TELECOM Digest Wed, 28 Sep 94 11:28:00 CDT Volume 14 : Issue 381 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson DirectlineMCI (Stephen Goodman) Re: Cellular Digital vs. Analog (Mark Solsman) Re: FBI Wiretap Bill -- WTF? (Paul Callahan) Re: Now AT&T is Lying About True-Voice (trudel@aramis.rutgers.edu) Recommendation V.34 is Now in Force (Fernando Lagrana) Wanted: FAX Software For UNIX Recommendations (system@decode.com) OSI OM-Related Tools (Andrew Lavigne) List of CO Types Wanted (Kenneth G. Rehor) Re: The Industry of the Future? (Bob Allison) Re: "Cost of Call" Indication? (Henry Wertz) Re: NYNEX Eliminated Roam Charges (David Sheafer) Re: Okay, So I Want to Start My Own Local Telco ... How? (Paul Robinson) 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 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. The archives can also be accessed using our email information service. 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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: Tue, 27 Sep 94 15:18 EST From: Stephen Goodman <0003945654@mcimail.com> Subject: DirectlineMCI IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: David Sutton MCI Business Markets (404) 668-6234 MCI TO PROVIDE NATIONWIDE 'FIND ME/FOLLOW ME' COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE FOR BUSINESS 'directlineMCI' Integrates Phone, Fax, Cellular, Voicemail and Paging for the Mobile Professional ATLANTA, GA, September 27, 1994 -- MCI today announced plans to launch an innovative voice communications service that will give business people the ability to manage multiple communications and messaging services through a single telephone number. MCI's new offering, directlineMCI, will provide the most comprehensive integrated communications service available for the mobile professional. The new product, directlineMCI, works by linking all messaging services -- standard telephone, cellular service, fax, voice mail and paging needs -- to a single 800 number. With directlineMCI, business people can manage time efficiently, while remaining accessible to customers, coworkers and family. Its "find me/follow me" service is unique in that it can be accessed anywhere, for domestic or international calls, and at any time through MCI's ubiquitous network. Said John Donoghue, vice president of marketing, "directlineMCI is the all-in-one business card number of the future. No longer will a realtor, doctor, sales executive, home-based entrepreneur or other business person have to list as many as three or four 10-digit numbers on their business card. This product offers business customers a competitive differentiator for staying in touch with their most valued customers, prospects and colleagues." How it Works Each subscriber to directlineMCI is provided a unique 800 number. The subscriber establishes the desired routing plan for incoming calls and can, at any time, change the call routing sequence to accommodate special situations. A subscriber can program up to three different telephone numbers that directlineMCI would try in order to connect the caller. For example, a busy manager may program the system to first try their own office number. If there is no answer, the system could then try the subscriber's cellular phone and then the home phone if necessary, and in any sequence the subscriber prefers. If the system is unable to locate the subscriber after trying the final number in the sequence, the call can be routed to a prompt that allows them to select either voice mail or paging options. A typical example may have calls entering the directlineMCI platform answered by an initial greeting before any attempts are made to locate the subscriber. This lets the caller know that they have dialed the correct number and informs them how the call is being handled. Subsequent attempts in the call sequence are also announced to the caller to let them know the system is still trying to locate the subscriber. Unique Service Features Include Fax and Voice Mail As an added advantage, directlineMCI eliminates the frustrations of missed fax messages and the inability to receive faxed information in a timely manner or at a remote location. The service allows subscribers to receive faxed messages at any time and to retrieve the messages when it is convenient. Callers are able to send faxes to a subscriber's directlineMCI number without any caller interaction. The system immediately recognizes fax tones and routes the call to a fax mailbox where the fax is stored for later retrieval. Fax messages can be sent from regular fax machines, PCs equipped with fax capable modems or from e-mail systems. Faxes can then be retrieved later and can be routed to both a regular fax machine or to a PC equipped with a fax modem. Callers can also attach a voice message to the fax to note or detail pertinent information. Also, directlineMCI also incorporates a voice mail capability to store caller messages when the subscriber is unable to answer their calls personally. This feature provides the ability to define a "community of interest" that allows users to share voice mail messages, therefore utilizing directlineMCI as a network-based voice mail system. Subscribers can forward voice mail messages to other individuals or they can broadcast them to a number of individuals within their group. Other key features of directlineMCI include alternate routing functions, call screening, music-on-hold and call queuing. directlineMCI Targets Home-Based Businesses and Mobile Professionals MCI said directlineMCI has been designed to address the needs of today's highly mobile and communications-intensive business environment. The home office market alone is growing dramatically, with the number of home office and telecommuting households expected to increase from 8.5 million in 1993 to 13.5 million in 1996. Because this group tends to move back and forth between the office and home, they own a higher proportion of laptop computers, modems, beepers and fax machines.* The potential benefits to these and other businesses that use directlineMCI are many. Companies that have a requirement for real-time access to their most mobile employees will benefit from directlineMCI. Home office workers, travelling executives, regional salespeople, realtors, service technicians, telecommuters, physicians, health care workers and others will enhance the ability to provide professional, personalized service to their most important callers. And, callers benefit by eliminating "phone tag" when attempting to complete their most urgent calls. Also, the convenience of fax store and forward with voice message attachment simplifies and reduces notification and follow up regarding faxes. Plus, callers have only one number to record and remember when attempting to communicate with the subscriber. Added Donoghue, "directlineMCI's real-time, 'find me/follow me' features mean that business people will never again miss an important call. The service is as easy to use as your television remote control. By pressing a series of simple key strokes on a pushbutton phone, you take control of your communications." MCI said directlineMCI is scheduled for availability to U.S. businesses in December. For more information on directlineMCI, call 1-800-570-7870. With 1993 revenue of nearly $12 billion, MCI Communications Corporation is the one of the world's largest communications companies. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., MCI has more than 65 offices in 58 countries and places. The company's Atlanta-based MCI Business Markets provides a wide range of communications and information services to America's businesses, including networkMCI BUSINESS, long distance voice, data and video services and consulting and outsourcing services. * Source: the Yankee Group ------------------------------ From: solsman@ra.nrl.navy.mil (Mark Solsman) Subject: Re: Cellular Digital vs. Analog Date: 28 Sep 1994 00:25:39 GMT Organization: Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC Well, I would advise you to be very careful with digital service. I am a subscriber to digital phone service from Cellular One of Washington DC. I recommend that digital service is not meant for handhelds. Sure, it is great at extending battery life (almost 2x in digital mode), but it is near impossible to hold a conversation. With analog service, when you get lousy reception, you get static. Digital service offers a no-static solution. When there is lousy reception, there is nothing, not even voice. Your called party should be told that you are using the new digital service and there are times in which they will not hear you at all. The digital phones even go into half-duplex mode whenever you are not camping under a tower. There is also the risk that you will become the victim of a network weenie. In Washington DC Cell One tests their digital service by switching it on and off again and again. One day my Nokia switched from analog to digital and back six times before I was finally dropped. I was within 1/2 mile from the tower. I don't think that it is a telephone problem, since this is the third phone I have had. All act the same way. Cell One says it is the phone, and Nokia says that I must live in a fringe area. (I'll invite them to DC sometime.) But don't let me slam the digital system too much. There are alot of advantages of digital service. Some are caller id, selective call accept / reject, encryption, message wait light, ability to program and control call forwarding and call waiting from the handheld. Of course, don't think of asking for these features. They arn't real in my network. Cellular One customer service needs education on these services, and their network engineers need a deadline. It is also neat to hear your voice get digitally distorted when your signal gets lousy. And how can I forget -- sometimes, if you are lucky, you can hear your own echo up to 1.5 seconds later! Try and keep focused on what you are saying when you can hear yourself echo a second later. All in all, I recommend to wait for the technology to mature a little bit. Of course, if my network would offer a $300 offer I may just do it now, but with a three watt phone. In my opinion, today's cellular network is built on a three watt model. Every time you hear static on your handheld, that is where you wouldn't hear what your calling party is saying. Of course you could always do what I have learned to do -- switch your dual-mode phone into analog mode. And if you plan on purchasing a phone, shop around. The prices quoted in this thread's origional article were extremely high. You may want to try to call Cellular World @ 800-TALK-NOW. There is also Unplugged, located in CA. They offer nationwide activation prices. I have no connection with either company, except being a happy customer. If you call Cell World, ask for Sean; he is good. And if anyone wants to purchase a Nokia 2120 used, drop me a line. I wan't to switch back to my old 3 watt OKI. (I also hate my Mitsu 4000). In article ron@pyro.wro.dec.com writes: > In my search, I have found very few digital phones. A Motorola Flip > (similar to the DPC-550), a AT&T 6650, and a Technophone (which seems > to be the AT&T unit in a different case). These units are all around > 10 ounces. There is also a top-of-the-line (~$1250) Motorola Elite > with everything the Ultra Lite has and more (and even weighs less); I > haven't seen this unit. The Motorola Flip is huge. A technophone isn't an AT&T, but a Nokia. A Nokia 2120 weighs around 8oz, and is less that $400 activated. Mark Solsman Building 1, Code 5160 United States Naval Research Laboratory solsman@ra.nrl.navy.mil Washington, DC (202) 767-5769 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Sep 94 16:05:22 CDT From: wpcallah@rwasic17.aud.alcatel.com (Paul Callahan) Subject: Re: FBI Wiretap Bill -- WTF? A scattering of thoughts here: 1. Why does everyone think the FBI is the prime, and only mover here? As I recall, there are other feds who don't need no stinkin warrant, and they do want to have a neat, national, way to intercept calls. Sure Rockwell is building a several million sq feet building in DC, it's got their name on it? Right? 2. I'm sure many nasties understand the difficulties of following a cellular call, and use it. The FBI is not going to say, the present investigation of Joe Mafia is hurtting 'cause we can't follow all his calls. They can only talk about past cases. And, do they ever want to say who they have tapped, and failed, or just not gotten any info ... 3. POTS is still easy to get to, the many ways listed, but what of business? My wife's small business talks T1, all lines. That's the way GTE (or any name here) wants it, less copper, perhaps no copper. I work at a much larger company, and none of our regular lines are analog outside our buildings. We talk dirrect to a switch, and it's fairly common. Even avoiding the nasty point regarding the un-blemished record of only legal, criminal, investigations the FBI has done -- they would have a bit of a problem hooking up to one of our ISDN phones. They COULD, but with complex equipment (well, I'd say T1 is a bit down from SONET, but outsiders would be a bit perplexed). So, how complex does our police equipment need to be (can they understand how to use it) and how should they tap a digital business line? Paul Callahan ------------------------------ From: trudel@aramis.rutgers.edu (Jonathan) Subject: Re: Now AT&T is Lying About True-Voice Date: 27 Sep 1994 17:04:54 -0400 Organization: Rutgers University LCSR opel!vk2bea!michael@uunet.uu.net (Michael G. Katzmann) writes: > In article nsayer@quack.kfu.com (Nick > Sayer) writes: >> The result is a beautiful, broadcast-quality stereo sound. > I don't know about the choir (maybe that's due to the mystical > experience), but "True Voice" does up the average level and equalizes > the LF. (See many previous articles in comp.dcom.telecom) So comparing > the two passages, one does get the idea of what T.V. does. As far as > the control room stuff goes, that's Madison Avenue for you. One thing that you have to realize (and since it isn't mentioned in either post above, one can presume you may not be aware of it) is that many (but not all!) television stations muck around with the audio they broadcast -- they compress the audio track down so that the volume between, say, background noise and an explosion, is not that different. One could suspect that they enhanced the audio of the call to work around this quirk. The time-based spectrum 'analysis' of the signal in the commercial might be more demonstraative of what they were trying to accomplish. Didn't they up the volume range as well as perform bass boost? By the way, the True Voice Demo (1-800-932-2000) has a new voice, and isn't Tom Selleck anymore. Jon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Sep 1994 08:46:22 CET From: lagrana@itu.ch (Fernando Lagrana) Subject: Recommendation V.34 is Now in Force Organization: International Telecommunication Union I am glad to inform the telecommunication community that ITU Members have formally approved the four Recommendations submitted to their vote in TSB Circular 82. Thus, Recommendations V.8, V.18, V.34, V.58 are now in force. My service (editing) is currently fine tuning the manuscript for publication (taking into account the last comments of our Members; aligning the three versions - English, French and Spanish; finalizing the layout according to our publication rules, etc.). I plan to have those Regards from Geneva, Fernando Lagra International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Bureau Editor, Catalogue of Recommmendations Coordinator, Electronic Document Handling Internet: fernando.lagrana@itu.ch Voice: + 41 22 730 58 94 Fax: + 41 22 730 58 53 X.400: SURNAME=lagrana, PRIVATE_DOMAIN=itu, ADMIN_DOMAIN=arcom, COUNTRY=ch ------------------------------ Subject: Wanted: FAX Software For UNIX Recommendations From: System Operator Date: Wed, 28 Sep 94 10:19:15 EDT Organization: American Cryptogram Association Hello, I'm looking for recommendations on FAX software for HP-UX 9 (UNIX) on 9000/800 series machines. I'm familiar with Devcom's FaxFX, and am not happy with the support. I'm looking for solid, quality software that is supported very well. One of our major clients receives 350 to 400 faxes per day, each of which is multiple pages of technical drawing specifications. It is critical for this customer to receive clear faxes all day, every day. If you have had good experience with a solid Fax package that would run and is supported on a Hewlett-Packard 9000/800 series machine under HP-UX, please e-mail at dan@decode.com. Thanks for your time. Dan system@decode.com (System Operator) Cryptography, Security, Privacy BBS +1 410 730 6734 Data/FAX ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Sep 1994 11:37:00 -0400 From: andrew lavigne Subject: OSI OM-Related Tools I've been looking for information on the availability of OSI Object Model Management-related toolkits and compilers (ASN.1/GDMO compilers, object class inheritance display tools, browsers, etc). Does anyone know of such tools and/or where I can get more information on them? Thanks in advance for any information. Andrew Lavigne alavigne@bnr.ca ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 27 Sep 94 11:57 CDT From: krehor@research.att.com (Kenneth G. Rehor) Subject: List of CO Types Wanted Pat, I recall hearing that Bellcore sells a list of all Central Office switch types on a diskette. Do you know how I can get this? Thanks, Ken Rehor krehor@research.att.com ------------------------------ From: boba@wwa.com (Bob Allison) Subject: Re: The Industry of the Future? Date: 27 Sep 1994 12:57:28 -0500 Organization: WorldWide Access - Chicago Area Internet Services 312- 282-8605 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Sid, there is absolutely no doubt > in my mind that the changes in the telephone industry over the past > decade have never been seen before and will never be seen again. Even > with the massive reductions in work force over the past decade, telco > still remains the largest employer anywhere. Trying to simply grasp the > numbers involved is difficult. Where do you think it will go from here? > Will there still be further cutbacks, or 'downsizing'? Will it finally > get to the point all the telcos in the world eventually employ only > a dozen or so people among them with the computers doing all the rest > of the work? PAT] I would imagine that if they can, they will find a way to have the entire phone compnay be made up of computers, plus a few marketers, accountants, and lawyers, with an outside advertising agency, and 'temporary' repair workers, who can be fired when their pay reaches a certain point. When they get voice recognition down, the directory assistance operators will get kicked out. ASCII ART FTP: ftp.wwa.com/pub/Scarecrow - InterNet group: rec.arts.ascii Email and requests: boba@wwa.com - ASCII ART FAQ finger: asciifaq@wwa.com WWW: -- Bob Allison's Home Page -- ------------------------------ From: Henry Wertz Subject: Re: "Cost of Call" Indication? Date: 28 Sep 1994 03:48:23 GMT Organization: U of Iowa Panda System Reply-To: Henry@chop.isca.uiowa.edu In note , lcz@dptspd.sat.datapoint.com (Lee Ziegenhals) writes: > The "NYNEX Makes You Dial '1' For Same Area-Code Calls" thread got me > to thinking about how to tell whether a call is costing you LD charges > or not. With my telephone company, a LD toll call is always preceded > by a '1'. I've gotten rather used to it, and I'd miss it if I moved > somewhere where it wasn't done that way. > On the other hand, it seems the idea of a toll call is rather vague > these days. A call might be "local" but still be metered in some way, > either due to a special prefix or just metered local service. > I'm wondering whether there is any work being done on a real-time > display of the cost of a call. I'm thinking of something like a display > on your telephone that shows the cost of a call in progress. It would > be updated continuously (except for fixed-cost calls) until you hang up. > I'd like to see this for all types of metered calls, whether local > metered, long distance, 900 numbers, etc. I don't think it is actually too likely. The phone companies have lots of switches, and there are lots of phones, and the phone company really wouldn't want to have to change all this stuff. I have seen lots of modem programs that kept logs of time, and some also calculate the cost by well ... multiplying the time by rate 8-). I would figure it would be much easier for the phone manufacturers and phone company to make phones with a little processor that listens in on the tones, and runs it through a number parsing program ... "that is a 555 ... that's $.15/minute. That's local, no charge. That is operator, $2.00 flat charge." etc.. Either make it easy enough so you can set in in, or have the local phone cos do it on request. Now this wouldn't work for 900's, but for most things it would work fine. You could set a microprocessor to detect LD even on the seven digit LD places > Implementation at the local loop shouldn't be too difficult. ISDN > would be relatively easy since the rate information could be passed > over the D channel. For POTS lines, the rate information would have > to be transmitted somehow at the beginning of the call, perhaps using > a technology similar to what's used for CID. Well, here, if the other person is quick with the phone, you can have an answer without a ring ... there isn't necessarily time for the phone company to transmit that type of information. > Is such a thing feasible? I know absolutely nothing about how billing > systems are implemented within the telephone network. Is this > information even available in real time to the local telephone > company? For that matter, am I the only one who would find this > useful? :-) I'd find it useful too ... not as big a problem here with 1 + ten digits for all LD, even within area code but would still be good to have to know the exact rates. ------------------------------ From: David Sheafer Subject: Re: NYNEX Eliminated Roam Charges Date: Wed, 28 Sep 94 07:41:46 -0500 Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice) In regards to the NYNEX eliminating the daily roaming fees, they have also established a total of three rates that will be charged to NYNEX Mobile customers: Roaming charges via Nynex; in NY State and New England $.59/minute in Southern NJ through Philadelphia to Washington DC $ .79/minute The rest of North America $ .99/minute With NYNEX's automatic Call Delivery in just about all of New England and I believe it now extends to BAMS plus their follow me roamiing capability in 99% of the B carriers that are not on Call Delivery yet, I think this is a great service, and now will not have to worry where I will and will not get charged that $3.00 daily fee as it doesn't exist, have any other carries done anything similar? David Sheafer dsheafer@delphi.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 28 Sep 1994 05:57:33 EST From: Paul Robinson Subject: Re: Okay, So I Want to Start My Own Local Telco ... How? Organization: Tansin A. Darcos & Company, Silver Spring, MD USA Peter Rukavina wants to know how to set up a cooperative telephone company for a small group within a rural area. I can give him some ideas but if he's looking for something not very expensive he's going to have a problem. Average rule of thumb for a company deciding to put in its own PBX is US $1000 per line plus about US $4 a month per line to cover damage to equipment. Since he's talking about an area of about 12 people, he could probably get one of those inexpensive office PBX systems that sell for about US $2000 to handle 16 stations. He would then have to have the other telephone company supply him with enough trunk lines based on average usage, say two or three incoming and outgoing, plus phone numbers. Either they would provide a connection like they would to a foreign telephone company or they would provide a DID connection (I'm not exactly certain of the technical background, for all I know a connection to another telephone company's trunks is the same as a DID connection). If most of the calls in the area are to the people in that group, then the internal PBX will provide better service; if the problem has been insufficient lines for the people in that area to call the outside world, this isn't going to help much. The next step is to write or purchase a set of tariff schedules, which even for a small company will require at least a 2 1/2" three-ring binder, covering such matters as liability, service charges, etc. Then you have to file these tariffs with the state (and pay filing fees) unless your service is considered so small that it doesn't have to file (with less than 50 subscribers it probably doesn't, but don't depend on that). Then you have to figure how some of the usual services are going to be provided. When someone dials "0" is it going to come into an operator's console in your living room or do you get the other telephone company to provide operator services? Who is liable if someone runs up $8,000 in long distance calls to Zanzibar? Is it a cooperative where the telephone subscribers are the owners or is it a non profit organization or is it a for profit corporate entity? The U.S. Department of Agriculture (yes, Agriculture) handles certain controls over rural electric and telephone companies and they may be worth contacting for information as to how things are done here. (Mainly because rural utilities are entitled to certain subsidies and special loans.) You might want to see if there's a Canadian organization handling rural utilities and cooperatives, if any such thing exists. Paul Robinson - Paul@TDR.COM Reports on Security Problems: To Subscribe write PROBLEMS- REQUEST@TDR.COM ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #381 ****************************