Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 01:48:25 GMT
From: Rith Peou <rpeou@athena.mit.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Suggestions Wanted For Phone Device to Restrict Toll Charges
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 919, Message 14 of 14

We have a problem with people dialing long distance on our phone.
Even if we block the long distance calls, a person can use our phone
and charge it to a third party; when the third party refuses to pay,
the phone company sticks us with the bill anyways.  Apparently there
is no way for the phone company to block a third party call -- as
least that's what they say.  A person called AT&T and there is a
device (or is it system) that would block all calls beginning with a 1
or a 0 (this is the only way to make a third party call).  The catch
is that the device costs an amazing $1500.  We don't have that kind of
money and would like to know if there is another place to get this
device or is there any other alternatives to this big problem.

Thanks in advance for any comments/suggestions!


Rith

P.S.  Netnews is very slow, so please email me any/all responses.


[Moderator's Note: Request that telco set your default LD carrier to
NONE. This will effectively deny all one-plus and zero-plus calls
except those in the telco's local area (LATA). It will also cause all
double-zero (00) type calls to a long distance operator to be blocked.
Here in IBT-land, lines with NONE as the LD carrier get an intercept
saying their call cannot be completed as dialed when they attempt to
one-plus, zero-plus or dial 00 except when calling 312/708/815. The
local operator can however hand the call over to a carrier's operator
in the way an OCC/AOS can hand a call over to an AT&T operator on
request; likewise from a phone designated NONE, a caller can dial the
800 number for the carrier of choice (and be identified as to the line
they are calling from), and they can dial 10xxx + 1 + and still stick
you with the calls.  You can buy toll restrictors for a lot less than
the $1500 you were quoted; Hello Direct has them for a couple hundred
dollars. There is also a special type of touchtone pad you can buy and
install in place of the regular one which has a limited amount of
logic on its own: it will deny more than seven digits as well as deny
any call with a leading digit zero or one. I think these are about
$50, but I forgot which catalogue I saw them in. These are a problem
if some 'local calls' are ten digits, i.e. from 312 to 708 or 212 to
919 for example.  Likewise have telco put 'billed number screening' on
your line. This will prevent anyone from accepting a collect call at
the number or billing third number calls to you.  

A few years ago, a naive fellow with a little toy store in Chicago set
up a 'Hot Line to Santa Claus'. This was a phone with an automatic
dialer on it which dialed a preset number when the phone went off
hook. It was intended for children 3-5 years old as a way to listen to
stories from Santa and his wife Mrs. Claus, but some nasty phreaker
discovered that in the two or three seconds the phone was off hook
(with dial tone) before the autodialer started doing its thing, his
pocket tone dialer could cut that dial tone and let him call anywhere
on the store's nickle.  Provided he got his digits dialed before the
autodialer cut in, telco accepted his digits and ignored those from
the device. Stuck with several thousand dollars in phone charges on
calls to Inner Mongolia and other international points, the store
discontinued the service.  PAT]