Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!wugate!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: klb@lzaz.att.com (K.BLATTER) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: This Is a Recorded Ripoff... Message-ID: Date: 31 Jul 89 02:39:51 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: AT&T ISL Lincroft NJ USA Lines: 28 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 267, message 7 of 9 > for 30 seconds. She protested that when she dialled, all she got ws a > recorded Telecom service saying she couldn't dial STD on that phone. > "Ah," said the manager triumphantly, "but you listened to the message."'' > > I know that you do get gouged by hotels for phone calls, but don't they > even check for call supervision? Is it possible there is no indication > that the call failed, and a recorded announcement is mistaken for the > called party answering? Nope, traditional PBX's like those used in Hotels have no idea if a call was completed. A PBX only knows when the caller picked up the phone and the digits that he/she dialed and when the caller hangs up. PBX's use a timeout feature to assume when a call would possibly be completed. Then they start billing from that time -- usually about 45 seconds. When I travel and I want to call home, I pick up the handset, dial the number quickly, when the other end answers, I spout off the hotel and room number quickly and then hang up. I have done this several times and haven't been billed for one of these calls yet. -- A nice way to get back at the slimeball hotel operators that choose AOS's! Kevin L. Blatter AT&T - Bell Labs Disclaimer - I don't know what my employer thinks of such practices, so I can't very well speak for them.