HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 12:01 PDT
From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Switching Systems
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 652, Message 2 of 13

On Aug 19 at  2:09, TELECOM Moderator writes:

> [Moderator's Note: I thought the original 213-464 (back then, in the
> 1940's it was known as HOllywood) exchange was panel. I guess I am
> mistaken.  PAT]

I had friends who were served out of that office, which was SXS until
the eighties. There was much joy when it was cut to 1AESS. Remember,
it was a most unusual occurance to find SXS and Panel in the same city
due to the inherent incompatibility.

Much of the Los Angeles area was SXS, both GTE and Bell. But remember,
Los Angeles was not the city it is now back in the thirties. Panel was
only installed in MAJOR cities of the thirties, which is why San
Francisco (a "major" city since the time of the Barbary Coast days)
had Panel and LA did not.


        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 264 4115
    john@zygot.ati.com      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !


[Moderator's Note: So with panel and SXS being incompatible, how were
calls handled between those offices?   PAT]
From: Pat.Cain@actrix.gen.nz (Pat Cain)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Phone Rental Increases 67% in NZ
Date: 16 Aug 92 00:39:46 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 636, Message 2 of 9

New Zealand's ex-state owned telecommunications company, Telecom New
Zealand (Bell Atlantic is a major shareholder) yesterday announced
major price rises for residential customers.  These price rises have
attracted very widespread criticism from groups representing
consumers, disabled people and the elderly; and come just after their
annual profit announcement -- $402 million (NZ's population is only
3.5 million).

Telecom are blocked from rising line charges above the rate of
inflation (currently less than 2%) by an agreement known as "The Kiwi
Share".  Line charges were last raised in January by 1.5%.  Telecom in
their pursuit of higher profits have got around this by charging more
for the telephone at the end of the line instead.  These latest price
rises are in the areas where Telecom holds a monopoly.

PHONE RENTAL INCREASES 67%:

  At a time when inflation is below 2%, the cost of renting one phone is
  to rise by 67%, from NZ$28.80 to NZ$48.12 per year.  The cost of a
  phone line is around NZ$400 (~US$200) per year.  Telephones are sold
  for $12.95 upwards, reconditioned versions of the phones that Telecom
  hire out sell for NZ$25!

LOCAL PAYPHONE CHARGES DOUBLED:

  Local payphone calls are currently 20 cents/min (around 5 years ago
  these were 6 cents with no time restriction), these are to double to
  40 cents/minute.  International calls from payphones will rise in cost
  20% to 40%.
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 12:22:43 EDT
From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@BRL.MIL>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: How Do I Reach Bryan King? 
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 645, Message 10 of 17

The following From header turned up in a message in the TELECOM Digest
in a message from Bryan King.  I don't know if that person gets telecom
through the email or via news (in the latter case, his email address
might not be readily available).  Anyway, the "answer" option in the
mailer I have here at BRL yielded zilch when I attempted reply to
the From header:

From: bxbmts::bxbmts::mrgate::bxb::msbcs::am_msbcs::king@msbcs.enet.dec.com
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 20:11:45 GMT
From: htoyryla@evv01.dnw.tele.nokia.fi
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: What is Open Network Provision?
Organization: Nokia Telecommunications
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 638, Message 7 of 12

Anybody out there who could explain what does the concept ONP (Open
Network Provision) mean in the context it is being used in current
developments in Europe, especially within E.C.

There is, I hear, going to be specs for "ONP for leased lines access
requirements". Does this mean that there is going to be E.C. wide
applicable specs and approvals for equipment connected to leased lines
(analogue or digital).


Hannu Toyryla            htoyryla@ntc01.tele.nokia.fi
Nokia Telecommunications (Nokia Cellular Systems, Private Mobile Radio)
P.O.B  77    SF-02610 ESPOO FINLAND
TEL	+ 358 0 5118366      FAX	+ 358 0 5118400
From: kph@cisco.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 710 and ABCD?
Date: 14 Aug 92 07:59:47 GMT
Organization: cisco Systems, Inc.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 627, Message 7 of 16

Well, I just tried it on our local 5ESS switch, and here's what I
found:

If I enter any of ABCD as part of the prefix, I get a reorder tone
(fast busy).  If I try it as a suffix for a number within my LATA, it
will let me finish the number and then give me a recording that my
call could not be completed as dialed. If I try it as a suffix for a
number outside my LATA, I get the same recording as soon as I press
any of the ABCD keys.


Kevin
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 19:59:13 GMT
From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Good *Sounding* Answering Machines
Organization: Walker Richer & Quinn, Inc., Seattle, WA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 626, Message 7 of 15

In article <telecom12.616.4@eecs.nwu.edu> gmw1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu
(Gabe M Wiener) writes:

> Most answering machines made today sound like unqualified pieces of
> junk, particularly to the caller listening to the OGM.  The condenser
> mics in most machines sound tinny, and pick up motor noise.

What I've found works really well with most answering machines is
calling in and changing the message via the remote control options.
That way, you have a regular-sounding voice, instead of the
speakerphone-in-a-cave effect that you get when using the built-in
mic.  Of course, this is most convenient when you have more than one
line, but if you don't change your message too often, it works well
even to call from somewhere else to change the OGM.


Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com
Date: 16 Aug 92 11:24:11 EDT
From: Alan Boritz <72446.461@CompuServe.COM>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: AT&T Using AOS Slime Tactics?
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 635, Message 6 of 7

Telecom Moderator writes:
 
> [Moderator Banging Head Against the Wall: Now I have heard everything!
> Did you get the name or title of this so-called 'marketing person'? I
> would have immediatly tried to reach the office manager wherever she
> was located and urge that she be pulled off the phones until she had
> been through some sort of training class.
 
Oh, I've got an even BETTER AT&T LEC pay phone story.;) I was recently
in Detroit and had the occasion to call a friend collect (at his
reqest) from a Michigan Bell pay phone.  I used the usual 0+ dial
sequence (AT&T was the PIXC), got the AT&T jingle and AT&T operator,
told her I was calling collect, gave her my name, and she began to put
the call through.  My friend answered the phone and another AT&T
operator came on the line and said she had a collect call for anyone,
will you accept the charges and what is YOUR name (to my friend).  My
friend, who thought is was a scam, wouldn't give HIS name, so the AT&T
operator abrubtly disconnected, told me the party would not accept the
charges and then hung up on me.
 
I was rather puzzled at what seemed like a Telesphere- or ITI-style
manuever, so I tried placing the call again.  The next time a male
AT&T operator took my billing information and a female operator came
on the line with the same "will you accept the charges, and who are
you?" routine.  This time I asked the operator why she didn't tell the
other party who was placing the collect call and she said, in a snotty
tone, that she had just picked up the call and didn't know.
 
Now, I hope you're sitting down Pat, 'cause the best part is yet to
come. When I lost my patience and told the AT&T operator to,
"... forget it, I'll use MCI," the phone went dead!  Not just that
call, but the phone itself for about 10 minutes!  Have you ever heard
of AT&T using sleazy AOS tactics like that?  And has Michigan Bell
moved from an arm's length of AT&T, to a finger, or whisper's length
(or closer yet) to allow AT&T to disable pay phones at will (perhaps
some imagined anti-fraud protection)?  Do you think Michigan Bell
gives the OCC's the same access to their pay phones to help THEM cut
down on fraud?

 
Alan Boritz    72446.461@compuserve.com


[Moderator's Note: That is indeed a strange story. Any ideas, anyone?  PAT]
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 15:15:44 -0500
From: Phillip.Dampier@f228.n260.z1.fidonet.org (Phillip Dampier)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Status of Bell Atlantic Talks
Reply-To: phil@rochgte.fidonet.org
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 641, Message 1 of 13

STATUS UPDATE ON UNION CONTRACT TALKS AT BELL ATLANTIC

Communications Workers of America

WASHINGTON -- CWA's chief negotiator at Bell Atlantic emphasized that
union bargainers stand ready to talk at any time, and he strongly
denied the company's assertion as reported in the news media that the
union had "broken off talks" yesterday.

"The top negotiators for both CWA and IBEW are on hand and available
to talk at a moment's notice, and our full committees are on call and
ready to return for formal negotiations whenever there is a prospect
of making real progress at the table," said CWA Vice President Vincent
Maisano.

"But the ball is in the company's court, and from our perspective,
it's really Bell Atlantic that has shut down the bargaining process,"
he said.

Bargaining hit a snag yesterday, Maisano said, when company
negotiators reintroduced a proposal they had previously withdrawn from
the bargaining table.

"We're actually losing ground and getting farther from a settlement if
the company is going to start resubmitting issues that had been
disposed of in earlier talks," he noted.

Maisano said that local leaders and members "are disappointed and
angry at the snail's pace of bargaining since August 11th" when the
company put its last offer on the table.

Among the issues prolonging the talks, he said, were retrogressive
demands in the area of health benefits for retirees that were laid on
the table just prior to contract expiration on August 8th.  "They gave
us an unacceptable last-minute demand, and now they're resubmitting
others, Maisano noted, adding: "We don't view this as good faith
bargaining."

Among unresolved issues are wages, compensation, employment security,
and others, CWA and IBEW negotiators reported.

The collective bargaining agreement had been extended since August 8
by mutual agreement, but the last extension expired at midnight last
night.  The 51,000 CWA and IBEW members have remained on the job.
Date: 22 Aug 92 09:22:00 UT
From: GLORIA.C.VALLE@gte.sprint.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: GTE Thinks I live in 213
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 653, Message 8 of 11

It seems that Mr. Higdon only has negative things to say about GTE.  I
had thought that the GTE Bashing things was put to an end.

I don't think that GTE always misses or loses things. My job with GTE
California is to install Hi-Caps. I have yet to miss a date because of
a GTE problem. We have had problems when the customer was not ready
with the building or one of his contractors did not do his job. 

I install for LA Cellular, PacBell Cellular, MCI, AT&T, Sprint, and
government agencies including the 15th Air Force at March AFB.  I have
many commendations as do others on our crews.  I have worked with
people in other areas and see the same commitment to getting the job
done and done right the first time. 

I sometime ago had Mr. Higdon contacted by our Thousand Oaks Corporate
Office and was told that the problems he had been having were all in
the past and there was no current problems. All big companies have
their problems. I can think of a couple of time where PacBell has
caused us to miss or almost miss a due date. In fact I have seen Mr.
Higdon bash PacBell on a lot of subjects including wanting to appear
the PUC order on CID.  He claims he has been in the business for 25
years. I believe he has. I'm sure he knows, but I wonder has he ever
missed a date? 

I would like to see some other comments on this from other GTE people
who I know are out there, but stay out of the threads as I have for a
few weeks because I really don't want to argue to try to defend GTE
with him since it will do no good. We have a Smart Park in Moreno
Valley and another in Rancho, California and from what I have heard
evey customer is very happy with his service.


Mad Dog (Steven)    Sysop: Apple Elite II -- an Ogg-Net BBS
UUCP: steven@alchemy.UUCP   (714) 359-5338  1200-2400 bps 8N1
Steven H. Lichter   GTE Calif. COEI
From: hhallika@zeus.calpoly.edu (Harold Hallikainen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Solve Three Problems (was Telecom Fraud)
Date: 14 Aug 92 00:51:18 GMT
Organization: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 626, Message 2 of 15

In article <telecom12.617.9@eecs.nwu.edu> dan@tucson.az.stratus.com writes:

> I wonder if Justin has an eel-skin wallet?  Strangely enough, they've
> been known to wipe the mag-stripe info off of credit cards.

	I've also heard that eel-skin wallets frequently have magnetic
latches.

	All this mag stripe stuff seems overly complex to me.  I've
often thought we could do this more simply with bar codes.  Just print
the bar code on a clear card.  Use an opto interrputer module to read
the card as the person slides it between the LED and the opto
detector.  I have not experimented with this.  There may be a problem
with LED spot size requiring rather large bars, but it does seem that
something like this could be done.  Much simpler than reading off a
magnetic head, and it's permanent.  Do credit cards need read/write
memory, or is ROM sufficient?


Harold
From: warren@worlds.COM (Warren Burstein)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: My Email Address
Date: 22 Aug 92 17:02:44 GMT
Reply-To: warren@nysernet.org
Organization: WorldWide Software
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 651, Message 6 of 7

Bryan King writes about his email address that comes out of DEC
MAILworks.  I'd like to point out that in addition to the very strange
address which many mailers are not willing to even consider sending
to, there is another problem with this mailer, or at least many
installations of it.  Notice how his article starts:


>From:	NAME: BRYAN P. KING / VSS-SPE SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
>	TEL: DTN: 293-5677
>	ADDR: BXB1-1/J11 (BOXBORO) <KING@AM_MSBCS@MSBCS@BXB>

and the text of his letter follows:

Now to a human who normally scans thru a page of mail headers before
getting to the article that's no problem.  To one who has a mailer
that ignores certain header lines, it's still not so bad to see three
more.

But to the UNIX Listserv program (one of which I happen to be the
keeper of, on nysernet.org), it matters that messages like this have a
blank line between the end of the header and the "From: NAME:..."
line.  This blank line means that these three lines aren't part of the
header, they're part of the message itself.  So someone who sends a
one line message to listserv@nysernet.org saying INDEX or HELP has
actually sent a five line message.  Since the entire body gets fed
into the command parser, and since there doesn't happen to be a
command called "From", the user gets back a message saying "Invalid
command: FROM - the rest of your commands have been discarded" and
gets very confused.

I think that there may some way to convince this mailer to refrain
from inserting these lines.  I've noticed that people who I correspond
with about these problems tend not to be mail gurus, and I've never
gotten a definitive answer on whether it can be worked around, or how.

The users usually ask if I could manually add them to the listserv.  I
usually decline, on the basis that I don't want to discourage them
from complaining until this gets fixed (and thereby have to manually
process their commands forever).

Someone may ask, why doesn't the listserv just go on reading lines
when it finds one it doesn't like?  The answer is that I've gotten
letters, in human language, of several pages, sent to the listserv
instead of to one of the lists that it manages.

> If people send me mail via king@msbcs.enet.dec.com it will still get
> to me as I have forwarding set on VAXmail.

Wouldn't everyone's life be so much easier if this mailer just put out
this nice address rather than the mess of colons?


warren@nysernet.org
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 14:19:46 EDT
From: Thomas Lapp <thomas%mvac23.uucp@udel.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: MCI and Sears Lost Me?
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 639, Message 6 of 14

When I got my local service installed, I didn't request a LD carrier.
Instead, I used "Sears' Long-Distance" service, which is really just
MCI service billed to your Sears credit card.  I get a bill from MCI
each month, and it lists the total amount and the breakout, and shows
the same total billed to my Sears charge card.

Along about April, I had a bill go long and ended up double paying it.
The result was that on my April bill, I had a small credit.  Sears
said that they would issue a check if there was still a balance on the
account the next month.

Lo and behold, next month a check for that amount comes.  But the MCI
billing still shows that they are billing my account -- which isn't
showing the billing.

So, I guess the MCI to Sears connection broke down somewhere and I
haven't paid a dime on my LD charges all summer, since they haven't
got billed!

(Yes, I'm an honest guy, and have my MCI records to tell me exactly
what I owe.  I figure one of three actions will probably trigger
something which will get it all going again:

1. I cash the check (I've been saving it to apply it toward
   the next bill);

2. I make a charge to my Sears account and it picks up all
   the other billing;

3. Sears/MCI's billing audit will discover it after a period
   of time and I'll get a bill;

I guess the only thing I have to watch for is that Sears doesn't try
to charge me interest on the account for the stuff past due (since
I've not received a bill for the last three months!))

I just called the automated system for billing and determined that my
bill is indeed $0.00 and hasn't had any charges since my last
statement!


tom
internet  thomas%mvac23@udel.edu (home)  lapp@cdhub1.dnet.dupont.com (work)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 16:18:43 GMT
From: spencer@phoenix.princeton.edu (S. Spencer Sun)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: How to Trigger a Pager From a Modem
Reply-To: spencer@phoenix.princeton.edu (S. Spencer Sun)
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 643, Message 8 of 13

FYI, two people have mailed me to say that the ATDT <beeper number>
 ,,, <number you want to show up> does work.  So there's no need to
rush out and get a BellSouth beeper or whatever it was :-)


The opinions expressed in this article are solely mine. 
sss/PU'94 Dept of CS (spencer@phoenix.princeton.edu)/JvNCnet (spencer@jvnc.net)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 23:03:10 GMT
From: dcg5662@hertz.njit.edu (Dave Grabowski)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Are Online Phone Books Available?
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 639, Message 10 of 14

  A simple quesion: Is an online phone book, either as a database or
file (geez it would be _HUGE_) available via telenet or ftp?


Dave
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 17:21:18 GMT
From: leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 25 Years of 800 Service
Reply-To: 70465.203@compuserve.com
Organization: SCN Research/Qic Laboratories of Tigard, Oregon.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 654, Message 6 of 10

Thomas Lapp <thomas%mvac23.uucp@udel.edu> writes:


> (the rest of this section talks about AT&T is facing competition
> from other LD carriers, as well as from resellers who sometimes
> use AT&T's name when making sales, causing headaches from
> purchasers who think that they are getting AT&T follow-up
> service as well.  It mentions how the local companies are
> getting into the act as well for intrastate (sic) phone
> service (I think they actually meant intra-LATA?), since
> Delaware has a huge credit-card banking industry which 
> relies heavily on 800 service.)

No, Intra*state* calls require only dealing with the LECs and with the
State PUCs. But since LATAs seem to cross state lines as often as not,
they probably *aren't* doing specificly "Intra LATA" service.

> Finally, a side article discusses how small businesses are using 800
> service by profiling several of the companies.  However, the headline
> is somewhat ironic, since the title is "With 800, Business Has Got
> Your Number" (followup page says "Call 800: Business Has Your
> (toll-free) number").  I was looking to see if there was anything in
> the article about how businesses can get call detail on their 800
> numbers, thus getting ANI from callers.  But not a word about it.  I
> guess they didn't want to scare off the 800-using population too 
> much. :-).

More likely, that aspect of it never even occured to the staffer.


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)
From: philip@meiko.com (Philip Gladstone)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Solve Three Problems (was Telecom Fraud)
Date: 14 Aug 92 01:02:03 GMT
Organization: Meiko Scientific Corp.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 626, Message 3 of 15

dan@quiensabe.az.stratus.com (Dan Danz) writes:

> I wonder if Justin has an eel-skin wallet?  Strangely enough, they've
> been known to wipe the mag-stripe info off of credit cards.

This is an urban legend. The 'reason' that eel-skin wallets wipe mag
stripe cards is that they very often have magnetic catches on them.  I
was told that this is due to their low inherent strength -- i.e. a
conventional press-stud catch tends to rip the leather.


Philip