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From: synsys!jeffj@uunet.uu.net
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: I Need a Way to Verify Autodial Numbers
Message-ID: <9320@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 26 Jun 90 01:51:37 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 458, Message 2 of 7


A very strange thing happened to a neighbor.  Her parents have an auto
dial phone and it must have misdialed her number because a stranger
answered the call and was very rude to them.  They called the police
to check up on her.  All was well after she got back from shopping and
calmed her parents down.

Now for the technological question: how can you check the programming
of an auto dialer?

I find a need for a dial-it service that would tell you what number
you dial to it (either DTMF or pulse).  That way, I'd call the number
and then autodial the other numbers and hear them read back.

It might work like this:

I dial "dial-huh" and hear some message like
        "I am ready to tell you what you are dialing".

Then I press the button to autodial a number (say, New York
information), and I hear the number read back in English "one two one
two five five five one two one two."

That's an excellent way to verify that the emergency numbers are
programmed correctly without bothering the police/fire/hospital.

I have seen Penril modems that allow you to have 'secret' numbers
where once programmed, you cannot view the telephone number, it is not
displayed while dialing and the speaker is disabled.  This is probably
ment to protect unlisted support lines.  Well, I admit this is a way
around that security.  But how many of you ever really use that
feature?

I know that there are now phones that display the number you are
dialing, and there are line monitors that can display the number as it
is dialed.  The July "Modern Electronics" magazine has schematics for
a phone mate that captures DTMF as dialed, times the call, can hold
the line, and rings.  It is also a clock.  But this requires somebody
to buy/rent the equipment and get it to the customer premesis.

What I need is a service that Joe Smith, Anytown USA can use from his
existing equipment.

As to telephone fishing:

"Look, pa I caught one!  It's a trimline."
"Ya hooked it through the transmitter, son.  Lemme unhook it.
Throw it back, it's not FCC registered."
"Yahoooo!  I got me a whopper!  A 4 line multiline at least."
"You caught it by the linecord.  That makes 'em real mad."


Jeffrey Jonas
jeffj@synsys.uucp