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TELECOM Digest Thu, 27 Jan 94 12:04:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue 48
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson
Sprint SONET on the Way (John D. Gretzinger)
ITU-TS (CCITT) Automated Mail Interface (Dan L. Dale)
Telecommuting Centers in LA (Mike Lanza)
Cheap, Practical Notch Filtering and Frequency Shifting Methods (Ho Junya)
Telcos Start Warning Customers About New Area Codes (Bob Goudreau)
Book Review: "Practical Internetworking with TCP/IP and UNIX" (Rob Slade)
Broadcast Paging on Merlin 3070 System (Brian Nunes)
Wireless Products Based on IEEE 802.11 (Kevin Tanner)
Info on Modems That Provide/Multiplex RS-422 and RS-366 (Mike Foltz)
Re: GMSK Modulation Method (Charles Randall Yates)
Re: Call Waiting/Three Way Together (Al Varney)
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:
* telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu *
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: ptownson@townson.com.
** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu **
Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.
TELECOM Digest is 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. All
opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: JOHN.D.GRETZINGER@sprint.sprint.com
Date: 26 Jan 94 21:22:10-0500
Subject: Sprint SONET on the Way
OK, so MCI says they are going to do this some day; well here is the
time table for Sprint to have SONET in place.
Forwarded message from PC SprintMail:
Contact: Jim Bowman (O) 913-967-3675
Gerry Simone (O) 202-828-7423
SPRINT TO PROVIDE SONET ACROSS NORTH AMERICA
FOR INTERNATIONAL CARRIERS
WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 22, 1994 -- Sprint will provide SONET
(synchronous optical network) transit service across North America
by the end of 1994 for the 31 European and Asian carriers forming
a multilateral group, the company told representatives of the
group in meetings this week.
At that time Sprint's international dedicated transit route
through North America will be predominantly SONET, and it will be
all-SONET in 1995, when synchronous digital hierarchy -- the
international equivalent of SONET -- cables will connect the
United States with both Europe and Asia.
SONET is the emerging transport standard of the Information
Superhighway. It carries vastly larger quantities of traffic than
most current transport equipment, at speeds up to 20 times faster.
Sprint announced its SONET deployment plan as part of its overall
broadband strategy in September 1992, and began deploying SONET
equipment on its network in 1993.
Sprint's SONET deployment is increasing network capacity for
rapidly developing international and domestic traffic loads,
moving voice, image, data and video simultaneously over Sprint's
fiber-optic network already in place. In addition, Sprint's
broadband network architecture, combined with deployment of an
advanced form of SONET equipment only now becoming available,
provides for unprecedented levels of reliability.
Representatives of the multilateral group met with Sprint
International officials this week at the company's headquarters
outside Washington, D.C., to review progress and to confirm
schedules and revenue projections for the next two years of a
three-year pact signed last March.
By that agreement, the international carriers receive
preferred rates and service guarantees for transit of
international calls across North America. Sprint's price and
performance guarantees are available to all signatory
companies of the multilateral group for a period of 25 years, a
significant benefit for smaller companies that now can enjoy the
same volume pricing and associated benefits previously only
available to the largest carriers. The value to Sprint is
estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.
"The technology and capacity of Sprint's advanced fiber-optic
network allows us to provide many services for other carriers,
including dedicated transit services for overseas carriers since
1989," said Paolo Guidi, president of Sprint International.
"Many of the companies in the multilateral group have been
Sprint customers for years, and they already were familiar with
Sprint's superior quality," Guidi added. "Now, they will see us
take that quality to a speed and performance level as yet
unattained by other global carriers."
Sprint is a diversified international telecommunications
company with more than $10 billion in annual revenues and the
United States' only nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network.
Its divisions provide global long distance voice, data and video
products and services, local telephone services to more than 6
million subscriber lines in 19 states, and cellular operations
that serve 42 metropolitan markets and more than 50 rural service
areas.
John D. Gretzinger Network Engineer
Rockwell Support Team +1.310.797.1187
+1.310.430.1761 (FAX)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 94 21:53 EST
From: Dan L. Dale <0005517538@mcimail.com>
Subject: ITU-TS (CCITT) Automated Mail Interface
********** WELCOME TO A TIES AUTO-ANSWERING MAILBOX (TAM) ***********
TIES (Telecom Information Exchange Services) is a set of electronic
info services of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in
Geneva, Switzerland. ITUDOC is the TIES electronic document
distribution service.
For help with the ITUDOC email interface or info on other interfaces
(e.g., Gopher), send the line HELP in the message body to this address
(itudoc@itu.ch). Include the line GET ITU-5971 for a list of Road Map
and Index files.
NEWS FLASH: Happy New Year! For concise info on ITUDOC access
methods, send the command GET ITU-4313. Note all references to
'CCITT' should be replaced by 'ITU-T'.
TAM replied on January 24, 1994 at 7:59 AM local time in Geneva.
Access to TAM from Major eMail Service Providers
The TIES Auto-Answering Mailbox (TAM) is accessible from several major
email service providers.
ACCESS FROM MCI
MCI users can access the TAM through MCI's facilities for access to
other mail systems (EMS). The TAM can be accessed through MCI's
Internet gateway. You can then download documents from your MCI
mailbox using a file transfer program in your communications package
(e.g. Kermit or Zmodem). If you have problems with one gateway,
please try the other.
ACCESS FROM MCI MAIL VIA INTERNET:
1. At COMMAND, type CREATE
2. At TO, type ITUDOC followed by EMS in parentheses. For example,
TO: ITUDOC (EMS)
3. At the prompt EMS: type INTERNET. For example,
EMS: INTERNET
4. At MBX: type itudoc@itu.ch. For example,
MBX: itudoc@itu.ch
5. At the next MBX: type return to end addressing
6. Complete as usual
EXAMPLE MESSAGE
The email message below retrieves the Road Map and Index file for the
ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector Group:
To: ITUDOC
EMS: Internet
MBX: itudoc@itu.ch
FROM: (NAME)
SUBJECT: (IGNORED)
START
GET ITU-1100
END
HOW TO DOWNLOAD DOCUMENTS FROM MCI MAIL:
File transfer protocols supported by MCI include
- Zmodem
- Kermit
- Text (MCI account default for downloading ASCII data only)
If the document you retrieve from your MCI mailbox is a binary format,
you must use either Zmodem or Kermit transfer protocols.
1. Note the number of the message you want to download.
2. At COMMAND, type DOWNLOAD followed by the number of the message you
want to DOWNLOAD and the name of the protocol you want to use. For
example,
COMMAND: DOWNLOAD 3 KERMIT
3. MCI will provide a message that explains how many files are contained
in the transfer. You will receive an itemized list of the text and
binary message segments contained in each download request. When
prompted, enter a filename for each file you wish to download or
press return if you wish to skip that segment. Specify a file
extension that corresponds to the document type. The TAM always
returns two message segments in reply to a GET command. The first
message segment part is always in ASCII format and contains
information (attributes) of the document (e.g., title, file size and
type). The second message segment part is the actual document. You
may choose only to download the second message segment which is the
actual document.
4. When you have completed assignment of filenames for the messages you
wish to download, press return to begin. You may then need to give
the command for your communications software to begin the download
process.
For more complete information, use MCI's HELP DOWNLOAD command.
ACCESS FROM COMPUSERVE
Compuserve mail users can access the TAM through Compuserve's Internet
mail gateway facility.
ACCESS FROM COMPUSERVE MAIL VIA INTERNET:
1. Choose COMPOSE a new message, edit the message with TAM commands,
then choose SEND
2. At SEND TO (NAME OR USER ID), type >internet:itudoc@itu.ch For
example,
Send to (Name or User ID): >internet:itudoc@itu.ch
3. At SUBJECT, type any text (TAM ignores subject fields)
4. Complete as usual
HOW TO DOWNLOAD DOCUMENTS FROM COMPUSERVE:
For complete information, use Compuserve's HELP DOWNLOAD command.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 94 15:10:07 GMT
From: Mike Lanza <lanza@dnc.com>
Subject: Telecommuting Centers in LA
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 ...
Mike Lanza
------------------------------
From: HO JUNYA <hojunya@ecf.toronto.edu>
Subject: Cheap, Practical Notch Filtering and Frequency Shifting Methods
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 1994 02:37:49 -0500
I am looking for cheap and practical ways of filtering a telephone
line's usable audio bandwidth into a number of segments or notches
(somewhere between 8 and 16 or more?), and multiplying or shifting
each segment into a new block of frequencies, (this mapping will be
determined beforehand) with as little noise or distortion as
practical. (this would theoretically be used to 'scramble' a voice
conversation)
This is for an engineering design course, where we are to build a
working (mostly hardware) model of something unique (or somewhat
unique) in one term (about 2.5 months left).
An example of what I mean follows:
Say the bandwidth to be used is 0Hz - 4KHz, and I will use four
segments: 0-1KHz, 1-2KHz, 2-3KHz, 3-4KHz. after filtering out each
segment, say my mapping instructions dictate that I should map the
segments as such: the 1st to the 4th segment, the 4th to the 2nd
segment, the 2nd to the 3rd segment, and the 3rd segment to the 1st
segment. (so the original 0-1KHz segment gets shifted to 3-4KHz, the
original 3-4KHz segment gets shifted to 1-2Khz, and so on)
There aren't really set restrictions on this - (ie, is it easier to
shift these segments after converting them from analog to digital
signals?) - as long as it would work :-)
As an aside, the mapping will be done using a hardware RNG.
Any comments or suggestions are most appreciated.
Thanks,
Junya hojunya@ecf.toronto.edu
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 17:33:23 -0500
From: goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau)
Subject: Telcos Start Warning Customers About New Area Codes
In the past, some people have ventured the opinion that the general
telephone-using population won't even notice the coming of non-N{01}X
area codes in the North American Numbering Plan starting next year.
However, there is at least one telco that apparently disagrees. My
most recent phone bill included the usual _Southern_Bell_News_
newsletter, which had the following as its uncopyrighed cover story,
so I assume that Southern Bell wants to get the word out as widely as
possible:
WHEN THE NEW AREA CODES ARRIVE, THEY'LL LOOK A LITTLE FUNNY
Don't Be Surprised If You Begin Seeing Area Codes That Don't
Look Like Area Codes!
[In Box:] DON'T LET IT CATCH YOU BY SURPRISE!
The area code numbering plan for North America was
established in the 1940s, and has lasted nearly fifty years.
Because of the phenomenal growth in telecommunications services
by pagers, mobile phones, fax machines and telephone lines, the
telecommunications industry is running out of area codes.
Therefore, a new area code format for North America is being
introduced on _January_1,_1995_ [italics in original text].
The new numbering plan will add 640 new number combinations
for area codes by using any number (0 through 9) as the middle
digit, instead of restricting the middle digit to a zero or
one, as the old plan did. Area codes will remain three digits,
like 704 in North Carolina.
This change makes new area codes available for _future_
use, and will not change your current area code. New area
codes will be added, as they always have, when needed to
accommodate growth in telephone lines or communications
services. The Customer Guide section in the front of your
white pages directory contains area code information for the
United States.
The change to the new numbering plan will not affect your
rates for telephone service. It may, however, make recognizing
a geographic location based on the area code more difficult.
All the phone companies in North America are working together
to make this transition orderly, and to try to ensure that all
calls go through.
-------------------------------
Bob Goudreau Data General Corporation
goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com 62 Alexander Drive
+1 919 248 6231 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 1994 05:05:51 MDT
From: Rob Slade <rslade@sfu.ca>
Subject: Book Review: "Practical Internetworking with TCP/IP and UNIX"
BKPIWTAU.RVW 931130
Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
Kelly Ford, Promotion/Publicity Coordinator
Heather Rignanesi, Marketing, x340, 73171.657@Compuserve.com
P.O. Box 520 26 Prince Andrew Place
Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8
416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948
or
Tiffany Moore, Publicity tiffanym@aw.com
Bob Donegon bobd@aw.com
John Wait, Editor, Corporate and Professional Publishing johnw@aw.com
Tom Stone, Editor, Higher Education Division tomsto@aw.com
1 Jacob Way
Reading, MA 01867-9984
800-822-6339 617-944-3700
Fax: (617) 944-7273
5851 Guion Road
Indianapolis, IN 46254
800-447-2226
"Practical Internetworking with TCP/IP and UNIX", Carl-Mitchell/Quarterman,
0-201-58629-0, 1993
tic@tic.com smoot@tic.com
Another good explanatory title. For those who need to connect a UNIX
machine to the Internet, this is a one-stop reference for most of the
basic necessities.
The book starts with a historical and conceptual backgrounder on the
Internet. This first section also gives technical and even some
programming details on the basic IP, TCP and UDP protocols. The
technical level is advanced, but fully explained for the perseverent
newcomer.
Part two is the practical side. Four chapters give the basics of the
setup, email, sendmail and other services. For a standard system,
this could be almost all you need to get running.
Part three covers advanced topics such as the integration of
microcomputers, network management and debugging. It is nice to see a
work that addresses the issues of micros, which are ubiquitous in the
usual workplace. It is equally nice to see a practical approach, such
as the suggestion to use terminal emulation if such will fill the
bill. (It is amusing to see a mild tendency towards UNIX chauvinism
in such subtle ways as the use of the UNIX default lower case filename
convention applied to the case insensitive/upper case MS- DOS file
system.)
Appendices give tips on the use of various Internet services as well
as some useful utility program listings.
As always with Quarterman's writings, there are extensive biliographic
and reference listings.
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKPIWTAU.RVW 931130
Permission granted to distribute with unedited copies of the TELECOM
Digest and associated mailing lists/newsgroups.
======================
DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters
Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733
DECUS Symposium '94, Vancouver, BC, Mar 1-3, 1994, contact: rulag@decus.ca
------------------------------
From: bnunes@netcom.com (Brian Nunes)
Subject: Broadcast Paging on Merlin 3070 System
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 1994 11:45:20 GMT
Does anyone know how to simultaneously page all stations using a
Merlin 3070 system? One of the people in my office did it by mistake
once but couldn't remember what she did. When I called AT&T, they
told me it couldn't be done, but I know it's possible. Maybe it's
undocumented? Does anyone know?
=Brian Nunes=*-*-*-*-*-* bnunes@netcom.com -*-*-1-213-656-9117
7985 Santa Monica Blvd. #109-473, West Hollywood, CA 90046-5112
------------------------------
From: kevin_tanner@wiltel.com
Subject: Wireless Products Based on IEEE 802.11
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 94 10:34:10 GMT
Organization: WilTel
Greetings all...
Does anyone out there know of any vendors who are exploring products
based upon the IEEE 802.11 standard/ISM Bands/TDMA/CDMA with bandwidth
range from 1.2 Mbps to 20 Mbps which can handle both voice and data?
Please contact either myself or Aamir Hussain. Thanks in advance.
Kevin D. Tanner WilTel, Inc.
Kevin's Telephone: (918) 588-5843
Aamir's Telephone: (918) 588-5156
FAX: (918) 588-5616
E-mail: kevin_tanner@wiltel.com
------------------------------
From: mike_foltz@sgate.com
Subject: Info on Modems That Provide/Multiplex RS-422 and RS-366
Date: 26 Jan 1994 17:45:49 GMT
Organization: Collins International Services Company
To all:
I am looking for vendor information on modems that provide and
multiplex both RS-422 and RS-366 interfaces. The interfaces provide
both data and dialing information to be transmitted.
I have video teleconferencing and Inverse mux equipment that have the
RS-422 and RS-366 interfaces. Our 4 building campus has both fiber
optic and copper in its distribution. The modems would be used to
remotely connect the video teleconferencing equipment over fiber or
copper to the Inverse mux equipment.
Thanks in advance,
Mike foltz mike_foltz@sgate.com 703-803-8361
------------------------------
From: yatesc@eggo.usf.edu (Charles Randall Yates)
Subject: Re: GMSK Modulation Method
Date: 27 Jan 1994 11:08:02 GMT
Organization: University of South Florida
In article <telecom14.41.5@eecs.nwu.edu> rsinha@iucaa.ernet.in (Sinha)
writes:
> I am trying to find recent references to GMSK(Gaussian Mean Shift Key)
> method of modulation in CDMA type spread spectrum application. Are
> there other modulation methods known which are still more efficient
> from the consideration of bandwidth utilization?
Mr. Sinha,
It is my understanding that GMSK stands for "Gaussian Minimum-Shift
Keying", which is a variant of MSK ("Minimum-Shift Keying"), which in
turn is a variant of FSK ("Frequency-Shift Keying"). In FSK, a signal
is modulated between two frequencies which are symmetrical about a
center frequency. Call the difference between these two frequencies
df. In MSK, df is reduced to the minimum value that will get the job
done, which turns out to be half the baud rate (i.e., the symbol
rate): df = Tb/2 (where Tb = baud rate). This results in the smallest
bandwidth for an FSK signal.
I believe that GMSK is simply an MSK modulation scheme coupled with
gaussian transmit and receive filters.
I am confused by your reference to efficient bandwidth methods for
spread spectrum systems since these systems purposely widen the
bandwidth greatly.
Although I couldn't find anything on GMSK in them, the following
references may be of help to you:
[1] "Digital Communications and Spread Spectrum Systems", Rodger E.
Ziemer and Roger L. Peterson.
[2] "Digital Communications", John G. Proakis.
I hope this information may be of use to you.
Randy Yates
Signal Processing/Communications Systems Student
University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
<yatesc@eggo.csee.usf.edu>
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 94 03:19:04 CST
From: varney@ihlpe.att.com
Subject: Re: Call Waiting/Three Way Together
Organization: AT&T
In article <telecom14.31.1@eecs.nwu.edu> izzy@access.netaxs.com (Michael
Israeli) writes:
>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Try getting an actual three way call
>> installed between CW and 3WC (because flashing the hook could cause
>> one thing to hand you a CW at that point in time does your flash mean
>> you want to accept the new call or connect the other two. Since maybe
>> you do not want that to happen (the two you dialed to be joined
>> together) telco has chosen to block CW for that limited period of
>> time. Let us know. PAT]
> Well, I attempted the following:
[deleted excellent test of 3WC/CW interactions.]
> So, I placed another call to Bell of PA. I explained again my
> situation, receiving a CW tone during a three way call. The agent
> looked into some book she had, and explained to me that I live in an
> area with a "5E" switching system, in which CW and 3WC can have NO
> interaction. Whereas my friend who lives in a different area has a
> "1A" switching system, where they DO interact!
Well, you probably don't want any excuses or a long history of the
pain involved in this area, so here's my nickel summary:
1) The interaction of 3WC and CW evolved over about 5 years in the
early 1970s on 1E/1A ESS(tm) switches. Trying to explain the actions
of a switch to a customer who only has one input ("flash") at any
given point lead to a really elaborate set of somewhat inconsistent
modifications to the code, resulting in the current implementation.
That implementation works basically as follows --
a) Set up call, flash and place second leg of call. From the moment
of flash until the second call has answered, CW will return "busy"
to any incoming call. Flash will drop the second call leg.
b) After second leg answers, without CW, a flash will drop the second
call leg. From the moment of CW alert (the "click" plus tones),
a flash will connect to the CW caller, and leave the other two
parties talking on your nickel. Another flash (or disconnect by
the CW caller) will connect you back to the 3W call. If the CW
caller does not disconnect, you can toggle back and forth between
3W and CW calls as frequently as you desire.
c) After second leg answers, and CW alert occurs, but you ignore it,
and the CW caller abandons the call, there is no 3W call to reach
with a flash. But you don't know the caller has abandoned, so the
CO "remembers" that you once had CW alert offered and treats a
flash as an attempt to reach a CW call anyway (you get reorder,
I believe). This failed attempt erases the CW alert "memory",
so that future flashes will drop the second leg of the 3W call.
d) A side-effect of the "toggle back and forth" of 3W and CW is
that, until the CW caller drops off your line, you cannot "drop"
the second leg of the 3W call!
Try writing that down, along with other interactions. Better yet,
try making that a general requirement for all switches, and extend
it to other feature interactions, multi-line groups, etc. It's a
tough job. That's why
2) Bellcore, in writing generic requirements for switches in the LSSGR,
specified a simpler, more easily understood behavior:
a) Set-up two legs of 3W call as before. From the point of flashing
to set up the second leg UNTIL you flash to drop the second leg,
you cannot receive a CW alert -- and callers get a "busy" signal.
b) If you drop the second leg, you can now receive CW alert and flash
will connect you to the new caller. But until the CW caller drops
off of your line, you cannot initiate a 3W call (second leg) --
each flash just toggles you from one call to the other.
Much easier to explain to customers, and new switch vendors, than the
1E/1A ESS implementation. That's why the 5ESS(reg. tm) switch acts
in this simpler manner -- it's what the TELCO (via Bellcore) specified.
{The dime summary would have been half as long :) }
> It is a pain that my line is busy during 3WC, because I ordered CW for
> the specific reason of NOT loosing calls! Are there any specific
> questions I should ask the phone company, or just give up on this one?
CW does not alert 100% of the time -- for example, when you pick up
the phone and start dialing, CW alerting is blocked. In fact, it will
be blocked until your called party answers. Several folks have
complained that their CW is "broken" because 1) they receive normal
dial tone at the beginning of a call (implying there are no messages),
2) they dial a call and talk for awhile without any CW tones, 3) they
go on-hook and then off-hook, only to receive a "messages waiting"
interrupted dial tone. Conclusion: CW isn't working!! Fact: They
received a call sometime after the first dial tone and before the call
was answered, and their incoming call was routed to Voice Mail
immediately (no CW).
But you do have several options:
A) Get a good voice mail system that will get any call where you can't
receive the Call Waiting alert. Sometimes CW won't be available with
voice mail, and sometimes it will. Either way, callers won't get
"busy" during windows when CW is never available, such as during dialing
and before answer on any call. If you spend 20 seconds dialing and
listening to ringing and only 2 minutes on a call, then callers have
a 17% chance of getting busy even without the 3WC problem.
B) Ask if a Centrex-like package is available for residential lines.
Some TELCOs have these priced in a bundle with Call Hold. Better,
if you can, just get the "Call Hold" feature added to your existing
features. Call Hold will not interpret "flash" as anything, but
will give you dial tone -- from which you can dial a code to "hold"
the current call and answer a CW caller or another code to "drop"
the second leg of a 3W call. Since you are using explicit codes, the
Bellcore restriction of 3WC/CW does not apply, and you can get CW
while on a 3W call. (CW will still not work during the time you
are dialing and waiting for a call to be answered.)
C) Get a second line, with hunting from the first on busy. Avoids the
CW blockage during dialing/unanswered-call periods, and you can drop
the CW feature. Or retain it and be able to be on 4 calls at once!
D) (The one I use.) Get ISDN. Even with 1 CSV B-channel, ISDN can
support 3W calls explicitly (push the CONFerence button) and also
support alerting of another incoming call (push the new call appearance
to answer). You can drop the new incoming call with another button.
You can even MERGE the incoming call with your current outgoing call.
I'm sure I missed some other ideas ...
Al Varney -- just my opinion
------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V14 #48
*****************************