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 Subject: Re: CNID on Answering Machines? Date: 12 Jan 93 17:47:39 EDT Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA In article , dhclose@cco.caltech.edu (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 +1-404-840-9200 Telex 401243420 Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. | Fax +1-404-447-0178 CIS 70271,404 P.O. Box 105203 | BBS +1-404-446-6336 AT&T !tnixon Atlanta, Georgia 30348 | UUCP uunet!hayes!tnixon Fido 1:114/15 USA | Internet tnixon@hayes.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 20:21:53 PST From: Lance_Neustaeter@tvbbs.wimsey.bc.ca (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: paulb@techbook.com (Paul Buder) Subject: Re: Legality of City Ordinances Against Junk Calls? Organization: TECHbooks --- Public Access UNIX --- (503) 220-0636 Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 14:02:51 GMT lvc@cbvox1.att.com (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. paulb@techbook.COM Not affiliated with TECHbooks Paul Buder Public Access UNIX at (503) 220-0636 (1200/2400, N81) ------------------------------ From: rm55+@pitt.edu (Rudolph T Maceyko) Subject: Re: AC 215/610 Split Date: 12 Jan 93 17:28:06 GMT Organization: University of Pittsburgh In article olwejo!bob@uunet.UU.NET 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 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA ------------------------------ From: rm55+@pitt.edu (Rudolph T Maceyko) Subject: Re: New AnswerCall Features Date: 12 Jan 93 17:38:55 GMT Organization: University of Pittsburgh In article 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 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA ------------------------------ From: matt@wardsgi.med.yale.edu (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 , turner@Dixie.Com 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 matt@wardsgi.med.yale.edu ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (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 reb@ingres.com (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, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) Subject: Re: Equivalence Charges Date: 12 Jan 1993 22:28:11 GMT Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA In article TONY@VM1.MCGILL.CA (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, stevef@wrq.com ------------------------------ From: timhu@ico.isc.com (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 timhu@ico.isc.com | The intelligence (or lack of) expressed Interactive Systems Corporation | above does not necessarily reflect the Resource Solutions International | that of anyone else. ------------------------------ From: hutzley@ranger.dec.com (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 , schimmel@gandalf.ca (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: mrosen@nyx.cs.du.edu (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 mrosen@nyx.cs.du.edu Michael.Rosen@bbs.oit.unc.edu or @lambada.oit.unc.edu ------------------------------ From: tbenham@cybernet.cse.fau.edu (Tom Benham) Subject: Re: Prodigy <> Internet Organization: Cybernet BBS, Boca Raton, Florida Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 01:52:27 GMT jdelancy@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil 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: chuckm@canada.hp.com (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: Joe.Bergstein@p501.f544.n109.z1.fidonet.org (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!chelf@ms.uky.edu, 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 Subject: Re: Out of Town Businesses on Local Numbers? Organization: Cambridge Computer Associates, Inc. lunatix!chelf@ms.uky.edu 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 *****************************