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From: gtisqr!toddi@yang.cpac.washington.edu (Todd Inch)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Looking For Entry "Intercom" Phone
Message-ID: <10322@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 1 Aug 90 05:58:49 GMT
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In article <10169@accuvax.nwu.edu> telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM
Moderator) writes:

>The resident answers the phone in the usual way, and is connected to
>the front door speaker phone. The door can be opened by dialing '4',
>or admission can be denied by simply hanging up. 

Thanks for the interesting article.

Do you know if the exterior keypad is disabled, or better yet, if the
frequencies for a DTMF '4' are blocked to prevent the visitor from
phreaking the thing open with a tone dialer?

The one time I visited an apartment with a similar (but non-phone)
system, the buttons were labelled with only apartment numbers.  I
couldn't remember my friend's apt # and had to find a pay phone to ask
him.

Disclaimer:  Even though I said "tone dialer", I'm not a drug dealer.

Todd Inch, System Manager, Global Technology, Mukilteo WA  (206) 742-9111
UUCP: {smart-host}!gtisqr!toddi    ARPA: gtisqr!toddi@beaver.cs.washington.edu


[Moderator's Note: I believe -- am not certain -- that the tone pad
goes dead once the required number of digits are entered by the guest
seeking admission. A tone dialer might defeat the system. The building
directory shows tenant name and code number -- not apartment number.
The tenant must tell the guest what apartment number is involved.
There are some definite tricks played with this service where the CO
version is concerned: IBT says if a tenant has an off-premise
extension on his line (a bridge to an answering service, for example),
the OPX will *not* get the doorbell signal, nor if they were to pick
up the phone during a front door intercom call would they be able to
dial 4 and open the door. Yet the former caretaker of one such
building here (with front door service via the CO rather than CPE) had
his own apartment a half-block away. The phone in the office of the
apartment building was OPX'ed to his apartment. He *was* able to
receive front door calls at that location. Why? Because the OPX in his
apartment was actually nothing more than multipled from the cable run
to the apartment building and not a separate cable from the CO.   PT]