The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-385-Vol-1of3.iso/t/tc13-022.zip/TC13-022.TXT

Text File | 1993-01-16 | 21KB | 542 lines

TELECOM Digest     Wed, 13 Jan 93 00:24:30 CST    Volume 13 : Issue 22

Index To This Issue:                     Moderator: Patrick A. Townson

    History.of.Area.Splits (Carl Moore)
    Has Anybody Tried the AmeriVOX Card? (Steve Tomlin)
    Can Paging Software Detect Alphanumerics? (Brad S. Hicks)
    Only in LA ... (Los Angeles Times via Rich Greenberg)
    These Phone Systems Are Great! (National Lampoon via Dan Danz)
    Looking at Voicemail (Michael J. Logsdon)
    Bawling Out Congress by Computer (Dave Niebuhr)
    Catalogs of Phone Equipment/Systems: Is There a List? (Bill Blum)
    MF Signaling Test Gear (Bob Turner)
    Experiences Wanted With Munich-32 (Craig Twardy)
    Multiline Phone Recommendations (Steve Elias)
    Phonejak Transmission System? (David Morgenstern)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 18:44:40 EST
From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject: History.of.Area.Splits


Just mailed off to the archives with these additions:

Comment that all calls should be makeable as 1 + NPA +7D.

Notes about 215/610 and 919/910 splits.

Note that 714 now has N0X/N1X prefixes (and that it has become
714/909).

Note that 503 will be programming for N0X/N1X prefixes.

Note that all New England areas (except Connecticut) will be
programming to allow for the NXX area codes (same changes also allow
for N0X/N1X prefixes).


[Moderator's Note: Here is the most recent version of Carl's work.
This will be available in the archives later this week when I get a
chance to go there and install it.  PAT]

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

Generalizing prefixes from NNX to NXX (i.e., allowing N0X/N1X) is an
alternative to splitting an area which has had only NNX up to this
point.  When an area has NXX (not NNX) prefixes, its long distance
dialing instructions usually are:

  7D or 1 + NPA + 7D within area (can no longer use 1 + 7D);
  1 + NPA + 7D to other areas (can no longer use NPA + 7D);
  for 0+ calls, try 0 + NPA + 7D (some 0 + 7D would require timeout).

In other words, the leading 1 (or 0) means that what follows is an
area code.  These instructions can, without further revision,
accommodate area codes of form NXX, not just of form N0X/N1X, and thus
I believe they will become universal when area codes must generalize
to NXX, for which the deadline is January 1, 1995 (had been July 1,
1995).  But since the first batch of NNX area codes will be of NN0
form, some areas might be able to keep 1 + 7D for intra-NPA long
distance by disallowing prefixes of NN0 form; I do not know if this
will be affected by use of 52x codes (x not necessarily 0) for Mexico.
It is unclear how generalizing area codes to NXX would affect the
policy of not using N0X/N1X prefixes until NNX starts running short.

An exception to the above dialing instructions was discovered in Feb
1992 for 215-267 (Denver) and 215-484 (Adamstown) in Pennsylvania.
These exchanges are served by Denver & Ephrata Telephone & Telegraph,
which also serves a part of the 717 area, and which is keeping the old
instructions (1 + 7D and 0 + 7D within area code), even though this
will necessitate timeout resolution for some calls from the 215
portion of their service area.  This will change only when it is about
time for the NXX area codes.

Ideally, all calls should be makeable as 1+NPA+7D (this does not
necessarily mean that shorter forms would be forbidden).

These areas have N0X/N1X prefixes:

213, California, July 1973
 (7D on all calls within it)
 (later 213/818, now 213/310/818)
 (this area continued to publish 0+7D instruction for
  within-NPA 0+ calls)
212, New York, some days after 24 Nov 1980
 (7D on all calls within it)
 (later 212/718, now 212/917/718)
312, Illinois, Oct 1982--but got 1st N0X/N1X spring 1983?
 (7D on all calls within it)
 (now 312/708)
201, New Jersey
 (7D on all calls within it; also applies to 609)
 (now 201/908)
214, Texas, 1986 or 1987 (by July 1987)
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls; also applies to 817,
  at least in Fort Worth area)
 (now 214/903)
301/202/703, Maryland/DC/Virginia, 1987, due to DC area growth
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
 (301 now 301/410)
415, California, Feb 1989?
 (7D on all calls within it)
 (now 415/510)
404, Georgia, Oct 1989?
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls; also applies to 912)
 (now 404/706)
919, North Carolina, 2 Mar 1990
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls; also applies to 704)
 (to become 919/910)
416, Ontario, 3 Mar 1990
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
 (to become 416/905)
602, Arizona, 1 July 1990
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
313, Michigan, 1990?
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
 (to become 313/810)
512, Texas, 9 Sept 1990
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
 (now 512/210)
205, Alabama, Dec 1990
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
215, Pennsylvania, 20 May 1991
 (7D on all calls within it; exception noted above, but the new
  instructions were also applied to:
  717-354,355 New Holland
  717-656,661 Leola
  717-768 Intercourse)
 (to become 215/610)
206, Washington, 12 Jan 1992
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
813, Florida, 7 Mar 1992
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls; also applies to 305,407,904)
713, Texas, 8 Mar 1992 (permissive dialing 8 Dec 1991)
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
714, California, 1992?
 (7D on all calls within it)
 (now 714/909)
503, Oregon, 10 July 1993
 (1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)

No note about N0X/N1X prefixes, but instructions are being changed to
accommodate the coming of NXX area codes:

207, Maine; 413,508,617, Massachusetts; 603, New Hampshire;
 401, Rhode Island; 802, Vermont (all New England areas
 except Connecticut); 1993-1994
 (7D on all calls within area code)

Areacode splits:

If no date appears, the split may not have been announced publicly due
to lack of direct-dial facility at the time, or may never have
occurred.  Early splits can only be guessed at with the following
guidelines: If an areacode is of form N1X, it is in a state or
province with more than one areacode. (The reverse, if it was ever
true, is now obsolete.)  If an areacode is in a state or province with
only one areacode, it is of form N0X.  (The reverse, if it was ever
true, is now obsolete.)

what?/209 California
what?/707 California
what?/805 California
305/813 Florida
404/912 Georgia, 1953 or 1954
    December 1991 Greater Atlanta call guide, in discussing 404/706
    split, said "It's been 38 years since Georgia added an Area Code."
what?/309 Illinois
502/606 Kentucky
504/318 Louisiana
616/906 Michigan, sometime after Nov 1960
612/507 Minnesota
402/308 Nebraska
what?/607 New York
704/919 North Carolina
405/918 Oklahoma
901/615 Tennessee
what?/806 Texas
206/509 Washington
what?/608 Wisconsin
what?/705 Ontario
what?/807 Ontario
201/609 New Jersey, late 1950s
415/408 California, 1960
305/904 Florida, July 1965
703/804 Virginia, 24 June 1973 at 2:01 AM
714/619 California, Nov 1982
713/409 Texas, Mar 1983 (full cutover 90 days later)
213/818 California, Jan 1984

212/718 New York, 2 Sept 1984 (full cutover 31 Dec 1984)
    Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island became 718;
    Manhattan & Bronx stayed in 212;
    Bronx switched from 212 to 718, 1 July 1992 (full cutover
    16 May 1993, but until then, calls from Bronx to Brooklyn/
    Queens/Staten Island must still be dialed 1+718+7D)
303/719 Colorado, 5 Mar 1988
305/407 Florida, 16 Apr 1988
617/508 Massachusetts, 16 July 1988
312/708 Illinois, Nov 1989 (full cutover 9 Feb 1990)
202 District of Columbia & vicinity, 1 Oct 1990
    This behaved somewhat like a split despite no new area code.
    202 area code, previously useable for all but the outermost
    Maryland and Virginia suburbs, was restricted to DC proper.
    (Use 301 or 703, as the case may be, to reach the suburbs.)
    As a result, government offices (now including the Pentagon)
    using zipcodes starting with 200,202,203,204,205 and located
    in Md. or Va. can no longer be listed in area 202.  Prefixes
    in the Pentagon, which is in Virginia, were previously in area
    202 (not 703), and in 1990 were moved to area 703.  (Local
    calls across area code border changed from 7D to NPA+7D.)
214/903 Texas, 4 Nov 1990 (full cutover 4 May 1991)
201/908 New Jersey, 1 Jan 1991 (full cutover 8 June 1991)
415/510 California, 2 Sept 1991 (full cutover 27 Jan 1992)
301/410 Maryland, 1 Nov 1991 (full cutover 1 Nov 1992)
213/310 California, 2 Nov 1991 (full cutover 16 May 1992; was
     to be 2 May 1992, but was postponed indefinitely because
     of riots just before then)
    (all GTE plus some PacBell went into 310)
212/718/917 New York, 1 Jan 1992 (917, to be overlaid on
     212 & 718, is to be used for cellular & pagers)
404/706 Georgia, 3 May 1992 (full cutover 3 Aug 1992)
512/210 Texas, 1 Nov 1992 (full cutover 1 May 1993)
714/909 California, 14 Nov 1992 (full cutover 14 Aug 1993)
    (Riverside and San Bernardino counties go into 909;
     Orange County remains in 714)
416/905 Ontario, 4 Oct 1993 (full cutover 10 Jan 1994)
919/910 North Carolina, 14 Nov 1993 (full cutover 13 Feb 1994)
313/810 Michigan, 10 Aug 1994
215/610 Pennsylvania, 1994

On Feb 1, 1991, area codes 706 and 905, which had been used in the
U.S. for calling parts of Mexico, were discontinued.  Country code 52,
already available for such calls, was to be used.  706 and 905 thus
became available for use elsewhere, and were later announced for use
in Georgia and Ontario respectively.

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 16:39:14 PST
From: [e-mail] (Steve Tomlin)
Subject: Has Anybody Tried the AmeriVOX Card?


I read the recent article on the AmeriVOX card and it seemed to be a
good way to give family members long distance capability without
having to worry about a credit card balance.

Does anyone use the AmeriVOX card regularly? If so, how does the
service compare to the standard credit cards?

Does anyone have more information on the history of the company?

Thanks for the info.  I'll summarize the responses for the net.

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

From: mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=[e-mail]
Date: 12 Jan 93 17:17:26 GMT
Subject: Can Paging Software Detect Alphanumerics?


Is it possible under the IXO/TAP protocol, or any companies'
interpretations of it, to detect whether or not a particular pager
number can receive text pages?

If memory serves, when you send a pager message using IXO, you send
<STX> pagerID <return> message <return><checksum><ETX>, and then it
sends you back either an <ACK>, a <NAK>, or another signal (I think
<ESC><EOT>) that means "<NAK> and we're hanging up on you now."  So
from that, you'd think not.  But the paging computer I call also sends
an error message, I think it's <CR><NAK><CR> error message <CR>.  This
is fine by the spec, which says that after you transmit, you're
supposed to ignore anything other than the ACK, NAK, or ESC-EOT.

But sometimes those error messages are helpful.  For example, if it's
an invalid pager ID, you get a message that says so, so I search the
return strings for "INVALID PAGER" and if I find it, don't bother
retrying.

Now what I'd really like, is for the paging computer to detect that
I'm trying to send an alphabetic page to a numeric-only pager and give
me a <NAK> with an error message that says so.  Does anybody do this?
Would this be a reasonable thing to ask the folks at Cybertel and/or
Skytel to support?


J. Brad Hicks     Internet: mc![e-mail]
X.400: c=US admd=ATTMail prmd=MasterCard sn=Hicks gn=Brad

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 17:07:48 PST
From: [e-mail] (Rich Greenberg)
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Subject: Only in LA ...


 From the {LA Times} Business pages, 1/12/93:

Off The Ticker     by Carla Lazzareschi

Cellular Phone,  Hold the Mayo:

Los Angeles - indeed the world - gets its first drive through cellular
telephone store today with the opening of Cellular Specialists on
North La Brea in West Los Angeles {ed note: near Beverly Hills}.

The store, brainchild of Bob Neman, offers on-the-go cellular shoppers
one stop service for their portable telephone needs without, as Neman
says, time-consuming delays or high pressure sales tactics.  It is
modeled after a fast-food restaurant and sends waitress like order
takers to the parking lot with menus listing daily specials.  Shoppers
select a model and wait during a credit check for a mobil telephone
number from PacTel Cellular.  Prices, while comparable to those
charged by the large electronics emporiums across Soutjhern
California, run somewhat higher.  What else do they get?  While they
wait for their phones, customers are offerred a cup of steaming
cappuccino.  This is, after all, L. A.


Rich Greenberg      Work: [e-mail]   310-417-8999
N6LRT               Play: [e-mail]       310-649-0238
What?   Me speak for Amdahl?  Surely you jest....

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 18:00 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: These Phone Systems Are Great!


Hi Pat ...

I thought the list might get a kick out of this ...


 Date:    Tue, 12 Jan 93 17:45 EST
 From:    [e-mail]
 To:      John_Daleske, Dan_Danz
 Subject: These phone systems are great!

Nat'l Lampoon               True Facts        12 Jan 1993


   According to the {Houston Chronicle}, Suzanne Handerson offhandedly
answered a ringing pay phone at a Waco, Texas shopping mall.

   A voice asked, "Hello. Mrs. Henderson?"

  Henderson looked around to see if she was on Candid Camera, or a
program of that sort. On the phone was the man who tends her yard,
calling with a question about the garden. It turned out that the mall
pay phone had almost the same number as her home phone.

   Said Henderson, "It was a question of dialing the wrong number and
getting the right person.  I was speechless."

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 18:47:28 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Michael J. Logsdon)
Subject: Looking at Voicemail
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Michael J. Logsdon)


Any suggestions for a PC-based voice mail system for a two campus, 150
phone system will be appreciated.  I'm system administrator and I'm
looking at Microlog Callstar 1000 sized with four ports and four hours
of memory.  Can I assemble my own?


Mike Logsdon   University School, Cleveland
[e-mail]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 14:53:31 EST
From: [e-mail] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Bawling Out Congress by Computer



Today's {Newsday Jan 12, 1993} had an article about how by April of
this year, all members of the House of Representatives, their staffs,
their committees and even standing committees will be reachable via
the Internet.

Connections to them will be through Compuserve, Genie, MCIMail and
ATTMail (other connections would probably be available also).  There
are no plans for the Senate to go online as yet.

Jack Belcher, overseer of the House Information Services, a
congressional computer networking department says: "For starters, it's
up to the individual member to decide if he even wants Internet
access."  If so, the member may opt to set up a "public" mailbox,
where unsolicited correspondence could be mailed.  Or the member of
Congress could make a personal mailbox publicly known.  Some of the
more technophobic members of the House could even opt to have all
e-mail messages printed out upon receipt, Belcher said.

Though a computer sits in virtually every office, only a handful of
representatives and 2,000 of 12,000 staff members currently have
Internet access.

I can just see it.  Our esteemed Moderator states once in a while that
MCIMail just out and out dumps the DIGEST if so much as one address is
wrong.  Think of what MCI can do with this group if one congress-critter's
name is misspelled.

Well, there goes more of our tax dollars down the drain.  I'll stick
to good old fashioned letter writing and phone calls.


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: [e-mail] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093


[Moderator's Note: I'll be interested in seeing how many of them get
uptight and start complaining about 'unauthorized email' sent to that
address, etc. That has happened with email to executives of large
corporations, you know ... they are frightened to death of public
contact with their customers ... I should not be surprised to see some
of our public servants react the same way.  PAT]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 09:19:21 EDT
From: Bill Blum <[e-mail]>
Subject: Catalogs of Phone Equipment/Systems: Is There a List?


I would like to know if any list subscriber has a list of companies
that offer catalogs of their equipment.  I occasionally get flyers
from companies like Hello Direct and Hi Hello, but little else.  Do
any of you have specific companies (with 800 phone numbers,
preferably) that you have dealt with, and why?  Predominantly I'm
looking for phone sets at present, but I'm interested in a couple of
companies that offer complete lines of phone equipment, as well.


ADthanksVANCE


[Moderator's Note: 1-800-HI-HELLO is the phone number for the Hello
Direct people.   PAT]

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

From: [e-mail] (Bob Turner)
Subject: MF Signaling Test Gear
Organization: Univ. of Dayton, School of Engineering
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 14:37:50 GMT


Does anyone know of test gear available to test CPE that uses MF (NOT
DTMF) signalling? It can be for two or four wire circuits.  I know
such a device exists, I just don't know who manufactures it.

Primarily it will be used to test ANI delivery on customers CPE
equipment.


Thanks.

Bob Turner                                    Senior System Engineer
513-434-2738                           [e-mail]
CommSys, Inc.     77 West Elmwood Drive, Suite 101, Dayton, OH 45459

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

From: [e-mail] (Craig Twardy)
Subject: Experiences Wanted With Munich-32
Organization: Gandalf Data Ltd.
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 14:59:37 GMT


I am investigating using the Munich-32 device in a design.  Does any
one have any experience or comments on it?

The real name is the peb20320 and it is manufactored by Siemens.  It
is a 32 channel hdlc controller.

Please respond by email.

Thanks in advance.


Craig Twardy                                   CAnet: [e-mail]
Gandalf Data Ltd., 130 Colonnade Road          Voice: [phone]
Nepean, Ontario, Canada   K2E 7M4                Fax: [phone]

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

Subject: Multiline Phone Recommendations
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 08:44:26 PST
From: Steve Elias <[e-mail]>


Does anyone have any recommendations for a pair of multiline
telephones with intercom, auto-redial.  For a residence, Radio Shack
has a $179 phone that meets this description, but please send along
any other pointers.  {Teleconnect} magazine had an article about a
really nice one about a year ago, but I don't have that issue now.


eli    [e-mail]

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

From: [e-mail] (David Morgenstern)
Subject: Phonejak Transmission System?
Organization: California State University, Sacramento
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 16:47:48 GMT


I saw the ad for the Phonejak Telephone extension system in the
Compuserve rag. So did my teenage daughter. She wants better quality
than our current cordless phone is giving us in our apartment. Has
anyone used this system?

It's a device that has a transmitter and receivers that plug into wall
power outlets. The company says that it will support 2400 kbaud data
transmission, so I could get some use out of my old Supra upstairs (I
recently bought a v.32bis modem) with my creaky Mac Plus.

Has anyone used this device for phones? Has anyone used this system
for data? Any and all help appreciated!

Please reply to my mail address:  [e-mail].


Thanks,

David Morgenstern, BMUG CheerL25der   [e-mail]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V13 #22
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