TELECOM Digest Fri, 25 Mar 94 00:29:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue 146
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson
Cell One/NY Billing Errors, Also DC (Douglas Scott Reuben)
New Book Announcement (Kathleen M. Billus)
Cell One Switches Toll-Digit Dialing (Monty Solomon)
Dying Telephones (Doug Taylor)
Pager Scam Resurfaces (Stephen Goodman)
Jobs Offered - Telecom Analysts (Ernie Garcia)
Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire (Mark Brukhartz)
Re: Bell South ISDN Announcement (Tom Horsley)
Re: Hush-a-Phone (Brian J. Cecil)
Re: Area Code 562 (K. M. Peterson)
Re: Area Code 562 (Linc Madison)
Re: Area Code 562 (Alan M. Gallatin)
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Date: 24 Mar 1994 16:12:59 EST
From: Douglas Scott Reuben <
[email protected]>
Subject: Cell One/NY Billing Errors, Also DC
Just got my bill from Cell One/NY, and noticed the "airtime for
voicemail" problem (where calls to voicemail are billed airtime) is
still occurring.
These calls do NOT look like voicemail calls; rather, they are
itemized as "INCOMING". They are NOT free -- they are billed full
airtime rates!
They seem to occur randomly -- I distinctly remember making a number
of calls to my voicemail on Feb 15, yet only SOME are showing up (all
of them usually do), and only SOME of those are being billed airtime.
(Note that NONE of these are voicemail calls frm my carphone, which do
incur airtime).
I must have like $100 worth of "INCOMING" charges which are really
FREE voicemail calls, and the thing that is so insidious about all
this is that I am sure that if anyone else does have the same billing
problem, they may very well *never* notice it because they have fewer
voicemail calls than I do, and figure "Oh well, guess I got a lot of
incoming calls this month ..." and just pay the bill without careful
scruitinization (which no one should have to do anyhow).
So if you have voicemail with CO/NY, CHECK your bills for suspicious
"INCOMING" calls!
On a different note: CO/DC (and I believe Chicago as well) have been
added to the NACN. CO/NY customers who travel to DC (and Chicago?) can
get calls and features in these markets, with the usual
McCaw-is-occassionally-brain-dead caveat that calls will NOT bounce
back to voicemail if you don't answer your phone. (Like, err, do they
anticipate sort of addressing this issue within the next DECADE or so? ;( )
And of course for some reason NY doesn't have No-Answer-Transfer (other
Ericssons do, right?) which is user-selectable, so that obviously won't
work in DC or Chicago either. (Altghough DC and Chicago customers who
have NAT should be able to use the feature in NY -- it won't do much
good, for the same reason calls can not bounce back to voicemail on
the NACN. Calls will just come to NY, and if unanswered, they will NOT
transfer ... nice, eh?)
Finally, Call-Waiting is STILL not working on any of the Motorola EMX
500/2500 switches locally connected to the NY system. These are CT/W.
Mass (00119), ComCast NJ (00173,00575,01487), Philly PA (00029, on the
NACN!) and northern Delaware (00123, also on the NACN!). They've tried
for months to get this working, and it still won't. If you are on the
phone in any of these markets, callers will get bounced to voicemail
right away, and you will have no idea that they called. I would think
that at MINIMUM it could be set to get a busy signal as an interim
sort of solution, so that callers would try to call you back, but so
far, they can't even manage that. So, if you are expecting a call, you
are basically stuck if you want to use your phone at the same time --
you need to check your voicemail after you get off the phone to be
sure you didn't miss any calls. Neat revenue generator there, eh? :(
This does, however, allow customers who wish to switch to NYNEX
(WHY?!, they are worse ... MUCH worse!) or Bell Atlantic Mobile to
EASILY get out of their annual service agreements, or even their
agreement to stay online for "X" months else they have to pay the $400
commission the dealer gets from CO/NY for a new ativation (which is
why you can get a pocket phone for $29).
Just call up CO/NY, and say "Hey, when I signed up, both the dealer
and/or your service reps authoritatively told me that when I roamed to
CT/NJ/DE/PA that I could get call waiting, and that I wouldn't have to
check my voicemail all the time. This was one of the main reasons why
I signed up with you! I noticed that this was not working over six
mnths ago, and you have had plenty of time to correct the problem,
which you have not done. As a result, you are not fulfilling the terms
of our agreement, and due to your failure to correct these problems in
any semblance of a timely manner, I am repudiating our agreement, and
refuse to pay any "penalty"/cancellation charges."
They may make a fuss over this, but their legal department will tell
them you are essentially correct. Make sure you emphasize that one of
the main reasons why you signed up was because you traveled to the
above markets a lot and wanted to be sure you could always get calls.
Tell them "Had I known then what I know now, I would have gone with
NYNEX instead, becuase their system does indeed work this way, while
yours, despite your explicit assurance, does not."
I think they will fix this quickly enough if they have to eat a few
$400 commissions! :) And, as a matter of fact, as long as you are a
customer of *any* NACN system and want to get out of your contract,
you may be able to pull this as well. Simply say you signed up becuase
you travel to Philly and/or Delaware a lot, and specifically wanted
call-waiting, which you of course are not getting. A bit of a stretch,
but it may work!
(BTW, I do like CO/NY and think they provide pretty decent service.
It's just frustrating that I have to sit here and go over all of our
bills with them to make sure we weren't charged for voicemail calls,
or for that matter to keep having to check my voicemail while in
Philly after I have been on the phone for a while -- I have better
things to do with my time.)
Doug
[email protected]
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: One good thing here is that if you have
something waiting in voicemail, the cellular phone gives three little
tone spurts (sort of like the stutter dial tone if you are on a land
line) when you press SEND. So instead of actually having to place a
call to voicemail (with the resulting charges and waste of time) you
can just press SEND. As soon as you are on the air, either you will
hear those three short tone spurts or you will not. If you don't then
don't bother calling voicemail. PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Kathleen M Billus)
Subject: New Book Announcement
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 21:44:57 GMT
The Internet Connection: System Connectivity and Configuration
by John S. Quarterman and Smoot Carl-Mitchell
ISBN 0-201-54237-4, 1994
Published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. <
[email protected]>
"... it's a book I would buy even though I am very experienced at all
this. It would be good to have a reference like this on the shelf. ...
pulling together a lot of practical information into one place ..."
Barry Shein, Software Tool & Die
"The book is very clear and very easy to read. It brings the reader
into the Internet at a good pace. It has enough details to be able to
configure machines, but not enough to scare away nervous newcomers."
Michael Barrow, Boston Computer Society Internet
How do I connect to the Internet? What equipment do I need? What
software do I need? How do I configure it? What forms need to be filled
out? Where do I send the check? Where do I find this information?
"The Internet Connection: System Connectivity and Configuration" is
*the* reference guide that will explain how to become a part of a
community where global communication, resource discovery, and resource
sharing are brought to your desktop through the Internet. This book
serves as the central source of information about the Internet from
technology questions to administrative questions.
Access to the Internet, the global network of networks, is becoming a
must for business today. Expanding at an accelerated rate, and
promising to be the foundation for future "information superhighways,"
the Internet is changing the way individuals and corporations
communicate. "The Internet Connection: System Connectivity and
Configuration" is the first clear and concise reference for system
designers, system administrators, as well as individuals trying to gain
access to the Internet.
HIGHLIGHTS:
o Gives step-by-step instruction on connection to the Internet
for system designers, system administrators and their managers.
o Offers assistance in setting up naming, mail and news systems
o Explains the use of common Internet services such as archie,
WAIS, and Gopher
About the Authors:
John S. Quarterman is Senior Technical Partner of Texas Internet
Consulting, which consults in networks and open systems with
particular emphasis on TCP/IP networks, UNIX systems, and standards.
Smoot Carl-Mitchell is Managing Partner of Texas Internet Consulting.
He has consulted on numerous projects including network design,
installation, and debugging. He, along with his partner, also gives
seminars on networking issues related to the growth, development,and
use of TCP/IP.
Co-authors of "Practical Internetworking with TCP/IP and UNIX", a
comprehensive tutorial reference, Quarterman and Carl-Mitchell also
publish *Matrix News*, a monthly on-line and paper newsletter about
cross-network issues.
* Available wherever fine technical books are sold.
* For direct orders to Addison-Wesley, please call 1-800-822-6339
and have your credit card handy.
* To be included on the Addison-Wesley on-line information server,
please send an email message to
[email protected]. The subject line
should be 'information' and the body of the message should be
'send information'. Adding your name to this listing will enable us
to keep you informed of all new titles.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 19:49:03 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <
[email protected]>
Subject: Cell One Switches To11-Digit Dialing
Effective March 1, 1994, Cell One/Boston has switched to eleven-digit
dialing (from 10) for long distance calls outside of A/C 617 or 508.
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Doug Taylor)
Subject: Dying Telephones
Reply-To:
[email protected] (Doug Taylor)
Organization: "Imaging systems, Intergraph Corp, Huntsville AL"
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 21:41:34 GMT
We have had three phones die at our house in the last few months.
Phone number one was a cheap GE wall phone with a built-in digital
answering machine. It lasted over two years and then died about five
months ago. The answering machine was still working, but not the
phone. Since we had other phones in the house (described below), we
didn't replace it until
...
Phone number two was an expensive Toshiba cordless, also with a
built-in digital answering machine. It lasted less than three weeks.
Again, the answering machine still worked, but not the phone. We were
able to trade this one back in for ...
Phone number three was again an expensive Toshiba cordless, but
without a built-in answering machine. Instead, we got a separate AT&T
digital answering machine. This phone died today while my wife was
using it.
The other three phones in the house have been there forever. Phone
number four is a very cheap phone we keep out in the garage. Phone
number five is a good, solid rotary phone. Phone number six is a
good, solid, old, office push-button phone. All three of these
continued to work just fine.
The dead phones did not work on other phone jacks inside our house.
Got any ideas why the phones keep dying?
Only emailed responses are likely to reach me.
Doug Taylor
[email protected]
MailStop IW17D1 (205) 730-6875 (w)
Intergraph Corp. 730-9550 (fax)
Huntsville, AL 35894-0001
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 12:42 EST
From: Stephen Goodman <
[email protected]>
Subject: Pager Scam Resurfaces
FYI for the readers of TELECOM Digest!
!!!PAGER SCAM ALERT!!!
Be aware that the pager scam using area code
212/540-XXXX
has resurfaced.
If you receive a page to call this number, DON'T return the call. The
212/540 is translated to a 900 number and you/we can be billed $50.00
or more per call.
Please pass on to your employee base, noting that this scam recurs
occassionally.
[email protected]
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I'm sure our readers ** in the metro
New York City area ** appreciate the reminder, but bear in mind that
** no one ** outside the NYC area (212/718, maybe 914/516 ?) can reach
this number even if they were paged. '540' is a very local, restricted
prefix for the simple reason that the telco in New York has no way to
collect on calls outside their area. Dialing 212-540-anything from
Chicago for example on MCI gets an intercept saying 'MCI does not
complete calls to 976 numbers at this time' ... and via AT&T it just
goes to a re-order. I'm not certain, but I think if it is dialed via
10xxx or 1+ , it won't even leave the local CO if outside of NYC and
environs. So if anyone chooses to copy out your message and post it as
a warning in a company newsletter, etc, I hope they'll include my note
as well. Essentially outside of NYC, this is a non-issue, and in my
opinion, New Yorkers are entitled to whatever they get themselves into!
It is even doubtful if the operator of this scam is breaking the law,
as sleazy as it may be. Yes, he is requesting that you call a premium-
priced phone number, but so do countless other advertisers on radio and
television each day. No one is making you call the number and the
presumption is you should know where you are calling before you dial. PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 10:19:32 -0800
From:
[email protected] (Ernie Garcia)
Subject: Jobs Offered - Telecom Analysts
Organization: Central Washington University
Central Washington University invites applications for:
TELECOMMUNICATIONS ANALYST I: $2143-$2728
TELECOMMUNICATIONS ANALYST II: $2355-$3011
Enjoy the sun and rural life of Ellensburg, Washington, population
13,000. Our Telecommunications Analysts are responsible for various
project related work, including analysis of equipment malfunction,
configuration revisions and installations. Requires minimum of two
years of telecomm training and two years experience in CENTREX and or
PBX systems for the I-level; two additional years of routine Analyst
I-level work for the II-level position.
At least one year experience must be with Northern Telecom SL-1/Meridian 1
PBX, including Northern Telecom training certifications. For application
materials, contact Central Washington University, Personnel Services,
Ellensburg, WA 98926. Phone: (509) 963-1202. OPEN UNTIL FILLED.
CENTRAL IS AN AA/EEO/TITLE IX EMPLOYER. WOMEN AND MINORITIES ARE
ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.
Ernie Garcia VOICE:(509) 963-3046
Central Washington University FAX :(509) 963-1385
(CaTS) Computing & Telecom. Services Ellensburg, WA 98926
email:
[email protected] OR
[email protected]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 13:28:33 -0600
From:
[email protected] (Mark Brukhartz)
Subject: Re: Los Angeles Phone Fire
There were strong winds and intense thunderstorms across northern
Illinois on the day of the Hinsdale fire. The monitoring station
ignored the first alarms because the weather was causing periodic
false alarms in the area. Once they suspected trouble in Hinsdale,
they were unable to reach a wide area around Hinsdale by telephone.
The Hinsdale office was a regional hub for inter-office and inter-LATA
calls, and there was no backup hub.
The station personnel reached a supervisor in northern Indiana, who
made the 45 minute drive to Hinsdale. He is said to have stood at the
door and asked passers by to contact the fire department. The Hinsdale
switching office lies just beyond Hinsdale's quaint suburban downtown,
where stores are largely closed on Sundays. Pedestrians had to be few
and far between.
Once the fire department arrived, they asked the supervisor to cut the
power. That critial step took a couple of hours. The switches for the
utility feed, generators and batteries were distributed around the
building. The supervisor couldn't reach them through the smoke, and
they weren't clearly labelled for the firefighters. No water was
applied to the fire for these hours.
During the delay, the fire got close to the large underground cable
vaults. The fire chief ordered the cables cut to prevent a spread.
That extended the subsequent repair time.
Hinsdale Hospital had Centrex service, and thus lost internal phone
service service when the switch burned. They restored limited
communications with portable radios, and soon installed an NT Meridian
PBX.
By the way, my home is served by the Hinsdale switch. We had no
dialtone for almost a month. During that time, radio equipped
personnel manned the street corners 24 hours per day to take emergency
calls.
Mark
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you for telling it just the way
it happened. Reasonable people might disagree on some of the chronology
just as you described it, but the fact is the fire burned a long time
before anyone notified the fire department, procedures put in place by
Jim Eibel (VP at Illinois Bell) stunk to high heaven and yes, there
was no dial tone in Hinsdale for a month. Some other communities got
dial tone back after a *mere two weeks*. Cellular service (both A and B)
and pagers were out here for about two weeks. 911 was out for several
days in many western suburbs. You see, Hinsdale was the hub for it all.
Cellular service for northern Illinois; long distance switching for
AT&T/Sprint/MCI/whoever; extremely important and critical circuits for
the Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control at Ohare Airport;
911 service for several communities; plus local service for Hinsdale and
a couple nearby communities of course. It all went through Hinsdale, and
Hinsdale burned down ... what the fire did not destroy, the firemen did
in the process, ie. the cables which had to be cut. The place was almost
gutted top to bottom. They tried to save the switch -- Lord knows they
wanted to save it if they could, but a couple weeks into the restoration
when they got the switch up and running it was so corroded from water
damage they had to junk it as well and order a new one post-haste which
got diverted from wherever it was intended for and sent to Hinsdale on
a rush basis, adding another week to the repairs. What's past is past.
Please, whoever controls these things: don't let it happen again. PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Tom Horsley)
Subject: Re: Bell South ISDN Announcement
Date: 24 Mar 1994 18:30:41 GMT
Organization: Harris Computer Systems Division
> BELLSOUTH ANNOUNCES LARGEST GEOGRAPHIC DEPLOYMENT OF ISDN IN THE NATION
> CONTACT:
> Karen M. Roughton of BellSouth Telecommunications, 404-529-6514
> BellSouth National ISDN HotLine, 1-800-428-4736
I get phone service from BellSouth, and despite the constant series of
ISDN announcements from time to time (I seem to recall attending a
meeting at work about ten years ago with phone company marketeers
talking about the benefits of the soon to appear ISDN service :-), I
have yet to call the local business office and find anyone on the
other end of the phone who ever even heard of ISDN, much less knew
anything about the price of a connection ...
If fact, could someone who has done this post a typical transcript of
a conversation? How many times do you have to say "Could I speak to
your supervisor?" before getting to someone who has heard of ISDN?
I'll have to try calling the BellSouth hotline and see if I get anywhere.
Tom Horsley email:
[email protected]
Harris snail: 511 Kingbird Circle
Computer Systems Delray Beach, FL 33444
------------------------------
From: Brian J. Cecil <
[email protected]>
Date: 24 Mar 94 13:13:20 EST
Subject: Re: Hush-a-Phone
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Over the years, AT&T really brought
> on a lot of their own problems that they are having today didn't they.
> Imagine how much different things would be today had AT&T taken much
> less miltant stance with the Carterphone/Hush-a-Phone cases and with
> MCI in its early days. It is likely the whole industry would be
> entirely different. And yes, AT&T did once sue the publisher of the
> plastic directory covers with a claim that such 'unauthorized
> attachments' might cause people to complain to the phone company about
> the quality of the directory. They lost that case also. PAT]
What the FCC was doing was allowing AT&T to have a controlled monopoly
in orderto get a centralized phone system in the USA. They realized
that if there was one phone company, that company would be able to
build a high quality nationwide phone system instead of the numerous
mom and pop systems that were scattered all over the country. Because
of this, the FCC went along with some stupid arguments that AT&T
brought before them. I believe that if the FCC did not protect AT&T
and this monopolized network in its early stages, our phone system
would not be as advanced as it is today. Of course the monopolized
phone company is a thing of the past, and it was good to break it up
when they did. However, I believe the government will be using this
strategy again with the National Information Highway.
Brian Cecil
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, there is no doubt in my mind that the
superior telephone service we enjoyed in the USA for many decades (and
still have to a large extent) would not have been possible had things
gone any other way in the early days. The credit for the many wonderful
things about the Bell System which we counted on goes to Theodore Vail,
Chairman of AT&T at the start of the twentieth century. He is the person
who coined the phrase, 'One System ... one way of doing things ...' and
the unspoken words appended to that, '... my way ...'. Ted Vail was one
tough old bird -- even Alex Bell hated him -- but AT&T clear up to the
early 1980's was the way it was because of Vail's influence and decisions.
Too bad things turned out the way they did though. Surely something less
drastic would have been workable also. PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (K. M. Peterson)
Subject: Re: New Area Code 562
Date: 24 Mar 1994 16:39:44 GMT
Organization: KMPeterson/Boston
Have I been asleep? Is this the first NXX areacode/NPA?
K. M. Peterson email:
[email protected]
phone: +1 617 731 6177 voice +1 617 730 5969 fax
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Good morning! Wake up and smell the coffee
cooking ... no it is not first. Alabama was the first to get one with 205
being split, and a couple others have been assigned. The one in California
is third or fourth in what will soon be a flood of them. PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Linc Madison)
Subject: Re: Area Code 562
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 01:47:14 GMT
Dave Niebuhr (
[email protected]) wrote:
> 907 is Alaska; it is 917
> 914 is metro NYC covering Rockland, Westchester, part of Orange and
> possibly Dutchess and Putnam counties.
> Add AC 516 (Long Island) and parts of ACs 201/708 (NJ) and part of
> AC 203 (Ct.) ^^^ ^^
PAT, I'm surprised you missed the typo in the correction to your typo!
As you might be aware, area code 708 is not in New Jersey.
Linc Madison * Oakland, California *
[email protected]
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ah shucks, twarn't nothing ... I guess
he meant 908. Yeah, I might be aware of 708. I think that is where I
live. :) PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Alan M. Gallatin)
Subject: Re: Area Code 562
Date: 24 Mar 1994 17:01:29 -0500
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC
In a previous article,
[email protected] (Dave Niebuhr) wrote:
>> Four area codes in one metro area. Can anybody beat that?
>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well the New York City metro area has quite
>> a few now: 212/718/914/907, what else? Are we counting New Jersey? PAT]
> 907 is Alaska; it is 917
> 914 is metro NYC covering Rockland, Westchester, part of Orange and
> possibly Dutchess and Putnam counties.
> Add AC 516 (Long Island) and parts of ACs 201/708 (NJ) and part of
> AC 203 (Ct.)
708 (as most Digest readers will know) is Illinois ... * 908 * (as
most Bellcore people will know :-)) is Mid-Jersey :-))
[email protected] Alan M. Gallatin
[email protected]
[email protected]
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You know, this is getting to where it
isn't even funny any more. Thirty years ago I knew every area code and
where it was located. Now I can't remember half of them ... and wait until
next year when all those strange ones start popping up everywhere. PAT]
------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V14 #146
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