Received: by bu-cs.BU.EDU (5.58/4.7) id AA08488; Fri, 3 Feb 89 02:04:36 EST Message-Id: <8902030704.AA08488@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: Fri, 3 Feb 89 1:45:22 EST From: The Moderator Reply-To: TELECOM@bu-cs.BU.EDU Subject: TELECOM Digest V9 #43 To: TELECOM@bu-cs.bu.edu TELECOM Digest Fri, 3 Feb 89 1:45:22 EST Volume 9 : Issue 43 Today's Topics: Subscriber's Line Cross-connected Re: 1+areacode Re: 1+areacode Re: 1+areacode Info on Spectrum products: Bridge and Span Re: cheap & easy circuit backup re: Cellular Setup Re: Info on Cellular Telephones Re: Excuses instead of info [Moderator's Note: This is part one of two parts for Friday, 2-3-89. PT] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ron Watkins Subject: Subscriber's Line Cross-connected To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Date: Wed, 1 Feb 89 07:09:09 EDT Having just received my ATT phone bill, I note there were 10 long distance calls that I didn't make...matter of fact, this second phone line has never had a "phone" on it....just my modem (and I only call one number). ATT service insisted that I or my wife made the calls, and even if we didn't, they couldn't do anything and referred me to New England Telephone. NET service was extremely helpful and even called those numbers (asking if they received a call from us...no, they don't know us...etc), thus NET belives that my wires are "cross connected" somewhere... My question is..if I "cancel" this number and get a new number...would that correct the cross connection at the central office (if the cross connection is there)...and if the problem persists (perhaps we notice that next month the same phone numbers are on the bill) then does it show that the cross connections is in the lines running down the street ? (dividing the problem in half). I was only concerned because NET said the problem is very hard to find and it could persist for months.... I live in Boxboro MA and I'm not even sure where my service comes from... thank you Ron ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 31 Jan 89 12:40:17 EST From: harriss@Alliant.COM (Martin Harriss) To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: Re: 1+areacode I think there may have been another reason for prefixing area codes with '1'. On exchanges which were not register controlled, it was neccesasry to discriminate between a local and long distance call at the beginning of the dialled number. On a step by step strowger switch, for instance, you would dial 1 and be stepped to the 1st level. Connected to this level would be trunks to your LD switching center which would suck in all the subsequent digits and route the call appropriately. This scheme would also work for calls within your area code which were not local. I'm not sure under what circumstances this was done, but I'm pretty sure that it did happen sometimes. Perhaps someone on this newsgroup knows more? Martin Harriss {linus,mit-eddie}!alliant!harriss ------------------------------ To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu From: westmark!dave@rutgers.edu (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: 1+areacode Date: 3 Feb 89 02:47:17 GMT In article , tanner@ki4pv (Dr. T. Andrews) writes: > The explanation that the "1+" enable distinguishing between area > codes and exchanges is nice, but not entirely clear. > > Consider North Jersey. One site I call there has an exchange of 615. > Another site I call has an area code of 615. (From here, no problem. > I supply the area code before the 615 exchange.) > > In NJ but out of the local area for dialing exchange 615, what happens > when the machine dials 1+615 ... ? Does it ring through after 4 more > digits, or does it wait for 7 more? (Does it have a time-out in case > only 4 follow?) A reply from North Jersey: >From anywhere in the 201 (North Jersey) area code, to anywhere else in the 201 area code, we dial only 7 digits. So if I were calling that site from here, I'd dial 615-xxxx, even though it's a toll call to Middletown from Warren. If I were trying to call area code 615, I would have to dial 1+615-xxx-xxxx. For an operator-assisted call to Middletown, NJ, I'd dial 0+201+615+xxxx. There is nothing ambiguous, and nothing requiring a time-out. If it begins with 1 or 0, it has ten more digits. If it begins with 2-9, it has six more digits. This is the dial-plan recommendation for all of the North American numering plan --- but some places don't do it yet, because they don't need to, yet. In most of the United States, 1+ is permitted, even where it is not required, for all area-code calls. (What is going away is 1+7 digits for intra-npa toll calls, as that _is_ ambiguous.) -- Dave Levenson Westmark, Inc. The Man in the Mooney Warren, NJ USA {rutgers | att}!westmark!dave ------------------------------ To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Date: Thu Feb 2 11:21:16 1989 From: goldstein%delni.DEC@decwrl.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein dtn226-7388) Subject: Re: 1+areacode tanner@ki4pv (Dr. T. Andrews) writes, >The explanation that the "1+" enable distinguishing between area >codes and exchanges is nice, but not entirely clear. >Consider North Jersey. One site I call there has an exchange of 615. >Another site I call has an area code of 615. (From here, no problem. >I supply the area code before the 615 exchange.) >In NJ but out of the local area for dialing exchange 615, what happens >when the machine dials 1+615 ... ? Does it ring through after 4 more >digits, or does it wait for 7 more? (Does it have a time-out in case >only 4 follow?) The North American Numbering Plan specifies that "1+" indicates that an area code is coming, NOT a toll call. Some telcos used 1+ to indicate TOLL coming, because stepper switches could simply cut through to a smarter toll switch when 1 was dialed. But that custom was never followed in New Jersey. If I pick up a phone in NJ and dial 907-9971, I get Teaneck. 1907 gets Alaska. Easy, no? Never a timeout. Hence 1615 will always wait for 7 more digits, while 615 will wait for 4 more digits. ----- ------------------------------ To: mit-eddie!comp-dcom-telecom From: mit-amt!jrd@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Jim Davis) Subject: Info on Spectrum products: Bridge and Span Date: 2 Feb 89 00:53:12 GMT I am considering buying a cellular telephone modem made by Spectrum Cellular of Dallas Texas. This modem, called "the Bridge" uses a propriatry error correction protocol (SPCL) and is capable of buffering and retransmission. If it works, it will be worth it, since thus far I've had nothing but trouble using ordinary modems with cellular phones. Cellular phone lines are noisy and subject to unpredicatable brief drops in audio. Even 300 baud modems (ick) are subject to noise. I'd like to know if anyone out there has experience with this product. Spectrum says that some of the Bell companies are reselling this technology under the Bell name. That's a nice endorsement, but I've never seen an independant product review. I would be grateful to hear your comments. If mail does not work, I'll take collect calls at 617-253-0314 -- Internet: jrd@media-lab.media.mit.edu Phone: (617)-253-0314 USMail: E15-325, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139 ------------------------------ To: comp-dcom-telecom@rutgers.edu From: ron@ron.rutgers.edu (Ron Natalie) Subject: Prices For Cellular Phones Date: 30 Jan 89 21:37:16 GMT Your prices for Cellular telephones are a little inacurate. A luggable, as opossed to handheld, telephone is only about $500. The phone service here is only about $11 for the yuppie plan. ------------------------------ From: judice%kyoa.DEC@decwrl.dec.com (L Judice / 201-562-4103 / DTN 323-4103) Date: 2 Feb 89 10:51 To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu Subject: re: Cellular Setup In regards to the write who found mobile telephone calls in the VHF-HI band, these are probably IMTS calls (Improved Mobile Telephone Service, the pre-cursor to cellular). IMTS operates in the 152 Mhz band, and I believe in one or two UHF and VHF-LO bands. /ljj ------------------------------ To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu From: westmark!dave@rutgers.edu (Dave Levenson) Subject: Re: Info on Cellular Telephones Date: 3 Feb 89 02:56:17 GMT In article , dauksa@ecf.toronto.edu (Linas P Dauksa) writes: > I am preparing a presentation on Cellular Telephones and am having difficulty finding technical information on the subject. The purpose of my presentation > is to explain to a "layman" how a cellular telephone and the cellular network > function. I would appretiate any references to books or periodicals that > may be out there. Any information would be greatly appretiated. The Bell System Technical Journal (now called AT&T Technical Journal) Vol 58, No 1, Part 3, January 1979, is an entire issue devoted to Cellular Telephony - then known as AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service). It explains the theory, the development history, the initial service tests, and the hardware. This volume is probably orderable from: The AT&T Customer Information Center 1-800-432-6600 -- Dave Levenson Westmark, Inc. The Man in the Mooney Warren, NJ USA {rutgers | att}!westmark!dave ------------------------------ To: comp-dcom-telecom@rutgers.edu From: davef@brspyr1.brs.com (Dave Fiske) Subject: Re: Excuses instead of info Date: 2 Feb 89 18:53:50 GMT In article , jbh@mibte.UUCP (James Harvey) writes: < In article , childers@avsd writes: < > In article mcgp1!donn@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Donn Pedro) writes: < > < > >If I gave out the ringback codes to everyone who asked it would < > >not be available for our use for testing. People used it to < > >busy out their phones so as not to be disturbed. < > < > Can you document this, or is this what your supervisor told you to say ? < YES, supervisors tell you to say this, it's TRUE. More < frequently, people use the ringback numbers as an intercom, (call < ringback, wait till somebody upstairs picks up extension, talk). In Connecticut, back in the '60s, we used to dial 1199 to make the phone ring to be able to talk to someone who was upstairs, etc. My father used to like to do this, and put on phony voices to try and fool other members of the family. I myself once came up with the idea of, as the family was leaving to go shopping, dialing the ringback number as I left the house. An hour later, when we returned, I watched in glee as the rest of the family rushed to unlock the door. "Hurry up! The phone is ringing." It never occurred to us that we might be tying up phone company resources, so I can imagine, with lots of people doing this wantonly, it could easily become a problem. Even now, a friend of mine leaves his phone off-hook if he leaves the house while he's expecting a call. He seems to figure that if people get a busy signal they're more likely to call back than if they think he's not home (?). He did this once when I was there, and the phone started making all its electronic barking noises, then the recording, and I said something about it. His attitude was that it couldn't possibly hurt anything, which doesn't explain why the phone company has gone to such trouble to put all those warnings on there. -- "FLYING ELEPHANTS DROP COW Dave Fiske (davef@brspyr1.BRS.COM) PIES ON HORRIFIED CROWD!" Home: David_A_Fiske@cup.portal.com Headline from Weekly World News CIS: 75415,163 GEnie: davef ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest *********************