Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.4/NSCS-1.0S) id WAA20228; Tue, 3 Feb 1998 22:27:24 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 22:27:24 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message-Id: <199802040327.WAA20228@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V18 #25 TELECOM Digest Tue, 3 Feb 98 21:14:00 EST Volume 18 : Issue 25 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Two Questions About Residential Features (Rick Hofmann) New NPA Program Release (Tad Cook) Florida Regulators May Crack Down on Prepaid Telephone Cards (Tad Cook) UCLA Short Course on "Cellular, PCS, and Wireless Data" (Bill Goodin) UCLA Short Course on "Turbo Codes" (Bill Goodin) Wanted: Good General Telecom Handbook Suggestions (Jean Vaillancourt) Caller ID USA vs UK (William Paul Berriss) Moscow Phone History (Leonid A. Broukhis) Avoiding Echo on Delayed Communications (Arthur Silveira Neto) IDMS'98 - Extended Deadline (Ketil Lund) AT&T One Rate Plan (Jon Solomon) 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. Views expressed herein should not be construed as represent-* * ing views of the ITU. * ************************************************************************* In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of twenty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 11:29:47 -0800 From: Rick Hofmann Reply-To: rchtscm@ni.net Organization: MICROSEARCH Subject: Two Questions About Residential Features I have questions about the *69, and Caller ID Blocking features. First, *69 will not work with all incoming calls. My question is; what factors determine which numbers it will call back, and which numbers it won't? In other words, will *69 only work within the same Central Office, same phone company, switch, etc.? The second question is about Caller ID blocking. Recently a person who has two separate phone lines in her home wanted to check to make sure the Caller ID block was working. She called from her primary line to her secondary line, after having done the *77 (or whatever the necessary code is), but found that it had not blocked Caller ID. She then called the primary line from the secondary line, and found that Caller ID had not worked again. Her service provider (Pac Bell) could offer no explanation as to why it had not worked. Any information or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Best regards, Rick Hofmann [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We discussed this here in some detail last week so you might want to review messages posted over the past several days. A quick answer to your first question is that 'return last call received' will work with or without caller ID when the caller and the receiver are both in central offices which are equipped. If you get caller-id on someone, then you have the ability to manipulate their calls, i.e. screen them, return their last call to you, etc. It does not have to be the same central office, the same city or even the same state. If the call recipient's central office *knows who was calling* then it can deal with those calls in the future. The code to use to block caller-id is *67. Make sure she is using that code; and the test is best conducted by dialing the block code then calling an independent third party -- such as yourself -- to test it. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: New NPA Program Release Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 02:34:15 PST From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) The new January 25 release of NPA for Windows shareware is out, and available for download at: http://www.neosoft.com/~robert/pcc/ This is a handy program for calulating distance between COs, figuring out where a phone number is, and what other prefixes are in that CO, as well as Zip Codes associated with phone numnbers, and many other useful features. Tad Cook tad@ssc.com ------------------------------ Subject: Florida Regulators May Crack Down on Prepaid Telephone Cards Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 02:44:00 PST From: tad@ssc.com (Tad Cook) Florida Regulators May Crack Down on Prepaid Telephone Cards By Patricia Horn, Sun-Sentinel, South Florida Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News FORT LAUDERDLE. Fla.--Jan. 30--Florida regulators approved rules on Friday that for the first time crack down on consumer problems with prepaid phone card. The rules are some of the first nationally governing this largely unregulated, but popular, new industry. "(The rules) are much stronger than what's in place in other places around the country," said Ken McEldowney, executive director of Consumer Action, a San Francisco-based consumer group that monitors the industry. The Florida Public Service Commission's new rules should help consumers get their money back for cards that don't work, know what company they are buying from, and know in advance just how much they will be paying per minute for calls. These seemingly simple protections have been absent from the industry. "I think we've established some base guidelines that help the consumer and protect those investing in this area," said Commissioner Joe Garcia of Miami. Just five years ago, prepaid cards were largely unknown. Now the cards are found in the wallets of students, traveling sales people, immigrants, tourists and others. People like the cards because they are convenient and cheaper than using coins or calling cards at pay phones, or even having a phone. Most cards work, or, if the cards don't, companies refund the money or issue new cards. But the industry has also proven a haven for business scams and poorly run businesses. In the past year, the Federal Trade Commission, several state utility commissions and attorney generals' offices have begun investigating the industry and considering ways to regulate it. The Florida commission received more than 170 complaints last year on phone cards. Many complaints have come from South Florida, where the cards are popular with Hispanics to make international calls to Latin America. Of the 25 cards, the commission has tested itself, 12 had one or more problems. With phone cards, consumers pay in advance for calls. But some consumers have found that after buying the cards, they couldn't make calls or the company applied unadvertised surcharges. Companies have also sold cards and then gone out of business or not paid for the telephone time, leaving consumers with worthless cards. When consumers have sought refunds, they couldn't find the companies. The new rules should solve some of those problems. The rules apply to all cards sold after July 1. Under the rules: Companies must register with the state and provide price lists. Users must be able to complete calls 95 percent of the time via a toll-free access number. The company's toll-free customers service number must work 95 percent of the time and be available 24-hours-a-day. Companies must give refunds or replacement cards within 60 days if cards don't work for the advertised time. Each card must list the company's name, its toll-free customer service number, and the toll-free access number. The company must post the maximum charge per minute plus surcharges and the expiration date on the card or its packaging or on a store display. To enforce the rules, the commission can issue fines of up to $25,000 a day. Ultimately, if a company does not comply, the commission can stop it from doing business in Florida. Before you buy a prepaid phone card: Determine the rate per minute. Avoid those with higher rates for the first minute. Ask if the retailer will give a refund if phone service is unsatisfactory. Don't buy it if the card's pin number is not completely covered. Otherwise, anyone who has copied your pin can use the phone time you paid for. If you have never used that card before, try the smallest denomination. Don't buy simply on price. Very low rates could mean poor service. Look for disclosures about surcharges, monthly fees, per-call access in addition to the rate-per-minute or unit. Check the expiration date. Make sure there is a toll-free customer service number. At pay phones, use the cards only for toll and long-distance calls. Coins are cheaper for local calls. If you need help, you can call the International Telecard Association's toll-free consumer protection hotline at 800-333-3513. You can also call the Florida Public Service at 800-342-3552. ------------------------------ From: Bill Goodin Subject: UCLA Short Course on "Cellular, PCS, and Wireless Data" Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 17:36:53 -0800 On April 28-May 1, 1998, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Technologies for Wireless Competitive Markets: Cellular, PCS, and Wireless Data", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors are C. R. "Rick" Baugh, PhD, consultant, and Peter Rysavy, MSEE, consultant. The Federal Communications Commission has released over 3 GHz of spectrum for wireless services in recent years -- by any measure, an enormous amount. At the same time, license holders have virtually no restrictions on what services they provide. This opens the door to competing services among multiple wireless service providers. On the surface many of these services may look similar, but on closer inspection there may be profound differences. For anyone involved in the cellular, PCS, and wireless data marketplaces it is critical to understand these differences and their impact on competition, service offerings and system performance. These differences include: Wireless Coverage, Service Capacity, Mobility and Roaming, Susceptibility to Interference, Security and Privacy, Network Protocols, Compatibility with Legacy Systems, Data Rates and Data Response Times, Voice Quality, Multimedia Capability, Standards Supported, and Costs of Deployment and Usage. Wireless connectivity and access is important, but it is only part of the answer for end-to-end solutions and applications. Integration and interoperability with existing systems and traditional public voice and data networks is vital for successful businesses. This course helps service providers to enhance and expand on their own technologies, as well as to understand the crucial differences between competitors' technologies. Users of wireless technologies should see the distinctions among alternative service providers when determining business needs and application requirements. Manufacturers of equipment examine the technical characteristics and tradeoffs between alternative technologies and their impact on system performance. This course is intended for engineers and technical managers who plan, design, implement, and operate voice and data communications systems; corporate telecommunications planners and information technology managers who intend to include wireless voice and data systems within their communications networks; and designers of equipment used for wireless voice and data products and systems. UCLA Extension has presented this highly successful short course since 1992. The course fee is $1395, 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: Bill Goodin Subject: UCLA Short Course on "Turbo Codes" Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 17:37:08 -0800 On April 28-May 1, 1998, UCLA Extension will present the short course, "Turbo Codes: Principles and Applications", on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The instructors are Sergio Benedetto, PhD, Politecnico di Torino; Dariush Divsalar, PhD, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Guido Mortorsi, Politecnico di Torino; and Fabrizio Pollara, PhD, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Turbo codes were introduced in 1993 and are considered among the most important developments in coding theory. Researchers around the world have been able to extend the basic idea to other forms of code concatenations, with various applications to transmission over fading channels, band-limited satellite channels, and channels with intersymbol interference. A turbo code is formed by two simple convolutional codes separated by an interleaver. The decoder consists of two Soft-Input Soft-Output (SISO) modules connected by an interleaver and a deinterleaver. This course addresses fundamentals of turbo codes; understanding of the principles governing the code behavior; extension to multiple turbo codes, and iterative decoding; design of a turbo code for various throughputs and modulations such as M-PSK, M-QAM; implementation of a turbo decoder by using the Add-Compare-Select operations and lookup tables similar to those used in the implementation of Viterbi decoders; extensions of turbo coding concepts to other forms of concatenation with interleavers such as serial and hybrid concatenation; applications to space communications, digital direct broadcast satellite services, CDMA, and virtually any data communication system that can tolerate a delay due to an interleaver size of at least 250 bits (delay is proportional to the interleaver size divided by the data rate). This is a new subject area and the potential applications of this new coding scheme are potentially broad. Engineers working in all aspects of information transmission technology, as well as research scientists and academics, should benefit from the material presented in the course. The analytical details are kept to a minimum and no algebraic tools are required. The course fee is $1395, 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. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 12:19:47 -0500 From: Jean-Francois Vaillancourt Subject: Wanted: Good General Telecom Handbook Suggestions I'm just starting out as a telecom analyst for a large financial institution, and am beginning to see there is a rather large gap between my predominantly theoretical training and our corporate customers' real networks ... So, I'm looking for a good practical telecom handbook that would allow me to accelerate my adaptation. So far, I've read Mr. Slade's reviews, and borrowed several books: Telecommunication System Engineering, 3rd edition (1996), by Freeman. Looked promising, but on examination I saw that there was lots of unexplicably outdated info for a 1996 book. For example, the modem standards stop at V.32bis. The diagrams and charts are muddy, and I feel this book is definitely not worth C$130. Telecommunications Technology Handbook (1991), by Daniel Minoli. Closer to what I think I need, but shows its age. Business Data Communications, 3rd. edition (1998), by William Stallings. Pertinent business orientation, but not detailed enough. So ... any other ideas? Suggestions will be very welcome, and I will summarize for the list if warranted. Thanks! Jean-Francois Vaillancourt Montreal, Canada ------------------------------ From: William Paul Berriss Subject: Caller ID USA vs UK Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 07:43:02 +0000 Organization: University of Reading Hi, Canw anyone tell me whether an American bought Caller ID unit for a normal residential telephone will work if plugged in to the UK phone system? Assuming I put the correct plug on it (bigger than the US square plug). The GE caller id unit will display up to 1-888-888-8888, so since most UK numbers are 11 digits long but start with a 0 may be this is preventing it working. It just says -- No DATA -- Caller ID is subscribed to so we do have the service. Any ideas? Are the systems totally incompatible? Please advise if you can. Thank in advance. Sincerely, W P Berriss E-mail: W.P.Berriss@reading.ac.uk Department of Engineering The University of Reading Whiteknights Reading Tel: 0118 987 5123 Berkshire (+44 118 987 5123 outside UK) RG6 6AY England Fax: 0118 931 3327 World Wide Web Home Page: http://www.elec.rdg.ac.uk/staff_postgrads/postgrads/wb/will.html ------------------------------ From: leob@best.com (Leonid A. Broukhis) Subject: Moscow Phone History Date: 31 Jan 1998 20:33:05 -0800 I'm translating this from a Russian online technical tidbits review by Dmitry Zavalishin (http://koi8.excimer.ru/dz/online/on-28-01-98.htm): [...] Moscow telephony is more than 100 years old. This is practically not interesting. Interesting is that today [i.e. 1/28 - L.B.] the last in Moscow, and probably in the whole world, "machine" exchange is being dismantled. The machine exchange is a horrible beast, put in service in 1931, which design predates even the oldest step exchanges (nowadays hard to find by themselves). The aforementioned machine exchange (located on the Ordynka street) - the first automatic one in Moscow. It worked, as can be easily computed, SIXTY SEVEN YEARS. The Moscow City Phone Network authority had no possibility to replace it earlier. [end of quote] Leo PS. Now the question: what is "machine" exchange? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Machine exchange' means an automatic exchange, as opposed to a manual or 'Operator exchange'. If we started in English as opposed to Russian being translated, we probably would not phrase it in exactly those same words. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Arthur Silveira Neto Subject: Avoiding Echo on Delayed Communications Date: 1 Feb 1998 00:32:19 GMT Organization: Nlink Internet Provider - Recife - PE - BRAZIL Does anyone know where can I find some article or something that explains how to solve the echo problem that occurs in a conversation when there is a delay between the sender and the receiver? I need a software solution. Thanks in advance. Arthur S. Neto Systems Engineer MidiaVox Ltda. arthur@nlink.com.br arthur@midiavox.com.br ------------------------------ From: Ketil Lund Subject: IDMS'98 - Extended Deadline Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 11:13:50 +0100 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway ***** IDMS'98 ***** **** **** *** Please note the new deadline for submissions *** **** **** ***** February 15, 1998 ***** Since we have have received many requests to extend the submission deadline for IDMS'98, we decided to extend the deadline by two weeks to February 15. Please note that February 15 is a HARD deadline. You will be doing us a great favor if you disseminate the this information among your interested colleagues. Thank you very much! Call for Papers IDMS'98 5th International Workshop on Interactive Distributed Multimedia Systems and Telecommunication Services 8. - 11. September 1998, Oslo, Norway in cooperation with ACM* / IEEE technical co-sponsorship*, *: pending The Fifth International Workshop on Interactive Distributed Multimedia Systems and Telecommunication Services follows the successful IDMS workshops held 1997 in Darmstadt and 1996 in Berlin. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together researchers, developers, and practitioners from academia and industry. The workshop serves as a forum for discussion, presentation, and exploration of technologies and their advances in the broad field of interactive distributed multimedia systems and telecommunication services -- ranging from basic system technologies such as networking and operating system support to all kinds of teleservices and distributed multimedia applications. Case studies and papers describing experimental work are especially welcome. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to: *High-speed/ATM networks *Mobile multimedia systems *Multimedia over satellite *Multimedia middleware *Quality of service issues *Media scaling *Resource management *Protocol design and implementation *Distributed multimedia database systems *Development tools for distributed multimedia applications *Multimedia-specific intelligent agents *Computer supported collaborative work *Distributed virtual reality systems *Distance education *Conferencing *Digital libraries *Interactive television *Video-on-demand systems *Compression algorithms IDMS'98 will consist of a three day technical program, a full day of tutorials, and demonstrations during the workshop. In order to keep the flavour of a workshop, the number of participants will be restricted. Furthermore, we encourage contributions in form of full papers and position papers. Full papers are expected to describe innovative and significant work. The purpose of position papers is to provide a seed for debate and discussion. Position papers enable researchers to present exciting ongoing work in early stages, suggestions for future directions, and concerns about current developments. Both types of papers will be reviewed by the program committee and printed in the workshop proceedings. The proceedings will be published in the Springer LNCS series (http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/) and will be available during the workshop. It is intended to forward selected papers to a special issue of the "Computer Communications" Journal. Information for authors: Authors are invited to submit full papers and position papers for review. Submitted manuscripts must describe original work (not submitted or published elsewhere). Full papers must not be longer than 20 double spaced pages and position papers must not be longer than 8 double spaced pages. Both types of papers should contain an abstract of approximately 300 words, and include title, authors and affiliations. The submission process of papers will be handled electronically. Detailed description of the electronic submission procedures is available on the IDMS'98 web page: http://www.unik.no/~idms98. Authors without web access may send mail to idms98@unik.no requesting electronic submission information. Authors unable to submit electronically are invited to send 5 copies of their contribution to one of the workshops chairs ATTN: IDMS'98. Important dates: EXTENDED DEADLINE Submission due: February 15, 1998 (hard deadline!) Notification of acceptance: April 15, 1998 Camera ready version: May 15, 1998 Workshop: September 9 - 11, 1998 Program co-chairs: Vera Goebel and Thomas Plagemann UniK - Center for Technology at Kjeller, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 70, N-2007 Kjeller, Norway Email: {goebel; plageman}@unik.no, Phone: +47/63.81.45.70, Fax: +47/63.81.81.46 Program Committee: F. A. Aagesen, NTNU, Norway H. Affifi, ENST Bretagne, France E. Biersack, Institut Eurcom, France G. Bochmann, U. Montreal, Canada B. Butscher, DeTeBerkom, Germany A. T. Campbell, Columbia U., USA S. Chanson , Hong Kong U. of S.&T., HK L. Delgrossi, U. Piacenza, Italy M. Diaz, LAAS-CNRS, France F. Eliassen, U. Troms, Norway W. Effelsberg, U. Mannheim, Germany D. Ferrari, U. Cattolica Piacenza, Italy J.-P. Hubaux, EPFL, Switzerland D. Hutchison, Lancaster U., UK W. Kalfa, TU Chemnitz, Germany T. D. C. Little, Boston U., USA E. Moeller, GMD FOKUS, Germany K. Moldeklev, Telenor, Norway K. Nahrstedt, U. Illinois, USA G. Parulkar, Washington U., USA B. Pehrson, KTH Stockholm, Sweden S. Pink, SICS, Sweden B. Plattner, ETH Zurich, Switzerland H. Scholten, U. Twente, Netherlands R. Steinmetz, GMD, Germany H. Tokuda, Keio U., Japan L. Wolf, TU Darmstadt, Germany M. Zitterbart, TU Braunschweig, Germany ACM Multimedia'98 takes place in Bristol (UK) in the week following IDMS'98: http://www.acm.org/sigmm/MM98. Best regards, Ketil Lund | Organization Committee IDMS'98 | 5th International Workshop on Interactive Distributed Multimedia | Systems and Telecommunication Services | Oslo, Norway, 1998 | UniK - Center for Technology at Kjeller | University of Oslo | P.O. Box 70, N-2007 Kjeller, Norway | e-mail: idms98@unik.no | WWW: http://www.unik.no/~idms98 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Feb 1998 14:51:15 -0800 From: Jon Solomon Subject: Last Laugh! AT&T One Rate Plan You know the number AT&T used to sponsor the plan was 1-800-4-one-rate. My cellular phone won't dial that, it dials 1-800-4-ONE-RAT. It's a chuckle. I didn't realize AT&T knew it's own reputation :) ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V18 #25 ***************************** NOTE: ISWSUE 25/26 MAILED OUT OF SEQUENCE. 26 APPEARS BEFORE 25 IN THIS ARCHIVE. 27 NOW FOLLOWS NORMALLY.