Received: by eff.org id AA15057 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for pub-infra-exploder@eff.org); Fri, 13 Dec 1991 15:17:38 -0500 Reply-To: pub-infra Precedence: bulk To: pub-infra Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1991 15:17:35 -0500 Message-Id: <199112132017.AA15051@eff.org> From: (by way of mkapor@eff.org (Mitch Kapor)) Subject: Re: What is ISDN Good For? It seems that the main attribute of interest in ISDN is the (relatively) high bandwidth. Actually, this it is modest compared with other media (such as cable TV and newspapers), but still better than standard phone lines. But there are other aspects that I'm more concerned about including: * Ideally, ISDN should provide peer protocols between my premises equipment and the central offices in terms of controlling connections and accessing network resources. I should also be able to provide services. A simple example is call forwarding -- I should be able to implement this locally. One advantage of a local implementation is the ability to add policies. These protocols should support queries about pricing and other service aspects. * For data transmission I need to be able to connect to multiple services using either a datagram capability or multiple virtual circuits. This should be a standard offering so that I can build software that takes advantage of it. * Addressing (phone number) issues should be cleaned up over the current system so that I have a uniform way of addressing resources on the network. I.e., no dial "9" for an outside line. But this should be extended to subaddressing as in specifying an extension number, a person or service. This is similar to DID but universal without the high costs of a DID trunk. This is extending the view of what ISDN is. For example, I should be able to use standard ISDN protocols to pass the additional data bits to a pager. (Of course, the character set should be Unicode and not just digits). * Of course, pricing should be such that casual connection to network services for many hours should be comparable to the price for an unmeasured service line. The current message unit pricing assumes that the use of the phone is an unusual event. If it is our connection to the communications infrastructure then the default is to be connected and use of a modest size information pipe should be negligible Perhaps a better price comparison would be to the newspaper. Getting the newspaper delivered via ISDN should not cost more than getting some ink laden woodpulp hand carried to my house. In reading the notes about the physical wiring for ISDN, I'm concerned about ISDN being an MIS manager dream and an end user's Procrustean bed.