Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id AAA20270; Tue, 11 Nov 1997 00:23:26 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 00:23:26 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <199711110523.AAA20270@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V17 #310 TELECOM Digest Tue, 11 Nov 97 00:23:00 EST Volume 17 : Issue 310 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson UCLA Short Course: Internet Multicast and Multimedia Technology (B Goodin) Re: Switch Information Requested (Blake Droke) Electrical Design Engineers Needed (lmc@dmc22.com) Re: Ameritech ISDN Warning (Dan J. Declerck) Re: Ameritech ISDN Warning (Bill Cornett) Customer DDD is 46 Years Old (Monday) (Mark J. Cuccia) Re: Customer DDD is 46 Years Old (Monday) (Ryan Michael Landry) Re: Modem Users, Who You Gonna Call?; Not Bell Atlantic (Eric W. Burger) Re: Modem Users, Who You Gonna Call?; Not Bell Atlantic (Tom) Re: Unregulated LD From Canadian Hotels (Brian F. G. Bidulock) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@telecom-digest.org * The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax or phone at: Post Office Box 4621 Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 847-727-5427 Fax: 773-539-4630 ** Article submission address: editor@telecom-digest.org ** Our archives are available for your review/research. The URL is: http://telecom-digest.org They can also be accessed using anonymous ftp: ftp hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) A third method is the Telecom Email Information Service: Send a note to archives@telecom-digest.org to receive a help file for using this method or write me and ask for a copy of the help file for the Telecom Archives. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the * * International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland * * under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES) * * project. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bill Goodin Subject: UCLA Short Course: Internet Multicast and Multimedia Technology Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 17:18:41 -0800 On February 9-10, 1998, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Internet Multicast and Multimedia Technologies: The MBone, Multicast Routing, RTP, and RSVP", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors are Lixia Zhang, PhD, Associate Professor, Computer Science Department, UCLA; Steve Deering, PhD, Technical Leader, Cisco Systems; and Deborah Estrin, PhD, Associate Professor, Computer Science Department, University of Southern California. IP multicast delivery has been the key enabler for the development of a wide variety of multimedia applications on the Internet. This course describes the creation and operation of the MBone, the Multicast Backbone of the Internet, and its most widely used applications: vat (packet voice), vic (packet video), wb (distributed whiteboard), and csdr (conference session directory), for interactive remote participation in real time. The course also presents underlying protocol technologies, including the IP multicast service model, DistanceVector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP), and Realtime Transport Protocol (RTP), and scalable, reliable multicast delivery algorithms. The course also presents some of the tools available for monitoring and diagnosing multicast routing and delivery problems, such as mtrace and RTPmon. Because the rapid growth of the MBone is driving further evolution of existing protocol technologies, the second half of the course focuses on enhancement of Internet architecture and protocols to better support multicast and multimedia applications. This includes a detailed description of the RSVP resource reservation protocol and the PIM multicast routing protocol. The course is intended for Internet protocol implementors, Internet service providers, managers and planners of enterprise networks, and anyone wishing to learn how MBone works, and how IP multicast protocols and applications are evolving. The course fee is $795, which includes extensive course materials. These materials are for participants only, and are not for sale. For additional information and a complete course description, please contact Marcus Hennessy at: (310) 825-1047 (310) 206-2815 fax mhenness@unex.ucla.edu http://www.unex.ucla.edu/shortcourses This course may also be presented on-site at company locations. ------------------------------ From: Blake Droke Subject: Re: Switch Information Requested Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 20:36:48 -0600 Reply-To: bdroke@sprintmail.com PB Schechter wrote: > Colorado is currently looking for ways to "conserve" numbers in the > 303 area code. One idea that has come up is the possibility of > turning Central Office Codes from NXXs to XXXs. This would add about > two million numbers, and is possible because Colorado is going to use > an overlay in the 303 area, so ten digits will need to be dialed for > all local calls. > (Just to be perfectly clear: currently, a CO code can't begin with 0 > or 1 because those initial digits are used to indicate operator and > long distance calls, respectively. However, if local calls are all > prefaced with the area code, the initial digit of a call to a number > with a CO code beginning with 0 or 1 *will not be 0 or 1.*) > Some people have claimed that this might "break" some switches > (particularly, outside of the North American Numbering Plan). It > seems to me that, once a switch sees that a call is going "somewhere > else" (i.e., to a different area code), it won't even look at the > remaining digits (or, if it does, it won't care what they are). > However, I am not a switch expert. Other replies have indicated that there would be problems with various IXC and LEC switches, but this would only be the beginning. PBXs everywhere would have to be checked for any possible problems. (At my office, the PBX would have to have minor re-programming). But even minor re-programming when spread out over 1000s of PBXs in the NANP would be quite an undertaking (and quite an expense). What about computer programs and databases which have been programmed to recognize 0xx-xxxx and 1xx-xxx numbers as invalid? How many of these are there out there? Another computer problem (especially with IBM midrange and mainframe systems) is some times the phone or fax number is stored as one field for the NPA code, and another 7 digit numeric field for the phone number. It is a common practice on these systems to display the phone number with an "Edit word". This will cause data such as 5551212 to be displayed or printed as 555-1212, but data such as 053-1234 will be displayed/printed as 53-1234. If you saw a number like that what would you think? (Probably where's the rest of the number.) Speaking of what would you think, how are you going to re-program people's brains? When we switched away from 0 or 1 as second digit in NPAs, the average person couldn't have cared less. He/she most likely never knew that restriction existed to begin with. A number beginning with 0 or 1 will probably raise quite a few more eyebrows. ("This number can't be right"). I'm sure there'd be virtually no public education. Untold hundreds of thousands still don't know that 888 is toll free. If I ran a business in Denver, I would most certainly NOT want a number beginning with 0 or 1. (For residential, it might be a plus, it might confuse the telemarketers.) In my humble opinion (and it is very humble indeed) is that the NANP should not be tampered with on a local level. It is unfair to shift the expense of incorporating this change throughout North America, simply to prevent someone in Denver from having an area code they don't like. There has already been far too many local changes made to the NANP. Some places require 7 digits for local calls, some 10, some 11. Some have 7 digit dialing for some long distance calls, some don't. This is another local twist which is not needed. Changes like this should be considered at the NANP level (or whoever is in charge of it now.) And while they're at it, maybe they could fix the other dialing messes, like making 10 local dialing the preferred method, with 7 digit permitted where possible, and 1+10 digits premitted on all calls everywhere, or something like that. (So no matter where you were in North America, you'd at least know how to dial the phone.) Just my two cents worth, as an information systems manager in Tennessee with dozens of programs and 2 PBXs that would require changing, if Colorado proceeded with this plan. ------------------------------ From: lmc@dmc22.com Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 20:41:46 CST Subject: Employment Opportunity: Electrical Design Engineers Needed We are a market leader in the manufacture and sale of clinical diagnostic equipment and are seeking engineers for our South East and Mid West facilities, individuals that can design and integrate electronic circuitry for diagnostic and patient monitoring equipment. These positions reports to the Director of Research and Development. A BS degree in Electrical Engineering is essential. Experience with embedded real-time systems, an ability to work in a team environment and a minimum of 2 years' experience in the medical diagnostics industry is required. I can offer competitive compensation ($90,000) and comprehensive company-paid benefits. If you know someone that would be interested I can be contacted at: Larry Chiaravallo Voice: (609) 584-9000 ext 216 Fax (609) 584-9575 Email lmc@dmc22.com ------------------------------ From: Dan J. Declerck Subject: Re: Ameritech ISDN Warning Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 09:42:22 -0600 Organization: Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group Kevin R. Ray wrote: > Kyler Laird wrote: >> So ... I signed up with the only reasonable ISDN provider in town, >> BlueMarble.net, and they helped me order my ISDN line. >> Just ordering it was an ordeal. The woman who took the order (with >> the ISP and me both on the line) was a moron. She had great >> difficulty and let someone else just take care of it. > I skipped the ISP/USRobotics help to getting my ISDN line. I called > 1-800-TEAM-DATA directly. All they wanted was some equipment code that > I didn't know -- telling them "Courier I-Modem" was enough. > Ironically after the installation and playing with it I tried > switching the Courier from using Nation ISDN-1 protocol to Nation > ISDN-2, AT&T 5ESS, Northern Telecom DMS-100 ... they *ALL* worked. >> Later that week, I received a call from Ameritech with the details. >> It would take over three weeks to install. My wife was getting anxious, >> but this gave me time to get the computer purchased and set up. > I too received a call back from Ameritech confirming the installation. > It too took about three weeks from the initial phone call. Typical > from what I've heard. I had an additional line installed in May ... I never got a confirmation date for the install. The guy came out when I wasn't home. Instead of getting an additional line installed, I got all lines disconnected! (I said "number_of_lines++" and got " lines = 0") It took them TWO days to come out and repair the problem ... >> The line was installed when promised, Oct. 24. Unfortunately, no one >> was home, so the installer decided not to connect the line to the >> inside wires. I spent the evening on the (cellular) phone with my >> wife trying to figure out why she couldn't get a signal. > You knew the installation date. Why was no one there or re-schedule it > for a good time? If I was the installer (which I'm not a phone guy :) > I too would have terminated at the POP box and left. It would be > *possible* to fry phone equipment by simply hooking it up to a ISDN > line. The installer had no idea where those pairs went inside the > house. >> So ... she called back to get the wires connected since I wasn't going >> to be down there for over a week. Eventually the installer showed up >> again. > Probably not the original installer who knew about ISDN, et al... When Ameritech started offering Ameritech.net internet service, I went to their webpage to check things out ... I sent e-mail off asking questions about pricing, local numbers, etc. It took no less than SIX weeks to get a reply. I replied that my present ISP had normal daytime hours, and typical response time was less than 24 hours for e-mail. The mere fact that it took them six weeks to respond to a simple e-mail (no technical content) was reason enough for me not to consider their service. I'd hope that they've improved this since then. After all, the costs of abndoning ameritech.net will probably be borne out on the landline voice customers, should this data venture fail. Today, there is almost no way to avoid the baby bells when data service is required. => Dan DeClerck | EMAIL: declrckd@cig.mot.com <= [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That has been a rather consistent complaint about many/most of the large corporations which have jumped on the WWW bandwagon in the past couple years hasn't it? They put up nice, sometimes very fancy web pages with all their products and services on display, then assign no one to answer email inquiries. PAT] ------------------------------ From: systech@sprynet.com (Bill Cornett) Subject: Re: Ameritech ISDN Warning Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 01:17:42 GMT Organization: Sprynet News Service I feel certain that if you had taken this up with a supervisor at Ameritech, they would have paid to have your drywall professionally repaired. If a first level doesn't give you satisfaction, take it up the line. Now that you have repaired it yourself, it's too late. I'm familiar with the jacks you are talking about, the sticky backing rips the outer layer off the drywall when it is removed. For that reason I use screws and plastic anchors instead. The holes are easily filled. As you pointed out, they should never have been changed. Assuming you didn't call to complain, this installer will probably do the same thing over again somewhere else. Bill Cornett ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 09:44:09 -0600 From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Customer DDD is 46 Years Old (Monday) It was on 10-November-1951, 46 years ago today (Monday), that Customer DDD (Direct Distance Dialing) began, from the #5XB Office in Englewood/Teaneck NJ, to about 15 or so selected metro areas across the (continental) USA. The term "DDD" wasn't really used at that time, but rather (customer) Long Distance Dialing. An inaugural call was placed (by _dialing_ ten-digits), by the mayor of Englewood NJ to the mayor of Alameda CA. I think that the Englewood NJ mayor also dialed calls to mayors of other cities then customer-dialable from Englewood NJ, as well. A text-based transcription of the customer-instruction booklet "How to Use Long Distance Dialing" is available from the TELECOM Digest Archives in the "History" section: http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/history/ NWORLASKCG0 (BellSouth #1AESS Class-5 Local "Seabrook" 504-24x-) NWORLAIYCM1 (BellSouth-Mobility Hughes-GMH-2000 Cellular-MTSO NOL) NWORLAMA0GT (BellSouth DMS-100/200 fg-B/C/D Accss-Tandem "Main" 504+) NWORLAMA20T (BellSouth DMS-200 TOPS:Opr-Srvcs-Tandem "Main" 504+053+) NWORLAMA04T (AT&T #4ESS Class-2 Toll 060-T / 504-2T "Main" 504+) JCSNMSPS06T (AT&T #5ESS OSPS:Operator-Services-Tandem 601-0T 601+121) MARK_J._CUCCIA__PHONE/WRITE/WIRE/CABLE:__HOME:__(USA)__Tel:_CHestnut-1-2497 WORK:__mcuccia@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu|4710-Wright-Road|__(+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity-5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New-Orleans-28__|fwds-on-no-answr-to Fax:UNiversity-5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 21:03:34 -0600 (CST) From: Ryan Michael Landry Subject: Re: Customer DDD is 46 Years Old (Monday) We ought to have DDD Day instead of some of these assinine holidays of late (UN Day, World Peace Day, MLK Day, etc.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I disagree strongly. I have very little disagreement with the United Nations, and in fact one of their agencies known as the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) has been a sponsor of this Digest for several years. Their financial support has been invaluable where keeping this Digest flowing from day to day is concerned. I happen to also think that world peace is a good idea even if a bit far-fetched as it seems at times, this being the eve of what may be still another in the long series of ugly conflicts between the USA and Mr. Hussain; I'd like to see every day be World Peace Day in reality, but I'll grant you it probably will never happen and I would never agree to live under the terms which some governments would impose on you and I to make it happen. Through a bit of extremely good luck, I was fortunate to be at a private dinner (eight persons total) with Martin and Coretta King in 1964. Although he was the speaker on a few occassions in Chicago during the early 1960's at the Chicago Sunday Evening Club services at Orchestra Hall (the same place where Hillary Clinton's young people's group heard him speak on one of the same Sunday evenings), I had never really met him personally until that time. My roomate at the time was the organist for Sunday Evening Club; after the service that night -- the night teenager Hillary Clinton was there -- the president of CSEC and his wife, a Trustee of CSEC and his wife, and Dr. and Mrs. King went around the corner to Miller's Pub for dinner and drinks. Someone invited Roy (organist) and he asked them if I could join the group. At 22 years of age, and already in the habit of writing Editor's Notes on every subject under the sun I was, frankly, thrilled. Here you see, less than an hour before he had been addressing two thousand plus people at Orchestra Hall; now he was looking at *me* and talking to *me*. The others present at the table all chatted; to me it seemed prudent for once in my life to keep my damn mouth shut and just listen. Two hours passed quickly, and as midnight approached he and Mrs. King said they simply had to leave. The others had their own cars but Roy and I did not. I recall ordering a taxi; Roy and I dropped off Dr. and Mrs. King at the hotel where they were staying then Roy and I kept the same cab and went back home. That was the last time he was invited to speak at CSEC; when the trustees were preparing the list of speakers for the next year they did not invite MLK back. 'Too controversial for our taste' was their excuse. Now based on that experience, perhaps I am biased, but I consider MLK to be a saint. Frankly Ryan, I found your message offensive. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Modem Users, Who You Gonna Call?; Not Bell Atlantic Date: Sun, 9 Nov 1997 21:38:38 EST From: Eric William Burger Forwarded message from Robert J. Perillo: > Actually, the problem isn't ... This decision is seen as a marketing > move to stimulate demand for ISDN lines, and assymetrical digital > subscriber line service (ADSL) when it becomes available next year. > It's really ... the limitations of Bell Atlantic's voice-grade > circuits, he said. Standard voice lines operate at 300 to 3,000 hertz, > but a 28.8 modem requires a range of 465 to 3,520 hertz, he said." Especially in residential suburbs, Bell Atlantic is heavily relying on SLC96's (compression). That's not good for modems, but ok for voice. BA's not likely to "fix" a signficant cost reduction for themselves. ------------------------------ From: Tom Subject: Re: Modem Users, Who You Gonna Call?; Not Bell Atlantic Date: Sun, 09 Nov 1997 22:33:50 -0500 Organization: Magic Carpet Inc Reply-To: trbarton@galaxy.net >> According to Bell Atlantic, ''a service charge may apply when a >> repair person is dispatched and the problem is with the >> transmission or receipt of data or signals which are beyond the >> operating capabilities of the dial-tone line.'' ". Here's a part that you might have missed ... One of my customers uses a fax and modem on a pots line. The cable in the area is really old and most pairs are suspect. He was complaining of modem drop outs. I have a pretty keen ear for noisy lines, surprisingly :-) better than most NYNEX repairmen, but knowing I needed better info than "just sounds bad", I carry a "Side Kick" meter with me; it shows line problems like leakage, cross, grounds, and noisy splices. Well, as you can already guess, the NYNEX guy was less than impressed, said that the line "sounded OK", and that he had never seen a meter that could "Show Noise", but he changed the pair anyway -- to a WORSE pair, and left. A long argument insued with management, and finally they sent over a repairman who found a good pair, and ended the story. Well, what I see from the Bell Atlantic story here, it is obvious that they are going in the direction of a company policy of "sounds OK for voice, and that's all we guarentee ..." no matter how badly the line hums or crackles. Too bad, as it really is not that hard to clean up noisy cables, and in the end, an afternoon spent by a cable crew doing just that, will reduce over all service calls, and save the company countless repair hours "changing pairs" ------------------------------ From: Brian F.G. Bidulock Subject: Re: Unregulated LD From Canadian hotels Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 03:11:20 -0700 Organization: Brian F.G. Bidulock Paul Lantz wrote: > Recently I stayed in a hotel in Toronto. > The telephone information sheet stated that long distance services > were provided by US Telephone (or something) which was an unregulated > service. I wondered if this would affect the price of telephone calls > (visions of having long distance calls diverted through some offshore > company at astronomical cost). It looks like the long distance services were actually provided by a reseller and not a full carrier such as AT&T Canada or Sprint Canada. > Does anyone have information on this? I made long distance calls but > they went through Bell; I didn't try any calls to the US. Are there > are any risks for people using these services? The fact that the calls went through Bell reaffirms the possibility that long distance services were provided by a reseller. If you are confused about long distance rates from motels or hotels in Canada and carry a calling card from your Long Distance carrier which has an 800 access number (such as Bell's calling card using their 800-555-1111 dial around number), you can make a calling card call from the hotel or motel without operator surcharges. Many hotels or motels charge CDN$0.50 or so for making an 800 call, but it is against CRTC ruling for a hotel or motel to block access to any 800/888 number. If you want to avoid a hotel surcharge on 800/888 numbers where the hotel or motel surcharges, you might use the payphone in the lobby, where 800/888 surcharges are prohibited. Calling cards are easy to acquire from all long distance carriers in Canada and the bill for calls can normally be reported and paid on your normal home or business long distance bill. Hope this helps. Brian ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V17 #310 ******************************