Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: csense!bote@uunet.uu.net (John Boteler) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Unusual Recorded Messages Message-ID: Date: 25 Jul 89 01:11:50 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 24 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 255, message 4 of 10 Many of the new 5ESS switches going up around the Washington area have plant test numbers for many of the intercept recordings. One of the neatest ones to perplex a friend with is: "We're sorry, the phone you are using is not in service at this time." Actually, as I understand it, a nummer 5 ESS issues this recording on a line which is connected to the frame but whose account is inactive. I am told you still get dial tone, but when you try to place a call you get the above recording. I wonder how many people have gotten this before. Bote uunet!cyclops!csense!bote {mimsy,sundc}!{prometheus,hqda-ai}!media!cyclops!csense!bote [Moderator's Note: One that mystified me for awhile was "The number you have dialed, abc-wxyz is a working number. Please hang up and dial again." Like, if it knew what you were dialing, and it is a working number, why didn't the call simply go through? Answer: In some places, a live operator still answers intercept and asks for the number then bubbles it in to produce the recorded answer. If you really dialed a wrong number thinking you were dialing the right number, an automated process would announce the wrong number. In a manual intercept, the operator has to take your word for what you say you *thought* you were dialing. PT]