HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: SLHW4@CC.USU.EDU (Jason Hunsaker)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Caller-ID Privacy Question
Date: 12 Oct 92 02:33:29 GMT
Organization: Utah State University
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 773, Message 11 of 15

Maybe I'm missing the point, but if blocking caller-ID is such a big
issue of privacy, what's wrong with having call blocking made
available as part of unlisted and/or unpublished number services?

That is to say, if one requests an unlisted and/or unpublished number,
the caller-ID block is automatic.

If one has a regular listed, published number, there is no blocking.

It seems so obvious to me.  What loop-holes or problems does this
solution have?

The people for whom privacy is such a big issue probably already have
unlisted or unpublished numbers, and thus caller-ID blocking would be
obvious for them.

For the rest of us, what's all the concern about?

Businesses selling your phone number?  If it's already in the phone
book, what difference does it make?  What would be the difference
between that and the 800 call tracking that business can already get?

Someone enlighten me please regarding this.


Jason Hunsaker  -|-  Logan, Utah  -|-  Internet: slhw4@cc.usu.edu


[Moderator's Note: We pretty much gave up on Caller-ID pro/con and
privacy discussions here a couple years ago because they were going no
where and I was overloaded with messages all the time. I published
this message from Mr. Hunsaker so that people who want to do so can
contact him personally in email. And of course the comp.privacy group
moderated by Dennis Rears will entertain these messages also.   PAT]
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 07:34 CDT
From: ihlpk!mcb (Mark C Baker)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Distinctive Ringing Availability on #1ESS
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 767, Message 15 of 17

> In doing some further checking, I found out that Sault Ste. Marie is
> served by a 1ESS switch (I know that the same switch has been in use
> since at least 1979, and probably at least a couple of years prior to
> that).  A Michigan Bell official (at their executive offices) tells me
> that it is not possible to offer Multi-Ring service on a 1ESS switch;
> that you have to be on a digital ESS for such service to be available.

> My question is, is the claim that Multi-Ring cannot be offered on a
> 1ESS true or false?  

Yes, it appears that there is a 1 ESS switch in Sault Ste. Marie.  The
1 ESS switch was first put into service in 1965 and does not have
Multi-Ring or any CLASS features built into its generic program.  The
1A ESS switch (also analog) which was introduced in 1976 is fully
CLASS and Multi-Ring capable.  The 1A ESS switch is simply the 1 ESS
switching system with a more modern (mid-70's vs. early 60's) central
processor.


Mark Baker  - AT&T Network Systems
From: turner@udecc.engr.udayton.edu (Bob Turner)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Highway Call Boxes
Date: 12 Oct 92 00:45:22 GMT
Organization: Univ. of Dayton, School of Engineering
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 774, Message 9 of 14

In article <telecom12.767.9@eecs.nwu.edu> lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars
Poulsen) writes:

> These are stationary cellphones. Neat, huh? We have them every mile or
> so on US 101 right through downtown Santa Barbara. In fact, I think
> they are only half a mile apart in the urban area.

At a few of the NENA (Natl Emergency Number Assoc) (the E911 Industry
and Gov Assoc) and APCO (Assoc of Professional Comm Officers aka
Dispatchers) conventions I have seen GTE showing off their cell call
box. Apparently, they work with local goverment to give a significant
discount for usage charges. Alot of phones with low relative
utilization. The sales droid didn't (or wouldn't, I can't remember)
say what typical charges and costs were.


Bob Turner                        System Engineer and Programmer
5134342738                         turner@udecc.engr.udayton.edu
CommSys, Inc. 77 West Elmwwod Drive, Suite 101, Dayton, OH 45459
Date: 14 Oct 92 13:50:24 GMT
From: tholome@bangalore.esf.de (Eric Tholome)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: East German Pay Phone
Reply-To: tholome@bangalore.esf.de (Eric Tholome)
Organization: ESF Headquarters, Berlin, FRG
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 781, Message 4 of 12

In article <telecom12.779.3@eecs.nwu.edu>, msb@sq.com (Mark Brader)
writes:

> [stuff deleted]  I knew East and West Berlin
> were still separate for telephone purposes, but I was still surprised
> when they were surprised that I didn't say "West Berlin" when I gave
> the address.

Well, I thought I'd let you know that the two (east and west) Berlin
telephone networks are now pretty much integrated. We (in West Berlin)
recently received a letter telling us that from now on, we wouldn't
have to dial any special code to reach East Berlin. In other words, at
least from the west, one can dial ANY Berlin number after the dial
tone, without having to figure out in which part of the city it is.

I assume that either your experience is a couple months old, or it
isn't symmetric, i.e. people calling from East Berlin still have to
differentiate the two types of calls. I must admit I've never given a
call from East Berlin ...

[stuff deleted] West Berlin telephone numbers could be five, six, seven, or
eight digits long ...]

I believe this is true in all Germany. They like to be able to give
short telephone numbers to big advertisers or companies. I must say I
don't really like it: you never know whether you got all the digits!
Also, people never know how to group the digits. For example, my
number at work has eight digits, which I can write 82 09 03 25, but my
home number only has seven digits, which I usually write 262 51 22.
Some people write them differently (e.g. 820 903 25). That's kind of
confusing.


Eric Tholome  ESF Headquarters       internet: tholome@esf.de
              Hohenzollerndamm 152   UUCP:     tholome@esf.uucp
              D-1000 Berlin 33       Ph.:      +49 30 82 09 03 25
                          Germany    Fax:      +49 30 82 09 03 19
Date: 6 Oct 92 21:15:07 GMT
From: billabs@nic.cerf.net (Bill Romanowski)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Question About Caller ID Information Display
Organization: CERFnet
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 766, Message 10 of 16

Well, we have Caller ID service here in Lebanon, Indiana (30 miles
 from Indy). I first found out from a postcard sent by Indiana Bell
talking about number blocking (dial *67). I called 'em up and they
said it's $6.90 per month. They don't sell the boxes but gave me an
800 number of a company to call(800 742-4258) that sells 'em.

SO now I want to know how it works. I suspect DTMF after 1st ring???
No doubt an FAQ but any info would be appreciated.

 
bill romanowski    prairie research
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 05:14:57 GMT
From: morris@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Mike Morris)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Highway Call Boxes
Organization: College Park Software, Altadena, CA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 767, Message 4 of 17

Paul_Gloger.ES_XFC@xerox.com writes:

> Along the highway, out in the country in California anyway, there are
> emergency telephone call boxes, with phones which connect you directly
> to the Highway Patrol or some such agency.  The boxes have no apparent
> wire connections to the rest of the world.  They have mounted on them
> what may be a small (eight inch?) photocell, and a small whip antenna.

> Are these indeed radio phones powered off a battery which is charged
> by the photocell?  What radio frequency and kind of transmission do
> they use?

They are self-contained cellular phones.  The type of antenna varies
with the location, some use a whip, others (notably the beach area of
Ventura county) use directional antennas with gain.  The solar panel
charges a rechargeable battery inside the phone.  Supposedly they have
tamper and tilt-over switches, but I doubt it -- there's been one laid
flat in Eagle Rock (near Pasadena) now for almost two weeks.  The
solar panel disappeared on day four.  There's no wires coming out of
the concrete going into the support pipe (or, in reality, where the
pipe used to be before it was hit ...).  I don't know any more as I've
never used one.  Rumor says that CalTrans (California Department of
Transportation) has a deal with LA Cellular for phone service, but I
have no facts.


Mike Morris   WA6ILQ   PO Box 1130  Arcadia, CA. 91077
All opinions must be my own since nobody pays me enough
to be their mouthpiece.      818-447-7052 evenings
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 05:52:29 GMT
From: linley@netcom.com (Bruce James Robrert Linley)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Which States Have Caller ID?
Organization: NetCom- Cheaper than Compu$erve (isnt everything, though?)
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 766, Message 11 of 16

My modem claims to support caller ID but California does not (yet).
Can someone please tell me which states do support caller ID. I am
particularly looking for western states (OR,NV,AZ,etc). Thanks in
advance.


Bruce James Robert Linley    Comp Sci & Engr, UCLA   <linley@netcom.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 92 9:22:37 EDT
From: Tom Coradeschi <tcora@pica.army.mil>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: East German Pay Phone
Organization: Electric Armts Div, US Army ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 781, Message 3 of 12

msb@sq.com (Mark Brader) writes:

> The most interesting thing is that the hanger for the handset did
> not appear to move for off-hook indication.

> That reminds me.  At the end of May I was in what used to be East
> Berlin, and made a call from a pay phone there (specifically, it was
> in one of the city center S-Bahn stations, either Friedrichstrasse or
> Alexanderplatz).

> That phone, too, had no obvious moving parts for off-hook detection.
> The hanger was metal, and the other end of the handset rested against
> a small metal plate, so I wondered if it was be passing a small
> current through the handset, but the handset seemed to be plastic.
> Anyone know how it worked?

Magnetically operated reedswitch would be my guess. (Magnet in
handset, reedswitch in phone housing, driving a relay if needed
[shouldn't be].)

> There were no directories, so I needed to call directory assistance to

[...]

> After several repetitions of this, I pulled out the guidebook I was
> carrying and found the *3*-digit code that *it* had given for dialing
> West from East Berlin (849, I think).  I tried this and it worked.
> The mind boggles.  Now that I think of it, it also rather boggled at
> the fact that, unless my hotel listing included some out-of-date
> numbers, West Berlin telephone numbers could be five, six, seven, or
> eight digits long ...

Typical, actually. I've had occasion to deal with US Army
installations in Germany (former West Germany, naturally:-}). One guy,
in particular, has a ten-digit phone number and an eleven-digit fax
number (different exchanges, although within the same city).
 

tom coradeschi    <+>    tcora@pica.army.mil
Date: 8 Oct 92 01:14:24 GMT
From: dag@ossi.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Highway Call Boxes
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 767, Message 5 of 17

Paul_Gloger.ES_XFC@xerox.com writes:

> Along the highway, out in the country in California anyway, there are
> emergency telephone call boxes, with phones which connect you directly
> to the Highway Patrol or some such agency.  The boxes have no apparent
> wire connections to the rest of the world.  They have mounted on them
> what may be a small (eight inch?) photocell, and a small whip antenna.

> Are these indeed radio phones powered off a battery which is charged
> by the photocell?  What radio frequency and kind of transmission do
> they use?

I read an article about them some months ago in one of the San
Francsico dailies.  They are actually cellular phones with a solar
cells to keep them charged.  Each phone has a unique number (same as
it's telephone number?)  that is automatically transmitted to a
highway patrol communications center when a call is made so they no
exactly where you are; of-course there is no keypad to speak of, when
you pick the phone up it automatically calls a preset number.

I think these things are neat idea.  The article mentioned that the
extra cost for the equipment, when compared to standard emergency
phones, was saved by the fact that no telephone lines had to be
installed to the site.  I believe they quoted less than two hours to
install each phone, which is pretty good.  They are also more
resilient to natural distaster such as weather and earthquakes since
there are no phone lines to be pulled down.


Cheers,

Darren Alex Griffiths         dag@nasty.ossi.com
Open Systems Solutions Inc.   (510) 652-6200 x139
Fujitsu Ltd.                  Fax: (510) 652-5532
6121 Hollis Street      Emeryville, CA 94608-2092
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 92 19:12 GMT
From: Sandy Kyrish <0003209613@mcimail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Videoconference Costs: NOT!
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 766, Message 2 of 16

Paul Robinson, in his comments regarding the Washington Post article
about the "First Cities" article, makes a lot of good points.  But he
is far, far off base about one element: that of videoconferencing
transmission costs.  It's not $30 a minute -- in many cases, it's more
like $30 an HOUR for 112 kb/s service.  And for bigger data rates,
like 384 kb/s, depending on how many hours a month you use, what kind
of network arrangements, blah, blah, blah, the cost is still going to
be in the ballpark of anywhere from $150 an hour to $500 an hour.  Now
some international links will cost you $2000/hour, but that's a whole
different thing.

I took these numbers not from published tariffs but from anecdotal
knowledge based on my experiences as a member of the videoconferencing
industry.  Don't try them at home!
From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: College Phone System
Date: 12 Oct 92 17:40:29 GMT
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 775, Message 1 of 12

In article <telecom12.768.2@eecs.nwu.edu> mmt@redbrick.com (Maxime
Taksar) writes:

>> combinations like 9-411, 9-611 and 9-911?  

> Please don't try this just as an experiment!  Most of us know that it
> is in bad form to call 911 "just to make sure it works," but not
> everyone would know this.

I once had an occasion where I needed to test 911.  I called the
non-emergency number for the answering agency and explained my
situation.  They said that a test would be fine as long as I called
the non-emergency number first to let them know that I would be
testing.  This was in a smaller town where it was likely that the same
person would answer all of the calls, though.


Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com
From: lars@spectrum.CMC.COM (Lars Poulsen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Highway Call Boxes
Date: 8 Oct 92 19:01:50 GMT
Organization: CMC Network Systems (Rockwell DCD), Santa Barbara, CA, USA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 767, Message 9 of 17

These are stationary cellphones. Neat, huh? We have them every mile or
so on US 101 right through downtown Santa Barbara. In fact, I think
they are only half a mile apart in the urban area.


Lars Poulsen, SMTS Software Engineer	Internet E-mail: lars@CMC.COM
CMC Network Products / Rockwell Int'l	Telephone: +1-805-968-4262	
Santa Barbara, CA 93117-3083		TeleFAX:   +1-805-968-8256
From: henry@ads.com (Henry Mensch)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: LEC Repair Disservice (was Happy With MCI)
Date: 15 Oct 92 18:44:00 GMT
Reply-To: henry@ads.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 785, Message 5 of 9

sbrack@jupiter.cse.UTOLEDO.edu (Steven S. Brack) wrote:

> The specific problem: on calls to invalid numbers, the recording was
> quite garbled.  What the CSR at Ohio Bell thought the problem was:

> 1) Are you sure it's not in your equipment?
> 2) It's probably a problem with your long-distance company.

> I honestly don't know how some people get jobs in the telecom industry.

Ditto. I inquired about leased-line service to my home and gave up in
disgust. I imagine there is some Pac*Bell trademark word that I could
use which will make their eyes light up, but no joy was to be had that
day ...


henry mensch / booz, allen & hamilton, inc.  / <henry@ads.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 12:20:10 -0500
From: Joseph.Bergstein@p501.f544.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Joseph Bergstein)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: 911 Calls From Remote Locations
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 773, Message 10 of 15

As an added note to discussion of PBX originated 911 calls, I submit
the following cautionary story.  I've heard that an area firm has a
main office with a large PBX, and several remote satellite offices
with small key or hybrid systems.  The small remote office systems are
connected to the main PBX via OPX lines, and have no direct outside
calling capability at those locations.  All outbound calls are routed
via the OPX lines to the main PBX where they then go out either on
local CO trunks, or T-1 service to the IXC.

Well, some months ago, as the story goes, a 911 call was placed from a
remote location because someone appeared to have had a heart attack.
The county dispatcher used the E911 data to determine where to
dispatch police and ambulance.  Well, you guessed it!  They showed up
at the main office, because that's what the ANI indicated for the CO
trunks; not ten miles away at the remote location where the call
originated.  The story concluded with note that the police dispatcher
was supposed to (and failed to) verbally verify the address before
dispatching the ambulance.

I'm not sure it's possible, but if you manage a similar configuration,
you should try to contact the E911 telecom manager to see if the
database for your home office CO trunk ANI's can be flagged to force
the dispatcher to verify address prior to dispatch.  This can be life
threatening in the wrong circumstances.
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 16:59:00 -0400
From: msb@sq.com (Mark Brader)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: East German Pay Phone
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 779, Message 3 of 7

> The most interesting thing is that the hanger for the handset did
not appear to move for off-hook indication.

That reminds me.  At the end of May I was in what used to be East
Berlin, and made a call from a pay phone there (specifically, it was
in one of the city center S-Bahn stations, either Friedrichstrasse or
Alexanderplatz).

That phone, too, had no obvious moving parts for off-hook detection.
The hanger was metal, and the other end of the handset rested against
a small metal plate, so I wondered if it was be passing a small
current through the handset, but the handset seemed to be plastic.
Anyone know how it worked?

There were no directories, so I needed to call directory assistance to
get the number.  The only information about special numbers was a
plate with pictograms, which I read even less well than I do German.
One showed a picture of a telephone handset, and another showed a
telephone handset with eight radiating lines near one end of it, like
an eight-pointed asterisk.  What *is* the intended meaning of these
symbols anyway?

Having no idea what either symbol meant, I called one of them and
asked if they spoke English.  I was told to call the other one.  I
called it and gave the name and address.  I knew East and West Berlin
were still separate for telephone purposes, but I was still surprised
when they were surprised that I didn't say "West Berlin" when I gave
the address.

They gave me the number and I asked if I had to dial a code before it
to reach West Berlin.  They said yes and gave a two-digit code (74, I
think).  I dialed the code and started dialing the number, and the
phone said, "Kein Anschluss mit diese Nummer", or some such -- no
connection with this number -- and returned my coin.

After several repetitions of this, I pulled out the guidebook I was
carrying and found the *3*-digit code that *it* had given for dialing
West from East Berlin (849, I think).  I tried this and it worked.
The mind boggles.  Now that I think of it, it also rather boggled at
the fact that, unless my hotel listing included some out-of-date
numbers, West Berlin telephone numbers could be five, six, seven, or
eight digits long ...


Mark Brader, SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com
Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1992  12:31:07 EDT
From: Roger Fajman <RAF@CU.NIH.GOV>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Confused About T1 Bandwidths
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 767, Message 3 of 17

>  (A third method is to guarantee that your source will never send two
> many zeros consecutively.  This is generally not possible with
> computer data, which could be anything.)

Sometimes there is a way to do that.  If you are using HDLC or SDLC, a
zero bit is stuffed in after every five one bits, in order to keep
flags (zero, six ones, zero) from occurring in the data.  So if you
can invert the data stream, you will meet the ones density requirements 
for T1.


Roger Fajman                    Telephone:  +1 301 402 1246
National Institutes of Health      BITNET:     RAF@NIHCU
Bethesda, Maryland, USA          Internet:   RAF@CU.NIH.GOV
From: shri@nyx.cs.du.edu (H. Shrikumar)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Why No Sprint Service Here Since Thursday?
Date: 12 Oct 92 23:49:54 GMT
Organization: UMass, Amherst, MA 01002 + Temporal Sys & Comp Net, Bombay, India
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 778, Message 1 of 9

[Moderator's Note: This was passed along to the Digest by Mr.
Shrijumar who saw it in alt and thought others would want to see it.]

In article <bharrell.718915020@garfield.catt.ncsu.edu> in alt.dcom.telecom 
bharrell@garfield.catt.ncsu.edu wrote:

timmons@npmv11.enet.dec.com (Ray Timmons) writes:

> The Greenville, SC area has not been able to access Sprint since
> Thursday.  What?  When you call the operator, they say that Sprint has
> requested that customers be referred to AT&T and MCI.  To make matters
> worse, 1-800 service (with all carriers) has been out so far today.
> What gives?

It's due to the recent torrential rains in western SC, that flooded a
Sprint DMS-250 switch (that was underground I believe).  Will take
quite a while to get things back to normal.  We are affected here in
central and eastern NC as well. My primary private net and 800 service
is with Sprint.


Ben Harrell    cmebh01@nt.com