HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 93 13:20 CST
From: dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com (David Tamkin)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: No Link Between Location and CO?
Organization: Contributor Account at ddsw1, Chicago, Illinois  60657
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 4, Message 5 of 12

Randy Gellens wrote in <telecom12.916.11@eecs.nwu.edu>:

> When I called to find out what prefixes I could be on and which
> switch types, I received some conflicting information.  It seems that
> I could be served by any of three COs, with 19 prefixes, and a mix of
> 1, 1A and 5 ESS switches.  Even though the total area served by the
> COs is rather large, it appears as though any location within the
> total area could be served by any of the three.  Anywhere else I've
> been, each CO has a defined area it serves.

> Is this the case?  Why does PacBell do it this way?

In Chicago two Illinois Bell CO's are in the same building at 10 S.
Canal Street.  Although some prefixes are wired from Canal East and
some from Canal West, they can appear anywhere in the service area.
One company I used to deal with had, in the same office, voice lines
on the Canal West 312-648 prefix and data lines on the Canal East
312-715 prefix.  The matter of voice vs. data wasn't the issue either,
because virtually every voice phone line in Sears Tower is wired from
Canal East (312-993 or 312-876, mostly), and AT&T's original Redi-
Access node for downtown Chicago was out of Canal West (312-454).

Are the three CO's at three different locations?


David W. Tamkin   Box 59297   Northtown Station, Illinois  60659-0297
dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com    CompuServe: 73720,1570    MCI Mail: 426-1818
Date: Sun, 27 Dec 92 21:47 PST
From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Sprint Dis-Cards
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 922, Message 5 of 10

guy@ihlpw.att.com writes:

> AT&T technology, said John Gray, assistant vice president of the NCR
> unit responsible for ATM machines, takes fewer than eight attempts to
> "mature" the machine and can be used by rattled, flu-stricken
> customers. [NY Times 12/9]

Right! I will believe this when I see it. Last April, I developed a
severe infection in my sinuses. As it started to take hold, I flew to
Chicago.  The altitude and climate changes managed to agravate it into
a situation where my hearing was severely impaired and my voice
reduced to a whisper for about six weeks. During that time no one,
even those who know my voice well, could recognize me on the phone.

Would it not be wonderful to find that one's access to his funds had
been cut off by a machine that could not recognize the legitimate
user's voice? This would be particularly annoying if it happened while
the person was out of town.

I will be very surprised to see these things fly, particularly as
early as 1994.


John Higdon  |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 264 4115     |       FAX:
john@ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | 10288 0 700 FOR-A-MOO | +1 408 264 4407
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1993 03:09:32 GMT
From: tbenham@cybernet.cse.fau.edu (Tom Benham)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Anybody Know of LARGE Modem Server Systems?
Organization: Cybernet BBS, Boca Raton, Florida
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 2, Message 8 of 12

vances@xenitec.on.ca (Vance Shipley) writes:

> In article <telecom12.912.13@eecs.nwu.edu> mtndew!friedl@uunet.UU.NET
> writes:

>> I have a customer who may need to set up a huge number of modem
>> lines to service incoming calls to his UNIX system, and he wants to
>> find a system that already does this rather than roll his own.  While
>> we could probably do it ourselves for small numbers of lines (say, up
>> to 32), these may just not scale up very well to handling several
>> hundred modems and serial lines and phone lines.

Digiboard has a line of serial concentrators.  You might try them.
IBM also sells some RS6000 stuff that allows many lines in.


Tom
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 03:46:00 GMT
From: cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us (gordon hlavenka)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Good Opportunity For Fraud
Organization: Vpnet Public Access
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 928, Message 6 of 13

I've been working on a credit card / phone project, and discovered
something that is probably known to many but was news to me: My PIN is
_on_ my calling card!  Recorded on Track 2, offset 23 characters after
the SS.  In the clear.

The card is an Illinois Bell "America's Calling Card" (the blue one
with clouds all over it).

The hardware to read this info can be bought for under $200 and is
trivially simple to use.  Someone only needs access to my card for a
few seconds to start ripping me off.

I suppose it could be argued that validating PINs on-line is a
difficult task, but on the other hand my ATM card works in London and
if the PIN is recorded on this card it's encrypted ...


Gordon S. Hlavenka   cgordon@vpnet.chi.il.us
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 92 00:31:20 EST
From: lvc@cbvox1.att.com (Lawrence V Cipriani)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Sad to Say, Telemarketing Works
Organization: Ideology Busters, Inc.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 925, Message 4 of 9

In article <telecom12.920.8@eecs.nwu.edu> burgoyne@access.digex.com
(J. Robert Burgoyne) writes:

> The telephone is an undeniably essential tool of business. And the
> role it plays and the services it provides are dynamic. Simple
> mechanisms exist to prevent autodialers from reaching you. But others
> see the autodialer as providing them with useful products and/or
> services, and thus they don't object to the auto-calls, and further,
> they respond to the offers.

Then those of us who think autodialers are a pain in the you-know-what
just have to put up with it because someone else likes it?  Harumph.

> We don't need more regulation. This country needs to rid itself of
> regulation. This country needs to have more of its citizens accept
> some minimal level of responsibility without resorting to whining for
> the government to always do something.

I view these types of calls in the same category as junk mail and the
"plastic bag of coupons and junk" left on my door stoop.  I don't want
it and I'm tired of dealing with it week after week.  I've asked for
it to stop and it just keeps coming.  Telemarketing calls are just so
much electronic litter [which by the way, there are laws against and
free market economics is not opposed to as far as I know].

BTW, Some mail carriers will not deliver 4th class junk if you ask
them, but it is illegal for them to not deliver it.

> If you don't like outbound automated calls, do something about it. As
> my Dad says, there is no law which says that you must pick up your
> phone when it rings.

This is what we've resigned to do.  We let our answering machine
screen all calls; a hassle but it works.

> A free market capitalist to the core ...

So am I.


Larry Cipriani, att!cbvox1!lvc or lvc@cbvox1.att.com
Date: 3 Jan 93 10:01:29 EST
From: Craig R. Watkins <CRW@icf.hrb.com>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Format of ZIP Code Bars on Envelopes
Organization: HRB Systems, Inc.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 6, Message 5 of 10

In article <telecom13.3.5@eecs.nwu.edu>, doug@CC.YSU.EDU (Doug Sewell)
writes:

> (1) Coding can be five digits (rare), nine digits (most common) and 
>     more to include house codes/street address numbers (this is not 
>     very common yet).

There is an eleven digit code which is called the Advanced Bar Code
(ABC).  It consists of the the ZIP+4 plus the last two digits of the
street address, the theory being that it uniquely identifies the
destination allowing automatic sorting for the order of delivery.


Craig R. Watkins    crw@icf.hrb.com
HRB Systems, Inc.  +1 814 238-4311
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 92 01:01:38 EST
From: Tony Harminc <TONY@VM1.MCGILL.CA>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Internet or Dial Out Access From Canada to US
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 925, Message 9 of 9

samy@netcom.com (Samy Touati) wrote:

> Some while back there was a service offered by Galaxy (in New Mexico)
> which consisted of offering dialout access through modems installed in
> major cities by BT TYMNET. Someone calls the local Tymnet number and
> then logs in to the modem in his city of choice; then dials the local
> number there.

> But unfortunately this service dissapeared and PC Pursuit is
> unavailable from Canada.  Does anyone know of a similar service that
> could be available from Canada or an internet service without per
> minute fees available from Canada?

I'm not sure why you think Tymnet's outdial service has gone away.  To
my knowledge BT Tymnet has outdial facilities in hundreds of US
cities.  Try calling BT Tymnet's customer service number (800)
336-0149.

> [Moderator's Note: A service called Canada DataPak has a gateway to
> Telenet/Sprintnet. I know nothing about the rates, but you could use
> it to connect to Telenet/Sprintnet then into the PC Pursuit service.
> I do not think the Canada DataPak rates would be all that expensive
> compared to DDD rates. You'd have to check it out with them.   PAT]

I assume 'Canada DataPak' refers to Datapac (which is the world's
oldest public X.25 network).  It indeed has gateways to Sprintnet and
BT Tymnet.  But BT Tymnet also has dial in access in several Canadian
cities, so it may not be necessary to put up with the speed and cost
penalties of a gateway.  Datapac also has outdial service in major
Canadian cities, but as they will not place outbound long distance
calls it will not get you to the US.


Tony Harminc


[Moderator's Note: He did not mean Tymnet's outdial service had gone
away. He meant a competitor of PC Pursuit (actually, someone brokering
a large quantity of Tymnet resources in competition to PCP, which is
'in-house' to Sprintnet ... the Galaxy thing was not part of Tymnet)
had gone out of business. Unlike PCP, Tymnet charges to use their
outdials, and it is not cheap; besides the network connection they
were charging for the outdial use -- I think it was telco plus ten
percent. And we all know that interstate LD rates overnight these days
are only about 11-13 cents per minute in the USA; any 'savings' as a
result of using Tymnet's outdials for a local call were dubious at
best.  PAT]
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 16:14:57 -0600
From: John.Desmond@tdkt.kksys.com (John Desmond)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Caller-ID and Forwarding
Organization: The Dark Knight's Table BBS:  Minnetonka, MN (Free!)
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 926, Message 4 of 10

> [Moderator's Note: I think the catch here is the cellular carrier does
> not deal with the caller-id when a call arrives at the cell switch. I
> do not think it is 'true' call forwarding as the telco does it.
> Instead of the CO switch dealing with it internally and sending it
> along, the call is delivered to the cell company and they forward it.
> For instance, if you called me and my personal call diverter answered
> the line and patched you out to some other number, your call would be
> passed right along to the new outside destination, and the end
> recipient would get my number rather than yours because strictly
> speaking, I was placing the call to him and handing him your call
> rather than the CO merely diverting it. I think the cell carrier gets
> the incoming call and deals with it rather than the CO which feeds the
> cell carrier. That is the difference, and the cell carrier has no ID
> to give the CO for the outgoing call.  Try it between two 'regular'
> lines with call forwarding and caller-id, then see whose number is
> shown.  PAT]
 
   In the above example of forwarding a cell phone to a landline
phone, the cellular carrier is no doubt not connected to the SS7
network.  That is why the out of area message was displayed on the
display unit.  If the call was SS7 all the way thru the call ID would
most likely be displayed rather than saying out of area.

   With SS7 the calling number is passed all the way along the
network, the decision as to if the calling number is to be displayed
or not is made by the terminating switch depending on what other flags
are set in the SS7 message that was sent.  If you make a call and have
the ID blocked on your line, the SS7 network will inform the
terminating switch of this and not deliver CID to the called party.

   The out of area message is used when the call has passed thru a
switch that is not on the SS7 network at some point.

   Oh BTW, the cellular carriers switchs that I have seen are actual
Class 5 type switches.  They are DMS's 5E's ect.  They run basicly the
same software that the other class 5 switches run except they need to
be able to communicate with the cellular phones in the field and make
many other decisions that the landline switchs do not need to worry
about.  Granted their hardware is somewhat different, the basic switch
is still the same internally and many of the same software modules are
used in the cellular software as are used in the landline version of
that switch.

As far as the rest of the landline network is concerned the cell
switches are just another CO.  So they would handle call forwarding,
etc the same way as any other CO would.

 
John Desmond  K0TG    U S WEST Communications
The Dark Knight's Table BBS +1 612 938 8924 Minnetonka, MN USA
Free access to Usenet news and e-mail
Date: 25 Dec 92 13:56:20 GMT
From: louie@sayshell.umd.edu (Louis A. Mamakos)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: GTE Rural Area Phones Go Digital
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 919, Message 9 of 14

In article <telecom12.913.6@eecs.nwu.edu> jack@myamiga.mixcom.com
writes:

> The FCC allotted the Quitaque system up to 23 frequencies in the range
> of 450 megahertz, Langley said. The system can handle as many as 92
> simultaneous telephone conversations.

> Skeptical residents warmed to the system after officials met with them
> to explain benefits: No more lines broken by ice or high winds; no
> threat of calls being monitored; greater clarity.

So, let's see: the phone calls are transmitted over radio now, so that
eliminates that threat of them being monitored?  And since they are
not cellular telephone calls, it may even be legal to monitor them
under the ECPA.

Right.


louie
Date: Sun, 27 Dec 92 11:16:52 -0800
From: samy@netcom.com (Samy Touati)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Internet or Dial Out Access From Canada to US
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 922, Message 7 of 10

Hi,

Some while back there was a service offered by Galaxy (in New Mexico)
which consisted of offering dialout access through modems installed in
major cities by BT TYMNET. Someone calls the local Tymnet number and
then logs in to the modem in his city of choice; then dials the local
number there.

But unfortunately this service dissapeared and PC Pursuit is
unavailable from Canada.  Does anyone know of a similar service that
could be available from Canada or an internet service without per
minute fees available from Canada?


amy@netcom.com


[Moderator's Note: A service called Canada DataPak has a gateway to
Telenet/Sprintnet. I know nothing about the rates, but you could use
it to connect to Telenet/Sprintnet then into the PC Pursuit service.
I do not think the Canada DataPak rates would be all that expensive
compared to DDD rates. You'd have to check it out with them.   PAT]
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 92 21:55:47 EST
From: David Leibold <DLEIBOLD@VM1.YorkU.CA>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: New Canadian Area Code Charts
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 913, Message 5 of 10

Some updates to the Canadian area code charts (copies of which are
available in the Archives) are now ready. However, the updates to
western Canada plus Newfoundland (NPA 709) and most of Ontario (except
NPA 613) are now available at ftp.yorku.ca in the file
pub/general/telephone-numbering and accessible via anonymous FTP.

These charts have not been sent to the Telecom Archives at lcs.mit.edu
as of yet. Holiday season stuff will delay any action on my part, but
I will consider any pick up and delivery offers (please e-mail me
first).

Many thanks to York University for offering space for the Canadian
area codes listings, and to the Moderator for similar FTP storage at
lcs.mit.edu.


dleibold@vm1.yorku.ca    dleibold1@attmail.com
Date: 30 Dec 92 11:42:47 EST (Wed)
From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: AOS Payphones @#$%%%$#
Organization: I.E.C.C.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 926, Message 9 of 10

I wrote on 26/12/92:

> I do agree that COCOT manufacturers should be required to understand all
> valid digit patterns if they attempt to decode them at all.

Richard D G Cox responded:

> How long will those digit patterns stay valid? How can you be sure
> that they will be updated if BELLcore change the rules ...

US COCOTs have to be updated all the time so they can figure out how
much to charge.  For example, from 508-369 in Concord Mass., 617-862
is a local call to nearby Lexington, while 508-299 is a toll call to
Naushon Island, so the COCOT has to know about all of the prefixes in
508 and 617.

New prefixes are announced about every two months, so with an update
frequency like that I'd think that changes in dialing patterns, which
occur more like once every five years and are always announced at
least a year in advance, would not be hard to handle.

Except for the upcoming change to interchangable prefixes and area
codes, which has involved some changes of when to dial "1" before a
number, all of the changes have merely assigned meanings to previously
invalid combinations.


Regards,

John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 93 14:26:07 GMT
From: jadams@vixen.cc.bellcore.com (adams,john)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: The Future of Wired vs Wireless Services
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 13, Issue 1, Message 12 of 13

I hope fellow netters will pick up this discussion, but for the moment, 
my $.02:

In case you suspect that any of the following represents any parties
opinions other than my own, allow me to reassure you that these are
*MINE*, only *MINE*!

I suspect that outside sociological, economic, and political pressures
will do more to answer the posed question than mere technology alone.
Issues such as the makeup of the future family, ecological issues, the
global "shrinking" phenomina and others will sharply influence what
types of telecommunication prevail.  Will technology alone "make
markets"?  Evidence abounds that it takes more than shear technical
brilliance to make a difference.  I suspect that each of us who earns
her/his daily bread in this industry needs to sharpen our focus on the
other "softer" sciences.  At least from my perspective, the softer
sciences are indeed *MUCH* harder to master than those we use daily.

Will the current industry infrastructure (Don't you just love the way
we can beat this politicisms to death :-) ) remain viable by 2010?  I
sure don't know!  But lack of knowledge never stopped me before ;-)!
When all else fails, the basic survival instinct is alive and well in
most businesses.  My only concern is that the Bumbling Baristers of
Boondoggleville (aka Washington Beltway Bandits) will somehow seek to
call *ALL* the plays in telecommunications in the future.

Competition? ... you bet!  But let's have some real competition, not
the contrived kind we have all witnessed as fashioned by the warring
lobbyists on the steps of the Capital.

Remember that *NO* business will remain in business without a proper
profit to reward those risk takers who provide the fuel of any
venture.  Profit is not a dirty word!  I am convinced that rate of
return regulation will die a natural death before the year 2000.
While price cap regulation seems to be in vogue with our lawyer
friends(?), I'm almost positive that zero regulation (price/cost only)
will be in effect by 2010.


Jack (John) Adams		Bellcore NVC 2Z-220
(908) 758-5372 {Voice}		(908) 758-4389 {Facsimile}
jadams@vixen.bellcore.com	kahuna@attmail.com
Date: 26 Dec 92 11:26:46 EST (Sat)
From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: GTE Rural Area Phones Go Digital
Organization: I.E.C.C.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 920, Message 4 of 11

>> [GTE says] benefits: ...; no threat of calls being monitored

> So, let's see: the phone calls are transmitted over radio now, so that
> eliminates that threat of them being monitored?

I suspect they were referring to monitoring by nosy neighbors on party
lines.  Phone calls are carried all over the place by microwave.
Although it's certainly possible to snoop if you really want to, the
tightly focused beams require the snooper to be close to the line of
sight between the two dishes, and there are usually multiplexing
schemes more complex than your usual Radio Shack scanner can decode.


Regards,

John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl