
From telecom-request@delta.eecs.nwu.edu  Fri Sep  1 13:19:54 1995
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1995
13:19:54 -0400
telecomlist-outbound; Fri, 1 Sep 1995 09:25:42 -0500
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To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu


TELECOM Digest     Fri, 1 Sep 95 09:25:00 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 369

Inside This Issue:                          Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    HELP on LD Directory Assistance Billing (Lou Jahn)
    Email -> Pager Gateway? (Eric De Mund)
    Hey AT&T, Tell Me How Much Your Services Cost! (Howard G. Page)
    WATS Extender (Jeff Shaver)
    T1 Direct to Modem Bank (Gary Secor)
    Re: Area Code Crisis -- A Different Viewpoint (Martin D. Kealey)
    LEC Blocked From Providing Intralata DA (bkron@netcom.com)
    Looking For CHEAPER Domestic/International Long Distance (Kevin 
Lipsitz)
    AT&T Wireless AKA McCaw Screws up Again (jensoft@blarg.com)
    Re: Questions: History of AC 905; What's a TWX? (Rich Szabo)
    Re: AT&T Moving Into Local Exchange Market (Steven Lichter)
    Telephone Numbers Used in Entertainment Fiction (Mark J. Cuccia)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------



Can anyone shed some light as to the varies parts of LD Directory
Assistance charges? I once asked the question related to the tarrif
build-up, now with a credit I find I need to deal with two firms.

If I call NPA-555-1212 my IXC carrier charges me $.75. When I was
charged for two DA calls where they had no number to release to me, I
called to complain. I was offered an immediate "partial" credit but
was told I had to call Bell Atlantic for the credit of the remainder
of the charge. I was told this was necessary as the IXC had already
paid BA for that part of the call.

Can anyone help me understand the mechanics of the charging and then
billing for Directory Assistance calls. I have previously noted the
$.75 charge seems like an over-charge to me. In Pennsyvania a 411 call
costs $.25 to from a local phone. If I call 215-555-1212 from NJ I pay
the $.75 charge -- now if I was allowed to place a LD call to 215-411,
I'd save money. My LD rates is 15.5 cents during the day. Thus my call
to 215-411 (if it were allowed) would only cost 40.5 cents.

The two part credit I mentioned above drove me to consider why/how the
charge got to $.75 and which firms get what part of the money chain.

Anybody have any answers?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 555-1212 is treated like an 800 number in
the sense that the recipient of the call pays the charges, which would 
always be some telco somewhere. They have to pay your telco somewhere 
for
handling the call, and they want to make something for their own time 
and
effort as well, thus the various components of the overall (usually) 75
cent charge. I'm amazed they gave you any refund at all. The charge is 
*not* for providing you with information, it is for *seeking out* the 
information, if any exists. If none exists, too bad; they still spent 
their
time looking. On local directory assistance (411) that is certainly the
case. If you spend their time talking to them, you pay, regardless of
results.  PAT]

------------------------------



Is there an email -> pager gateway? I'd like to be able to have clients
send email to my MobilComm alpha pager at its 1 (800) number.


Thank you,

Eric De Mund <ead@netcom.com>
gopher://netcom.com:79/0ead


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You need to speak with Doug Reuben about
the service he and his associates offer. It has been discussed here in
the Digest in the past, but not too much recently. Perhaps in response,
Doug will send a general update about his service to us. I can't find 
him on the mailing list right now or I would include his email address
here.  PAT]

------------------------------



Several days after receiving my AT&T calling card statement, I started
thinking about how much it really cost to to complete a call via my
AT&T calling card. I called the "800" number listed on the back of the
statement. I requested from the AT&T representative who answered a a
list of the various rates for completing a call on the AT&T network
with my AT&T calling card. He replied that there is no such list of
rates to send me.

I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor agreed, there is no
list of the type requested, that is, he agreed that I am supposed to
use my AT&T caling card to purchase a service from AT&T, but AT&T
isn't able to tell how much I'll pay.

Hey AT&T, are you listening? Tell me how your services cost! Thanks.


Howard G. Page    hpage@netcom.com   415-548-1902


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Generally the only difference in rates
is for the first minute and the calling card surcharge. The second and
subsequent minutes are billed at the same rate as if you had dialed the
call yourself from your home phone.  PAT]

------------------------------



Is there anyone who was able to find an inexpensive WATS extender?  I
have seen several posts here in the last few months, but heard nothing
of the results.

Hello Direct was of no help; the two people I spoke with laughed and
had no idea what I was talking about.  I'm looking for a simple way to
make local calls (as in local to the wats extender), utilizing my 800
number, while traveling.  I would prefer to have at least some
primitive security measures, but extra features aren't high priority.

Thanks for any leads or suggestions anyone can give me!


Jeff Shaver   jshaver@cscu.csc.edu


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note:  Those devices used to be a very 
important
part of life for business people who were out of the office all day 
since
they allowed one to dial into the office phone system and the connect 
with
the 'extender' and dial back out on the WATS line. But that was back in 
the
days when WATS (Wide Area Telephone Service) calls were almost as 
expensive
as DDD is now. Prices have gone down so much on long distance in the 
past
decade that devices like WATS extenders and other sorts of customer-
owned
patch devices to put in the line have become almost obsolete.   PAT]

------------------------------



I have some switched 800 lines now dumping on a centrex hunt group (16
lines). I want to look at a T1 that replaces these switched lines
since it should result in lower cost per minute and some better
disaster recovery redirection options. What can I connect the T1 to
that will allow it to connect to 16 modems? I suspect there may be a
card that goes in a pc that can look like 23 or 24 analog lines. What
is it called and what might it cost? Who has such an animal? Any other
suggestions appreciated. I can use existing modem rack or am willing to
look at a new one if it fits the situation. All thoughts appreciated!

------------------------------



Richard Barry <rbarry@iol.ie> wrote:

> *Variable number length* so that cities that outgrow 7 digits can have
> 8 digit local numbers.   No multiple area code confusion.   Small
> towns can have even shorter local numbers, if desirable.

Tony Harminc <EL406045@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU> wrote:

> This is terrible idea,

This is a *wonderful* idea.  :-)

> for the one simple reason that telephones don't
> have Enter keys.  So the switch has to decide when you've finished
> dialing by some means, usually a timeout.  Or if the switch is smart
                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> enough it may be able to avoid timeouts on certain calls, but the
> result is inconsistent behaviour.
 ...
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, telephones do have 'enter' 
keys
> or 'carriage return' keys. It is the '#' key located underneath the 
'9'.

Tony seems to think that we who live in countries where variable
length local numbers are the norm (or at least were until recently)
spend our time waiting for "timeouts".  This is nonsense, and it
amazes me that people in the telecom industry can have such a
blinkered view of things (but then no wonder the NANP is such a mess)!
We *NEVER* have timeouts during dialing, not even for operator, nor do
we have to use the octothorpe key, so there is no "inconsistent
behaviour" either.

If you're in NANP then you already have "local" numbers in three
standard lengths (seven, ten and three) and it doesn't take a timeout
to distinguish them; consider this:

 *  Is there any timeout when you dial "911" before the switch decides 
that
    you aren't going to dial any more digits?  (There'd better not be!)
 *  Is there a timeout after you dial a 7-digit number before the switch
    decides you're not going to dial a 10-digit number? (No?)

Well, why should seven and eight digit versions of local numbers be
any harder to deal? As long as no short number ever forms a prefix for
any longer number, the switch can always tell how many more digits to
expect after the first few digits.

[I don't know, never having been there, but I would expect that even
in Germany where DDI numbers can have a variable length inward dialing
suffix, the PBX would know still when to initiate an immediate
connection because this no-prefix policy also applies to extension
numbers (eg no ordinary extension numbers start with a 0).  Can anyone
in +49 confirm or deny this?]

NANP got this badly wrong when they assigned 0 for operator and also
used it as a lead-in code for other functions, so now it needs a
timeout (or octothorpe) to distinguish them.

> The NANP has this for 900 and such, though there are some local
> variations (976 and the like are not universal).  There is no need to
> know that you are calling a mobile number if the mobile user is 
paying,
                                            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That would be true if this were the case, but it is not; the reason that
mobile services have separate area codes here is exactly so the *caller* 
can
be billed for the call.  This is fairly common (although not universal)
outside NANP.  [For this, we get automatic full national coverage with a
flat-rate per minute; no "roaming" charges to the caller.]

There is something to be said for having all national numbers of a 
uniform 
length to avoid other countries having to maintain digit-length tables, 
but 
this doesn't constrain length-variability of local numbers.

Another mystery, why in NANP does a calling-card number *follow* the
phone number -- surely it's just a specialized version of carrier
selection?  Imagine having to dial carrier-selection 10XXX after the
number ...

Pressing octothorpe in the middle of a number here will definitely get
a disconnection; the only time I use it is when dialing internationally, 
as everything else goes through immediately.


Martin D Kealey  36.88888S/174.72116E   ## Science Fiction Modellers' 
Club of
<martin@kurahaupo.gen.nz>               ## New Zealand     
<info@sfmc.org.nz>
voice +64-9-8150460  fax +64-9-8150529  ## all SF catered for; email for 
info

------------------------------



Here's an unexpected twist:

With the new 360 area code now implemented in Washington state (carved
out of the 206 area code), there are now, of course, two area codes
serving the same area as was previously served by one.  If you are in
Seattle and want to call DA for someone's phone number in Olympia
(same LATA), you can't call 1-206-555-1212 anymore.  You have to dial
1-360-555-1212.  However, according to US West, all traffic to 360 DA
from the 206 area code must be routed on IEC lines, meaning no more DA
allowance for the calls, and a much higher cost (.95 for AT&T, for
example).  Interestingly, though, any "regular" toll calls between
Seattle and Olympia are automatically PIC'd to US West since it is
intralata (unless you override with 10-XXX).

------------------------------

Services


If you are a USA long distance re-seller, we would consider your
services if you can save us money.

Here is what we *don't* want:

-to pay a monthly fee of any sort
-to be in the long distance business in order to get reduced rates
-T-1
-to sign a contract - you will keep us as long as you are cheapest
-a salesman who wants to analyze our bill.  I have done this myself and
know exactly what I am looking for.

Here is what we want:

-six second minimum on domestic calls
-six second billing on domestic calls
-no more than 30 second mimimum on international calls.
-T-1 rate range without the hassle of the equipment and fees.
-low international rates with a flat rate or two rate period plan.   But 
we
already get 1/2 off of MCI's best rates for six months, so you will have 
to
be really cheap on international to get our attention.

We spend around $10,000.00 per month on all aspects of our
telecommunications needs.  It is unlikely that you will get all of it,
but you may get a lot of it, depending on what you can do for us.

If you can meet the conditions we are looking for, we welcome your
pitch.  Make your pitch via email and if you have a good plan, I will
invite you to pitch me personally via phone.


Thanks,

Sincerely,

Kevin Jay Lipsitz, President   :-)

                    KRAZY KEVIN MAGAZINE CLUB,
THE INTERNET DIVISION OF COLLEGETOWN MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES:
"Managing Magazines for Cost-Conscious Busy Professionals, Students, 
    Educators and Regular Consumers Internationally Since 1973."
                        krazykev@kjl.com

------------------------------


_
                                                    



I got my AT&T Wireless bill today. 

After AT&T bought McCaw, they were required to implement equal access
for long distance usage for their customers. A nice ballot went around
with three or four random picks for your LDC: AT&T, Access (in my
case), and some other nobody (Sprint, I think).

Not wanting to choose AT&T or Sprint, and being unable to select
Working Assets, I chose Access. I make no long distance calls, so it's
not an issue.

I mailed in my ballot. I got a call a few weeks later from AT&T asking
for my long distance carrier. I asked for a list; I chose Access,
again. She duly made typing noises and thanked me for my call.

I got a letter a few weeks later saying that if I didn't choose a long
distance company, my LD would be turned off. No loss, so I let it
pass. Besides, the nice lady had told me that there was a letter in
the mail and to ignore it. Cool.

Then I tried to make an LD call. Blocked. I call the 800 directory to
get Access's number; I call them. Never heard of me. "AT&T never tells
us anything; I don't think they send us our ballots". He does tell me
that I can use a code, however, to get around the tomfoolery and make
an LD call. It's a secret, though, don't tell anyone (by now, I was
drooling). "Just type 102 881 and the phone number you want, sir."

WHOA! He gave me *AT&T*'s PIC. That was funny. I asked if they had
one, (a PIC); he said he didn't know. He did say to call the same
number next week during 8-5 hours and talk to Access.

I did. The lady I talked to was very helpful, but she said I would
need to perform the switch by calling AT&T and having it done. I did.

Today I got my bill. A nice insert telling me CNID delivery will start
soon for TDMA customers (Hooray!) and on page 5, under "Airtime and
long distance charges",

"Your selected long distance company is ACCESS LD."

THEY GOT IT RIGHT! But wait. On page 11, it says (for my old phone
number)

"You have not chosen a long distance company. Please make your
selection today."

AHHHH the light goes on! I changed my MIN some time ago. My account
number stayed stable, but they apparently tacked my LD info onto the
new account. Apparently, the switch (or some item in the loop) checks
the first account on the MIN for LD access choice. Which, for me, on
that number, would be nobody.

Uh, can we say, bogus? I tried (just now) to make an LD call. I got an
intercept from Access saying I needed to activate my account. Great!

------------------------------



[much good stuff snipped, then Telecom editor's note:]

> They had to call it a different name of course, so they chose TWX, 
which
> is pronounced 'Twix'. ...

This brings to mind an story which happened in 1987, when I was trying
to figure out a cheap way of dialing into my IBM mainframe from home
using a 300-bps async modem and a VT100 emulator. IBM communication
front-end processors at the time knew only a few protocols -- the
proprietary Bisync and SDLC being the most popular -- and the IBM 3270
terminal was king. When I asked my old-school IBM Systems Engineer if
the mainframe could communicate with an async terminal such as the DEC
VT100, he responded as if I were referring to some virulent disease.
"Oh, you mean yer Twix terminals -- like start/stop."  At that time,
async terminals could not operate with the mainframe in full-screen
video mode -- only in line mode.  Async was supported only enough to
make somebody's teletypes work in some obscure application.  As far as
IBM was concerned, "TWX" and "start/stop" were the complete definition
of async.


Rich Szabo

------------------------------



> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Whenever we reach the point that a 
company
> is actually able to supply its own dial tone over its own wires and 
have
> no need to rely on the traditional local telco, that will be the day 
that
> local competition begins. The reports coming to me are that AT&T plans
> to come crashing onto the scene in a big way beginning in January. No 
more
> negotiating with the local telcos; none of that stuff. They are just 
going
> to move right in and start doing business. It is really exciting!   
PAT]

Cross Country Wireless Cable has 18" dishes on subscribers roofs, they
have done a real bang up job of draining the cable companies in this
area. The cities don't like it much either since they can't collect
franchise fees. There will be no need for wires in this area, at least
it sure does not appear like it will. In Palm Springs a company has
built a whole new CO and several companies have asked for co-location
in our CO's. This really is going to be interesting. If all are equal
players then you may wind up getting your phone and cable servce from
the phone companies, since many plan on buying the others.  


slichte@cello.gina.calstate.edu

------------------------------



Carl Moore's recent article in TD about the telephone numbers in I Love 
Lucy
brought to mind some of what my subject line states.

AT&T/Bell-System/Western-Electric print/magazine ads back in the later
1940's and most of the 1950's in {Time, Life, National Geographic,
etc} frequently showed a picture of a WE #202 or #302 (or later #500)
style telephone. The number card *always* stated the number MAin-0-2368. 
The use of a '0' (zero) was RARELY used in practice as the third digit
in locations with '2L-5N' local numbering. [New Orleans had WHitehall-0 
only VERY BRIEFLY in 1959/60, assigned not within the other 'WHitehall' 
region, but adjacent to it in then undeveloped but growing New Orleans
East. WHitehall-0 was a small step office in a house trailer, while
CHestnut-2's building to house New Orleans' very first #5XB exchange
was being constructed. The reason that '0' zero was not recommended in
exchange name days was that in the US/Canada, the Letter O is
associated with the digit 6-MNO, and there could be customer dialing
confusion.]

Back in the 1930's and earlier 40's, the Bell ad's telephones had the
number CHElsea-2368. Sometime in the very late 1950's or very early
1960's, the telephone number on the 500 series and Princess phones
(and keysets, business phones, 'card-dialers', etc) in AT&T print ads
was changed to KL5-2368 or "Area Code 311, KL5-2368". Only letters
were shown for the Exchange Name.  Later on, the number was (311) 555-
2368. 311 has never been an Areacode in North America, but reserved
for *local* service code uses. Many locations used N11 codes for
ringback, testing, ANAC, etc, as well as 211 for Long Distance Opr,
411 for Information, 611 Repair, 811 Business Office, and later 911
for Emergencies. Letters for 55X are hard to compose a name, other
than possibly KLondike (which was used in San Francisco in the old
days). There are no vowels on the '5'. Most Bell telcos used 55 or 55X
for test numbers, and I remember seeing something in "Notes on
Nationwide Dialing" (AT&T, 1955) that 55X, 57X, 95X and 97X were going
to be reserved for dialing mobile radiotelephones in the future.

Many older Radio, TV and Movie fiction/drama/etc. used actual exchange
names of the town/city the play took place in. (I Love Lucy used
MUrray-Hill, CIrcle, etc; the CBS Suspense radiodrama 'Sorry Wrong
Number' used PLaza, TRafalgar, MUrray-Hill, and for the time-of-day
recording, MEridien-x-1212!)  If the location itself was fictitious,
well then the exchange names were 'generic'. Sometimes, 
fictitious/generic 
exchange names were used for real locations. Many times, the Hollywood
producers co-operated with telco, but at times they didn't. If they
co-operated, the last four digit line numbers quoted in fiction were
usually from the 9XXX series, sometimes even 99XX series. The
9-thousands were frequently used for payphones, test numbers, and
non-assigned numbers specifically reserved for fictitious purposes. I
would guess that today, Hollywood doesn't *always* use the 555.

The early 1960's NBC-TV series "HAZEL" had a very amusing telephone
episode in its first season (61/62), [the first season was in Black-and-
White, while the remainder of its run was in Color]. The Baxters were
getting sick and tired of receiving telephone sales calls at all hours
of the day or night.  [The word telemarketing wasn't used at that
time, tho']. They decided to change their listed number to a non-
published 
number. Telco mailed them the number card with the new non-pub number
along with a letter stating when their new number would take effect.
However, someone accidently lost or discarded the numbercard before
anyone had a chance to note it down! The old and new telephone numbers
were referred to as "KLondike-5" xxxx. The camera close up on the
number card showed KL5-xxxx. The numericals of KL5 are, of course,
555!

The episode, "Night Call" from TWILIGHT ZONE in its fifth season,
1963/64 was about an old woman receiving strange calls in the middle
of the night during a thunderstorm. She had a WE #202 phone, and the
numbercard showed KL5-xxxx.

Most TV shows began to use the fictitious KL5 or 555 sometime in the
early 1960's, but when areacodes were quoted, they usually used a real
one.  Sometimes, if a location was a fictitious one, they would use
311 for the areacode, just like Bell's magazine/print ads in the
1960's-on.

I was told that San Francisco never had a KLondike-5 (or any name for
555) back in the exchange name days, altho' they did have other
KLondike-x exchanges. I also remember seeing late 1950's Bell
journals/magazines describing a 'future' way to customers to direct
dial to Information (Directory Assistance) outside of your home area.
The 555-1212 was referred to as "KLondike-5-1212" in some of those
Bell journals!


MARK J. CUCCIA   PHONE/WRITE/WIRE:     HOME:  (USA)    Tel: CHestnut 1-
2497
WORK: mcuccia@law.tulane.edu          |4710 Wright Road| (+1-504-241-
2497)
Tel:UNiversity 5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New Orleans 28  |fwds on no-answr 
to
Fax:UNiversity 5-5917(+1-504-865-
5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #369
******************************

                 
