Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7) id AA14754; Tue, 20 Dec 88 01:52:40 EST Message-Id: <8812200652.AA14754@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: Tue, 20 Dec 88 1:08:19 EST From: The Moderator Reply-To: TELECOM@bu-cs.BU.EDU Subject: TELECOM Digest V8 #205 To: TELECOM@bu-cs.bu.edu TELECOM Digest Tue, 20 Dec 88 1:08:19 EST Volume 8 : Issue 205 Today's Topics: Re: Touch-Tone around the world (1) Re: Touch-Tone around the world (2) Re: NJ Bell CLASS Services Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG Adult messages (was Dial Santa....) Wanted: Device to limit length of phone calls Performance of Interlata Carriers Networking in the 90's - TENCON 1989 in India ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: homxb!hrs@att.att.com Date: Sat, 17 Dec 11:48:27 1988 To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: Re: Touch-Tone around the world DTMF is widely available in the Netherlands. I brought a friend in Amsterdam an AT&T 2500 set 6 years ago, and it worked fine. It is also available in Japan, Australia, and a few exchanges in Switzerland. I have also seen it in Denmark and Norway, but don't know how prevalent it is. Herman Silbiger hrs@batavier.ATT.COM ------------------------------ To: mcvax!cwi.nl!comp-dcom-telecom@uunet.UU.NET From: mcvax!nikhefk!henkp@uunet.UU.NET (Henk Peek) Subject: Re: Touch-Tone around the world Date: 20 Dec 88 01:02:15 GMT In article you write: >X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp >X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 201, message 3 > >I've used DTMF phones in the Telehouse on Raadhuistraat in Amsterdam, >but I noted that there were *none* on the streets, and none installed >in the places i visited in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands there are about 40% DTMF phones. About 60% of the lines are "dual mode" and there is no free for DTMF. Only DTMF will be enabled when you buy a DTMF phone of the PTT. May be this will change when on 1 Jan 1989 monopoly of the Dutch PTT ends. After this date they hold only the monopoly of the cables and the public switches. Today there are also many DTMF payphones on the street. ># Henry Mensch / / E40-379 MIT, Cambridge, MA ># {decvax,harvard,mit-eddie}!garp!henry / Henk Peek ..!uunet!mcvax!nikhefk.UUCP Amsterdam, The Netherlands ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 19 Dec 88 07:29:46 PST From: judice%kyoa.DEC@decwrl.dec.com (L Judice / 201-562-4103 / DTN 323-4103) To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: Re: NJ Bell CLASS Services I called the 1-800-772-2184 number to see if CLASS services were available in my exchange. Not yet, and no schedule, but "a new exchange is being added every month". This seems slow to me, since I was under the impression that CLASS was implemented in software on existing ESS switches... Any NJ Bell folks out there have a schedule, or currently operating exchanges? /ljj ------------------------------ From: dsmythe@cup.portal.com To: telecom-request@xx.lcs.mit.edu Subject: Re: IBM Sells Rolm To Siemens AG Date: Sun, 18-Dec-88 00:35:02 PST > [Ron Natalie says:] >If you'd actually used a Rolm phone switch, you'd know >why they lost money on it. Everyone in the industry is losing money on PBXs now. > People expect their telephone service to be reliable. Was this a redundant switch? Multinode? Single node? > In addition to horrendous start >up bugs on all the installations I've watched, the thing >managed to scrog traditional modem connections run through >it. I use data-switching all the time with no problems. What kind of machines are you referring to? Is it a CBX 8000, 9000 or a 9751? The 9751 is quite an improvement from a maintenance standpoint. Also, you must draw distinctions between attached telecom hardware and the CBX itself. Could the problems be with your modem configuration (not the modem itself, but the way the system is set up)? Just curious. Dave Smythe dsmythe@cup.portal.com N.B.: I speak for myself alone. ------------------------------ To: telecom@XX.LCS.MIT.EDU From: Dan Chaney Subject: adult messages (was Dial Santa....) Date: 19 Dec 88 06:16:55 GMT In article samho@larry.cs.washington.edu (Sam Ho) writes: >X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp >X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 201, message 7 > >Last week, KTZZ-TV, Channel 22 here in Seattle, broadcast a half-hour >paid advertisement for an information provider called PhoneQuest. Last >year, about this time, PhoneQuest was showing 30-second ads for dialing >Santa at some 976 number. This year, not only did they encourage kids ^^^ >PhoneQuest blithely explained that the broadcast tones were to prevent >accidentally dialing the wrong number and getting an adult message. ^^^^^ Are these 'adult message' recordings still out there? It was my understanding that they were ruled a big no-no from Uncle Meese (seemingly an authority on big no-no's.) Wasn't there a court-ruling on them that banned them? Details! Facts! Figures! Numbers even! 0:-) I know that all the numbers *I* knew don't exist anymore - at least, the area codes have been changed to protect the innocent and I can't find the right numbers..... [Moderator's note: Adult phone services are alive and well, thank you. There are not as many of them in some places as others; and in some areas they are on 1-900 type lines, while other communities, like San Fransisco, have them on 976. The "San Fransisco Hot Conference" is an open conversation line, on the number 1-415-976-4297. Typically, the final four digits, as in this case, will spell a word with sexual innuendo. This one, which seems to cater to a largely homosexual audience charges $2 per call (of 2.9 minutes) to intra-state callers from California. A disclaimer on the front end says, "Welcome to the San Fransisco Hot Conference! In just a few seconds, you will be connected for up to two and a half minutes of lively adult conversation. Its just two dollars!! Have fun!!" Most of the services like this on 976 get their callers from *out of state*. The reason is, instead of paying $2 (plus tolls) for the call, they only pay 51 cents, or whatever Reach Out America gets for three minutes in the middle of the night. The FCC has never permitted special surcharges of this nature on interstate calls, ergo, the information provider eats the cost. What advertising appears for these services generally admonishes the reader, "California callers only!" for the simple reason they would prefer to have their lines filled up with people paying two dollars to get their jollies instead of people from other states getting a free ride. Because of a chronic dispute between MCI and Pacific Tel, attempts to dial a 415-976 or 213-976 number on MCI returns an intercept recording saying "at the present time, MCI does not connect to 976 numbers. Please dial 10288, plus the desired eleven digit number to place your call. P. Townson] -- Dan Chaney {uunet and the like}!ukma!chaney chaney@ms.uky.edu chaney@ukma.BITNET "Life is but a state of mind" - Ben Rand ------------------------------ To: comp-dcom-telecom@rutgers.edu From: mstar!kim@sgi.com (Kim Toms) Subject: Wanted: Device to limit length of phone calls Date: 19 Dec 88 16:01:56 GMT I'd like to locate a device Klligertified to be totally deaf, severely hearing impaired or both deaf and blind. Lesli Cohan, director of customer services for the ITAC said that over the next two years, the telephone companies expect to distribute up to 20,000 's across the state. The trust fund for the purchase of tchines has about $5.5 million in reserves at me, collected through a 3 cents per month surcharge on telephone subscribers inis. A special model of T will be available to persons who are both deaf and blind which will output braille punch. In addition, several central locations in the state will provide operator assistance and directssistance to users of the machines. Some relay stations already exist which receive messages from users and repeat them by voice to regular telephone users. To obtain an application for a at no charge, write to the is Telecommunications Access ation, PO Box 64509, Chicago, IL 60664. You will be required to provide proof of your disability from your physician. IBell presently permits listings in the directories it publishes which identify a subscriber as a T user. Certain TSPS operator facilities will be equipped in such a way that an operator receiving a call from a T machine will be able to respond from the regular terminal at her position by typing normally, and reading the subscriber's message on her screen. ------------------------------ To: comp-dcom-telecom@husc6.harvard.edu From: dfim%tank.uchicago.edu@oddjob.uchicago.edu (Don ) Subject: Telephone ata Date: 19 Dec 88 23:42:46 GMT I really need to know how/if long-term backups are made of telephone call data. My problem is this: I have an origination number, a destination number and an approximate time (January 1 - 9, 1979), but one party insists that the calls were never made. The local phone company tells me that records are only kept for six (6) months then destroyed. I just can't believe this has always been the procedure. Years ago microfilm was used, I know that much. If there is anyone out there with any information (either relating specifically to the Winnetka area, I, or generally) please reply with information or names of those with information. Thanks Don McLellan ------------------------------ telecom@uunet.UU.NET From: vrdxhq!verdix.com!nomad@uunet.UU.NET (Lee Damon) Subject: Sprint billing errogain. Date: 288 18:36:06 GMT Way back in my student days I subscribed to Sprint so I could make distance calls from my dorm room. When I moved out of the dorm I kept sprint as my ld ca. Then they had their billing problems. When I got a bill for a call that had been made 6 months before, I paid it and said unto them, "Stop service. Send me one final bill. I will pay that bill and that is all. I will not pay any bills received after that final bill." They said "ok" and sent me what was labeled "Final Bill" and I paid it. Two months later they sent me a bill for $50. I ignored it, as I had told them I would. Two months after that they sent me one for $100. I ignored that one. Yesterday, about a year after receiving the "final bill," I got a letter from a collection agen They want me to pay the $102 that Sprint claims I owe them. I don't , as they sent me a final bill and I paid it. What I want to know is, do they (Sprint) have a leg to stand on in this issue? Can I fight this successfully? (In other words, I don't that I should be responsible for Sprint's bad business practices, and refuse to patheir (s).) Comments? (Oh, no, I don't still have the bill that was labeled "Final Bill" I have moved several times since then and things got n the shuffel.) nomad --------------------- Lee Damon UUCP: verdix!------- UUCP: verdix!nomad \ \ Internet: nomad@verdix.com {tektronix,hp-pcd}!orstcs!castle!nomad FidoNet: 105/302 - The Castle BBS - 503-629-5841 / agora! "Say w like, the bicycle has a t past ahead of it!" [Yes, they do have the right to bill you. The tariff allows for bills to be rendered several months after the call was made if rrors prevented it being issued earlier. When Sprint responded to your final bill request, their response was conditional based on your allegations that no further charges would be incurred. Obviously, new charges came in.] ------------------------------ To: uunet!comp-dcom-telecom From: w-colinp@microsoft.UUCP (Colin Plumb) Subject: Re: e of ta rs Date: 21 Dec 88 02:56:14 GMT One way to do a good test of the various intercarriers is to get a couple of Telebit Trailblazers and let them measure the noise spectrum. They'll deliver 511 dB readings (to .1 dB, I don't know how much of that is signi) of line noise at about 7.5 Hz intervals, and a 0-100 "line quality index" for lower baud rates. Basically, a (realtively) cheap way of objectively measuring phone line quality. And if you'rerned for data transmission reasons, the mapping onto throughput is direct. If you want to do it seriously, make at least a dozen connections via each of the varioarriers, toious places of interest and at vas times of day. That should leave you with a ing for who's best. -- -Colin (uunet!microsof!w-colinp) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, c 88 04:06:38 EST From: Miguel_Cruz@ub.cc.umich.edu To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: one Digits ry ow To ister John Higdon: as a "wanabee" and "jargon speaker" who admittedly has no right to speak to technical people at the phone company, may I just take this opportunity to express my appreciation for your constructive message. Also: this has bothered me for the longest time.. We have an NT DMS-100 (or something) switch here with an incredibly annoying feature: touch tone digits take about 75ms to register. That means my autodial phone won't work, nor will the redial on my other phone. I have to reconfigure my modem each time I use it on this system. I have nothing whatsoever to do with the administration of this system and haven't had a whole lot of luck talking to knowleadgeable people who work with it (But then again, J.H., I don't "deserve" to...). Now, is this touch tone problem a function of the system itself, or is it something they can adjust? Why would a system be configured to fall so short of such an accepted standard? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, c 88 08:44:42 EST From: prindle@NADC.ARPA (Frank Prindle) To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: s. Touch-Tone I'm curious when the term DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency) became synonymous with one. As I recall, DTMF once designated the set of dual-tone frequencies used for in-band signaling on long distance trunks, which used a completely different set of tones than one, and was always generated within the CO, not by any phone set (well, except for the "blue boxes"). I understand that this signaling technology has pretty much faded out, but didn't realize that TPC now uses the term DTMF to refer to Touch Tone (I can see DTMF is a generic enough term to cover both, but thought they were historically quite different). Is my memory bad? Sincerely, Frank Prindle ndle@NADC.arpa ----- telecom@rutgers.edu From: dupuy@cs.columbia.edu (Alexander Dupuy) Subject: For Callback Security Use a DLine Date: 20:16:04 GMT In a sun-spots article dan@watson.bbn.com (Dan Franklin) writes: > X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 7, Issue 70, message 3 of 14 > As more people are trying to beef up sity by having the system call > them back to log in, it's probably worth a reminder: don't use the same > telephone line (number) to call in and out. That would render the > callback mechanism completely useless. The reason is that there is no > reliable indication from the phone company to your modem that a caller has > actually hung up. [details deleted for brevity] > Even using a different line is not a defense, if the number can be > discovered. The penetrator can just call it ahead of time. You must use > a separate, unrelated (and unlisted) set of phone numbers. It's best if > the numbers have a different exchange prefix, to make g them really > difficult. It seems that the CLASS-type service which is now becoming available from the BOCs would be ideal for a 'poipatraitor' to use to discover the dialback numbers beised. Admittedly, you'd have to have the system dial you back at least once, so that this only allows a (possibly former) insider to break the system, but that can be an issue. Are CLASS-blocking capabilities available? What if their system has CLASS and yours doesn't, but does provide calling # information to other exchanges? I guess the best solution is to use a modem pool for dialouts, and randomly select one of the modems in the pool. Ahh, but then if they cracked your random-number generator.... :-) @alex -- -- inet: dupuy@columbia.edu uucp: ...!rutgers!columbia!dupuy [Moderator's Note: Actually, a far better, easier, and cheaper way to handle the problem of unwanted users who simply hang on the line waiting for the modem to pick up and 'dial them back' -- only to be re-connected with the original phreak caller is to install *three way calling* on the incoming modem lines, agram the outdial activity to always begin with a switchook flash. 1) Modem answers; accepts information, instructs caller to disconnect. 2) If the caller does in fact disconnect to be called back, when the modem goes off hook a few seconds later to make the call, an extra switchook flash will do nothing but provide dialtone once, a disconnect, and dialtone a second time....then a dialed number. 3) On the other hand, if someoneurking, waiting for the modem to pick up the line, that extra switchook flash will bring up the other line, and send the call out on it instead. Won't the phreak be suprised when he is left 'on hold'!! ha ha!! And if the modem is dialing his true number (which is unlikely, considering the games being played) it will get a busy signal or (if phreak has call waiting) will knock him off the line with the call waiting signalis approach eliminatneed for the system administrator to get a group of lines for call back purposes and the need to keep them secret. Most modems can simulate a switchook flash with ! ... at least my US Robotics Courier00 can do it. P. Townson] ------------------------------ End of TE