HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: RXV9839@ritvax.isc.rit.edu (BOB VOGEL)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Looking For Mr. Graybar
Date: 1 Sep 92 15:44:10 GMT
Article-I.D.: eecs.telecom12.678.10
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 678, Message 10 of 11

I want ten points for this.  After arduous search and discussion with
800 information it can now be revealed that Graybar has an 800 locator
number which will give you a direct connection to the store nearest
you, if only you know and can "tone in" your zip code.

                        1 (800) 825-5517

I tried it and it works.  They got me right to the store closest to
me.  In the process I talked to a couple of 800 info operators who
were OK.  MCI 800 repair, so-so, and people at several Graybar
locations (not closest to me) who were universally pleasant, helpful,
and interested enough to care about the one wrong 800 that information
had (800) 476-5210 -- don't use that one.


[Moderator's Note: You know who else is still giving out a wrong 800
number? ATT Mail ... 800-555-1212 still cannot come up with a number
for them most of the time; when they do, it is some totally irrelevant
(to the public) office.  And the AT&T corporate HQ switchboard acts
like they never heard of ATT Mail either ... pitiful.    PAT]
Date: 02 Sep 1992 15:10:13 -0700
From: leavens@mizar.usc.edu (Justin Leavens)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: AT&T 'Buying' Back Customers
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 679, Message 5 of 15

I heard someone else mention this briefly before, and I didn't
understand what they were talking about then, but it seems as though
AT&T is offering customers $40 to switch to AT&T. I received a mailing
from AT&T, and I was immediately annoyed by this check-looking thing I
saw inside (it looked like one of those things that are usually marked
'You may already have won').  Strangely enough, this was a real check
for $40 made out to me, marked 'Endorsement indicates your acceptance'
or something like that. Anyway, I guess the deal is that if you cash
the check, you agree to switch over to AT&T. I'll take $40 over my MCI
totebags and Sprint AM/FM radios anyday ...

For $40, I'd switch my _mother_ to AT&T. 


Justin Leavens   University of Southern California   Microcomputer Specialist
Date: 26 Aug 92 21:19:07 EDT
From: Larry Rachman <74066.2004@CompuServe.COM>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Anyone Hear of PROVOX?
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 664, Message 12 of 12

I will be setting up an auto-attendant/voicemail system, and am
looking at a software package from a company called Provox, in
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The product runs on a PC with Dialogic cards.
 
Does anyone out there have any experience with this product? Can
anyone recommend something similar from another vendor?
 

Thanks,
 
Larry Rachman, WA2BUX - 74066,2004@compuserve.com - Fax: 516-427-0656
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 21:30:18 GMT
From: edwards@world.std.com (Jonathan Edwards)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: 110 vs. 66M Blocks
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 667, Message 5 of 6

What is the difference between 110 and 66M blocks?  I am wiring my
house for a mix of voice and possible future 10-BASET.  All the wires
will end-run to the blocks in the basement.  Should I use 110 or 66M
blocks?


Jonathan Edwards	edwards@intranet.com
IntraNet, Inc		617-527-7020
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 92  21:01:20 EDT
From: Paul Robinson <FZC@CU.NIH.GOV>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: GTE Spacenet to Join Advanced Retail Communications Project
Reply-To: TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.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 680, Message 6 of 9

News Briefs, August 27, 1992  {Washington Technology Magazine}
Vol. 7 No. 10, Page 3


GTE Spacenet to Join Advanced Retail Communications Project:

  McLean, Va.-based GTE Spacenet is teaming with JCPenney and Capital
Cities/ABC to deliver television, audio and data services to retailers
and malls nationwide via combined satellite and terrestrial networks.
Called Advanced Retail Communications, the venture will initially use
existing GTE Spacenet and JCPenney satelite communication facilities.
Capital Cities/ABC will provide broadcase programming for the effort,
which will open in 1993.

Ameritech Mobile to test both CDMA and TDMA side by side:

  In another victory for Qualicomm, Inc of San Diego, Calif., and
CDMA, its core digital wireless technology, Ameritech Mobile has
decided to conduct the first side-by-side trial of CDMA and its chief
rival TDMA.  The trial will last for 60 days and will take place in
the Chicago metropolitan area.  CDMA, or Code Division Multiple
Access, and TDMA, or Time Division Multiple Access, are competing
standards for future digital wireless phone systems.

Comsat files tariff for full-time international digital television:

  Comsat Corp's World Systems business unit filed a tariff on Aug. 7
with the FCC to offer full-time international digital television
service.  If the tariff is approved, the system could come on-line by
Sept 21.  Comsat says the system will allow existing satelite news
gatherers to load more programming into their transmissions.  The
International Digital Television Service places Comsat in the
forefront of the future all-digital high-definition television market.

       Intelsat K satelite now on-line:

  On Aug. 21, Intelsat announced that the Intelsat K satelite is
commercially on-line.  From its location ove the Atlantic Ocean, the
Ku-band satellite offers broadcasters uplink and downlink service from
the eastern half of North America to as far east as Central Europe.
Downlink service is also available to the major metropolitan areas of
South America.
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 92 07:01 CDT
From: allen@sulaco.lonestar.org (Allen Gwinn)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Cell Phones in the Air (chuc
Organization: sulaco
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 681, Message 8 of 14

> This led me to think about the movie Die Hard II where air phones
> figure prominently in the plot. In some sequence, our hero gets paged
> by his wife from a plane ...

Just a side note, if you look real close, the investigative reporter
who is also on the flight, uses the AirPhone as well.  In the first
two sequences, you'll note that he's even found a way to use it
upside-down (with the earpiece and mouthpiece reversed) :-)
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 17:10:14 EDT
From: GHADSAL@AMERICAN.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: FAXes Over Internet
Organization: The American University - University Computing Center
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 673, Message 8 of 13

Someone a long time past (not in geological terms) "wondered" the same
question; what was to be created from this initial "wonderment" was a
listing of 'nets that would be willing to receive routed email,
convert it to ASCII, then make a LOCAL phone call to the requestors
FAX number.

I have made myself, and my personal PC/Faxboard available to all email
requests for the WASHINGTON DC metropolitan area.  Please also note
that given the legal *sling* I could potentially place myself in I
reserve the right to return the email without transmission. NO
COMMERICAL FAXES.  Only personal (including *your name* address, etc)
to potential employers, congressmen (people), etc that *include*
correct fax numbers will be sent.  I am not, nor do I or the rest of
us wish to become FAX directories so please include the correct fax
number.

FORM is up to the sender; please put the FAX number in the header.


Guy Hadsall   Washington DC    ghadsal@auvm.american.edu
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 02:59:07 GMT
From: hps@sdf.lonestar.org (Holt Sorenson)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 911 on Jerry Springer Show
Organization: sdf Public Access UNIX, Dallas--unrestricted free shell access
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 673, Message 4 of 13

In article <telecom12.660.9@eecs.nwu.edu> Jeff Garber <0005075968@
mcimail.com> writes:

> On The Jerry Springer Show (Aug 19, 11 A.M., KCAL Channel 9, Los
> Angeles) the topic was 911.  Apparently, someone in the Cincinnati
> area called 911 from a cellular phone because he believed a man was
> having a heart attack on the side of the road. The 911 operator told
> him that they cannot accept calls from cellular phones! They actually
> played the recording from the call on the show, so I heard it with my
> own ears. The man died, although he was not suffering from a heart
> attack, and it was determined that he would have died even without the
> delay in reaching help. I never heard what he actually died of.

I recently witnessed an accident as I was traveling the loop that
surrounds Ft. Worth/Dallas TX and I exited immediately to find a pay
phone.  Approximately 30 seconds elapsed from the time I saw the
accident to the time I began to dial 911. The operator informed me
that they had already recieved a call from a cellular phone and that
help was on the way, so I know that here in 817, 911 accepts cellular
calls.


Holt Sorenson
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 09:25:00 -0400
From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Anti-Digital Dialing (was: Deterioration of POTS)
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 661, Message 19 of 19

> Two billion, one hundred fifty-six million, six hundred forty five
> thousand, four hundred thirty two" (last n digits changed to protect
> my mother who still lives in (now) twelve billion, one hundred fifty


Oh, come now.  Since the "ten billion" digit isn't really part of the
phone number, this must be international format.  But in that case it
should be:

	POSITIVE twelve billion, one hundred fifty...


Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 92 19:36:46 GMT
From: toddi@mav.com (Todd Inch)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Dial a #, Connect Quicker?
Organization: Maverick International Inc.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 673, Message 12 of 13

In article <telecom12.645.4@eecs.nwu.edu> stevef@wrq.com (Steve
Forrette) writes:

> One question that I have not been able to answer myself is why it
> helps to hit # after entering an additional destination number for a
> calling card call (that is, after hitting # to terminate the first
> call).  I can't think of a situation where it would be expecting more
> than 11 digits, but it definately waits for more.

Many international calls require more than 11 digits.
Date: Fri, 04 Sep 1992 04:09:18 GMT
From: Bob Yazz <yazz@oolong.la.locus.com>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Dial a #, Connect Quicker?
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 683, Message 7 of 10

stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette) writes:

> One question that I have not been able to answer myself is why it
> helps to hit # after entering an additional destination number for a
> calling card call

The '#' tells circuits waiting for you to dial more digits to stop
waiting, and proceed.  I don't know why AT&T doesn't recognize a
common ten-digit (eleven including the preceeding '0') US area code
and phone number.  It seems to me they could fix it.

The same "timeout" mechanism comes into play to distinguish calls to
'0' from calls to '0 plus the number'.  You'll get to the operator
faster if you dial '0 #'.  (Some COCOTS choke on this; I hope nobody
is suddenly disillusioned.)

I use '#' most every time I dial.  If, for example, I've omitted a
digit in a common local seven-digit phone call, I get informed of my
error sooner.


Bob Yazz
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 22:31:40 GMT
From: johng@comm.mot.com (John Gilbert)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: How Do I Locate Graybar?
Organization: Motorola, Inc. Land Mobile Products Sector
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 670, Message 3 of 12

> Some recent posts have referred to a supplier called "Graybar".  Is
> this a chain? Mail order house? Regional store?  Do they have a
> catalog?

Greybar "Your One Source Supplier" has regional warehouses and sales
offices throughout the country.  They do have a catalog. In Chicago
they are at:

900 Regency Drive  Glendale Hts. Il  60139
(708) 893-3600    (800) BUY-ELEC  (Chicago area only)  (708) 893-3650  FAX 

Some of the 100+ other places:

Boston     617-482-9320
NY         212-219-8840
LA         213-265-7000
Atlanta    404-355-1040
Miami      305-325-0910
Houston    713-224-6831


John Gilbert   johng@ecs.comm.mot.com
Date: 25 AUG 92 04:21   
From: MPA15AB!RANDY@TRENGA.tredydev.unisys.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: GTE Feature Dialing
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 663, Message 2 of 8

I happened to be reading the recent post discussing feature access
(xx# vs *xx, etc) while going through my paper mail, and came across
the new feature instruction pamplets I has requested from GTE.  (I had
asked for three sets, so I could tear off the quick-reference guide
from the last page and keep by the phones I usually use.  I always
forget the codes for last number redial and busy number redial.)

They've updated the pamplets since I got the features (a couple of
years ago).  For instance, busy number redial used to have a vague
phrase about being limited to "calling certain numbers within your
local calling area."  Now it clearly says "The use of the Busy Number
Redial feature is currently limited to other numbers within your
switching office."  Not sure I like this change -- to me it implies a
long-term restriction, otherwise why bother?


Also, the old pamplet had instructions for both speed calling 8 and
30.  The new one only lists 8, and underlines the word "eight."

(Oh, busy number redial is now called "Busy Number Redial/Camp On.")

One really funny change is that now, each feature has at least two
pages, with the first (left-hand) page showing pictures of how to
activate the service!  For BNR, for example, there are three pictures
on top of each other on the left-hand page, showing a rather
old-fashioned looking phone keypad (with the letters for each digit
arranged in a half-circle above the digit), and a forefinger (with
painted and polished nail) on a digit (the pictures show the finger
pressing the "6", "6", and "#" keys.)  This is done for all features!
For call waiting, there is one big picture (instead of the three small
ones) showing the hand pressing the switch-hook on a 2500 set (side
view).

All features are activated with an xx# sequence.  The instructions
note that for rotary phones, "disregard the '#' symbol."

The pamplets now come with a line-tag card (a card with a slotted hole
for the phone line cord) with "CALL FORWARDING" in huge red letters
and "This telephone is equipped with a special {\bf Custom Calling
Service}" in smaller blue letters.  I guess so you can tag your phones
if you forward them.

There is also a peel-and-stick quick reference card (new) that says at
the bottom "If you are using a SmartCall telephone, press the button
that corresponds to the features you want to use instead of depressing
the hookswitch or dialing a code."  What is this?  Does GTE sell
phones with buttons that are preprogrammed to dial feature access
codes?


Randy Gellens            randy%mpa15ab@trenga.tredydev.unisys.com
>>>>>>> If mail bounces, forward to rgellens@mcimail.com <<<<<<<<
Opinions are personal; facts are suspect; I speak only for myself
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 92 23:23 PDT
From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Weird Intercept
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 672, Message 4 of 12

MPA15AB!RANDY@TRENGA.tredydev.unisys.com writes:

> I'm trying to reach someone in the 213-663 exchange (I've reached this
> number before).  When I dial it I get an intercept that says "We're
> sorry; your call cannot be completed as dialed from the phone you are
> using.  Please read the instruction card and dial again." 

This non-sequiter type of intercept is quintessential GTE
incompetence.  For instance, in Long Beach one of our Centrenet lines
had the following recording in response to the simple dialing of '0':

"Your call cannot be completed as dialed. You must first dial '950' and
a carrier access code before the number".

What? This is baloney. Not only does it not work, it could never work.
It is complete and total nonsense. Mind you this is a "professionally"
done recording, not some blathering by a CO dweeb, so the content at
least came from Thousand Jokes. Get someone at GTE to fix it? HA!

Now mind you that I understand that the wrong recording could simply
be an erroneous channel assignment on the drum announcer. But the
recording itself is complete nonsense. It has no application anywhere.
It indicates a complete lack of understanding of even GTE's
procedures.  So why was it made in the first place? Heaven only knows.

> This is odd since I'm calling from my office phone, not a pay phone.

Yeah, well good luck trying to get it fixed. It sounds like you have a
residual problem from the 310 cut. As you will recall, GTE made major
news botching that operation up (of course, it was all Pac*Bell's
fault to hear it from General).

BTW, 663 IS still in 213. Call GTE repair about six times. That might
do it. You will notice that I never had to ask if you were in GTE
territory.


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


[Moderator's Note: The phraseology in the intercept you mention is not
the greatest, but there is some truth to it. Usually the four digits
following 950 are a portion of the same carrier access code one would
dial as 10xxx; for example I believe MCI has 950-0222. When you dial a
950 number of this sort, usually after it connects you hear dial tone
again (from the carrier) and you continue by dialing the number you
wish to reach and your PIN. So if some customer wished to have no LD
carrier assignment for whatever reason and dial everything via 950
with a PIN, the intercept you described would make sense if they
attempted to one-plus dial. I repeat, the wording is not the best.  PAT]
Date: 30 Aug 1992 10:45:55 GMT
From: syngen@dir.ulcc.ac.uk (Syngen Brown LNT)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Pounding on an Octothorp
Reply-To: s.brown@lon.ac.uk
Organization: London Network Team
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 673, Message 10 of 13

In article <telecom12.645.7@eecs.nwu.edu> mandarin@cix.clink.co.uk
writes:

> In the UK, some people did call it an "octothorp" at first.  But no
> "e" on the end !.  We *don't* call it the pound sign, however, for
> fairly obvious reasons (like we have a pound sign all of our own !)

> The common name for it here, is "hash": but BT, when they introduced
> facility codes for PABXs and Network Services, decided they would give
> it their own name.  They sold phones with the "thorps" missing from
> the octothorp symbol: and then told us all to call that key the
> "square".

This wasn't solely a BT invention.  According to CCITT Rec. E.161:
"The symbol will be known as the _square_ or the most commonly used
equivalent term in other languages".

My feeling is that this is a potential source of confusion; imagine
the scenario in which a user is requested to press the square key --
yes, but which one?


Syngen
London Network Team, ULCC, 20 Guilford St, London WC1N 1DZ, UK
+44 71 405 8400 Ext. 406                     s.brown@lon.ac.uk
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 22:34 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 657, Message 10 of 10

On Aug 22 at 22:26, TELECOM Moderator writes:

> [Moderator's Note: So with panel and SXS being incompatible, how were
> calls handled between those offices?   PAT]

There were several hacks that were used. Early on, there were
mechanical translators to convert revertive to rotary and visa versa.
While it was not much trouble sending a call from SXS to Panel the
other direction was problematic. In the former, a switch level was
connected to special trunks from the Panel office equipped with the
same type of rotary receivers that the subscribers used.

However, the only output language spoken by Panel is revertive and
this had to be converted to rotary pulses. Due to the handshaking in
revertive signalling, conversion to rotary was not a trivial task. And
the native tongue of SXS IS rotary.

Later on, calls between SXS and Panel were routed through the local
tandem switch. The first of these were crossbar, and as you will
recall crossbar speaks all traditional signalling languages fluently.
This was how calls between San Mateo and San Francisco were handled
decades ago, when San Mateo had a major amount of SXS and San
Francisco still had some Panel offices.


        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 264 4115
    john@zygot.ati.com      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 15:00:36 -0400
From: andyb@europa.coat.com (Andy Behrens)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Polite Thief
Reply-To: Andy.Behrens@coat.com
Organization: Burlington Coat Factory
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 665, Message 8 of 15

This has been illegal since January 11 of this year.

To get AT&T's help, dial 1-800-CALL-ATT, then select options 2+1+0
from the menu.  Tell the operator that you want to report a phone that
won't let you dial 10ATT.

You should also file a complaint with the FCC:

	Informal Complaints and Public Inquiries Branch
	Enforcement Division
	Federal Communications Commission
	2025 M Street, N.W., Room 6202
	Washington, D.C. 20554


Andy Behrens
P.O. Box 116, South Strafford, Vt.                            (802) 765-4138
Burlington Coat, HC 61 Box 1B, Lebanon, N.H. 03766            (603) 448-5000


[Moderator's Note: I'd like you to know that a couple weeks ago I was
in the Executive House Hotel in downtown Chicago to meet someone and
every payphone in the place was operated by some AOS outfit. They all
had 10288 blocked and they all had a notice next to the phone actually
claiming 'it is not illegal to block 10288; to reach AT&T simply dial
the operator and asked to be 'splashed back' to AT&T ...'. I tried it
and the operator had no idea what I was talking about. I asked her if
I was speaking English or some other language, and if English was she
having difficulty in hearing me; if so I could begin screaming in the
phone at her to help her hear and understand me better.  It was like
talking to a turtle or a goldfish.  PAT]