HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 09:03:28 GMT
From: stevef@wrq.com (Steve Forrette)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: V.25bis, or: Are CCITT and PTTs Totally Bonkers?
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 705, Message 10 of 11

In article <telecom12.696.12@eecs.nwu.edu> 70465.203@compuserve.com
writes:

> Then you get into situations like the one I saw mentioned recently.
> Supposedly, US modems think that Australian ring signals are busy
> signals!  (Anyone know the truth about this?)

Sometimes modems can be too smart for their own good when they try to
interpret things like this and do it poorly.  The modem at my parents'
house interprets the "Thank you for using AT&T" message after entry of
the calling card PIN to be a BUSY, and drops the call immediately.  I
finally figured out a way around this: append some commas at the end
of the dialing string so the modem doesn't start "listening" until
after the undesired sound is finished.


Steve Forrette, stevef@wrq.com
Date: 12 Sep 92 18:39:41 GMT
From: jesse@gumby.Altos.COM (Jesse Chisholm)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Query re AV Telecom Standards
Organization: Altos Computer Systems, San Jose, CA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 703, Message 6 of 12

I am looking for any and all information on ISO H221, which I think is
supposed to be a standard on video teleconferencing.

Thank you.


Jesse Chisholm          | Disclaimer: My opinions are rarely understood, let
                        | tel: 1-408-432-6200 | alone held, by this company.
jesse@gumby.altos.com   | fax: 1-408-434-0273 |-----------------------------
======== This company has officially disavowed all knowledge of my opinions.
Date: 7 Sep 92 07:34:11 GMT
From: brendan@cygnus.com (Brendan Kehoe)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Telephone Directories?
Reply-To: brendan@cygnus.com
Organization: Cygnus Support, Palo Alto, CA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 692, Message 6 of 8

In article <1992Sep3.052559.15694@samba.oit.unc.edu> jem@calypso.unc.
edu (Jonathan Magid) writes:

   In article 18439hINNgpq@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu, cb705@cleveland.
Freenet.Edu (Jason K. Green) writes:

> Does anyone know if there are any telephone directories on line?
> (Not electronic-address directories)

I  would check out WAIS sources (list of servers) at think.com.

Many universities have their phone lists available through wais 
(UNC does, for instance), so if the person you are looking for
is at enlightened university :), you may be lucky.

I think Jason was asking about your conventional phone-company
supplied directory, not faculty directories and such.

But, unless you're just curious about this sort of thing, this is the
sort of thing that old fashioned tools (like the phone company's
directory service) are suited to.

Uh-uh, don't go limiting it.  I'm sure a few years ago many people
said exactly that about making airline reservations.

An idea I had, but never followed through with, was to approach
leading carriers (Bell Atlantic, Pacific Bell, NYNEX, etc) about
making their directories accessible over the Internet.  It would
probably involve creating search software (WAIS isn't well-suited to
the kinds of lookups necessary for normal directory assistance), as
well as convincing upper management that it would be in their best
interest.  (Doing so in an area where there's a per-call charge for
directory assistance would be uniquely difficult, though.)

Another problem would be abuse of the system, by doing mass searches
for "everyone named Mary," or using it for destructive purposes.
Those issues would have to be properly addressed, as well.

To use an example from my own experience, I began investigating what
might be needed for Bell of PA to make such a thing available on
PrepNet.  I didn't get too far (it was more of a problem of "who do I
talk to?" than being turned away).  Perhaps someone else, with better
resources, might find their attempts more fruitful than I.


Brendan Kehoe    brendan@cygnus.com
Cygnus Support, Palo Alto, CA    +1 415 322 3811
From: heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com (Ron Heiby)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: USA to Ten Digits
Date: 14 Sep 92 15:46:10 GMT
Organization: Motorola Computer Group, Schaumburg, IL
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 714, Message 3 of 12

lauren@cv.vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein) writes:

> It is becoming an ever increasing mess when people assume you're in
> the same code they are (because, after all, you're local) and don't
> bother giving you the area code.

If I called them, then I already know their area code, so they should
not have to tell it to me, unless it's different from the one I called
to reach them.

If they called me, then they already know my area code, so they should
not have to tell theirs to me, unless it's different from mine.

I don't see the problem.


Ron Heiby, heiby@chg.mcd.mot.com	Moderator: comp.newprod
From: prb@chinet.chi.il.us (Paul Botts)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Telepath Problem
Date: 10 Sep 92 21:29:57 GMT
Organization: Chinet - Public Access UNIX
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 699, Message 9 of 11

My new Gateway 2000 Telepath fax/modem works fine except for one big
problem: I can't get it to work with software (games) or bbs's that
don't use the data compression and error-correction protocols (MNP5,
v.42, and etc.). The software and bbs in question both work just fine
with my generic el cheapo 2400 internal modem, and with the old Hayes
2400 external at the office. But they won't work with the Telepath.

The guy that runs the BBS said I need to turn off the datacompression
and error correction stuff, but I can't find a way to do it. I've had
long conversations with Gateway, and they've suggested different
initialization strings to use, but they haven't worked (one of them
actually disabled the damn thing altogether! The other just didn't
change anything).  My comm software, by the way, is Crosstalk for
Windows, which has no provisions to accomplish this, either. Haven't
any of these people ever heard of "backward compatibility"? Am I just
out of luck? Do I have to waste a second slot on the old modem, just
to communicate with this BBS and software and anybody else not using
the modern protocols???

Help! Any informed input MOST welcome!


Paul Botts     prb@chinet.chi.il.us
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 92 12:28:11 PST
From: Alan Millar <amillar@bolis.SF-Bay.Org>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Recourse on Cordless Eavesdropping?
Organization: The Bolis Group, San Jose, CA
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 711, Message 8 of 8

I have just learned that the security guard at our mobile home park
has been using some sort of ten channel scanner to listen in on
cordless telephone conversations.

One of the residents witnessed this, and the guard even showed him how
it worked.

I hear that it is not currently illegal, but it is of course quite
sleazy.  Our resident's association is sending a letter to the park
management demanding that it stop immediately.

Does anyone know what recourse we have to deal with this?  Can anyone
share any experiences or suggestions?  Thank you.


Alan Millar   amillar@bolis.SF-Bay.org
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 23:35:04 GMT
From: David E A Wilson <david@cs.uow.edu.au>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Cellular Mobile Phone Use in Australia
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Wollongong University, Australia
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 705, Message 1 of 11

fcw@telecom.ti.com (Fred Wedemeier) writes:

> Interesting statistics. .. Can you give us some typical fees, e.g.
> monthly service, roaming fees, per-minute cost?

Certainly. Here are the current Telecom rates (someone else can get
the Optus rates and post them). As we only had one mobile system up
until this year, I have never seen "roaming fees" mentioned. This may
or may not change with the introduction of Optus.

					Flexi-Plan
			Std	130	80	20 (3)	10 (4)
 --------------------------------------------------------------
Access Fee per month	$40	$130	$80	$20	$10
Peak Call charges
    <=165km
	1st 30 sec	$0.29	(1)	(2)	$0.58	$0.87
	subs 30 sec	$0.19	(1)	(2)	$0.38	$0.57
    >165km
	1st 30 sec	$0.40	(1)	(2)	$0.80	$1.20
	subs 30 sec	$0.30	(1)	(2)	$0.60	$0.90
Off Peak Call charges
    <=165km
	1st 30 sec	$0.145	(1)	(2)	$0.29	$0.145
	subs 30 sec	$0.095	(1)	(2)	$0.19	$0.095
    >165km
	1st 30 sec	$0.20	(1)	(2)	$0.40	$0.20
	subs 30 sec	$0.15	(1)	(2)	$0.30	$0.15

Notes:
(1)	First $120 of calls are included in access fee. Any unused
	portion is forfeit. Any excess charged at Std rates.
(2)	First $52 of calls are included in access fee. Any unused
	portion is forfeit. Any excess charged at Std rates.
(3)	Flexi-Plan 20 user is also charged at Flexi-Plan Std rates
	when receiving calls. Caller is charged at standard rate.
(4)	Flexi-Plan 10 user is also charged at twice Flexi-Plan Std
	rates when receiving calls during peak period. No receiving
	charge during off-peak. Caller is charged at standard rate.

Other charges:

Initial connection					$45
Retention of number following disconnection		$2/month ($6 minimum)
Reconnection after non payment of bill			$30
Calls to IDD, 008, 005 and operator assisted calls	10c/30 sec surcharge
Diverted calls within Australia				5c/30 sec

Calls to mobile phones	peak     <= 165km		25c/38.5 sec
			         >  165km		25c/77 sec
			off peak <= 165km		25c/24.6 sec
				 >  165km		25c/49.2 sec


David Wilson				(042) 21 3802 voice, (042) 21 3262 fax
Dept Comp Sci, Uni of Wollongong	david@cs.uow.edu.au
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 19:52:38 GMT
From: sullivan@warschawski.geom.umn.edu (John M. Sullivan)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Bad Connection to MCI
Organization: Geometry Center, Univ. of Minnesota
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 705, Message 5 of 11

Thanks to all who responded to my question about trouble establishing
MCI service.  In fact the most useful response was not posted, but
came as e-mail from an MCI supervisor in North Carolina, who confirmed
that "2ED" is the tag for MCI's switch in Minneapolis (Minnesota
junction 1), and apologized for their entry-level customer service rep
not recognizing this.

When I gave him the phone number in question, he was able to remove
the "block" on the line promptly.  It had evidently been placed so
long ago that the reason was no longer in the computer, but probably
another customer had unpaid bills.

I am still surprised that this was not found by MCI when my friend
first called to tell them about her new number, or when we called
later to report the problem.  It seems that if MCI regularly blocks
access from certain numbers they'd know to check this possibility.

I'm not sure exactly whether this block is what ATT's Al Varney called
a Selective Carrier Denial; he seemed to imply that the SCD was
something placed by the local telco, but this block was by MCI.  (And
I don't know what he meant by "FG-D access".)

Varney quotes me and responds:

>> (If I dial 10-xxx-1-700-555-4141 for a random choice of "xxx", I hear
>> a very long pause with some touchtones in the background, and finally
>> "doo-wee-dee Your call failed.  Please try again".)

> This is not consistent with your claim that 10288 and 10333 would
> complete ten-digit calls.  Nor is the announcement consistent with the
> selection of an invalid XXX value.  Maybe you picked XXX values for
> ICs that don't support "700-555-1212" identification.

Maybe my use of "random" was confusing.  I did get service with 10288
and 10333, and got MCI's "vacant code" with 10222.  I tried 10999, not
remembering that it would reach Metromedia.  So I just tried one more
code, that I chose randomly.  It may have been 10764, but I didn't try
to remember it, if that would reach anyone.  I'll try again when I get
home, since my experience didn't seem to be typical.  And this time
I'll have a copy of the TELECOM Digest list of codes.  By the way,
that night when I had the MCI problem, I was trying to call a local
number that had an invalid exchange, just to hear if USWest's message
would have a tag like "2ED".  Not having a phone book, I tried
999-9999.  I got a message "the number you have dialed, 341-9999, ...". 
What happened there?


John Sullivan
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 92 9:14:39 EDT
From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@BRL.MIL>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Oops, Lost the Reporter
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 689, Message 19 of 19

Friday morning (Sept. 4), I had KYW news-radio (1060 AM in
Philadelphia) tuned in.  Al Novak was reporting live from Cherry Hill
(nearby in New Jersey) and then I heard a dialtone for a few seconds.
The woman who was the "anchor" back at the station then broke in and
said "Oops, I think we lost Al Novak."  I guess Mr. Novak was using a
telephone?  What kind of telephone could he have been using?


[Moderator's Note: Apparently a regular dialup line, or perhaps a
cellular phone on his end to a regular POTS line in the studio.   PAT]
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 92 08:11:30 -0500
From: martin@datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: ISDN And Dialing 911
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 689, Message 6 of 19

The latest on the case of the Tulsa physician whose wife died of a
heart attack while her husband tried to call 911 for help is that Dr.
Homer Hardy, the physician, is suing Southwestern Bell for 35 million
dollars.

	The original story was not that a dial-tone was unavailable,
but that callers to the Tulsa area 911 system got a busy signal.


Martin McCormick WB5AGZ   Stillwater, OK
O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group


[Moderator's Note: In times of grief, people will do a variety of
irrational things such as the doctor, but his complaint is with either
the operators of the 911 service or the people who jammed the system --
not with SWBT. Suppose a patient calls the doctor and his line happens
to be busy. Could the patient then sue the telco or the doctor?   PAT]
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 92 00:21 PDT
From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: CWA Comments on AT&T Sales Office Closings
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 685, Message 3 of 10

Phillip.Dampier@f228.n260.z1.fidonet.org (Phillip Dampier) quotes:

> STATEMENT FROM CWA ON AT&T SALES OFFICE CLOSINGS

> "The union has argued against these kind of consolidations and
> re-organizations in the past, because they ultimately work against
> AT&T's best interest."

Not to mention the interests of the CWA members. It is an unfortunate
fact of life that competition requires a company to trim down and
tighten up. Many on this forum have complained that AT&T has not yet
learned how to compete. Maybe, but the company is getting there. And
the truth of the matter is that if the people are not needed, then
there is absolutely no justification for keeping them on the payroll.

Although the point is apparently debatable, IMHO industry is not just
another form of charity for "the people". If personel are not required
to provide a desired level of service, then they are expendable. It
can be argued that AT&T's level of service will suffer, but that is a
matter to be resolved in the marketplace, not in CWA press releases.

And why is AT&T singled out? GTE has planned a similar magnitude of
displacement for its employees in California. Where is the CWA press
release about that? Or are GTE employees not represented by CWA
(meaning of course that they don't count)?

> AT&T will announce next week the closing of six of its fourteen
> customer sales and service offices.  The closing offices employ about
> 860 workers represented by the Communications Workers of America.

This is the technological age. There will be much more of this in the
future. Anyone who fails to keep up with the times and does not keep
his skills current will find himself out on his ear. And there is
nothing the unions can do about it. Job security no longer resides in
union membership, but in the skill and usefulness of the individual.

And it is about time.


        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 264 4115
    john@zygot.ati.com      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !
Date: 14 Sep 1992 23:13:41 -0500
From: aaron@stat.tamu.edu (Aaron Hightower)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Touch Tone Decoding Projects: Mine Works, is There Better?
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 713, Message 15 of 16

I have a unit that I built entirely on my own that:

* Is able to amplify and output preamp audio (from computer);
* Is able to detect touch tones;
* Is able to detect telephone ring signals;
* Is able to determine status of phone call (did they hang up et al);
* Is able to be controlled via my own language.

The problem is that out of the $21.56 in parts, $7.18 is just for two
audio-isolation transformers ...

Can someone tell me more about how to make a good DAA that will
conform to FCC part 68 for $7.18 or less (IE: not an entire DAA, but
providing simply "two to four wire conversion" aka "hybrid circuit".)

I have heard rumours about preassembled hybrid transformers for use in
phones.  Does anyone know a good source of these?  Maybe someone would
like to donate a sample so that I might buy many many in the future?

If anyone needs info on how to get what I have working, I might have
the inclination to put something together for you.  ;-)

Email me if you have a solution!


Thanks,

  Aaron Hightower     College of Engineering
  Texas A&M University    College Station, TX  77840
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 92 11:48:51 PDT
From: mickeyf@vnet.ibm.com (Mickey Ferguson)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: New "Call Completion" from Cinci Bell
Organization: Rolm
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 701, Message 5 of 10

In TELECOM Digest V12 No. 696 (item 9) Alec Isaacson <AI4CPHYW@miamiu.
acs.muohio.edu> writes:

> I was listening to the radio last night and I heard a commercial from
> Cincinnati Bell offering a service called "Call Completion".  The
> commercial went on to say that if you call 555-1212 (rather than 411)
> for directory assistance you can hit a touch tone 1 after the number
> is looked up and be connected to that number.  (Then it went on to
> rave about how you will never need to fumble for pen and paper again :)
> The verbal "fine print" said this service cost $0.35 a pop, fee waived
> for busy numbers, not available in certain areas or on rotary phones.

One question about this service, though.  What is the cost for calling
information?  Around here in Pac Bell land, I think the service costs
$0.50 per call to information.  Is the $0.35 an ADDITIONAL fee?  If
not, sounds like you may not have the initial charge for info like we
do.


Mickey Ferguson -- Rolm -- FergusoM at scrvm2 -- mickeyf@vnet.ibm.com
From: unkaphaed!rkroll@uunet.UU.NET (Russell Kroll)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 2500 Picturephone in the News
Date: 4 Sep 92 22:38:25 GMT
Organization: Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 684, Message 9 of 11

> 1) Is this a nationwide service, fed from a satellite, so that
> everyone all over the country (or continent, or wherever) is seeing
> the same video at the same time, and there is one master "jukebox"
> feeding these videos in response to te 900-number calls? Or is this a
> localized service in which each region has their own "jukebox", so
> that what I see here in St. Louis may be entirely different from what
> is seen in another region?
 
Here in the Houston area, there is a similar channel - channel 56.
Every so often, it says something like:

CHANNEL 56
K56DP
K04NW
CH. 04
 
It's called "The BOX" and it has three 900 numbers -- one for ordering
one video, one for two, and one for three. (I think)
 
Unfortunately, I can only pick it up if I do some strange things with
the UHF antenna. The main house antenna won't bring it in!
 

rkroll@unkaphaed.UUCP (Russell Kroll)
Unka Phaed's UUCP Thingy, (713) 943-2728 in Houston, Texas
1200/2400/9600/14400 v.32bis/v.42bis
Date: 7 Sep 1992 23:33:18 GMT
From: bw300@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Patrick Connor)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Need Advice on Sending Voice Over Modem
Reply-To: bw300@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Patrick Connor)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 689, Message 7 of 19

As part of a project I am working on, I need to send two-way voice
communication over a modem line.  Are there any products on the market
that will do this easily?  The ideal box will have a telco jack and an
RS-232 port, so I can just insert it between phone and modem.

If such a box does not exist, how easy would it be to build?

Please respond by email.


Thanks,

pc
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 04:39:59 GMT
From: klopfens@andy.bgsu.edu (Bruce Klopfenstein)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Financial World Sept. 15 on Telecom
Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh.
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 694, Message 6 of 13

Most of the September 15 issue of {Financial World} is devoted to
"Telecommunications: A Global Report."  I have yet to read it, but
among the topics covered in separate articles are US West/ TCI (cable
TV); British Telecom; British Cable & Wireless; Newspapers vs. Baby
Bells; U.S. Sprint; Nynex; Telco in Former USSR; Privatization;
Alcatel; Japan Telecom in U.S.  Market; and a Table of the "World's 50
Largest Telecom Companies."


Bruce C. Klopfenstein             |  klopfens@andy.bgsu.edu
Department of Telecommunications  |  klopfenstein@bgsuopie.bitnet
322 West Hall                     |  klopfens@bgsuvax.UUCP
Bowling Green State University    |  (419) 372-2138; 372-2224 
Bowling Green, OH  43403-0235     |  fax (419) 372-8600