Phoenix Rising BBS/phoenixrising.zip/phoenixrising/tele-dig/td14-008.txt

Text File | 1994-01-05 | 35KB | 854 lines

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 5 Jan 94 15:30:00 CST    Volume 14 : Issue 8

Inside This Issue:                        Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Bellcore FTP Site For ISDN Information (William H. Sohl)
    Communication Over Power Lines? (Michael Duane)
    Telephone Answering Machine Question (Ray Normandeau)
    Federal Telemarketing Laws (Bob Rankin)
    Access Charges if LD Carrier = Telco? (Charles F. Hofacker)
    What Ways Can Three Regional Offices Share One Phone Number? (J. Ortiz)
    California ANI Question (Phydeaux)
    Quick Question About Caller ID (Ashish Parikh)
    SLIP Information Needed (Lance M. Cottrell)
    Long Distance Dial/Pay Methods (Terry Brainerd Chadwick)
    Calling Card Statistics Wanted (Terry Brainerd Chadwick)
    Merlin Question (Vince Dugar)
    Cellular Phones Come to Belgium/Pactel (Massimo Mauro)
    How Are VCR Plus+ Numbers Generated? (Dan Cromer)
    Emergency Only Cellphone (Dale Farmer)
    Best Remote Software? (Joseph Ferguson)
    Best Modem For Developing World (David Davidson)
    Help Needed With V.42bis ([e-mail])
    Re: New Service From NY Tel - 'Reverse Directory' (Stephen Ng)
    Re: New Service From NY Tel - 'Reverse Directory' (Dave Niebuhr)
    Re: TDD Software Wanted (Don Perrott)
    Re: Caller ID/911 Seattle and Article Recommendation (Steve Forrette)
    Re: Being Paged by Mystery 800 Number (Timothy S. Shea)

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
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 gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated
Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech
Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience
of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups.

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

From: [e-mail] (sohl,william h)
Date:  5 Jan 1994  14:01 EST
Subject: Bellcore FTP site for ISDN Information


Pat,

The following announces the availability of ISDN documentation via FTP
from Bellcore.  Additional documentation will be added to the FTP site
as we progress in 1994.

Thanks,

Bill Sohl and Barbara Shaw - Bellcore ISDN Hotline [phone]-ISDN

  -------------------Bellcore FTP ISDN Info Announcement-----------

            Bellcore's National ISDN Hotline Announces:
      Availability of National ISDN Information over Internet

Information about National ISDN is now available by anonymous FTP
(File Transfer Protocol) over the Internet at host "info.bellcore.com"
FTP allows the retrieval of formatted documents and software.

The files are available in PostScript through anonymous FTP from
"info.bellcore.com"  in the  /pub/ISDN  sub directory.

I M P O R T A N T:

Many of the files are large. It is essential that you first get the
README (the upper case is important) file for detailed information on
retrieving various files associated with documents.

The following text describes a typical anonymous FTP session:

  system: ftp info.bellcore.com <enter>
  Connected to info.
  220 info FTP server (SunOS 4.1) ready.
  Name: anonymous <enter>
  331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
  Password: <enter your internet login -- example: [e-mail]>
  230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
  ftp> cd /pub/ISDN <enter>
  250 CWD command successful.
  ftp> mget README <enter>
  mget README? yes <enter>
  200 PORT command successful.
  150 ASCII data connection for README (8758 bytes).
  226 ASCII Transfer complete.
  local: README remote: README
  8943 bytes received in 0.19 seconds (46 Kbytes/s)
  ftp> quit <enter>
  221 Goodbye.

<enter> represents pressing the "enter" or "return" key on your
computer keyboard.

The README file is in ASCII format and may be read on any word
processor.  The other files in the directory are in PostScript format
and may be downloaded as needed by using the "mget" command while in
the FTP.

The PostScript files may be printed on a PostScript printer by using
the "lprr" command. A typical Post Script print command may look like:

               lpr -P<printer> -h -v <filename.ps>

where:
<printer> represents printer name on your network, and
<filename.ps> represents a PostScript file.

'-h' corresponds to the option of suppressing the printing of burst
page while '-v' corresponds to the option of printing raster image,
i.e., PostScript. Please note that the printer must support PostScript
imaging model in order to print these files.

If you have problems or you'd like to comment on the information
stored at this site or wish to make recommendations for future
enhancements, you can email us at:

        [e-mail]

Or, call us at Bellcore's National ISDN Hotline: [phone]-ISDN

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

From: [e-mail] (Michael Duane)
Subject: Communication Over Power Lines?
Date: 5 Jan 1994 18:10:01 GMT
Organization: SEMATECH, Austin
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I received the following question from a friend.  Post replies here, or
mail directly to [e-mail].

"This is an all points bulletin to answer an question we were
pondering here the other day.  The question is "Can the power company
send telephone or radio signals over the power lines?"  Never mind for
the moment any switching problems -- just consider broadcast for now.

(There *is* a proposal that power companies install fiber optic cable
to homes to help monitor power usage, and in turn sell the capacity to
the phone companies.  I am asking something different.  I am
interested in using the actual power lines themselves.  My campus
radio station used power lines to send the local FM channel, but I
don't know how they did it.)

The questions are:

   1. What is the cutoff frequency of the power grid?  Or better, what
is the bandwidth vs. distance curve?  This is a basic two wire
conductor problem but I don't know things like the skin resistance,
etc.

   2. How do you mix the frequencies?  Is the 60 Hz line the carrier,
mixed with the signal?  Or can you combine them some other way?

Any help is appreciated!!  Please pass the problem on if you cannot help.


Tom   [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You might be interested to know that
the telephones inside the cars on the subway in Chicago used by conductors
and motormen to communicate with their dispatcher used to operate via the
'third rail' (power supply for the trains). I guess you can talk over the
the third rail quite nicely. Lately they have used UHF radios, but some of
the phones in the fare collection booths used on the internal CTA phone
system are still interconnected via the third rail. Are the connections
noisy you ask?  Are they?  Are they!! But it works.   PAT]

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

From: factory![e-mail]
Subject: Telephone Answering Machine Question
Date: 4 Jan 94 22:15:00 GMT
Organization: Invention Factory's BBS - New York City, NY - 212-274-8298v.32bis
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Ray Normandeau)


In December, {Back Stage} newspaper in NYC had the following ad:

          "EARN $50
          While staying at home
          Call 289-6048 for info"

The phone is in the 212 area code.

I have called several times, at least once a week for the last few
weeks.  Altho the OGM says "Please leave a message", and I think that
I am leaving one, I am not sure if it is being recorded because my
calls are not being returned.

It has happened to me that I put my own TAD on "Outgoing Message Only"
without realizing it and that people who thought they were leaving a
message for me, were not as my TAD was not recording them.

Is there any way to figure out if the machine at 212-289-6048 is
taking my messages or not?

The ad might make some people think that it is a scam, but the
newspaper {Back Stage} has a VERY GOOD reputation for screening out scam
ads.

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

Date: Wed, 5 Jan 94 11:48:08 EST
From: Bob Rankin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Federal Telemarketing Laws


I just read through the archives from late 1991 looking for info on
congressional action regarding automated telemarketing.  I found this
little excursion quite fascinating, but failed in my quest, save for a
few references to Rep. Frank's appearance on NightLine discussing some
proposed legislation.

Kind readers, please enlighten me as to the details of whatever
federal law(s) may have been passed regarding telemarketing.  I'm
interested to learn if *all* forms of automated outbound calling are
verboten, or if it just applies to "sales" calls.  For example,

- A club calling members to notify them of a meeting;
- A library calling to notify you of an overdue book;
- An automated survey/questionnaire (for non-commercial purposes);
- An announcement of a free community service;
- A political party calling with a "please vote today" message;
  (maybe even "Press 1 if you need transportation to the polls")

All these seem to be legitimate uses of automated outbound calling,
since they either provide useful information/services or offer a
significant labor and time savings to a caller who has no profit motive.
I welcome private or public replies on this matter.


Bob Rankin ([e-mail])


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: All the above examples you cite are
exempt from the federal regulations. Political calls (vote today) are
considered freedom of speech. The library (return our book) has a
pre-existing relationship with you as does the club calling to notify
you about a meeting. Announcements about free community services also
come under freedom of speech. The only calls which are really regulated
are those from commercial organizations with whom you have no previous
business relationship. They have to follow regulations pertaining to
how they call you (using automated techniques or not, etc). The others
want to maintain your goodwill, so they follow the same guidelines for
the most part, but are not absolutely required to follow them.   PAT]

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

From: Charles F. Hofacker <[e-mail]>
Subject: Access Charges if LD Carrier = Telco?
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 12:08:06 EST


The recent announcement by MCI that they were going to compete in the
local loop has made me curious about something.  One of the
motivations for this announcement was that MCI could then avoid
'access charges' which are I believe are paid by the long distance
provider to the local telco.

Since my local telco is Sprint (904-386), if I sign up for Sprint long
distance also, shouldn't things be cheaper for me?  Why should Sprint
charge Sprint access charges?  Do I have a point here or is there some
regulatory reason that my logic fails?

I called the Sprint Long Distance 800 number and the sales rep said he
had never heard of access charges.


Charlie Hofacker  [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Probably the 'Sprint' which handles your
local loop is not the same branch of 'Sprint' which handles your long
distance calls. Additionally, there is no reason why MCI *has* to not
charge you the access fee once they get in the local loop business;
just that they apparently choose not to. They apparently have chosen
to 'do their bookkeeping' differently than Sprint.  Under the law,
whoever supplies/maintains the wires coming to your home is entitled
to be compensated for the use of the wires in long distance calls and
apparently Sprint (the division of the company supplying your local
service) chooses to be compensated. Maybe MCI's gimmick will be to
have slightly higher long distance rates in exchange for no local-loop
charge. It all comes out the same in the end, or nearly so.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (J. Ortiz)
Subject: What Ways Can Three Regional Offices Share One Phone Number?
Organization: Capital Area Central Texas UNIX Society, Austin, Tx
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 17:12:26 GMT


I was curious what is available from telephone services or just
products on the market that would allow for a single phone number that
a customer can dial and be able to connect to one of three separately
located offices.  Some thing like a support center, call one number
and connect to the office/extension or the first available
office/extension.  Also could this be done with an 800 number as well?

All ideas would be appreciated.  I'd like to be informed before I talk
to the AT&T and MCIs of the world.


Thanks,

joe     [e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editors's Note: Well it can most definitly be arranged
with 800 service. Your 800 number would terminate different places
depending on the place where the call originated. You can also have one
of the regional offices be the central answering point and forward the
calls one by one to the two other offices manually, then have call-
forwarding on the line for after-hours connection to the other two
offices. The thing is, how convenient would this be for your customers?
At least two of the three regional offices would have to receive calls
 from *their* customers over a long distance number if all three offices
used the same number (which could only be 'local service' to one of
the three offices.) If you really want to pay for all the incoming
calls from your customers, complainers, deadbeats and anyone else who
calls the company, then go with a single 800 number which is routed on
a time-of-day/day-of-week/location of call orgination basis, but I
don't think you will find it terribly cost-effective. I'd say go with
three 'local' numbers for each of the three offices, and internal
tie-lines which allowed the receptionist/operator handling incoming
calls to manually pass the call to one of the other offices if that
was desired.  PAT]

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

Date: Tue, 4 Jan 1994 17:21:03 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Phydeaux)
Subject: California ANI Question


Hi!  In a discussion the other day, one of my colleagues told me that
"ANI is illegal in California."  I'm sure he meant CNID, but he
understands the difference and was pretty emphatic about this. I'm
sure someone here knows for sure.


reb


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What can I tell you?  Ask your colleague
if he thinks 800 numbers are illegal in California. If not, then there
is your answer. ANI and 800 go hand in hand. That's the way the system
works. In a way, that's what makes the debate over Caller-ID so silly:
People who can afford 800 numbers and insist on receiving all their calls
over the 800 number have always had 'caller-ID', even in backward areas
like California. :)  No, ANI is not illegal in California.    PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Mr. Ashish Parikh )
Subject: Quick Question About Caller ID
Date: 5 Jan 1994 04:35:09 GMT
Organization: The Ohio State University


I am under the impression that only listed (in phonebooks) numbers get
identified in one's Caller-ID system. what I mean is that for example
my number is unlisted and I call a person with Caller-ID -- according
to my views, my number doesn't get recognized by his/her system.  My
question to you intelligent/experienced folks: Is that true? Could you
please briefly describe how the whole Caller-ID thing works.  Thanks
very much.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Your views are quite seriously mistaken.
CID depends on a few things, but having an unlisted or non-pub number
is not one of them. First, both telephone exchanges -- that of the caller
and the called party -- have to be equipped for the service. If the
receiving office is equipped but the sending office is not, then sub-
scribers to Caller-ID in the receiving office will get the message
'out of area' on their display when the sending office passes a call.
If the sending office is equipped but the receiving office is not, then
it all becomes a moot point.

Now let us assume both telephone exchanges, that of caller and called
party are equipped to handle Caller-ID. The calling party's ID will
*always* be passed to the exchange serving the called party. Whether or
not the called exchange passes the information on to the called party
depends on two things: one, is the called party a subscriber to the
Caller-ID service and two, did the calling party not explicitly refuse
the passing of the information. By that I mean, did the calling party
prepend a special code to his dialing string (typically *67) to tell
*his* phone exchange to deny the information to the called party. So
if both exchanges are equipped for the service and the called party
subscribes to the service, he *will* get your number unless you have
specifically told your exchange (to tell the other exchange) to not
pass that information along. In the event you request that the inform-
ation not be passed along, then the called party will receive a message
on his display screen saying 'Private'.  Note the difference: the
display will say 'private' when the sender denies the receiver the
right to the information and the display will say 'out of area' when
the receiving exchange is unable (as opposed to not permitted) to
supply the information. How you have your phone listed with directory
assistance (or not) has no bearing on this at all. All your non-pub
listing gets you is the inability of a third person to match your
name with a number through the directory and/or the inability to
match your number with a name/address through a cross-reference (or
'criss-cross' as they are usually called) directory. So the called
party will get your *number* via Caller-ID (unless you specifically
block delivery using *67), but it still remains relatively meaningless
without a name/address to go with it.

Note also that 'automatic call return' where that service exists is
not affected by the 'private' status of Caller-ID (calls can still
be returned although the return-caller will not know the number being
called) and the ability to block Caller-ID via *67 is disabled when
calling 911 or *any* telephone company facility or operator. In other
words, you can never refuse the telephone company the right to know
your number, nor can you hide from the police, etc. Likewise, your
number is always known (or soon ascertained) by subscribers to toll-
free 800 numbers that you may dial. You can't block that either.  PAT]

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

From: sdphu3![e-mail] (Lance M Cottrell)
Subject: SLIP Information Needed
Date: 5 Jan 1994 05:38:44 GMT
Organization: Physics Department, UCSD


I am looking for information of setting up a SLIP on a Sun for call
in. The Sun is not directly connected to the phone. I dial into a
phone bank and telnet to the computer.  Can I establish SLIP after I
telnet?


Thanks,

Lance Cottrell

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

Date: Wed, 05 Jan 94 09:11:12 -0700
From: Terry Brainerd Chadwick <[e-mail]>
Organization: InfoQuest! Information Services
Subject: Long Distance Dial/Pay Methods


How are both consumer and business long distance calling distributed
between direct dialing, some form of card, collect calls, and other?
($ volume or percentage) Where is this information available?


Thank you,

Terry Brainerd Chadwick    [e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 05 Jan 94 09:06:37 -0700
From: Terry Brainerd Chadwick <[e-mail]>
Organization: InfoQuest! Information Services
Subject: Calling Cards Statistics Wanted


Where can I get a list of all long distance calling (including credit
and debit) cards, their issuers, benefits, and rates?  Also, the
breakdown of card usage by consumers and business?


Thank you,

Terry Brainerd Chadwick    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Vince Dugar)
Subject: Merlin Question
Organization: StorageTek
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 14:46:15 GMT


Why does the Merlin system charge users so much (I forget now, but
it's a lot) to buy a special modem adapter?  Is there a cheaper
solution?  What about using an acoustic modem? (only want it for
CompuServe mail handling, so low baud would be OK)



Vince Dugar              | CIS: 71011,2657
Boulder, Colorado        | Opinions expressed are my own.
[e-mail]  |

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

Subject: Cellular Phones Come to Belgium/Pactel
From: [e-mail] (Massimo Mauro)
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 94 01:14:33 PST
Organization: The Dark Side of the Moon +1 408 245 SPAM


With lots of fireworks to celebrate the event even this derelict
(certainly as far as telecoms are concerned) country joins the
cellular circus (GSM operational as from 1 Jan, 1994).

Cellular phones, besides being a yuppy accessory, are unfortunately
pretty useful, but cost over here an awful lot of money, as the
service provider (a joint venture between the Belgian telecom and
Pactel) operates a near monopoly.  Can some cellular whiz kid tell me
whether a cellular telephone (say, a Motorola or Nokia, for instance)
purchased in the US or in Canada would be able to operate here? Given
that frequency allocation and modulation scheme standardisation are
done internationally (ITU), I expect it to be so.

Thanks for emailing me some info, were it even to tell me I am wrong.


[e-mail]

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

Date: Wed, 05 Jan 94 05:47:29 EST
From: Dan Cromer <[e-mail]>
Organization: School Board of Alachua County, Gainesville, Florida
Subject: How are VCR Plus+ Numbers Generated


Greetings,

How are VCR Plus+ code numbers, the up-to-eight digit numbers for each
TV program used in programming some new VCRs and VCR-programming
remotes, generated.  I bought a new VCR for my folks in Lakeland, FL,
to make it easy for them to set up the VCR for recording, but the VCR
Plus+ codes aren't listed in their newspaper.  I'd like to be able to
set up a programmable calculator so that it would generate the code
for them.  I know there is a 900 number at 95 cents/minute, but don't
think they should have to pay $1.90 every time they want to use the
system.


Daniel H. Cromer, Jr.  Director, Information Resources
School Board of Alachua County, Gainesville, Florida
[e-mail]


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Its a secret. No one knows for sure how
it is done except the proprietors of the system, and they aren't going
to tell. There *are* scripts around in various ftp archives sites
which make a stab at this, but I understand none of them are perfect
and all have a few bugs. The topic is even discussed on a regular basis
in a couple of newsgroups devoted to cable television and vcr's, etc.
I'm sure some readers will send you email telling you where to find the
programs which have attempted to work out the VCR+ codes, but part of
the reason for selling the device and operating the 900 phone number is
so the proprietors can make money on the deal which I guess is the
main reason their lips are zipped.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Dale Farmer)
Subject: Emergency Only Cellphone
Date: 5 Jan 1994 13:33:42 GMT
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA


I just ran across a flyer advertising (to me at least) a new cellular
phone service.  It is called HELPTEL, marketed by a company here in
Massachusetts.  800 370 4445 if you want to call them yourself.

        What they are selling is a cell phone that has one button.
You plug the phone into the cigarette lighter plug, press the HELP
button and talk to some form of operator.  The marketing is aimed
squarely at the emergency only cellular customer.  Rates are $35 per
year, plus an unmentioned purchase price, plus an unmentioned per call
charge.

        I thought you may be interested.


Dale Farmer

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

From: Joseph Ferguson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Best Remote Software?
Date: Wed, 03 Jan 94 14:03:17 EST
Organization: Delphi Internet


I need a reliable remote software program that will actually run
Windows. I use an Intel 400 at home and at work. Haven't had any luck
trying PcTools Commute.  Do any of these remote programs run Windows?
Thanks for any suggestions.


Joe


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

From: [e-mail] (David Davidson)
Subject: Best Modem For Developing World
Organization: Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 14:32:28 GMT


I got another request from a group in a developing nation who want to
set up digital communication. They asked what would be the best modem
to use. I asked on this newsgroup once before and I believe the
response was the Telebit Worldblazer. Is this correct? I would
appreciate some comments or recommendations that I could pass along.

Please accept my thanks in advance.


David

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

From: [e-mail] (ral)
Subject: Help Needed With V.42bis
Organization: nbnet
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 1994 15:50:05 GMT


I have a Zoltrix 14,400 data/fax modem. I am not sure if I am getting
compression or if so what kind. My manual indicates the S95 registar
gives extended result codes. For example S95=003 will give me the
Protocal: result code, usually Lap-M. Since S95 is bit mapped, I do
not know the values I should use to get the codes I want.

The manual further says:
Bit     Description
0       CONNECT indicates DCE speed
1       Append/ARQ to the connect result code if the protocol is other than
        NONE
2       Carrier result code
3       PROTOCOL: result code
4       reserved
5       COMPRESSION: result code
6       reserved
7       reserved

I should also say that when S95=003, I get codes for bit0,1,2,3. In
other words I get everything I want, except for the compression code.
I've tried S95=005, but this does not work.Please help.  Answer here
or e-mail [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Stephen Ng)
Subject: Re: New Service From NY Tel - 'Reverse Directory'
Organization: Sedona Software Consulting, Arlington, MA
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 1994 16:56:27 GMT


Given the availability of the national white pages on cd-rom, couldn't
anyone set up such a service, for both business and residential
listings?


Stephen Ng    Sedona Software Consulting    617-648-8120
[e-mail]     70302, 1510


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Certainly they could. Really, the only
considerations would be financial: having the cash flow to do it and
the money needed to keep it running while it was first starting up. Of
course you need the computer and CD-Rom, etc.   PAT]

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

Date: Wed, 05 Jan 94 17:00:46 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Re: New Service From NY Tel - 'Reverse Directory'


I mentioned earlier about testing out the NYTel 'Reverse Directory
Assistance' and John Levine ([e-mail]) wanted to know the number
so that he could try it.

Actually, it was simple.  The first was looking in the Manhattan phone
book and picking a business name then calling Manhattan DA and asking
for the whole thing.  That took some time since no one there seemed to
know what I wanted.

Well, I just tried it in Area Code 516 and got the whole kit and
kaboodle (phone, address and zip) one-two-three.

The cost for the DA will be about $.45 US and I think about $.35-$.45
US for the extra.  Your mileage might vary.

Have a Safe, Sane Healthy and Happy New Year!


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] (preferred)
                            [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093

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

Date: Wed, 05 Jan 1994 14:09:18 PDT
From: DON PERROTT <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: TDD Software Wanted


In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Steve
Peltz) wrote:

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

>> Mike, the phone company is right -- you can't get ASCII to Baudot
>> (code used by TYs) communication by software alone.  You're going to
>> need a hybrid ASCII/Baudot modem. There are several on the market,
>> including the MIC300i, and they have a version for the Mac too.

> Baudot is just a 5-bit code, right? Any synchronous-capable serial
> chip can do that (such as a Mac). Is the modem encoding itself also
> different, possibly different carrier frequencies or such? It can't be
> just Baudot coding that causes the problem.

> Why don't they start releasing dual-mode TDD machines, that can handle
> ASCII and "standard" modem standards, and eventually phase out Baudot-
> only machines?

I want to suggest that this topic has been very thoroughly covered in
past issues of the TELECOM Digest. I did a search on TDD several weeks
ago and found that there have been numerous requests on the topic and
some excellent answers over the years.

There are issues with Baudot to ASCII conversion with SHIFT characters
as well as the hardware issues with half duplex communication which is
no tone between characters and 1400/1800 Hz tones unlike any normal
modem used today. Also, the baud rate is 45.5 bps.

You can purchase dual-mode TDD machines that handle Baudot and ASCII
but for some reason they have never really taken off in the deaf
community.  They tend to be the high end (read expensive) TDD's and
are very much overkill for those only interested in TDD
communications. Also, the ASCII capabilities usually provided are 300
baud ... insufficient to be useful for much else. There seems to be
some lawmaker intervention in this area.

Some software was written by John W. Spalding that can be used to
emulate TDD on a TRS-80 Color Computer or an IBM PC/PCjr using the
cassette port and a modified telephone amplifier. It is well worth
getting if only for the comments in the code to help you understand
how TDD works. I downloaded it from the HEX BBS [phone]. It is
called tdd56.zip.

I am interested in extending the concept of tdd56 and building a
simple hardware interface to either use an XT/AT serial port or a
simple adapter card. I have some concepts in mind but would be very
happy to receive ideas (or encouragement) from anyone.


Don Perrott     [e-mail]
General Motors of Canada   Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

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

From: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)
Subject: Re: Caller ID/911 Seattle and Article Recommendation
Date: 05 Jan 1994 22:14:10 GMT
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc.
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Steve Forrette)


In <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (M. Hedlund) writes:

> I also saw a news piece about 911 technology and cellular phones,
> saying that Caller-ID/Signalling System Seven had speeded response to
> home calls (as discussed) but that only _some_ systems could ID
> cellular phones -- Seattle was mentioned as considering cellular-
> Caller ID to improve 911.  Apologies if this overlaps a thread I
> missed, but anyone in Seattle with info?

I have cellular accounts with both of the Seattle carriers: US West
Cellular and Cellular One.  At least when calling 800 numbers, the US
West Cellular system will report my actual cellular number as the ANI,
whereas Cellular One reports a non-dialable number that's common on
all subscribers.  Since 911 systems are often implemented using
operator-service trunks, I would imagine that the 'correct ANI'
feature of the US West system would also work with 911, although I
don't have any specific knowledge that this is the case.  As far as
Cellular One goes, they could implement 911 ANI with some sort of
special data line to the PSAP, without converting to full ANI for all
outbound calls.  One benefit of the US West Cellular ANI situation is
that it allows me to select any IXC that's generally available via
Equal Access as my default carrier for the cellular phone.


Steve Forrette, [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (Timothy S. Shea)
Subject: Re: Being Paged by Mystery 800 Number
Organization: 3M - St. Paul, MN  55144-1000 US
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 94 00:22:52 GMT


Bud Couch ([e-mail]) wrote:

> In the meantime, let me offer my own WAG. I tried the number from my
> PC and found that it connected at *1200* bps, although my modem is a
> V.22bis (2400). This means that the machine at the other end is
> forcing the speed to be that low. Why?

> I suspect that the modem on the other end is an older (in modem terms
> more than two years is *old*) ZOOM modem, for their 1200 units had an
> interesting security feature: the entry password to the modem was not
> an ascii string, but a four number *touchtone* sequence.If the correct
> code wasn't entered within a few seconds of answer, the unit hung up.
> We may have just stumbled into someone's database "server" that has
> this security feature.

I don't know about that theory.  I have several scripts running on our
systems that check for status or any error conditions.  If it finds
something wrong our communications server pages me through an old 1200
bps modem ...

Or this is way the company pages its people and someone just entered
in the number wrong ...


internet: [e-mail]   timothy shea
compuserve: 76300,1230     Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing

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End of TELECOM Digest V14 #8
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