TELECOM Digest Tue, 19 Jul 94 02:14:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 326 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: USA Direct Question (John R Levine) Re: USA Direct Question (Stefek Zaba) Re: USA Direct Question (Clive D.W. Feather) Re: USA Direct Question (Mike King) Re: USA Direct Question (Richard Cox) Re: USA Direct Question (Ole J. Jacobsen) Re: Pager and Pager Network (Rob Lockhart) Re: Pager and Pager Network (Dave Held) Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ (James Taranto) Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ (Larry Long) Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside (Dave Held) Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside (Paul S. Sawyer) Re: NetWorld+Interop'94 Atlanta (Ole J. Jacobsen) Re: Networld+Interop'94 Atlanta (Richard James) Simple T1 WAN Networking (Aaron Jones) CFP: Satellite Conference in Russia (mchenry@misvms.bpa.arizona.edu) Last Laugh! Telephone Connections, as Explained on Usenet (John Lundgren) 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 GEnie. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify: * telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu * 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: 9457-D Niles Center Road Skokie, IL USA 60076 Phone: 708-329-0571 Fax: 708-329-0572 ** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu ** Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using anonymous ftp. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 23:25 EDT From: johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Organization: I.E.C.C., Cambridge, Mass. > AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in its directories and on > London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) says that the number is > "0800-89-0011". [and AT&T says to use the 0500 number] I believe that 0800 is toll free via BT, while 0500 is toll free via Mercury. Considering BT's recent deal with MCI, I'm not surprised that AT&T would switch to their less expensive competitor. Regards, John Levine, johnl@iecc.com, jlevine@delphi.com, 1037498@mcimail.com ------------------------------ From: sjmz@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Stefek Zaba) Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 08:19:19 GMT Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, England David G. Cantor (dgc@ccrwest.org) wrote: > What is going on? when telling about USA Direct being either an 0500 or an 0800 number. The 0800 numbers are run by BT (British Telecom); the 0500 numbers came in maybe a year ago, and are provided by BT's rival, Mercury. Presumably AT&T used to used BT and switched to Mercury. Cheers, Stefek ------------------------------ Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 13:19:14 +0100 (BST) From: Clive D.W. Feather Quoth David Cantor: > I was recently in England making calls to the US using the AT&T > service "USA Direct". AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in > its directories and on London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) > says that the number is "0800-89-0011". > When I dialed AT&T's USA Direct using the latter (BT) number, the AT&T > operator asked me where I obtained the number, and then told me to use > the first number instead. 0800 numbers are "free-to-caller" numbers provided by British Telecom. 0500 numbers are "free-to-caller" numbers provided by Mercury Telecommunications. It would appear that AT&T are getting a better deal from Hg than BT, and so have switched carriers. "800 portability - what's that ?" :-( Clive D.W. Feather | Santa Cruz Operation clive@sco.com | Croxley Centre Phone: +44 923 816 344 | Hatters Lane, Watford Fax: +44 923 210 352 | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom ------------------------------ From: mk@TFS.COM (Mike King) Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 23:42:38 PDT In TELECOM Digest, V14 #320, David G. Cantor asked: > I was recently in England making calls to the US using the AT&T > service "USA Direct". AT&T says to dial "0500-89-0011". However in > it s directories and on London Underground maps British Telecom (BT) > says that the number is "0800-89-0011". The second number is older, using the BT network free number. The former number uses the Mercury network free number. I understand it has a lower per-minute charge when using USA Direct. Mercury is the first competitive long distance service to enter the British market. They have their own STD codes ("area codes") for each service where they compete against BT. Mike King mk@tfs.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 09:50:20 -0400 From: richard@mandarin.com Subject: Re: USA Direct Question We have LD competition over in England, too. But BT's 0800 numbers arrived first, and AT&T got themselves one for USA direct. Then Mercury came along with their equivalent (which used the 0500 code) and AT&T got one of those numbers, too! Of course BT promote the 0800 number as it's their service and they get the revenue. AT&T prefer you to call the 0500 number as AT&T have to pay for the inbound call in order to connect you to the number you want -- and Mercury charge them less than BT does! Richard D G Cox Mandarin Technology, PO Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 3YG Voice: 0956 700111; Fax: 0956 700110; VoiceMail: 0941 151515 e-mail address: richard@mandarin.com; PGP2.6 public key on request ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 10:05:05 PDT From: Ole J. Jacobsen Subject: Re: USA Direct Question Yes, they are changing from 0800 to 0500. The reason is that the 0800 numbers belong to British Telecom which owns (part of?) MCI a direct competitor to AT&T. The 0500 numbers are owned by the other carrier in the UK, Mercury Communications hence the switch. Last I was there I found that both numbers worked, but I guess they are phasing out the 0800 number. Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher, ConneXions--The Interoperability Report, Interop Company, a division of ZD Expos, 303 Vintage Park Drive, Foster City, CA 94404-1138, USA. Phone: +1 (415) 578-6988 Fax: +1 (415) 525-0194. ------------------------------ From: rlockhart@aol.com (RLockhart) Subject: Re: Pager and Pager Network Date: 18 Jul 1994 14:10:04 -0400 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) In article , Curtis E. Reid writes: > Do you, TELECOM Digest readers, know of any other pager network > companies in the U.S.A. that also offer TDD paging? If so, can you > give me their name, address, contact, and phone number (TDD if > possible)? Probably one of the fastest ways to find such paging service providers is by calling one of the manufacturers of such translating equipment. One such manufacturer is TekNow in Phoenix, Arizona .. 602.266.7800. TekNow makes a front end processor that, among other things, translates from TDD to TAP, the alpha page entry protocol. Perhaps they would be able to provide you with some background on the paging service providers that use their equipment. Another method would be to contact our Subscriber/Pan Am marketing group. They have a marketer who specializes in such alpha services. > On another track, Page New York says that a pager can only be used with > a single page network company you subscribe to. Their rationale is > that the pager frequency is specific to the company and is not > transportable to another pager network company. Not like the way > cellular phone company do. I told them I find it hard to believe > because I'm sure there are a lot of people who travel frequently and > would need to be paged wherever they are. Can anyone explain what > exactly is the restriction on the pager for certain coverage? Right constraint, wrong reason ... most pagers are limited to a specific operating frequency because they are crystal-controlled. The operating frequency is assigned to a specific carrier in a region and they purchase pagers to operate on that frequency. Frequencies, though, are reused by other carriers in different geographic areas based on some rather specific FCC rules. Some times, these geographically-separate carriers will band together to offer a 'roaming' service, but this doesn't happen very often. If you travel frequently, perhaps you should consider one of the regional or nationwide services. Rob Lockhart, Resource Manager, Interactive Data Systems Paging Products Group, Motorola, Inc. Desktop I'net: lockhart-epag06_rob@email.mot.com Wireless I'net (<32K characters): rob_lockhart-erl003e@email.mot.com ------------------------------ From: daveheld@delphi.com Subject: Re: Pager and Pager Network Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 21:42:38 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) For the most part, a pager can be used only with the pager company that issued it. There are nationwide paging services that offer service in nearly all major cities, so you can use your pager in any of those cities; but my first statement is still true. Dave ------------------------------ From: taranto@panix.com (James Taranto) Subject: Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ Date: 18 Jul 1994 01:07:10 GMT Organization: The Bad Taranto In article , kreed@libre.com (Kevin W. Reed) wrote: > We are covered by US West here in Phoenix and recently, I hooked up > two lines for Caller-ID. One voice line and and one of my data lines. > I noticed pretty quickly that the only Caller-ID information that we > were getting was from the Metropolitan Phoenix area only with everything > else coming in as "OUT-OF-AREA". > I thought this was a bit strange as others (in other States) have > mentioned that they obtain Caller-ID information from other areas of > the country on their units. Most long-distance carriers do not carry Caller ID information. Cheers, James Taranto taranto@panix.com ------------------------------ From: llong@wiltel.com (Larry Long) Subject: Re: Caller-ID in Phoenix, AZ Date: 18 Jul 1994 17:50:55 GMT Organization: Network Development In article , kreed@libre.com (Kevin W. Reed) says: > ... they said it was up to the long distance carrier to > provide such information and the reason why we don't get it is because > the callers are using a carrier that doesn't provide that information. US West is telling you correctly. WilTel DOES provide caller ID information. If you want to see it, for yourself provide me your voice number and I will call you. My voice number is 918-588-5056. ------------------------------ From: daveheld@delphi.com Subject: Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 02:25:12 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) One of my telephone companies also changed its bill format, and, similar to the above, printed a notice about how the new format would save paper and trees. This notice was printed alone on its own sheet of paper. Dave ------------------------------ From: paul@senex.unh.edu (Paul S. Sawyer) Subject: Re: Pacific Bell Saves its Backside Date: 18 Jul 1994 11:03:06 GMT Organization: UNH Telecommunications and Network Services In article Alan Millar writes: > My local phone company, Pacific Bell, started printing phone bills on > both sides of the paper this month. Ditto NYNEX, for a few months now. (Bicoastal fad?) Paul S. Sawyer - University of New Hampshire CIS - Paul.Sawyer@UNH.Edu Telecommunications and Network Services VOX: +1 603 862 3262 50 College Road FAX: +1 603 862 4545 Durham, New Hampshire 03824-3523 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Jul 94 10:02:08 PDT From: Ole J. Jacobsen Subject: Re: NetWorld+Interop'94 Atlanta The show is September 12-16. Send your postal address to info@interop.com for a program brochure, or check out http://programs.interop.com for online information. Ole J Jacobsen, Editor & Publisher, ConneXions--The Interoperability Report, Interop Company, a division of ZD Expos, 303 Vintage Park Drive, Foster City, CA 94404-1138, USA. Phone: +1 (415) 578-6988 Fax: +1 (415) 525-0194. ------------------------------ From: rjames@netcom.com (Richard James) Subject: Re: Networld+Interop'94 Atlanta Organization: Kia Ora Associates Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 22:14:43 GMT In article , atiwan@nwg.nectec.or.th (Atiwan Prakobsantisukh) wrote: > Does anyone have any details about the program they could share with me? Try their WWW server which I think is at www.zdexpos.com. The URL should be http://www.zdexpos.com. rj ------------------------------ From: aoj@access2.digex.net (aaronjones) Subject: Simple T1 WAN Networking Date: 19 Jul 1994 00:24:01 GMT Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA Greetings Y'all, I have a client who has a T1 running between two points seperated by approximately 1700 miles. They have a LAN at each one of the two locations. The machines on the LANS are an assortment of Macs, Windows PCs, and UNIX boxes (SCO, Solaris 2.3, Motorola 88/Open(yechh), and an RS-6000 thrown in for good measure. The machines on the LANs at both ends are running a mixture of TCP/IP, The LANs are running a mixture of TCP/IP,IPX/SPX, and Ethertalk. What they would like to do is (strangely enough) connect their LANs together over the T1 circuit. They would like to do so at the cheapest possible cost. BTW, the T1 is currently sitting idle awaiting installation of a Frame Relay network, but they need something _now_. I will not be receiving any renumeration for this, but I would like to help out a friend. Any advise as to how they might accomplish this would be greatly appreciated. Aaron Jones Ph: (416) 213-2040 InterAccess Consulting Fax:(416) 213-5760 Toronto, Ontario Email: aoj@digex.net ------------------------------ From: mchenry@misvms.bpa.arizona.edu Subject: CFP: Satellite Conference in Russia Date: 18 Jul 1994 09:47 MST Organization: University of Arizona (BPA) International Conference on Satellite Communications ICSC'94 October 18-21, 1994 Moscow, Russia Organizers - Russian Popov Society for Radioengineering, Electronics and Communications - Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences - International Center for Scientific and Technical Information - IEEE Russia Section - IEEE Communications Society - IEEE Region 8 - CSELT (Italy) - TELESPAZIO (Italy) In cooperation with: * Ministry of Communications of Russia * Russia Space Agency * Regional Communication Administration of C.I.S. * Russian-American Magazine "Networks" * Research Radio Institute (Russia) * Intergovernment International Organization On Space Communication "Intersputnik" * Joint Stock Company "Telecom" (Russia) * Joint Stock Company "Maraphon-Earth" (Russia) * Joint Stock Company "Informkosmos" (Russia) * Research & Production Enterprise "Prikladnaya Mekhanika" (Russia) * Research & Production Enterprise "Energia" (Russia) * Space Research Institute, Russian Academy Of Sciences * State Enterprise "Space Communication" (Russia) * State Enterprise "Morsvyazsputnik" (Russia) * Fund for Development of Telecommunication Systems Of Russia * Moscow Research Radioengineering Institute (Russia) * Moscow Research Institute For Radio Communications (Russia) * International Academy Of Informatization (Department On Satellite And Earth Communication Systems And Broadcasting) SESSIONS OF THE CONFERENCE : Session 1 -Satellite communication systems and broadcasting Session 2- Platform launchers and space complex Session 3- Technology and equipment for satellite communications Session 4- Satellite based systems with high elliptical and low Earth orbits Session 5- Satellite based systems for ecological monitoring and navigation Session 6- VSAT networking and data transmission Session 7- Signal processing for satellite communications PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME : October 18,1994 Tuesday 10.00-14.00 Opening ceremony Plenary session 14.00-15.00-Lunch 15.00-18.00-Sessions 1,5. 19.00 Cocktail-party October 19,1994 Wednesday 9.00-13.00 Sessions 1,5 11.00-13.00 Sessions 4,7 13.00-15.00 Lunch Discussion of poster papers (Sessions 1,4,5,7) 15.00-17.00 Sessions 4,7 17.00-18.00 Round table discussion Session 6 October 20,1994 Thursday 9.00-13.00 Sessions 2,4. 11.00-13.00 Session 3 11.00-13.00 Round table discussion "Satellites with low Earth orbits" 13.00-15.00 Lunch Discussion of poster papers (Sessions 2,3,6) 15.00-17.00 Closing ceremony October 21,1994 Friday 10.00-17.00 Visits to research and space centers. Visit to International Exhibition "NetCom94". The International Technical Programme Committee has approved Your paper............................................... ............................................... for presenting at: Plenary session Session........................................... poster paper discussion The registration fee (300 $US) should be sent by October 1,1994 to Bank Account: ICSTI acc.# 00107001147 Beneficiary's Bank: BANK "CREDIT-MOSCOW" 16, Gospitalnaya Sq., 111250 Moscow, Russia Intermediary Bank: The Bank of New York 48, Wall Street, NY NY 10286 acc. # 890-0057-033 The registration fee includes: visa support, hotel reservation, local transport, sightseeing of Moscow with a guide, cocktail party, coffee breaks, program and proceedings of the conference, business visits, translation services, arrival and departure service. The registration fee for accompanying persons (85 $US) includes visa support, local transport, hotel reservation, cocktail party, sightseeing of Moscow, arrival and departure services. Deadline for Your paper in camera-ready format is August 15,1994. The paper and abstract (2 copies) should be sent to Dr. Juri Gornostaev, ICSC'94 Orgcom, 21-B, Kuusinen St., ICSTI, Moscow, 125252 Russia by express mail (DHL, Federal Express, TNT, etc.). Fax:(7-095)943-0089, e-mail:enir@ccic.icsti.msk.su For obtaining an official invitation and visa please fill and send the following form to the above given address. 1. Name ........................................................ 2. Citizenship .................................................. 3. Date of birth ................................................ 4. Passport No .................................................. 5. Address ...................................................... 6. Cities for visits ............................................ 7. Date of arrival and departure ................................ 8. Fax number ................................................... ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@ohlone.kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Last Laugh! Telephone Connections as Explained on Usenet Date: 15 Jul 94 03:31:22 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: John Lundgren found this gem of wisdom on some Usenet group somewhere and passed it along, adding some comments of his own. I suppose it was one of the telecom newsgroups, but who knows. The amount of misinformation circulating in the cesspool these days is nothing short of astounding. Read it yourself and see how wild things have gotten there. The ignorance of the two correspondents would be funny if it were not so typical there. PAT] Robert Macy (robert.macy@engineers.com) wrote: : GT>I know there are two wires from the exchange to my house but there are : GT>4 on a standard BT phone plug. Why the extra two? and how is the : GT>ringer inside the phone activated? how does the exchange know when you : GT>lift up the phone? : Some say the four wires were used to confuse people and discourage them : from attempting to wire their own telephones (in the old days) WRONG. See below. BTW, You should be reading TELECOM Digest to get the real info. : Now just use the extra wires to add a second line. : Note: the voltage from the telco should be polarized. The red and green : wires are the main ones with red being negative with respect to the grn. You better check that with a voltmeter. I think it's minus on the tip or green wire. : Old AT&T telephones with touch-tone need to have that voltage supplied : to them properly, or the touch-tone pad won't work. New phones use a : bridge rectifier and the polarity of the line doesn't matter. : When your phone is ON-HOOK, the phone company supplies around 45 to 65 : Volts to it (looking for you to take some current). When you lift the : handset, the current you pull is detected at the local telco switch : station and a new power supply is connected to your line to power your : phone. Yes, there is a short time you have no power to your phone. The : "ON-LINE" power supply is something like 12 V in series with some : resistance. That resistance is a function of the line distance out to : your home. THAT'S MISINFORMATION. The phone is powered from the same battery, which is about 48VDC, when off hook. Part of the voltage drop is across the relay coil, with the voltage across the phone depending on how much current it draws. And it is supposed to be a current loop. There is NO 'on-line power supply' other than the 48V battery. : But the AC impedance is supposed to be 600 Ohms. The 600 Ohms is : standard audio impedance which reduces echoes and allows for the : creation of line amplifiers. : Line amplifiers are a miraculous device that amplifies signals going : along a two wire system. You can set the gain for a different level : each direction. In other words, between your phone and mine (out in : the middle of no where) it is possible to make a little amplifier that : amplifies your signal, or my signal. All powered off the two lines : themselves. Neat, huh? BUT WRONG. The phone company used to put loading coils, which are a 88 millihenry inductor, in the line. This compensated for the capacitance. In the U.S. they never put an amplifier on the line. Why? Because if it drew any current, it would cause the CO to think the phone was off the hook! And what kind of amplifier? Tubes? Transistors? NO! This phone system was invented long before either of them. Today's subscriber lines may go into 'pair gain' equipment that multiplexes the line along with 23 others onto a T1 carrier. It's commonly called a SLIC. From there it goes back to the CO as a digital bit stream. This equipment may be located in the neighborhood, in an underground bunker like we have around here where I live. : GT>If anyone can enlighten me I'd be very grateful, (I've looked around : GT>for books etc but didn't find anything with real tech details). : OLD books in the library have *all* the details. At least basic : details, the actual techniques now used were implemented about 20 years : ago when Captain Crunch and his followers got into everything and people : were making "blue boxes" to call around the world for free. : GT>If you could email info (as well as posting) that would be even better : GT>as my news feed doesn't keep news for long. : I swear this is true. Certain details of the telephone industry, if I And I swear that you're WRONG if you're in the U.S. : tell you how they work, I would be committing a felony (that's right, a : felony). And *you* would be committing a felony for listening! How do : you like them apples? So I suppose it's against the law to read the Bell System Technical Journal? You've got to be kidding!!! What do you think we are, a bunch of chumps? NO WAY?! : - Robert - John Lundgren - Elec Tech - Info Tech Svcs Rancho Santiago Community College District 17th St. at Bristol \ Santa Ana, CA 92706 jlundgre@pop.rancho.cc.ca.us\jlundgr@eis.calstate.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And there you have it, straight from the source of all true gospel, the Usenet. I'll bet you did not know my publication of the Digest and your reading of it was illegal, did you? And John, when you responded by telling him to read this Digest, did you know you were encouraging him to commit a felony? ... Now I'll grant you, AT&T in years past never made any effort to explain themselves to the general public, nor do they now. The most infamous case of all was in the middle 1960's when {Ramparts Magazine} announced their intention to publish the (then) formula used by Mother to construct calling card check digits or 'proof of legitimacy key letters' in the next issue of their magazine. Mother just about went crazy; she got a restraining order in court at the last minute (the press run was complete and the magazine was in distribution to newstands everywhere) preventing {Ramparts} from giving out the information. All the copies in circulation had to be recalled and handed over to The Telephone Company for shredding. For those not familiar with it, {Ramparts} was an odd little magazine published in Berkeley, California by a bunch of odd little people. They were against the War, and all that, and devoted their magazine to things designed to upset and embarass the establishment, not the least of which was Ma Bell and her children. There is no such modern word as 'rampart' by the way. It is an archaism last used in middle French/English dating from about 1583 or so and it roughly translates in modern English to 'a hole dug in the ground behind a large pile of dirt or behind a hill where one can hide (in the hole) to watch one's enemies without being seen ...'. The magazine took its name from the first stanza of {The Star Spangled Banner} written by Francis Scott Key with its words, 'whose broad stripes and bright stars / through the perilous night / from the ramparts we watched / were so gallantly streaming ..'. The odd little soldiers waged war against the War in their own way, and Ma Bell squashed them when they offended her, sort of as one would swat a fly or step on a cockroach. Does anyone know if {Ramparts} is still around? John, maybe the writer of that snippet you sent from Usenet was thinking about {Ramparts} when he said it is illegal to talk about Phone Company Secrets. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #326 ******************************