepper for it to work :-)

And just sometimes telco offers 'REMOTE CALL FORWARDING' where NO line
goes anywhere. When a local call is dialed, it gets forwarded to the
remote site. The toll charges go to the number with this service on
it. Often there is a FULL service order write charge and other
bullcrap just to change the foward to number. If you have a
trustworthy site you can have the first25lavor above line delivered
to, that is best and someone can plug a phone in and reset the number
as needed.

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

End of TELECOM Digest V13 #24
*****************************