HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gdelong@ctron.com (Gary Delong)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Caller*ID Stops a Telemarketer
Date: 8 Apr 92 18:21:53 GMT
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 304, Message 1 of 16

In TELECOM Digest Volume 12, Issue 301, Message 13 of 13 nagle@netcom.
com (John Nagle) writes:

> If you are called by a junk caller, you post the number to a USENET
> group.  An application then downloads all junk numbers identified by
> anyone on the net, and applies them to your incoming calls.  If this
> could be made effortless, it could be really useful.

Great idea! The TMs use data bases to make their cold calls, so why
shouldn't we use them to defend ourselves?

But rather than a news group, use a mailing list.  That way anyone
could send a e-mail note:

> To: stopit-request@goodsite
> Subject: add 617 555-1234 (housewreckers international)

And everyone on the list would get the update.  Of course you
could send  "Subject: send list"  to get the most up to date listing.

OK, John.  When does this go on-line?


Gary A. Delong (gdelong@ctron.com)  |  (603) 332-9400 x1579
SPECTRUM Support Engineer           |  Post Office Box 5005
Cabletron Systems, Inc.             |  Rochester, NH  03867
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 92 10:45:19 BST
From: bill@eedsp.gatech.edu (Bill Berbenich)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Time on Hold...Hold...Hold...
Reply-To: bill@eedsp.gatech.edu
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 310, Message 2 of 12

I have a proposal to make.  Lately, I have been put on hold for what
seems to be an interminable amount of time by various businesses.  I
became annoyed and perplexed, wondering how much more time I would
spend waiting to be answered.  There is no reliable way to know, in
most cases.  Indeed, a few months back I had tried to call a local
cellular carrier, Bell South Mobility.  BSM touts 24-hour service to
their customers, so I decided to wait on hold.  I held for 45 minutes
and still nobody came on to help.  To make a long story not quite so
long, they had received a bomb scare and evacuated the office, yet the
Call Director still dutifully queued up incoming calls on hold.  How
was a caller to know?  The building sat empty for a number of hours
while the police bomb squad searched for the non-existent device.  All
the while, no callers were the wiser.

I propose that after five minutes on hold, hang up.  Once enough
boiler room managers get wind of this, things will change.  I am not
so pompous as to not expect some reasonable wait in many cases, but my
time is more important to me than anyone else's.  I don't feel that
sitting in a seemingly-endless telephone hold queue is a good way for
me to spend that time.

Calls to Word Perfect Corp. and other places with smart systems would
be exempt from my grass-roots drive.  At least with WPC's system, you
know it will be "three minutes more," for example.  So at least tell
me how long the wait will be and I will be more understanding.

Am I way off-base?  Please let me know what you think via e-mail and
I will tally and summarize to TELECOM.


Bill Berbenich, School of EE, DSP Lab   |  Telephone:   +1-404-894-3134
Georgia Tech, Atlanta Georgia, 30332    |
uucp: ...!{backbones}!gatech!eedsp!bill |  Group 3 fax: +1-404-894-8363
Internet: bill@eedsp.gatech.edu         |           or: +1-404-853-9171


[Moderator's Note: Someone apparently forgot to flip the necessary
switch on the ACD so that callers would receive a message saying
'the offices are closed at this time ...'. Some systems also have a
tape available saying 'due to a temporary problem, our phone system is
unavailable at this time; please try again in a few minutes.'   PAT]
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 13:40:08 GMT
From: kenny@world.std.com (Kenneth R Crudup)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 900-SPELLIT With a Computer
Organization: Software Tool&Die, (Boston), MA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 306, Message 7 of 12

In article <telecom12.301.5@eecs.nwu.edu> jeff.mattox%heurikon.
UUCP@cs.wisc.edu (Jeffrey Mattox) says:

> In Monday's {Wall Street Journal}, Daivd Stipp writes about trying to
> win at 900-SPELLIT by using a computer.

> The 900-SPELLIT people check their fast-dialing winners by asking them to
> play an impromptu game.

> The instructions do not specifically say you cannot use a computer,
> however.

> Instead of connecting the computer to the telephone, wire the computer
> to lights located next to each button on your telephone, then program
> the computer turn on the lights in sequence to show you the correct
> letters.

Even better -- just type in the word, and let the computer *display*
the numbers to dial. You feed in "impromptu" and get out "46-77-66-78-8",
(with the dashes for easy readability) which you just key in as fast
as you can type.


Kenny Crudup, Unix Systems Consultant	kenny@world.std.com
16 Plainfield St. Jamaica Plain, (Boston), MA 02130-3633
Home +1 617 524 5929 	Home Fax +1 617 983 9410
From: UK84@DKAUNI2.BITNET
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 900 Service in Germany
Date: 4 Apr 92 01:31:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.298.6
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 298, Message 6 of 9

By reading the recent issues of TD I found out that my original
article had quite some reaction.
 
Here again are four different 900 style access numbers from Germany.
 
Intl Access Prefix  Country Code  Area Code
 
         00           1           610           somewhere in the USA
         00           1           809           somewhere in the Carribean
         00           61          ???           somewhere in Australia
         00           599         ???           Dutch Antilles
 
So when I call 001-610- the call will be routed to the USA.
 
Since there is no domestic 900 service available you just call a
foreign phone number. The call will be routed to the foreign country.
The foreign phone company will receive charges from the originating
phone company in Germany. Part of this charges will then transferred
to the information provider.
 
An example of such a number was 001-610-20404xx for personal
horoscopes.  This number is definitely routed to the USA since 00 is
the international access prefix and 1 is the country code for North
America. The area code 610 does not exist, but this makes sense since
if 610 would be a regular area code within the USA this number could
be dialed from any US phone line and this is not in the interest of
the information provider.
 
If you want to have more information about the 001-610- method for 900
service you may ask:
 
          USP Inc.
          398 Columbus Ave  Suite 109
          Boston, Mass  02116
 
I guess they will be able to explain how this "weird" method of providing
900 service for some international countries works.
 
If someone could call them (local?) and ask them about this method it
would be of interest for most of us.
From: pturner@eng.auburn.edu (Patton M. Turner)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Immediate ANI From Your 800 Number
Date: 12 Apr 92 20:10:46 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.314.9
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 314, Message 9 of 12

Bob Yazz writes:

> What companies are currently offering real-time (immediate) ANI on 800
> numbers, and how much more is "a bit more expensive", Pat?

> I am aware of only MCI providing this, and requiring a T1 link to do
> so.  This is out of my acceptable price range for a residential 800
> number.

AT&T offers this service, called Info-2 only on ISDN PRI trunks.  MCI
and US Sprint will delever this service to you using MF (in band)
signaling.  I think PRI ISDN is optional.  This, of course, will still
require a dedicated line, but they might provide it on a 56/64 or
analog POTS line.  I am not aware of any compinies offering ANI to
residential lines, but it is possible.


Pat Turner    pturner@eng.auburn.edu     KB4GRZ @ K4RY.AL.USA
From: slr@cco.caltech.edu (Steve L. Rhoades)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Pac*Bell Employees Win Big From Radio Station's Contest Lines
Date: 10 Apr 92 05:03:43 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.310.1
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 310, Message 1 of 12

The local radio today carried an interesting story.  

An Los Angeles area radio station has these $1000 give-aways running
throughout the day.  It seems that some Pac*Bell employees figured out
a way to have an advantage over "Joe Random" caller.

Pac*Bell is being very tight lipped about how it was done.  It would
seem that the employee's physical location had something to do with it
and many employees were involved.  (Clipping on at the frame?)

Their request line number is (800) 232-xxxx.  I show 800-232 belonging
to AT&T.  Maybe it just translates to a 7-digit POTS number and the
Pac*Bell employees got the POTS number(s) ?

This could give the callers an advantage if 800-232 was set up as a
"Choke" prefix; i.e.  Returning an "All Circuts are Busy" to those
callers routed through AT&T.  (But wait, I didn't think AT&T was
allowed to carry INTRA-Lata traffic?!)

The radio station, K-EARTH 101, stated it would withold the prize
awards until this mess is straightened out.

Thoughts? Comments?


Internet: slr@caltech.edu           | Voice-mail: (818) 794-6004
UUCP: elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!tybalt!slr | USmail: Box 1000, Mt. Wilson, Ca.  91023
From: sp@questor.wimsey.bc.ca (Steve Pershing)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Seeking "Swisstel" and "Ericofon Electronic" Phones
Date: 3 Apr 92 17:55:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.297.2
Organization: Questor: Free Usenet News: Vancouver, BC: +1 604 681 0670
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 297, Message 2 of 13

I am looking for a source in Seattle (or by mail order) for the
following telephone instruments:

Swisstel:

This is a small dial-in-handset, flat telephone.  It is about 1/2 inch
thick and no larger than a standard G-type WEco handset.  The receiver
end is rounded, the xmtr end is square.  The transmitter end
articulates on two or three joints up toward the user's mouth when
manipulated.

Ericofon (electronic):

Developed by L.M.Ericsson over ten years ago, this is the modernized
version of the original dial-in-base, stand up telephone.  Some
thought it to be a phallic shape with a fat base.  When picked up, a
spring-loaded switch bar automatically took it off-hook.  The
"electronic" version used an electret mike and had an IC line
interface circuit.


Both instruments are nice, compact sets.  The transmission quality of
the Swisstel product is not very good (I am told), but the Ericsson
product has always been excellent.

Any suggestions where I might buy either instrument would be
appreciated.
From: cmoore@BRL.MIL (VLD/VMB)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Area Code Splits
Date: 6 Apr 92 13:33:26 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.305.7
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 305, Message 7 of 7

I have referred the sender to the archive file
"history.of.area.splits", which will need updating for N0X/N1X in 813
in Florida and for the upcoming 404/706 split in Georgia.

610 and 710 are reserved for special uses; one for U.S. Government, as
I recall reading, and one for Canadian TWX?

210 has been announced (not in use yet) for split of 512 in Texas; San
Antonio goes into 210, and Austin stays in 512.

Either 810 or 910 will apparently be used for a split of area 313 in
Michigan.

909 has been announced (not in use yet) for split of 714 in
California; as I understand it, Riverside and San Bernardino counties
go into 909, and Orange County stays in 714.

917 is to be used for cellular, pagers, etc.; and is to be "overlaid"
onto existing area code 212 in New York City; also, Bronx is to be
moved from 212 to 718.  By the way, a Feb. 29 {Philadelphia Inquirer}
article ("Coming: Area codes for the '90s", written by Jeremy Gaunt of
the Reuters service, said that "the 917 area code already has been
handed out to some new customers, and some existing numbers will be
changed over the next few years"; I don't know when this will affect
phone-book call guides.
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 92 11:29:28 EDT
From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@BRL.MIL>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Polish Horoscopes From NJ?
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 306, Message 8 of 12

That's Hightstown (no "e"), NJ.  That is NOT a local call from
Murray Hill, NJ (908-582); the Moderator's Note should have
referred to the normal long distance rates, not to local call.

> In a weekly press in Poland personal horoscope advertisment number is:
> 001 609 490 78xx (xx from 00 to 09 and 49).

Wasn't it just in the last several months that something appeared
regarding similar service advertised in Spain for calls to 609-490?
Could someone dig that out?
From: castor@drizzle.stanford.edu (Castor Fu)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Spread of ISDN
Date: 8 Apr 92 18:09:06 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.302.8
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 302, Message 8 of 10

We just got a "Personal" DECstation 5000/25 about a week ago, and
after some wrangling, finally got it all working.

One of the things that's interesting is that DEC has finally decided
to begin integrating sound into their machines, following the latest
trend towards multimedia (whatever that means).  On the back is a
connector with an icon of a telephone handset.  In fact, the
recommended device for audio input/output is a handset.  Plugging a
handset in works just fine, but since we don't yet have any software
for driving it; it doesn't mean too much yet.

What's more interesting is that there was a sticker covering another
connector.  Not wanting to leave such things alone, I removed the
sticker and found another jack labeled ISDN.  Presumably, when all the
software is together we might be able to use our workstation as a
glorified telephone with no additional hardware.

If Sun, HP, DEC and IBM and Apple all bundle ISDN hardware into their
computers, we might be able to get enough ISDN sets into the field so
that if the telcos would set reasonable rates for ISDN they would get
a lot of subscribers.


castor fu     castor@drizzle.stanford.edu
From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Caller*ID Stops a Telemarketer
Date: 7 Apr 92 01:04:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.298.11
Reply-To: John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com>
Organization: Green Hills and Cows
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 298, Message 11 of 11

dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) writes:

> My Call*Block list is already full, so I had to delete an entry to add
> the new one.

We're a long way from having any CLASS features here in the Golden
State (thanks, activists) but I can already see that the Call*Block
feature has too few entries possible. Recently I set up a system for a
business that uses 800 numbers. The company was getting so many junk
and nonsense calls that the real customers were having a hard time
getting through.

The system works like this: DNIS (similar to DID) and ANI records are
extracted as soon as the call appears. The ANI is checked against a
list of known "junk" callers. If the number is not found, the call
rings an attendant (or goes to ACD if none is available). If the ANI
data matches an entry on the list, the caller hears a recording saying
that the call "cannot be completed at this time". Whenever a call
comes in that does not get intercepted by the list and it turns out to
be a new junk caller, the attendant hits a key and the number is added
to the database.

In three weeks of operation, would you venture a guess as to how many
entries there are on this list? There are over a thousand and the list
is still growing. Granted, this IS a business and its nature would
attract this type of call. However, it does seem that maybe ten
maximum entries might just be a bit low for real usefulness.

I suspect that if one would add up all the "phantom hangup callers"
and all the telemarketing people that I might block from my residence,
the number would be closer to 100 than 10.


        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 723 1395
    john@zygot.ati.com      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !
From: martin@datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: CCITT Standards on Internet
Date: 12 Apr 92 11:41:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.314.11
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 314, Message 11 of 12

I had been following the case of the CCITT documents being available
on-line.  It is true that the sponsor did withdraw them.  It was my
impression that the trial went well and that, one day, when a good
mechanism is in place to keep them updated, they will be back.


Martin McCormick WB5AGZ   Stillwater, OK
Oklahoma State University Computer Center Data Communications Group
From: howard@hal.com (Howard Gayle)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: California Assembly bill on Telemarketing
Date: 13 Apr 92 15:57:32 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.321.8
Reply-To: howard@hal.com
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 321, Message 8 of 16

Assembly bill 3494 by Mike Gotch (D, San Diego) would prohibit
telemarketing calls to numbers provided by subscribers who state they
don't want such calls.  Each violation would be punishable by a fine
up to $1000.
From: mdw@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (mark.d.wuest)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Verifying Busy Requires AT&T Operator
Date: 9 Apr 92 22:03:08 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.308.8
Organization: AT&T
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 308, Message 8 of 11

In article <telecom12.303.7@eecs.nwu.edu> RANDY%MPA15AB@TRENGA.
tredydev.unisys.com writes:

> When I explained that "verify busy" means calling the LEC on an inward
> line and having the line itself verified, she told me to "dial
> 1-0-2-8-8-0" to have this service done.  I said "You mean I have to
> use AT&T?"  and she said "That's right, sir."  Almost like the
> commercial!

> (By the way, the line really was out of order.  AT&T confirmed it, and
> my friend let me know a few days later that his AT&T answering machine
> had run amok.)

(I couldn't resist this!)

Maybe if he had an MCI answering machine, MCI could have helped you! ;-)


Mark Wuest    mark.wuest@att.com
From: levin@BBN.COM (Joel B Levin)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Cat Named George, 3 Way Calling, Speed Calling 8, Speakerphone
Date: 7 Apr 92 13:36:31 GMT
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 304, Message 12 of 16

eli@cisco.com writes:

> Yesterday I got a summary of available services from Pac Bell and
> apparently there is no speed calling 30 out here!  I wonder if NYNEX
> still offers it ...

I have it from N. E. Tel. in N. H., so it's available (unless I'm
grandfathered, which I doubt).


JBL

Internet: levin@bbn.com    |    USPS:  BBN Communications Division
UUCP:     levin@bbn.com    |           Mail Stop 20/5B
Fax:      (617)873-4086    |           150 CambridgePark Drive
Voice:    (617)873-3463    |           Cambridge, MA  02140
From: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com (Andrew Klossner)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Sending Faxes Overseas
Date: 14 Apr 92 19:55:02 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.322.6
Reply-To: andrew@frip.wv.tek.com
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville, Oregon
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 322, Message 6 of 10

> What we need to do is send documents in a form closer to their
> internal representation.  Something like compressed PostScript.

It's coming.  Before too long, you'll see PostScript printers with
RJ-11 jacks.  Send a PostScript job with operators to select a FAX
number, and it will dial that number.  If the other end is a similar
PostScript printer, it will send the PostScript, otherwise it will
send G3 FAX.

This introduces several interesting new problems.  One: PostScript is
a complete programming language.  How do you keep hackers from
connecting to your FAX/PostScript machine and screwing with it?  The
proposed solution is a password mechanism.


Andrew Klossner  (andrew@frip.wv.tek.com)
     (uunet!tektronix!frip.WV.TEK!andrew)
From: SEAN@SDG.DRA.COM (Sean Donelan)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: SWB and BBSs
Date: 12 Apr 92 22:32:42 GMT
Organization: Data Research Associates, St. Louis MO
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 315, Message 2 of 11

In article <telecom12.310.8@eecs.nwu.edu>, caladan!seanews!rocque@
seattleu.edu (peter marshall) writes:

> define "BBS" as "a data calculating and storage device(s) utilized as
> a vehicle to facilitiate the exchange of information through the use
> of ... [SWB] facilities."

I figured it would happen, SWBT starts offering a "voice-mailbox"
service and the following month comes out with a definition that could
cost people with answering machines connected to their residential
lines extra.

I guess I should put a ":-)" on that, but it does show the difficulty
of writing a usable legal definition.  Most answering machines are
microprocessor controlled, and are designed to facitilate the exchange
of information through telephone facilities.  Some will even calculate
the number of calls received, and count the number of rings before
answering.  Who knows what SWBT would charge if they found out you had
a FAX machine on a residential phone line.


Sean Donelan,  Data Research Associates, Inc, St. Louis, MO 
Domain: sean@sdg.dra.com      Voice: (Work) +1 314-432-1100