Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!usc!ucsd!ucbvax!SPCVXA.BITNET!TERRY From: TERRY@SPCVXA.BITNET ("Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr") Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems Subject: Re: caller ID Message-ID: Date: 16 Mar 90 04:16:00 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 45 Dan Warburton writes: > I have caller ID a service from my local Bell company and keep thinking > wouldn't it be nice if I could teach my Amiga to read the numbers being > sent. Can any one tell me where I can get techical info on how the data > is transmitted. This looks like a good group to ask. E-mail please I > can't keep up with this group. Oh and Thanks!! The caller ID signal is a series of simple coded pulses _before_ each ring cycle. The reason two rings are "required" for detection is to make sure it got the complete information (and it matched). There is a further problem - caller ID is not currently supported for "out of LATA" calls. So, calls from distant area codes will show up as "out of area" (on the consumer box Bell sells) and "?????" on an ATT dis- play box. There is a complicated reason for this - if you're not inter- ested, hit your skip key now... The calling party information is _not_ transmitted as a simple calling phone number. It is actually a longer number which the phone company in- ternally uses for identification purposes. A call from a digital switch in your LATA is no problem, because _your_ switch (also digital) can get the translation and display it. A call from outside your LATA will pass infomation which your switch cannot translate, so you get "out of area" displayed. A repeat caller can be detected because the information is the same, even though the translation is not known, so you get "repeat" on the display. While it certainly is possible to get inter-LATA number translation, it would require additional networking support, and I expect that the Bell companies are waiting to see how well the service sells before that step. Also be aware that in several areas, people are pushing for a way to disable the feature, either permanently or on a per-call basis. It is un- clear whether this would be an extra-cost service or part of the regular rate. [I don't work for the phone company, haven't worked for any phone company since before digital switches were used, etc. The above information is from my experimentation with the service when it was being tested in Hudson County, NJ. - for a while all phones had caller ID enabled during testing. The service or signalling system may have changed since then, but I doubt it.] Terry Kennedy Operations Manager, Academic Computing terry@spcvxa.bitnet St. Peter's College, US terry@spcvxa.spc.edu (201) 915-9381