TELECOM Digest Fri, 10 Mar 95 00:27:00 CST Volume 15 : Issue 144 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Voicemail System Wanted (Skot Magnum) Re: What is Loop Start? (Tony Zuccarino) Re: Tired of S.314 Hysteria (Tony Zuccarino) Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? (Steve Cogorno) Re: Help: E Telco Step-by-Step Switch (John Lundgren) Re: Video Dialtone, HFC, HDSL, or ADSL (John Lundgren) Re: CONY Baltimnore (Stan Schwartz) Marine Communications (Carter Thomasson) Inexpensive Caller ID Boxes by Mail-Order? (Darrin Smith) LATA Maps Wanted (Phillip Schuman) ADCPM and CO's (Steven Bergman) Hello Direct on the WWW (Bill Seward) Reliability Analysis Programs Wanted (Phil McMillan) Help! Telecommuting Options (dperlmutte1@vaxa.hofstra.edu) FM Radio Stock Data (ronxx@aol.com) Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' (Axel Schmidt) Re: Europe Postal Services and Datacom (Axel Schmidt) Tables of Long Distance Rates (Joubert Berger) CPE Outsourcing - Anecdotes Wanted (Mark Peacock) Re: Legal Notice: MCI Class Action Settlement (Charleen Bunjiovianna) 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@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: 500-677-1616 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. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to use the information service, just ask. ************************************************************************ * * 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. * ************************************************************************ * Additionally, 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. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Skot Subject: Re: Voicemail System Wanted Date: 9 Mar 1995 01:09:07 GMT Organization: Primenet sgrossin@carleton.edu (seth) wrote: > My client is looking for an inbound voicemail/telenotification system for > providing callers with messages ("listings"). This system must meet the > following requirements: > - A DOS or Windows-based solution; > - Support for up to five different option levels (e.g. categories, subcate- > gories, etc. ending with listings); > - Excellent message management (delete, update, view); > - Message copy/paste capabilities; > - Automatic deletion of messages older than two weeks; > - Support for up to 3000 1-minute messages; > - Multiple paths to the same listings (e.g. by type, then area, then listing, > or by area, then type, then the same listing); > - Support for multiple phone lines (two to five). Yes you can do it all with DUET by Magnum & Ram Research. Call for more info (818) 701-5051. Skot Magnum Software ------------------------------ From: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com (Tony Zuccarino) Subject: Re: What is Loop Start? Organization: Rockwell International Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 01:30:40 GMT Is there a reliable way for local telephone equipment to determine that the remote caller has disconnected? In other words, when someone hangs up after recording a message on my answering machine, is there a way for the answering machine DAA to detect that this caller has hung up, apart from detecting silence for some time? Tony Zuccarino Internet: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com Product Marketing Rockwell Telecommunications [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Sure there is. I think CPC -- Called Party Control -- does that. I've had answering machines and voicemail equipment at various times that did that. As soon as the calling party disconnected, my equipment did the same immediatly. In fact I have a Big Mouth card here now which operates that way. PAT] ------------------------------ From: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com (Tony Zuccarino) Subject: Re: Tired of S.314 Hysteria Organization: Rockwell International Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 22:24:39 GMT In article , /G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU1=0205465@ mhs-mc.attmail.com wrote: > Am I the only person tired of being spammed about S.314, or just the > first one to complain about it? Do I have to read seven to ten copies > of this in every newsgroup, even areas as obscure as alt.games.whitewolf? > All this, on top of the maybe twenty or thirty copies I've gotten as > e-mail? > Can there possibly be anyone on the planet with an e-mail address who > =doesn't= know about S.314? > The easily alarmed might worry that some court will say that you =could= > have known, and therefore =should= have known. But that's not up to > prosecutors, that's up to juries. When witnesses testify as to how many > kilobytes or megabytes flow through your system per night, no jury is > going to say that you should have read it all. If you present evidence > that you couldn't have known, because those bits were all encrypted and > people didn't tell you what was in them, nobody's going to rule that you > =could= have known, let alone =should= have. So it's ok to be brought up on charges and go in front of jury, because after all they are going to decide in favour of common sense and acquit you. In general I am not in favour of any law that via loose interpretation nets in just about any information service provider to spend time, money, and reputation in court just to prove what you seem to agree would be their foregone innocence. Tony Zuccarino Internet: tony.zuccarino@nb.rockwell.com Product Marketing Rockwell International [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Neither am I, but remember, none of the big guys will be affected anyway. It all depends on you having a lawyer who, umm ... can properly make his point to the lawyers who work for the government. You and I cannot afford that type, so the law will apply only to small organizations and individual users, which basically means if they pass the law we wil be right where we started out anyway. Overall, its a dumb idea. I urge a no vote. PAT] ------------------------------ From: cogorno@netcom.com (Steve Cogorno) Subject: Re: PBS Rumors and Innuendo: Any Truth? Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 20:28:04 PST > Barney and Big Bird would obviously have a life if Federal PBS funding > were axed. I'm not sure about the "for a fee, of course" phrase, > since we *already* pay a fee through our tax dollars. I, myself, > enjoy listening to Click & Clack on NPR's "Car Talk," but I would have > no problems cutting funding for left-leaning shows such as "Morning > Edition." There is *much* more to PBS than Sesame Street, boys and > girls. "Your tax dollars" amounts to about $0.75 for PBS. THe federal government only gives PBS $147 million a year. Did you know that military marching bands cost over $250 million a year? Which would you rather support? By the way, Morning Edition is most certainly NOT "left-leaning." The reporters are fair, generally accurate, and sometimes talk about controversial topics, but they most certainly are not leftist. > Did anyone else catch this? This is propoganda pure and simple -- > the writer is trying to pull the wool over yer eyes, yanking your > chain with Jingoistic "America First!" language to hide the fact > that this guy's a socialist. >> Perhaps the bitter battle over Big Bird and Barney's future >> makes a bit more sense now. > Makes perfect sense: "Capitalism is evil, communism is good." And what exactly is a socialist in your eyes? Steve cogorno@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Help: E Telco Step-by-Step Switch Date: 8 Mar 1995 05:49:20 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network nadia (n.) smyrniw (smyrniw@bnr.ca) wrote: > I am looking for information about an E Telco Step-by-Step Switch. I > am looking for any information (Manufacturer, type of test trunk > ect....) All I know about it is that it was manufacured in England in > the distant past, but I don't know by whom. Maybe Strowger? > If anyone has any information please let me know. Often the old equipment had a 'KS' or 'KSS' on it, and this meant that the equipment maker was Kellogg Switch and Signal, I think the name was. Just something that I remembered from my military days long ago. I hope I'm not too far off. If so, there will probably be someone correcting me in a followup. 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\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ From: jlundgre@kn.PacBell.COM (John Lundgren) Subject: Re: Video Dialtone, HFC, HDSL, or ADSL Date: 8 Mar 1995 06:19:45 GMT Organization: Pacific Bell Knowledge Network Timothy Kreps (tkreps@netcom.com) wrote: > Where can I find info or discussions on: > - video dialtone, > - Hybrid Fiber/Coax (HFC), We were talking in a meeting with our Pac Bell service reps last week and we brought up the subject of ISDN and pair gain, and one of the reps said that if we get the SLICs, they might be connected to the CO by fiber. And PacBell is looking into installing fiber into neighborhoods, and there will be some coax going from the fiber 'hub' (I don't know what they will be calling it), to the individual subscribers. I guess this is what is being talked about among others besides the telcos because it involves competition for the cable TV companies' customers. 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\jlundgre@kn.pacbell.com ------------------------------ From: stans@panix.com (Stan Schwartz) Subject: Re: CONY Baltimnore Date: 8 Mar 1995 00:01:01 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC Doug Reuben (dreuben@interpage.net) wrote: > I assume you had automatic call delivery turned "ON" (ie, you had hit > *350 sometime in the past?). You may want to try that to (A) make sure > that Call Delivery is ON (or in NACN terms, "Do Not Disturb" is off), > and (B) to "force" a registration of your phone in the visited market. I tried that and I received confirmation tones. I was also able to make outgoing calls, so I know I was registered. >> I called CellOne's 800 number, and the rep told me that even though >> Baltimore is a NACN city, incoming callers had to dial a roamer access >> number! > Totally untrue -- you do NOT need to use the access port as a CO/NY > customer roaming in Baltimore. Indeed, you may be precluded from doing so. The roamer access numbers for 202 and 410 both reached me. > Bell that they did indeed have a problem, and all I got from them was > "poor coverage" excuses (even though they managed to hear me fine on *611!). CO/NY has told me that 611 uses "Separate channels". Does this sound like a load or what? ;-) > Now without any >> CellOne Strikes Again! > Hmm ... Cell One/DC-Baltimore, sure ... let 'em have it! Cell One/NY, > hmmm ... I'd be slightly more hesistant to blame them. Well their weekend help has once again proven that they don't know how roaming works. > The next step is to detect these problems BEFORE the customer can. To > some extent, for some problems, this may not be possible. Yet I feel > that if *I* can detect these problems by performing a few simple tests > when I get to a roaming market, that the major cell carriers could do > this as well. It would go a LONG way towards eliminating "surprises" > like Stan experienced in Baltimore or Canada, and like those which > CO/NY customers are currently experiencing in Poughkeepsie and most of > Dutches County, NY. Sometimes I just get the feeling that I am paying to beta test some future large communications system. On a related note, does anyone know why the cell companies won't give us *70 Call Wait Blocking (other than they won't get twice the air charges when I answer the second call?) Stan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The ultimate *70 Call Wait Blocking is to take Call Waiting off your cell phone entirely. Do you really need such a frivilous feature? That would end the double airtime charges once and for all wouldn't it? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 16:55:51 -0500 From: CTHOMASSON@aol.com Subject: Marine Communications I am investigating communication alternatives for offshore vessels. These are not large ocean going ships, but are ones that operate in coastal (up to a hundred or so miles out) and inland waters. As with the larger ocean ships these too must have single-side band radio, but that technology is not suitable for data transmission. Currently the best alternative seems to be a system and service from "BoatTracs", a subsidiary of QualCom. They use small satellite antennas on the vessels to access a satellite and their earth station in CA. This is the same technology that QualComm uses for the trucking industry. On ship-to-shore messages the earth station provides a store and forward service, with an alert process for urgent, emergency messages. Shore-to-ship messages are passed to the ship within three to five minutes, there is no store and forward. Messages may be or contain files. The major advantages of this technology are reliable data transmissions from all N. American waters and relatively low costs. The disadvantages are that only data traffic is possible, service is limited to North. America, and the user is tied to Qualcomm as a single source for both equipment and service. Cellular has been investigated. Its equipment costs is less, but it suffers greatly in range and reliability. The low reliability drives up costs through retransmissions. It is also not easily used in other world areas. LEO systems may offer an alternative, but that is at least three to five years away. Imarsat services, as are used on larger ocean going ships, offer global access and voice, but with significantly higher costs. Does anyone know of other alternatives, either to the technology or to Qualcomm as a provider? Is this a sound investment for the user over the next five to seven years? Comments and references will be appreciated, either directly to my email address or via the Digest. I will provide a follow-up to the Digest. Carter Thomasson CThomasson@aol.com úÿ ------------------------------ From: dsmith01@ccun.eds.com (Darrin Smith) Subject: Inexpensive Caller ID Boxes by Mail-Order? Date: 9 Mar 1995 22:32:00 GMT Organization: CUSD The subject says it all. I'm looking for an inexpensive caller id box for my home in TX, USA. Any suggestions? You may email me at darrinps@aol.com. Thanks in advance. ------------------------------ From: Phillip Schuman <72510.1164@CompuServe.COM> Subject: LATA Maps Wanted Date: 9 Mar 1995 22:35:16 GMT Organization: via CompuServe Information Service I'm looking for a company that sells LATA maps -- I've seen them but don't have one handy or the names of the folks that market them. Please respond to the E-mail address - tnx. Phil - Chicago ------------------------------ From: sbergman@ix.netcom.com (Steven Bergman) Subject: ADCPM and CO's Date: 9 Mar 1995 23:12:10 GMT Organization: Netcom Hi, I was wondering if anyone know of a resource whereby I could determine whether a particular CO supported both ISDN and ADPCM. Also, what devices, if any, are out there that currently combine the two of them in some way. Tia, Steve Bergman Teleconvergence Beaverton, OR ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Mar 95 18:58:56 EST From: wjs@nr.infi.net Subject: Hello Direct on the WWW Just in case I'm not the last person on earth to see this, Hello Direct has a WWW site: http://www.hello-direct.com/hd Bill Seward wjs@nr.infi.net ------------------------------ From: phil.p.a.mcmillan@msmail.bhp.com.au (Phil McMillan) Subject: Reliability Analysis Programs Wanted Date: 10 Mar 1995 04:02:04 GMT Organization: BHP Steel Slab and Plate Products Division Hi all, Does anybody know of any commercially available Reliability Analysis programs of use in the design of high speed computer networks? Phil phil.p.a.mcmillan@msmail.bhp.com.au ------------------------------ Subject: Help! Telecommuting Options From: dperlmutte1@vaxa.hofstra.edu Date: 9 Mar 95 23:09:43 EST Organization: Hofstra University I am an MBA student researching people's experiences (Advantages/disad- vantages) with telecommuting. I would also like some company specific data regarding their experiences with employees telecommuting. Whether their employees were more productive or had better morale. Any response is appreciated. Thank you in advance. ------------------------------ From: ronxx@aol.com (Ron XX) Subject: FM Radio Stock Data Date: 9 Mar 1995 23:40:47 -0500 Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364) Reply-To: ronxx@aol.com (Ron XX) Does anyone know the format of stock market data (baud rate, word length, etc) transmitted on the sub-carrier of FM radio stations in major cities? ------------------------------ From: schmidt@berlin.snafu.de (Axel Schmidt) Subject: Re: AT&T Offers 'International Redial' Date: Wed, 08 Mar 95 04:01:55 GMT In article , khinedi@bu.edu (Kareem Hinedi) wrote: > Actually, as late as 1988 or 1989, there was no direct dial service to > Syria. You had to "book" the call with the AT&T operator. You would > I am sure this is still used for the few countries which cannot be > reached by direct dialing. There is (and has been) direct dial from Germany (at $2 per minute). Didn't know there's a difference from the country you're calling ... Axel schmidt@berlin.snafu.de | FidoNet 2:2410/121.21 Homepage: http://www.snafu.de/~schmidt Erstellen von WWW-Seiten (HTML) ------------------------------ From: schmidt@berlin.snafu.de (Axel Schmidt) Subject: Re: Europe Postal Services and Datacom Date: Wed, 08 Mar 95 04:06:07 GMT In article , fvjole@xs4all.nl (Francisco van Jole) wrote: >> I am trying to find out which European countries have postal >> services that also offer "information highway" services (for example, >> e-mail, Internet Here in Germany Deutsche Post AG has invented something they call ePost: you hand in your letters on disk, they'll "transport" them via computer networks and print them out at the town of destination, where it will be delivered as an ordinary letter. Don't know about the costs. Axel schmidt@berlin.snafu.de | FidoNet 2:2410/121.21 Homepage: http://www.snafu.de/~schmidt Erstellen von WWW-Seiten (HTML) ------------------------------ From: Joubert Berger Subject: Tables of Long Distance Rates Wanted Date: 9 Mar 1995 19:58:19 GMT Organization: MindSpring Enterprises I am looking for long distance rate tables from all the long distance carriers. Anyone know where I can get this information? Thanks in advance ... Joubert P.S. I am having problems my email. If you can't reach me at joubert@teldata.com, try joubert%teldata@mathcs.emory.edu. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Mar 95 13:12:40 CST From: Peacock, Mark Subject: CPE Outsourcing - Anecdotes Wanted As outsourcing of all types has boomed over the past 3 years, I have noticed an increasing interest in CPE (customer-premise equipment) outsourcing, with a specific focus on PBX outsourcing. I am researching this area for a magazine article and would be interested in any thoughts or anecdotes that TELECOM Digest readers could pass along. In my experience and research, I have seen two types of CPE outsourcing scenarios: 1) Conversion to Centrex -- A sort of Back-to-the-Future outsourcing scenario; Centrex is what businesses used before the PBX explosion of the late 1970's and early 1980's. When converting to Centrex as part of an outsourcing strategy, companies are not only buying lines, but also system administration, capacity/configuration engineering and route optimization. Comparing this to the more common field of data processing outsourcing, conversion to Centrex is similar to moving your data center to an outsourcer's IPC (integrated processing center). Conversion to Centrex seems to work best for companies with fairly straightforward telecom environments. 2) PBX Management -- In this strategy, the company stays on its PBX, but all service and administration is performed by the outsourcer. The assets themselves (PBX, phones, miscellaneous switch room equipment) may be transferred or sold to the outsourcer as part of the deal. This strategy allows a company to move toward outsourcing without changing their current environment (and so incurring retraining costs), and to move assets off of their balance sheet (without booking a loss for undepreciated equipment if the transfer price is negotiated correctly). This strategy is similar to facility management deals in the data processing outsourcing industry. PBX Management seems to be most attractive to companies with more complex telecom applications -- examples include ACD applications, data switching through the PBX, private voice/data networks. And, as with all things in the world, there are also approaches that are hybrids between the two. I would appreciate any thoughts or anecdotes that digest readers could pass along. Private e-mail is fine -- I will summarize the results and post here if the sender does not indicate a desire otherwise. Thanks, Mark Peacock ------------------------------ From: charleen@goonsquad.spies.com (Charleen Bunjiovianna) Subject: Re: Legal Notice: MCI Class Action Settlement Date: 9 Mar 1995 11:13:10 -0800 Organization: Diadem Vintage Costume Jewelry, courtesy of Internet wiretap In article <95.03.06.02efd@eecs.nwu.edu> TELECOM Moderator writes: > [quoting class action legalese] > MCI has made available $43 million in long distance certificates (herein- > after, 'Certificates') to cover potential claims by members of the > Settlement Classes. [.. ] The Certificates are non-transferrable > and must be used exclusively toward charges for making future long distance > calls on MCI's network. [...] In addition, $17 million is included in the > amount of the settlement for attorney fees and Court costs, including > the fee of the administrator employed by the Court to oversee the > settlement process. OK, I've got to ask: If "Certificates" are a suitable settlement for members of the aggrieved Classes, why is it that the attorneys, Court, and administrator get $17 million in CASH? Lawyers make phone calls, too. Let 'em take their fee in stacks of MCI long-distance Certificates. Heh-heh. Charleen [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ha ha ha Charleen. You're a real riot, you know that? Not only that, there are only a half-dozen of them compared to how many hundreds of thousands of customers to get the $43 million in certificates parcelled out among them at $40-50 per person. So a half-dozen lawyers get $2-3 million dollars in cash each; you get the husks. So what else is old? I have an idea! This has probably never been done before: let's tell 'bash-the-lawyers' jokes ... I'll start! So these three guys traveling through the countryside one night get caught in a terrible snow storm, and they have to seek refuge at the farmer's house. No, the farmer does not have any daughters and this is not *that kind* of joke ... be quiet and listen up! One guy is a Hindu; another is a Jew, and the third is a lawyer. The farmer says well okay, you can stay at my house overnight, but the problem is I only have two spare bedrooms, so one of you is going to have to sleep in the barn. Well the three grumble about this at first but since it is National Brotherhood Week (as Tom Leher nicely phrased it, "Everyone Smile at One Anotherhood Week") the Jew decides to show he is a good guy and he agrees to sleep in the barn. So he picks up his stuff, goes out to the barn and the farmer and his two guests go to their respective chambers and retire for the night. Within ten minutes there is a knock at the door. Everyone wakes up and goes downstairs, only to find the Jew standing at the door with a look of disgust on his face. "I can't sleep out there," he says. "In that barn I saw a pig. It is against my religion to have anything to do with pork at all; I don't even want to be near it." After some debate about this, the Hindu decides to show he is willing to cooperate so he agrees to sleep in the barn. Upstairs to his bedroom he goes, gets all of his stuff and carries it out the door and over to the barn. The Jew now moves into the bedroom where the Hindu had been, and everyone goes back to sleep. But not for long ... a few minutes later there is a knock at the door. Everyone wakes up, goes downstairs and there stands the Hindu. It seems in the barn there was also a cow. The Hindu explains that 'in my religion, cows are very sacred animals ... why, it would be heresy and very sacrilgious to actually live in a barn with one ...' and he asks to trade places. Well, that only leaves the lawyer, and he does not like this one iota. Sleeping in a barn is quite beneath his stature you see. Realizing his options are limited at this point, he agrees, and after going upstairs and packing his things, he takes it all out to the barn. Soon everyone has gone back to their chambers and fallen asleep, only to be awakened a few minutes later by yet another knock on the door. Everyone comes downstairs again, and the farmer opens the door, this time to be greeted by ...... the cow and the pig standing there. May your weekend be a pleasant one! PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V15 #144 ******************************