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From: Robert.Savery@f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org (Robert Savery)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Long Calls (was: Modems/Call Waiting)
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Date: 5 Sep 90 01:14:19 GMT
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In a message of <31 Aug 90 14:32:06>, David Lesher (1:30102/2) writes:

DL>{can you time up a dial-up line all month?}

DL>|Are they, the phone company(s), allowed to do this?  I've never heard
DL>|of a maximum period of time for a phone call.  I consulted my phone
DL>|book, and the term it uses is untimed.  

DL>An alarm distributor once told me that Sonitrol {sp} tried this. They
DL>offered an alarm system that triggered on loud noises inside the
DL>buildings at night. Then the alarm office could listen, mike by mike,
DL>to hear if it was an intruder, or a burping furnace.

DL>To do they, they used standard dialup lines, and kept them open all
DL>night, or all weekend. Ma took them up the court ladder, and won. I
DL>suspect the tariffs have some catchall phrase about "abnormal use" or
DL>such.

Someone should tell Ma Bell about the hundreds of dial up lines the
Postal Service is using for their data collection system.

With the exception of equipment failures, many of these have been
running for years.

Last year I tested the installation of 15 sites that are reporting
back to the main office by way of ordinary dial up lines, 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year.

Of course, Ma Bell might not want to get U.S.P.S. too mad at them.
Imagine what would happen if phone bills started showing up late. ;-)


Bob

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