
From telecom-request@delta.eecs.nwu.edu  Tue Sep 19 19:21:53 1995
by
1995
19:21:53 -0400
telecomlist-outbound; Tue, 19 Sep 1995 14:41:54 -0500
1995
14:41:47 -0500
To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu


TELECOM Digest     Tue, 19 Sep 95 14:41:30 CDT    Volume 15 : Issue 388

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    The Day a City's Phones Died (Rich Szabo)
    Help Define the Best Network Products (Stephanie Elggren)
    Book Review: "Internetworking" by Smythe (Rob Slade)
    Need Help To Deal With "Slamming" (Quoc Pham)
    Detailed Description of "Raw" Caller-ID Data Needed (sp@questor.org)
    Question About NPA Overlays (Linc Madison)
    Digital Assists French Company Begin Mobile Phone Company (Monty 
Solomon)
    Had This Been a Real Emergency ... (Dave Levenson)
    Warning! Directory Assistance Imposter! (bkron@netcom.com)
    Netscape Secure Connection Technology Hacked! (M. Troutman)

TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------



The phone system died Saturday morning September 16 in Cleveland Ohio.
This is a city with a metropolitan population of two million people.
Apparently a good portion of them were trying to use the phone to get
Cleveland Indians baseball playoff tickets at 8 AM that morning.
That's when tickets went on sale, and the phone was the only method
for reserving the tickets.

As of 9 AM that day I was unable to dial the exchanges that I wanted --
office, my wife's pager, and so on.  After receiving a dial tone as
usual without delay, I dialed a number, and got an immediate polarity-
reversing CPC "click" and then a dial tone. No intercept, nothing.
This went on for roughly four hours.

10222-1-216-nnn-nnnn did work to get through to numbers in my local 
area. 
However, other carrier access codes failed with "all circuits are busy." 
My cell phone was also able to get through.  These were expensive if
workable alternatives. 

Ameritech was clearly overloaded.  An article in the 9/17/95 {Cleveland
Plain Dealer} reports that Ameritech expected heavy volume, and that 
they
thought the problem would clear itself up, but it did not. The article
made mention of a few instances where doctors were unable to be paged or
call out, and it implied that there was no big problem.  I wonder how 
many
doctors and others who rely on the phone system would agree with that
statement. 

The article also mentioned that an ATT team was called in for emergency
help, since they sold Ameritech the switching equipment. The article 
also
said that more tickets for the second round of the playoffs (getting a
little ahead of ourselves, now, aren't we, fans?) would be sold via the
same calamitous method on 9/23/95.  Lastly, the article quoted a 
Cleveland
Indians official as being sorry for the inconvenience, and gee, doesn't
this show how popular the team really is, anyway? 

Three cheers for mob psychology, anarchy, and chaos (not).


Rich Szabo  Cleveland OH
Not an Indians fan and now never will be.

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



The corporate network has become a vital strategic business asset for
most companies.  Expectations (and the reality) of what each corporate
network must support  continues to escalate  and the job of today's
corporate network planners is ever more challenging.

Motorola is looking to solicit input from a select group of corporate
network planners to ensure our upcoming products best address your
needs.  If you are interested in particpating in a research project to
help define the transmission products that can best address your
requirements, please e-mail me.


LSE003@email.mot.com  
Stephanie Elggren Marketing Manager - Motorola ISG

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



BKNTRNKG.RVW   950606
 
"Internetworking", Colin Smythe, 1995, 0-201-56536-6, U$37.75
%A   Colin Smythe
%C   1 Jacob Way, Reading, MA   01867-9984
%D   1995
%G   0-201-56536-6
%I   Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
%O   U$37.75 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 
tiffanym@aw.com
%P   473
%S   Data Communications and Networks
%T   "Internetworking"
 
In the "Series Preface," Smythe points out the dichotomy between
academic texts, with an abundance of theoretical detail, and expanded
technical manuals, with no foundational background.  There is a vast
gap between these two groups of the literature.  Smythe's aim is to
fill that gap and, at the same time, produce a work acceptable to the
two polar camps.  I submit that he has succeeded admirably, with a
work accurate enough to be used as a course text, and practical enough
to become a technical reference.  The text is clear, the examples and
illustrations taken from both proprietary and open systems, and the
material up to date.
 
The basics of network architecture and internetworking are covered in
the first two chapters, while the next two introduce protocols and the
OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) structure for thinking about
communicating systems.  Chapters five to eight look at local area
networks, Ethernet, Token ring and proprietary systems.  The various
types of relays -- repeaters, bridges, and routers -- are discussed in
chapters nine to twelve.  Chapters thirteen to seventeen address the
more practical and holistic aspects of connecting different network
architectures, management design, and new developments.
 
While not sufficiently detailed as to be a programming guide, this is
an excellent introduction to the concepts and terminology, and a very
practical guide for design.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKNTRNKG.RVW   950606. Distribution
permitted in TELECOM Digest and associated publications.  Rob Slade's
book reviews are a regular feature in the Digest.


DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group 
newsletters
Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 
1:153/733
DECUS Symposium '96, Vancouver, BC, Feb 26-Mar 1, 1996, contact:
rulag@decus.ca

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



A friend of mine in Mass was ripped off by some small long distance
company by illegal connection without consent.  That person has had
some deep discount package to call with MCI so he/she called abroad
alot unknowing that the line had been slammed to some other company.
That result to a very, very big LD bills with some outrageous charges.
That person called the sleazy company to complaint and asked for
record of consent to hook up.  The customer service gave some run
around then said they don't have any proof other than it might be
local telco's mistakes or might be some one in the family has given
the permission.  

My friend is not afluent in English, neither am I, that makes the
situation even tougher to deal with the fly-by-night company.  So far,
my friend has sent a letter to Nynex and FCC to complain.  My friend
also talked to MCI trying to figure out the right amount if they had
made the calls with them to determine the differences.  It was a big
one, surprise, surprise :-).  Of course, the line has been connected
back to the company of choice. What else could my friend do other than
refuse to pay the full amount?  Any pointers, feedbacks would be
greatly appreciated.


Quoc Pham (kc6891@megaweb.com)

[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Tell him to pay only the amount he would
have been billed had MCI handled the calls. Tell him to write a check to
the company which slammed him for the amount he would have paid MCI and
to note on the check that it is 'payment in full'.    PAT]

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

4777


I am searching for a detailed description of the "raw" data received
as Caller-ID info.  Specifically, what the various data bits mean and
how they are decoded (stuff like "privacy", "long-distance", "message-
waiting" and so on).

As an example, my ZyXEL modem "normally" displays data as text and/or
numbers, however when invoked with ATS48=1, will display "raw" data. 
Following are a few lines of what I mean:

%  TIME: 08-26 14:06
%  CALLER NUMBER: 6810670
%  ats48
%  OK
%  ats48?
%  000
%  OK
%  ats48=1
%  OK

%  RING
%  80130108303832363134303803073638313036373051

%  RING
%  ats48?
%  001

%  OK
%  ats48=0
%  OK

%  RING
%  TIME: 08-26 14:10
%  REASON FOR NO CALLER NUMBER: PRIVACY
%  ats48=1
%  OK

%  RING
%  80130108303832363134313103073638313036373057

%  RING


FREE ACCESS TO E-MAIL & NEWS - INFO on Environment, Science, Medicine,
   AIDS, Native (Indigenous) Issues and more.   We sell  ZyXEL  and
       other products world-wide to support this Free service.
          :::::> Info from:  mail-server@questor.org <:::::

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



I've been reading about the overlays of the Houston and Dallas (and
possibly Fort Worth) areas in Texas.  Houston has already been overlaid
with area code 281, Dallas will be overlaid with 972, and area code 817
(including Fort Worth, Waco, and Wichita Falls) is rumored to be planned
for an overlay.

One of the common threads I've seen in these overlay plans is "all new
numbers after XX/XX/XX will be in the new area code."

This raises a couple of obvious dumb questions:

* For how long?  Presumably at *some* point, discontinued numbers in the
original area code will be made available for service.

* What about little tiny towns that only use maybe 1/10 of 1 prefix?
Will they have an entire new prefix assigned just to adhere to the "all
new numbers after X" rule?  (It also seems quite silly for a town with
only one prefix to have ten-digit local calling, but some of that will
certainly happen if 817 overlays.)

On a tangent, speaking of little tiny towns in Texas with only one
prefix, my ancestral home town of Goliad has undergone some major
changes in the last year or two:

* they now have to dial SEVEN whole digits for local calls, instead of
only five digits (the first two always being 53, 52, or 58);

* their local calling area has expanded enormously, now including the
city of Victoria, 27 miles away;

* they finally have equal-access long distance!

* there is talk of getting a cell in Goliad, instead of having to rely
on the Beeville and Victoria cells for coverage.

The city of Goliad, located at the junction of US-59 and US-183/77A,
occupies the 512-645 prefix.  It's the second-oldest town in Texas.
There are a couple of other towns in Goliad County that are much
smaller, but have their own prefixes (Charco 512-269, Berclair
512-439, and Weesatche and Fannin, whose prefixes I couldn't find).


Linc Madison   *   San Francisco, California   *   LincMad@Netcom.com

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



FYI

          DIGITAL ASSISTS FRENCH TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY
              TO BEGIN NATIONWIDE MOBILE PHONE SERVICE

MAYNARD, Mass. -- September 15, 1995 -- Digital EquipmentCorporation
today announced a three-year, multi-contract relationship with the
French PCS (Personal Communications System) operator Bouygues Telecom
to provide a sophisticated mobile phone service which includes a
customer care and billing system, telecom network management, and a
full range of solution and support services.

     Selected by the French government in October 1994 as France's DCS
1800 Mobile Operator, Bouygues Telecom has committed to have a
nationwide mobile phone system starting with full coverage of the
Paris area during the first half of 1996.

     Initial plans call for the rapid growth of subscribers.
     According to Yves Francois, director of information technology at
Bouygues Telecom, "We chose Digital because of their complete under-
standing of our business needs, and their superior telecommunications 
technology and solutions capability to manage a vast and complex
radiotelephone network from a single point."

     Jean-Claude Sainctavit, Digital's worldwide vice president for
the telecommunications industry, said that "Digital's industry-
leading Alpha technology, along with our clustering, solutions and
support capabilities will provide Bouygues Telecom with a lower cost
of operations and an almost immediate network problem solution
capability with scalable advanced technology."

     He added that "our partnership with co-contractor SEMA Group, the
use of our TeMip (Telecommunications Management Information Platform)
platform, and the experience gained from managing similar telecom
projects worldwide, most recently, for example, in Germany and
Malaysia, were the final determining factors in our selection by
Bouygues Telecom."

     Bouygues Telecom is a company controlled by Bouygues (a major
multi-trade group). Bouygues Telecom brings together the principal
operators of DCS 1800 networks in Europe, Cable & Wireless (United
Kingdom), Veba (Germany), and US West (United States), along with the
Jean-Claude Decaux Group, Banque Nationale de Paris, and


                                                                                    


Compagnie Financiere de Parisbas.

     Bouygues officials noted that the technical performance, high-
capacity and attractive price of this new generation of easy-to-use 
mobile phones will meet the expectations of a wide public.

     Bouygues Telecom plans to gain a significant share of a market
estimated at more than 10 million customers over the next 10 years. 
The company will base its development on the quality of its customer 
service.

     The arrival of Bouygues Telecom as the third licensed mobile
operator in France is expected to further stimulate the development 
of mobile phones, and help France catch up with the other main 
European countries in this field. 

     Personal telephony is a major line of development for Bouygues 

- already present in the telecommunications sector since 1987 
(3RP Public Access Mobile Radio, ERMES paging network). 

     Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open
client/server solutions from personal computing to integrated
worldwide information systems. Digital's scalable Alpha platforms,
storage, networking, software and services, together with industry-
focused solutions from business partners, help organizations compete
and win in today's global marketplace.

                                ####

Digital and the Digital logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment
Corporation.

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



I did not call 911, because it was not an emergency.  I was, however,
in a hurry to catch a train when I walked past a vacant house in New
Jersey in mid-winter.  There was water running out of the side of the
house, and there was ice all over the wall and the driveway below.

I did call 411 (from a pocket cellular phone I usually carry).
"Welcome to Bell Atlantic" said James Earl Jones, followed by "What
city, please?" in a different voice.

"Long Hill Township, Police Department, non-emergency number, please"
I replied, while walking briskly toward the Stirling station on the
New Jersey Transit line.

"908-647-1800" was the reply (in a third voice).  I entered that
number and pressed SEND.  The train coasted to a stop and I boarded,
still waiting for the call to go through.  Eventually, ring-back.

"Long Hill Police, Sergent XXX" a voice said.

"I would like to report a burst water pipe in a vacant house," I
said.

"Where?" he asked.

"289 Main Avenue, Stirling," I replied.

"Where's that?" he asked!

"Next door to 285 Main Avenue." I replied, somewhat taken aback at
his question.

"But where is it?" the officer asked.

"On the East side of Main Avenue, between Essex and Union Streets,"
I told him.

"Oh," he said, "is that the house where the old man died?"

"I don't know if anyone died there, Sir, but the house has been vacant
since July." I explained.  The train was about to stop in Gillette.  I
had, by how, paid for several minutes of air time.  The conductor came
by my seat saying something about tickets.

"Round trip to Hoboken, please," I told the conductor, while pulling
out my wallet.  I thought I had covered the mouthpiece of the
pocket-phone, but...

"Hoboken?" said the officer on the phone.

"No, Stirling!" I told him.

"Where in Stirling?" the policeman asked.

I was beginning to wish I hadn't bothered.  I was, after all, only
trying to help a property-owner I didn't know, and perhaps save some
water.  I was glad it wasn't an emergency.  I gave him the address
again, and suggested that perhaps he could contact the water company
or the property-owner.  The phone now displayed almost 5:00 of
airtime, and I wanted to sit back and enjoy the trip to the Big Apple.

That afternoon, as I walked back to my office from the railroad
station, I saw a plumber's truck parked in front of 289 Main.  The
flow of water had stopped.  A roll of damaged carpet was on the
front porch ...

A Bell Atlantic truck was also parked in front of the house.  The
network interface device, previously on the outside wall of the
house, was now lying face-down in a pool of icewater on the ground.


Dave Levenson  Internet: dave@westmark.com
Stirling, NJ, USA Voice: 908 647 0900  Fax: 908 647 6857
[The Man in the Mooney]

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



WARNING!  Directory Assistance may be giving you bad information! 
 
Usually, calls to 1-NPA-555-1212 (DA) get routed to an operator center
owned and operated by one of the "Baby Bells" and they use telco-
compiled 
data to search for your request.  This data is updated daily and is
the most accurate information available.
 
However, there has been a change recently involving interlata calls to 
DA. 

If your default IEC is not AT&T, or you route your DA call over an IEC 
other that AT&T, your DA call may actually be routed to a third-party DA 
"boiler room" located in Missouri.  This company has been hired by MCI 
to 
provide DA service to MCI and others for increasing numbers of areas of 
the country. 
 
Our experience with this operation is dismal.  We routinely get quoted
the wrong telephone number or we get incorrect "not found" reports.
They must use the same obsolete and innaccurate data that MCI used on
their ill-fated CALL-INFO experiment.  Furthermore, operators there
tell us that the equipment they use is antiquated in that it lacks
sophisticated search engines which include phonetic sound-alikes and
street arguments -- features in use at Bell facilities for over ten
years. Subsequent calls to a "real" DA operator through AT&T circuits
substantiates this claim because we will then get the correct 
information.
 
It is fairly easy to tell if you're getting this slipshod operation.  
First, their standard greeting is a terse "City and name in your 
request." 
Second, their autoquote system simply hangs up on you instead of telling 
you that if you need more information, an operator will return.  The 
operators are dripping with underenthusiasm. In other words, it has MCI 
written all over it. 
 
One area of the country for which we regularly need DA service and this
is happening is Idaho.  Our call to US West's Director of Information 
Services in Denver confirmed that this practice is spreading, but is
limited to MCI and other IEC's who use MCI circuits for DA (like 
Wiltel). 
 
This is bad news because Wiltel's charge for DA is substantially less 
than 
AT&T.  But for an increasing number of areas, you will have to use AT&T 
to 
have any confidence in what you are told. 


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Hasn't that always been the case, that 
you
pay for quality and confidence in telephone service? What you are saying
is just another reason to stick with AT&T.   PAT]

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



I heard that a couple students broke the Netscape secure connection
technology ... it was on the newswire at 2:00am last night.  Anyone
heard the full story yet?


MT   Wheat  Int'l


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Nothing on it yet here other than the
newswire report you mention. Please -- anyone with details on this --
bring us up to date as soon as you can.    PAT]

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

End of TELECOM Digest V15 #388
******************************

                                                            
