Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: claris!wet!epsilon@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: When Gremlins Come A-calling
Message-ID: <5263@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 16 Mar 90 13:02:01 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 179, Message 4 of 12


I noticed the line status light flickering on one of my lines the
other day;  how odd, but it's been rainy, and who knows?  Then a
couple of times the phone would ring -- once.  Very strange.  So I
called repair service, in case Pac*Bell had someone playing with
the wires.  First surprise -- no human!  There's now an automated
system that eats DTMF and files trouble reports.  OK, I can live
with that.  

Not long after, the phone rings, I pick it up, and I find myself in
someone else's conversation; about five seconds later the other
parties hang up.  The phone rings a few more times (once), but each
time I head toward the phone it's idle.  Finally it rings twice, I
pick it up, I hear another voice say "hello" and a third identify
himself as a Pac*Bell rep -- who was quite surprised to actually reach
me, apparently the other subscriber was sitting by the phone.  

We learn that my line has somehow been crossed with a number with a
different prefix (but served by the same office).  They say they'll
get it fixed within a few hours [apparently they did].  I called
Pac*Bell billing to flag my account in case I've got an inadvertent
party line; we'll get it all figured out next cycle.  I have 976/900
blocking, so I don't have to worry about those nasties.  There's just
one thing that bothers me: I have MCI as my 1+, and it may be months
before I know if any unauthorized charges were made on my line.


					-=EPS=-