HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 01:56:53 EST
From: capek@watson.ibm.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Experience With AT&T Language Line
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 838, Message 3 of 5

I recently had occasion to use the AT&T Language Line service, and
thought readers here might be interested in hearing about it.  The
service which is offered is that of oral translation between English
and any of about 140 other languages.  It is implemented by setting up
a three-way phone call between the originator (me), an interpreter,
and the party to whom I wish to speak, but not until I have had a
chance to brief the interpreter as to the nature of the call (e.g.,
name of called party, background information, how the interpreter
should identify the caller on whose behalf he is speaking, etc.)  The
cost is $3.50/minute for the interpreter, plus the cost of the call if
the other party is outside the U.S.  I made about six calls in three
weeks and was very happy with the service, with one exception.

I was calling Czechoslovakia and requested a Czech interpreter.  Each
time I called, it took no more than a minute or so to get the
interpreter on the line with me.  The interpreter was identified to me
by number, and after about the third call, I was asked if I had a
preferred interpreter.  I did, and was able to get her if she was
available.  Getting the same interpreter has the added advantage that
it reduces the amount of briefing the caller has to give to the
interpreter, assuming he remembers the previous call(s).

The one unsatisfactory call involved an interpreter who elected to
answer the questions being asked himself, rather than translating them
for the remote party.  He did this to both ends repeatedly.  Since the
other "end" was an attorney, this was particularly inappropriate.
AT&T was happy to give credit for the call when I complained.  I
presume the offending interpreter was dropped from the roster.  On the
other hand, when the Czech-speaking party dictated a short document to
be translated, the interpreter asked me if I wished the translation
immediately or after the remote party had gotten off the phone,
thereby saving me the long distance charges which would have been
incurred if I had kept the remote party on the line while I listened
to the translation.  I was very pleased with this initiative by the
interpreter.

The interpreters are located throughout the US, although the service
is headquartered in Monterey, California.  I believe that is, not
accidentally, where the US (Navy? Army?) translator's school is
located.

I believe that some of the other international carriers offer similar
services, but I have no experience with them.


Peter G. Capek
From: clements@BBN.COM
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: NET Using Junk Calls to Sell Answering Service
Date: 5 Nov 92 14:22:22 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 825, Message 7 of 11

Here's a slightly amusing junk call story.

I have repeatedly sent in the cards to New England Tel that put you on
the list of people who do not want automated junk calls.  Of course,
they don't care about that, or the fact that lines are unlisted.

I got a (non-automated) junk call from New England Tel the other
evening, on an unlisted number.  When I heard that they were trying to
sell their new phone answering service, I decided to actually tell
them what I thought of it.  Rough transcript:

<Sleaze-Droid>:
	Have you heard about our wonderful new phone answering service?
<Me>:
	Yes.  Would you answer a couple questions about it?
<SD>:
	Sure.
<Me>:
	How do I use it to screen out junk calls?
<SD>:
	You mean like this one? [Yes, she said that.]  I don't know.
<Me>:
	Where's the blinking light so I can see if there are any calls
	when I walk in.
<SD>:
	There isn't one.
<Me>:
	Sounds pretty useless. <Click>


Bob Clements, K1BC, clements@bbn.com
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 22:56:49 GMT
From: rkroll@unkaphaed.gbdata.com (Russell Kroll)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Cordless Phone Experiences
Organization: Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, Houston, TX
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 840, Message 1 of 16

The cordless phone I have here is an AT&T 5500 and you can do some
quite interesting things.  It will function as a cordless ten channel
scanner if you press the right buttons fast. Basically, you hit
INTERCM on the remote while hitting OFF at the base at the same time.
If you succeed, the INTERCM light will stay on at the remote and it
will go off at the base.
 
Now, walk around your house and hit CHAN until you hear something.  I
can pick up my neighbors and all kinds of stuff. It's fun hearing
someone talk and calling their number from another (wired) phone in
the house and hearing the call-waiting go <click>.
 
The best part about this kind of scanning is that you don't need any
special equipment and your phone will return to normal the next time
you use it after hitting (OFF).
 

rkroll@unkaphaed.gbdata.com (Russell Kroll)
Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, Houston, TX, (713) 943-2728
1200/2400/9600/14400 v.32bis/v.42bis
Date: 05 Nov 92 19:48:07 EST
From: Alan Boritz <72446.461@CompuServe.COM>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Caller ID Approved In Arizona
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 826, Message 14 of 14

72446.461@CompuServe.COM (Alan Boritz) writes:

>> His wife:

>> "Oh, Harry, you're not, you are with Mrs ....."

> [Moderator's Note: It is not his 'girlfriends Caller-ID equipped
> phone', it is *his* phone at home equipped that way that ratted on
> him. His only option would be to press *67, and I'm afraid that would
> make the wife suspicious also.   PAT]

That option is not available here in North Jersey.  However, I don't
think it would make the wife suspicious if it were.  She's probably
used to his fooling around and already assumed he was lying. ;)


Alan Boritz	72446.461@compuserve.com


[Moderator's Note: I am reminded of how children forty years ago liked
to listen to the VHF radio and spy on the mobile phones of that era. I
think the service was called AMPS. There were only a few channels or
frequencies in use, and a tiny bit of knob twisting on the old tube
style VHF tunable recievers would hear them all. Making a call
involved passing the number verbally to an operator; naughty children
would write the number down 'for later reference'. Man driving on
expressway calls his wife, "sorry honey, I'll be working late at the
office".  Then he immediatly makes another call and the children note
that number as well. Man says, "Hi baby! I ditched the old Battle-Ax;
I am on the road now and will be at your place in 20 minutes."

Naughty children think about the wonderful fun to be had by causing
some hate and discontent in the world: first, a check with name and
address service on the destination phone number, then a call to the
wife on the first phone number: "Lady, we heard your husband on the
car phone; he isn't working late at the office, he is meeting his girl
friend at xxxxx Street." (Silence ... ) The wife finally speaks up and
says she will go there to confront her philandering husband at his new
"office" ... Hysterical gales of laughter as the naughty children
disconnect the call and fantasize about Battle-Ax confronting hubby and
his mistress, contemplating if she will crack him on the head with a
frying pan as he wonders how she found out about the mistress, let
alone where to find them in their hideaway.  Other times, the children
would hear the number passed to the operator and hastily dial it
themselves, causing the mobile AMPS operator and her customer to get
busied out. 'With luck', a guy might never be able to get through to
whoever he was calling; the line would be busy each time he tried.  PAT]
From: karcher@jevex.waisman.wisc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Is the AT&T International Rate Schedule Online?
Date: 8 Nov 92 15:58:36 GMT
Organization: Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 827, Message 4 of 4

Does anyone know if the current AT&T international rate schedule is
available online somewhere? I have it in hardcopy format but it
doesn't scan very well.  Please reply via email as I don't read this
group regularly. Thanks.


Carl Karcher                          Internet: KARCHER@WAISMAN.WISC.EDU
Waisman Center                        Bitnet:   KARCHER@WISCMACC
University of Wisconsin-Madison       PSTnet:   (608) 263-5896
From: 34II5MT@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU (John Goggan)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Michigan Bell Charges for Phone Number
Date: 9 Nov 92 19:03:53 GMT
Organization: Central Michigan University
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 834, Message 4 of 11

Actually, getting a personalized number from Michigan Bell was not
free up until Oct. 5th.  At least, it wasn't two years ago when I
requested my personalized number for my BBS and they charged me about
$30.

I do agree with you though -- they did write that up as if it were a
"brand new feature" that they had added, while in reality it has been
around for over five years.


John Goggan
Date: 9 Nov 92 09:28:10 EST
From: Craig R. Watkins <CRW@icf.hrb.com>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: AT&T Takes Away My Call Manager
Organization: HRB Systems, Inc.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 836, Message 7 of 13

In article <telecom12.833.8@eecs.nwu.edu>, stevef@wrq.com (Steve
Forrette) writes:

> It took me over 30 calls and over a month to get the problem 
> resolved on my lines.

I noticed it on a Saturday and didn't get very far with it on the
weekend (see below) but I did talk to someone on Monday morning that
was very interested in solving the problem.  She escalated the problem
to some problem solving group, but simultaniously put through a "rush
order" for new service on my other lines.  It was working within 24
hours.  She personally called back a few days later to make sure
everything was OK.

> As Craig said, don't let them tell you to call the Call Manager office,
> as it's only for business service.  Also, Long Lines Repair is of no
> help either.

This was my problem during the weekend.  Repair would refer me to the
Call Manager office which (as a business office, I suppose) is closed
on weekends.  If I knew to call residential service during the
weekend, I might have solved the problem sooner.

One amusing part of weekend was when I dialed 00 to get AT&T.  

00:  AT&T....
Me:  Could you give me the number for AT&T Repair?
00:  For Call Manager, sir?
Me:  (a little spooked at this) Uh, um, yes.
     (thinking there might be a major failure) How did you know?
00:  Oh, it's on my screen!

OK -- Now I know they have ANI, but this was rediculous!  After some
more questioning I find out the fact that I HAVE Call Manager was on
her screen and she finally admited that when people with Call Manager
call repair it usually involves a problem with Call Manager!

I should at this point admit that Call Manager is really helpful to me
and it is free and it is working again.  I'm happy.


Craig R. Watkins    crw@icf.hrb.com
HRB Systems, Inc.   +1 814 238-4311
Date: 9 Nov 92 03:17:15 MST
From: petrisko@evax2.engr.arizona.edu
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Voice-Operated Phone
Reply-To: petrisko@evax2.engr.arizona.edu
Organization: University of Arizona, College of Engineering and Mines, Tucson
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 835, Message 10 of 11

In article <telecom12.817.3@eecs.nwu.edu>, gersh@aplpy.jhuapl.edu
(John R. Gersh) writes:

> Is there such a thing as a voice-operated telephone dialer for home
> use?

DAK had a two-line speakerphone with voice-activated auto-dialer quite
a long time ago, you might want to call them and ask.  I believe it
was under $150.  800-DAK-0800, from memory ... might want to verify
this thru DA.

No idea how well it works, if you've seen "LA Story", you might
remember the scene w/Steve Martin and his new voice-dialer.  "Dial
Mom." <pause> <ring> <ring> "Hello, Domino's Pizza!"
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 92 08:52:50 CST
From: dgrove@cs.rice.edu (Dan D Grove)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Music On Call?
Organization: Rice University, Houston
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 832, Message 10 of 12

Having had this happen a number of times at Rice, here's what may have
happened: someone placed a call to this phone, let it ring until the
answering machine picked up, then flashed and made another call. The
caller generally means to hang up in this case -- flashing on our ROLM
system places the caller on hold, resulting in symphonic music being
left on the answering machine. In our case, the quality is quite good.
I suspect that this may be what happened in this case.


Dan Grove               Rice University
Phone: (713) 524-6571   Dept. of Computer Science
Fax: (713) 285-5136     Houston, TX  77251-1892
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 00:16:30 GMT
From: edsr!gwr@uunet.UU.NET (George Rapp)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: The Worst Phone Lines in the US?
Reply-To: edsr!gwr@uunet.UU.NET
Organization: EDS Research
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 832, Message 4 of 12

In article 9@eecs.nwu.edu, rice@ttd.teradyne.com () writes:

>> I seem to recall that GTE is the LEC in Miami.  Is this correct?
>> Who tied them in Dallas?

> Actually, you have it backwards. GTE is the LEC in Dallas (but not Ft.
> Worth). Bell South is the LEC in Miami.

Actually, there are two LECs serving area code 214.  GTE is the LEC
for some of the bigger suburbs (largest ones: Garland, Plano,
Carrollton, and Irving), but the LEC for city of Dallas and the rest
of 214 (and all of Fort Worth, to the best of my knowledge) is
Southwestern Bell.  Based on the population of the cities, I'd say
that SWBT holds the majority of the business.  The observation about
line conditions could thus apply to both companies, or to just one,
depending on the source and destination of the test calls, or how they
ran the tests.

Apart from the occasional noisy connection, I've never had a problem
with line quality from either home (GTE turf) or work (SWBT).  One
possible reason for a degradation of quality in this area might be
adverse soil conditions that affect underground cables.  (Most of the
houses I have seen in the area do not have basements, and there are a
lot of foundation problems, because of shifting soil.  Geology is not
my strong suit, so please don't ask me to elaborate.  8^)


George Rapp     Electronic Data Systems Corporation
EDS Research    7171 Forest Lane, C212  Dallas, Texas 75230   214/661-6478
(UUCP: uunet!edsr!midearthmail!gwr) 
(Internet: gwr@edsr.eds.com or edsr!gwr@uunet.uu.net)
The above is the sole responsibility of the author, and is not in any
way connected to EDS.
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 15:23:14 GMT
From: vixen!jadams@uunet.UU.NET (22475-adams)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Listing Wanted of CLLIs by Area Code/Exchange
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 836, Message 9 of 13

In article <telecom12.830.5@eecs.nwu.edu>, Cliff Sharp <clifto@indep1.
chi.il.us> writes:

> I'm looking for an _accurate_listing of CLLIs by areacode/exchange,
> and the only intelligent sounding being I've reached at the phone
> company says they're proprietary and she can't send them out.

While not up proprietary issues, I suspect she is accurate in that
statement.

> The end output of this will be a program (carefully researched)
> which will allow the user to add "SET EXCH=Ill Dearborn" to his
> environment and then let him/her get an accurate listing of how much
> it costs to call 708-928 or whatever.

I'm not sure whether having a complete list of Common Language
Location Identifier codes (CLLI) would be of much help in what you are
trying to do.  If your user is an average telephone subscriber, he/she
would have much difficulty abstracting where they are (either calling
from or to) from these ten character code names which identify
physical locations within the telephone companies.  For instance, in a
given town, there probably are more than one physical location for the
phone company (Chicago and other towns come to mind).  More
importantly, these locations are often encoded with streets and/or
other less widely recognized designators. 

I suspect that correlating an NPA-NXX with LaSalle Street might be a
stretch for the average customer.  In addition, not all CLLIs have End
Offices in them, a digital radio relay CEV (Controlled Environment
Vault) or other type of hut are CLLI designated but have no NPA/NXX
associated with them.

Moreover, the CLLIs are often assigned to buildings with no networks
in them whatsover. Consider the warehouses which hold the spare plug
in electronic equipment units, but which bear a CLLI because they
contain these Common Language Equipment Identification (CLEI) items.

I suspect that a search of your tariffs (publicly available) will be
of more value in completing your project as they fully designate all
rates, routes, etc.

Maybe I'm missing something?


Jack (John) Adams	Bellcore NVC 2Z-220
(908) 758-5372 {Voice}	(908) 758-4389 {FAX
jadams@vixen.bcr.com	kahuna@attmail.com
Date: 11 Nov 1992 01:47:10 GMT
From: luigi@paris.CS.Berkeley.EDU (Luigi Semenzato)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Conclusion (Hopefully) of Harassment Case
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 840, Message 5 of 16

The phone harassment case came to a swift and fairly peaceful
conclusion over the week-end.  For now at least.

It turns out that my friend George had been misinformed: with
selective call forwarding, he has no way to specify `forward all calls
from the number that just called to xxx-xxxx'.  He would always have
to know the caller's number.  This is how it works in this area.

However, he had a suspicion about the identity of the harasser, and
selectively forwarded THAT number to ITSELF.  So whenever that person
called she would get a busy line.  Moreover, when selective forwarding
is enabled, every forwarded call produces a single short ring at the
dialed phone.  George was then able to verify that a number of calls
at the usual TV-commercial intervals were in fact being forwarded.
After he was sure, he turned the forwarding off.

Next day he called her and told her he had a log of the calls, showing
they were all from her number.  I don't know the exact details of the
conversation, but she kept denying.  Apparently she has stopped
calling.


Luigi
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 14:58:34 PST
From: Brad Houser/SC9-43/765-0494 <BHOUSER@SC9.intel.com>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Help Needed With DTMF Tones
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 826, Message 4 of 14

The touch tones use what is called DTMF which I think stands for Dual
Tone Modulated Frequencies.  The key word is Dual.  Averaging two
frequencies does just that, sends a single frequency tone half way in
between.  You need a way to send each of the two tones.


Brad Houser    bhouser@sc9.intel.com   +1-408-765-0494
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 92 05:12:22 -0800
From: rpw3@rigden.wpd.sgi.com (Rob Warnock)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: DS1 for Multiple Dial in Data Lines?
Reply-To: rpw3@sgi.com (Rob Warnock)
Organization: Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, CA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 833, Message 3 of 9

Dialogics (and others, I'm sure) makes just a card that connects to a
T1.  It plugs into a PC (ISA) bus. A friend of mine uses them to run a
telephone answering service, complete with DTMF-input/voice-response
on each of the 24 channels (one T1 per PC -- he has quite a few T1's
coming in).

Of course, that just gets you the 24 channels connected to your
computer's bus. You'd still need 24 modems or 24 DSP chips or a
*really* fast CPU to do "the modem stuff" on the 24 PCM bit streams ...


Rob Warnock, MS-9U/510		rpw3@sgi.com	 (415)390-1673
Silicon Graphics, Inc., 2011 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA  94043
From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: CallerID in Area Code 516
Date: 8 Nov 92 12:51:35 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 829, Message 2 of 9

NYTel subscribers in the 516 area code (Nassau and Suffolk Counties on
Long Island) are now able to subscribe to CallerID effective Nov. 1.
The actuation of this service will be effective on November 16,
however.

When I called NYTel on Monday (11/1), the sales rep didn't metion the
blocking options (per-call or per-line) and I'm assuming that she and
the others figured that a recent bill insert explained it all and
therefore they didn't have to mention it at the time of the order (I
wonder how many people read these things).

The monthly cost is $6.50 (US) if no other PhoneSmart(tm) options are
used.  I have Call Return and that with CID will be $8.50 (US) per
month with per call blocking (free) and Call Trace ($1.50 (US) per
use).

The signup fee after the first six months of availability will be
$16.00 (US) if a subscription is done then.  Two free switchings of
blocking will be allowed and there is a fee after that although I
can't recall what it costs.

A few questions now come to mind that I hope the readers of the Digest
who have CID can answer:

  1. Is the monthly cost reasonable both for the CID alone and also
     with one option?

  2. Which is really the better blocking - per-call or per-line?

  3. My oldest daughter and her husband have a cell phone on the A
     side; will their number be displayed on the ID box?

  4. I played with the call block feature (*67 for me) and tried to dial
     through the stutter tone which left me with a dead line (absolutely
     nothing but silence.  Waiting until after the stutter had completed,
     I was able to complete the call.  Is this normal?  Could this have
     been because I was calling a known non-working number (my former
     second line which had to be given up due to a massive cut in pay)?


Dave Niebuhr      Internet: niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973  (516)-282-3093