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From: FREE0612@uiucvmd (David Lemson)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: How Can I Tell What Switch is Being Used?
Message-ID: <11938@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 10 Sep 90 02:54:39 GMT
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Paolo Bellutta <bellutta@irst.it> writes:

>Is there a way to determine the type of switch the telco is using?
>Last December I got my number changed, after a couple of months I
>discovered by accident that now I can use tone dialling.

     One way to tell is if you have call waiting, the newer ISDN-ready
switches (i.e. AT&T 5ESS) uses a small beep instead of the horrible
old-style clink-clank.  Also, the beep is only heard on the side of
the person with the second call.  So, you can disregard the second
call if you wish, without the other side knowing.

     Another caveat about what you might be doing.  I've heard several
stories about someone 'accidentally' realizing that they could dial
tone (without specifically subscribing to the service), and finding a
bill for it on their bill!  Those new switches can recognize all sorts
of tones that aren't supposed to be there (a certain 2600 Hz tone is
an example ... much to the chagrin of the phreakers), including those
DTMF tones.


David Lemson
InterNet: free0612@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu