The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-385-Vol-1of3.iso/t/tc13-012.zip/TC13-012.TXT

Text File | 1993-01-07 | 20KB | 477 lines

TELECOM Digest     Thu, 7 Jan 93 14:54:50 CST     Volume 13 : Issue 12

Index To This Issue:                     Moderator: Patrick A. Townson

    Calling Canada From Italy - Answers (Wm Randolph Franklin)
    Canadian Competition Full Steam Ahead; Bell Canada Loses (David Leibold)
    Bell Canada Proposes Extended 911 Service (For a Price) (David Leibold)
    Calling 1-800 Can Cost You a Fortune (Udi Manber)
    16550 UART Request (Randy Zagar)
    FAQ Update on the Way (David Leibold)
    Equivalence Charges (Tony Harminc)
    Bellcore Documents Phone Number Wanted (Daniel Drucker)
    TSR Comm. S/W (Dave Dunwoodie)
    Cellular Phones: CLI, VOICE & SHORT (Rudolf Usselmann)
    What is Junk Fax? (Ron Herff)
    What Should I Know if I'm Buying a Cellular Phone? (Joel M. Hoffman)
    Possibility of Interstate Closed-User-Group of Dial-up Modems? (Mike Brown)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Wm Randolph Franklin)
Subject: Calling Canada From Italy - answers
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 00:52:21 GMT


In December I asked how to call Canada from Italy since AT&T and MCI
didn't do it (with US cards).

Several people said that there is a "Canada Direct" number from Italy,
172 1001.  It charges, roughly, $6 for 3 minutes, then $1 per minute,
and say that they take AT&T calling cards.  Thanks to:

   [e-mail] (John R. Levine)
   Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
   Samuel Ho <[e-mail]>

The Italian PTT prints a wallet card giving direct numbers like this
for many countries.  It's available at some visitor centers and
international airports.

I mentioned about using MCI to call from Italy to Germany.  That's a
real example, they have large ads for the service.  They charge
$2/minute, which suggests that the call is routed via the USA.
Calling Germany directly from Italy is only (!!) $1/min.  Italy is
apparently one of the more expensive European countries for
international calling.

International directory assistance from Italy can be complicated.
They try to use their own copies of the foreign directories instead of
connecting you to a foreign operator.  When I tried to get a number in
Zurich, the Italian operator who could talk to me in English could not
easily read the German phonebook to look up the really obscure number
I wanted, that of the Swiss Post Office.

On the plus side, the newer pay phones have an LCD display for
messages, and the messages are available in four languages.

Italy has variable length phone numbers, even within one city, such as
Genoa.  Area codes are also variable.

I'm available for questions about phones in Italy since I just came
back from three months over there.


Wm. Randolph Franklin,  [e-mail], [phone]; Fax: -6261
ECSE Dept., 6026 JEC, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst, Troy NY, 12180 USA

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

Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 00:02:45 EST
From: David Leibold <[e-mail]>
Subject: Canadian Competition Full Steam Ahead; Bell Canada Loses


CFRB Radio in Toronto reported today that Bell Canada will not pursue
any further appeals with respect to the decision last June which
opened up public long distance competition in Canada. Bell appealed
portions of that decision relating to the level of compensation that
competitors to Bell would have to pay to gain trunk-side access to
Bell's local network.  That is, while Unitel was able to offer a local
number port service (Feature Group A type service), the enhanced
services such as equal access, 10xxx+ dialing, 950 access and 800
services were on hold while the appeal was being processed.

In December, the appeal court found that the CRTC did not overstep its
authority in issuing the long distance decision, and that the CRTC's
decision could stand. At that time, Bell could have made another,
final appeal to the Supreme Court of Ca nada but as of today's
announcement, such an appeal is not proceeding.

Some time will elapse as preparations for full trunk-side access are
made.  The prevalence of Bell Canada DMS digital switches should make
the switch to equal access relatively straightforward on a software
scale (those DMS switches have to work in the U.S. environment in any
event). The costs seem to be in the hardware and trunks necessary to
connect to the carriers.

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


[e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 00:15:05 EST
From: David Leibold <[e-mail]>
Subject: Bell Canada Proposes Extended 911 Service (For a Price)


{The Toronto Star} reports that Bell Canada has applied to bring 911
service throughout Ontario (and not just certain municipalities that
elect to have the service, as is currently the case). Bell proposes
that customers be charged 30 cents per month as part of the local
monthly service, though.

70% of residences in Ontario have access to 911 at present, paid for
by municipalities involved. If approved, the extended 911 service
would be installed within five years. Municipalities would still have
to staff response centres and connections to emergency services, if
they join the 911 service.

There are occasional cases outside of 911-serviced territory where
calls to 911 are attempted, but fail. In those areas, the operator is
normally able to handle emergency calls, but the lack of universal 911
service can be dangerous for the unwary.


[e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 00:57:37 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Udi Manber)
Subject: Calling 1-800 Can Cost You a Fortune


If you always thought that 1-800 numbers (in the US) are toll free,
think again. With new technology and the lack of regulations, people
are finding new ways to make money.

I learned this the hard way after being charged for (apparently)
dialing the wrong 800 number.

It took me a month and a half and probably 20 phone calls to find out
this story.  I'll try to make it short.

It is possible, and apparently perfectly legal, to set an 800 number
such that when you call you hear a recording that tells you that there
will be charges for the call.

The call is then transferred to a "station to station" call (quote
from someone I talked to, but probably the wrong term) with arbitrary
charges.  That domain was reserved until recently to 900 numbers but
through call forwarding (or some other mechanism) it can be done from
any number!  (If you haven't already guessed, most of these numbers
are adult phone lines.)  The idea (if there ever was one) is that you
will have a fair warning and can hang up, but this is not enforced and
is not always done.  There are such numbers out there that will charge
you whatever they feel like when you happen to dial them, and they are
regular 800 numbers, and maybe even regular local numbers (not 976 or
other special prefixes).

The possibilities for scams are endless (I list some below for your
reading pleasure), and the most scary thing is that it is so difficult
to do anything about it.  I talked to the billing company (INTEGRETEL
which is an umbrella billing company for lots of outfits), US West
(more on that later), ATT (who really has nothing to do with that and
hate it just as much as I do), and the Washington state utilities
commission.

Everyone essentially said "just pay it, nothing we can do about it."
Only after several conversations with the commission, and calls from
them to US West (initially US West would not even take my complaint),
I was told that US West now has a policy of removing such charges
(coming from INTEGRETEL) for anyone who complains.  When the next bill
came, I found that they didn't.  I called again, and no one knew
anything about that policy.  After more calls I was finally put in
touch with someone probably higher up at US West who seemed to know
what he was talking about.  According to him (and two people at the
commission), there is nothing really they can or going to do (besides
handling complaints).  They will remove the charges -- and he
apologized for the operators and supervisors who did not know about
that policy -- but will not prevent this from continuing.  (He also
told me that he got hold of some of those 800 numbers and indeed some
charge you from the first second no matter what you do.)

Washington State has a recent law regulating 900 numbers, but there is
nothing about 800 numbers (they're free, right?).  I don't know if
this is a local idea or whether it is all over the place.  I was told

several times that there are no rules anywhere that say that 800
numbers are toll free.  It's just something that everyone "knows".  US
West feels that they cannot discriminate against businesses that use
their lines, and cannot prevent that use without a specific law.
Since in this case the 800 number led to an out of state call, the
utilities commission can't do anything.  Everyone agreed that this is
probably a great scam, but ...

The beauty of this scam is that you are so far away from the people
who are making it (you can't even find out who they are).  They get
your local phone company to bill you and the phone company feels they
have to do it.  Complaining is so hard, most people would prefer to
pay the charges (I definitely spent more time than it was worth), not
to mention that it is part of the phone bill and many people wouldn't
notice (it appears as a long-distance call).  And in the worst case
they will not get your money.

So here are some scam ideas (these are all fiction; do not try it at
home):

You can get an 800 number that is one digit away from a widely used
800 number and rip off anyone who makes a mistake (maybe that's what
happened to me, they would not tell me the number).  How about setting
your own 900 number so that you can forward calls to it by all those
who try to sell you something.  Wouldn't that be great?  They: "How
are you doing this evening Mr. Manber?"  Me: push a button and voila
"You have reached the toll line explaining why unsolicited calls are
bothering me. You will be charged $15 per minute starting 15 seconds
ago. Please stay on the line..."  (I think, by the way, that this is
possible...)  I was told that there were cases where people's calls
got transferred *out of the country* after making local calls.  You
can put ads for information on how to make $10 a minute - just call
1-800-747-6337.  That's 1-800-rip-offs!  [This is an imaginary number
- don't call please!].  How about tricking modems into calling those
"local" numbers?  Or going into lots of public places and asking "can
I use your phone for a local call?"  (You wouldn't block 800 numbers
or local calls!)

I have never seen this mentioned anywhere.

I am really curious to know how this forwarding is physically done and
whether anyone knows of any discussion on that at the FCC (who is
probably the only agency that can do anything about it).  Since I
spent quite a bit of time already, I'd like to know any additional
information anyone can give me about this (and similar) scams.


Udi Manber ([e-mail])


[Moderator's Note: We have discussed this here on many occassions in
the past. Integretel will give you the name of the client they are
billing for if you are persistent enough. The bad thing about outfits
like Integretel and their clients are they make it hard on the honest
operators of information and (yes, even phone sex) services. They
don't seem to care that the public paints all such services with the
same brush.  PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Randy [Java Man] Zagar)
Subject: 16550 UART Request
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Marine Studies, University of Delaware
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 17:51:10 GMT


Okay folks ... if you'll e-mail me the names of vendors that sell
computers with the 16550 UART on the motherboard, I'll summarize and
re-post to the net.


Thanks,

Randy Zagar   Internet: [e-mail]  Bell-net: 302/831-1139

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

Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 22:04:20 EST
From: David Leibold <[e-mail]>
Subject: FAQ Update on The Way


Some corrections and comments have arrived with respect to the FAQ
which was re-posted to start the year off. Since the FAQ hasn't been
touched in a year, I am about to get an update out of the way. This is
the last chance to send in any corrections or other ideas for the
version 4 FAQ which is expected to be available by the end of January.

so ... send those cards and letters to:

[e-mail] or ... [e-mail]

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

Date: Thu, 04 Jan 93 01:36:49 EST
From: Tony Harminc <[e-mail]>
Subject: Equivalence Charges


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?

It would seem that this scheme of charging penalizes small business
and residential users who have only a few lines.  Large users will
barely notice the 'n+1' charge distributed over many lines.


Tony Harminc


[Moderator's Note: When I worked at the UC phone room about 1960,
there was one group of incoming trunks with *97* lines in a rotary
hunt. MUseum 4-6100 hunted 6101 which hunted 6102 and on up the line
to 6196. Outgoing calls from the switchboard started the other way
around, with the first outgoing call on 6196 then backward one at a
time. In actual practice the incoming calls met the outgoing calls
around 6150. I thought that many lines in a hunt group was pretty
outrageous.  One time I tried busying out all the lines from 6100
through 6195, then placed a call to 6100 ... it took maybe two seconds
longer than usual to hunt that far before sure enough, it rang in on
6196. (This was about four in the morning.)  PAT]

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

Subject: Bellcore Documents Phone Number Wanted
From: mertwig![e-mail] (Daniel Drucker)
Reply-To: Daniel Drucker <uunet![e-mail]>
Date: Thu, 07 Jan 93 11:09:41 EST
Organization: Abnormalities of Reality


I was just reading _The Hacker Crackdown_ (Bruce Sterling). It
mentions an 800 number and a catalog from Bellsouth where you can
order various telco documents. (For instance E911.) Does anyone know
the number?

Please reply by mail as I do not recieve this newsgroup.


Daniel Drucker     [e-mail]

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

From: Dave Dunwoodie 6042 <[e-mail]>
Subject: TSR Comm. S/W
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 06:38:25 MST


I need a TSR that will write to the CRT anything received from the
modem.  My modem has caller ID, but I'm not in the mood to leave the
PC in terminal mode on the off chance that the phone might ring!
Ideas?

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

From: [e-mail] (Rudolf Usselmann)
Subject: Cellular Phones: CLI, VOICE & SHORT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 19:12:39 GMT


I have a Motorola MicroTAC Lite pocket phone.  It has three features
which I still don't quite understend: CLI, VOICE & SHORT CLI - seems
to be something like Caller ID, it will store the phone number of the
last caller.

VOICE - Some sort of mailbox support?
SHORT - Some sort of mailbox for short messages?

None of these feature are supported yet (at least according to the
company I have my service with).

Does anybody have more info on these features? When will they beocme
available?  I'm in the SF Bay Area. The two major cellular providers
are Cellular One and GTE Mobilnet. BTW: Which is "better" GTE or C1?

Thanks a bunch !



rudi  [e-mail]
Phone: [phone] x236 work;  [phone] home

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

Subject: What is Junk Fax?
From: [e-mail] (Ron Herff)
Date: 7 Jan 93 14:00:00 GMT
Organization: Datamax/Satalink Connection * Ivyland, PA [phone]
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Ron Herff)


The FCC has passed some new regulations regarding junk telephone calls
and "junk FAXes."  Does anyone have the text of these new regulations?
I am particularly interested in what makes a FAX a "junk FAX."  Are
all unsolicited FAXes "junk FAXes?"  Is an unsolicited FAX directly
addressed to a person "junk?" and illegal?


Ron Herff


[Moderator's Note: An unsolicited fax sent to someone is not automat-
icaly 'junk' any more than an unsolicited phone call is 'junk',
despite what a lot of companies may claim about 'unauthorized' fax
messages or 'unauthorized' email, etc. If a large company can call me
on the phone and try to sell me something, I can send them a fax
message telling them what I think.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Joel M. Hoffman)
Subject: What Should I Know if I'm Buying a Cellular Phone?
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 15:32:34 GMT


I'd like to purchase a portable phone -- one that I can take with me
and use in the car, but don't know anything about them.  Is there
somewhere I can look for info?  Or, would some kind soul like to tell
me what I should know?

The phone will mostly be used in the New York City area (in the city
and in the suburbs), if that makes any difference.

Many thanks!


Joel


[Moderator's Note: You might want to get the back issues of the Digest
from the Telecom Archives (anonymous ftp lcs.mit.edu) and read over
the numerous discussions we have had on this in the past. It is really
an applications problem: how do you intend to use the phone, how
often, etc. There are far too many deals in the market place at any
given time to cover them all here.  PAT]

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

Subject: Possibility of Interstate Closed-User-Group of Dial-up Modems
Date: Thu 7 Jan 93 02:46:24 CST
From: [e-mail]
Reply-To: [e-mail]


I have an application where I want to deploy about 200 dial up modems
across several states that are only accessible from a few originating
phone numbers.

Is this possible with off the shelf services and equipment?

Using dedicated lines to PADs on an X.25 network and configuring the
ports as a closed-user-group will work; but I am searching for a
cheaper solution.


Regards,

Mike Brown      Communications Support / Wide Area Networks
                Information Services

us-mail:        Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
                One Bell Center, Rm. 24-V-5
                St. Louis, MO  63101

voice:  314-235-7863
fax:    [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V13 #12
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