From: leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: Re: CALLER ID
Reply-To: 70465.203@compuserve.com
Organization: SCN Research/Qic Laboratories of Tigard, Oregon.
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 12:30:05 GMT

mrc@Tomobiki-Cho.CAC.Washington.EDU (Mark Crispin) writes:

>     The reason for the delay is that a small, noisy, and very well-organized
>group has been fighting Caller ID tooth and nail.  For whatever reason, they
>claim we have no right to know who is calling us.  They demand a feature so
>that the caller can suppress Caller ID, and that it be automatic.

>     The problem is, that makes Caller ID useless.  I can't simply ignore
>calls with no ID, because it could be coming from someone in a region where
>the switch does not yet support the ID signals.  The risk of missing the
>"Help, I'm at a pay phone at xx, the car broke down, nobody's around, it's
>getting cold and dark and I'm scared, come get me!!" call is serious.  I'm
>also not sure what sort of ID, if any, would appear with international calls.

There are *three* possible "messages" that Caller-ID subscribers will get:
1. The number the call is coming from (and in some states and *all* of
   Canada, the name associated with that number)
2. a message (which I can't recall at the moment) indicating that the
   Caller-ID info is not available. In other words, that the call originated
   in a different phone office and that there is no SS7 connectivity 
   between the two offices. (a given office in a large city may have
   a number of prefixes, like 280 thru 289 for one of the ones here in
   Portland)
3. A message (BLOCKED?) that indicates that the Caller-ID info has been
   blocked at the request of the caller. This means that they have per
   line bvlocking and didn't turn it off, or that they have per call
   blocking and turned it on for this call.

Note that even with ID blocked, the *only* part of the CLASS features
package that is affected is the Caller-ID display.

Call Trace can still save the number at the exchange for the Phone
company to turn over to the authorities when you file a complaint.

Call Return will still let you call them back and give them a piece
of your mind. (But only if they were the most recent call received)

Selective Call Forwarding will still forward the designated numbers
to the right number.

Call blocking will still refuse call from the list of numbers that
you *don't* want calls from, even if they have their ID blocked.
And you can add the most recent call to the list even if it was
blocked. You'll just get some message or other when you review the
list of numbers. (ie it'll say "number not available" instead of
telling you the actual number stored in that slot)

And you can even set the incoming call blocking to refuse all calls
with their ID blocked! Folks without blocking and those calling
from areas that can't pass Caller-ID to your switch will still get
through.

I'd say things are *still* pretty darn useful! 
-- 
Leonard Erickson		      leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com
CIS: [70465,203]			 70465.203@compuserve.com
FIDO:   1:105/51	 Leonard.Erickson@f51.n105.z1.fidonet.org
(The CIS & Fido addresses are preferred)
Newsgroups: pnw.general,seattle.general