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From: julian@bongo.uucp (Julian Macassey)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Tracing Obscene/Nuisance Calls in the UK
Message-ID: <12193@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 15 Sep 90 13:32:07 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 649, Message 4 of 10


In article <12079@accuvax.nwu.edu>, leilabd@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Leila
Burrell-Davis) writes:
 
> We plan to take this up with the authorities, but before we do I would
> be very interested to know what it is technically possible for the
> phone company to do to trace such calls. 

	I just spoke to my sister who is a member of the world's
second oldest profession. She was professionally evasive - has anyone
ever got a straight answer from an ambulance chaser?

	Anyhow the gist of the conversation was: If you have a problem
with obscene, harassing, threatening calls, call the constables. You
may also call BT by dialling 1500 and asking for customer relations.
Much waffle about how tapping phones is illegal, so I had to explain
tracing calls and examining call records is not tapping.

	Now the technical stuff. Her local exchange (CO) which is a
TXE-4 (Reed relay job) now has itemised billing. So they obviously
have records of outgoing calls. I also recall a court case I sat in on
in Lambeth Magistrates court, this was in 1967. The prisoner was
accused of "Stealing electricity". His actual offence was calling the
emergency services - 999 (UK equiv of 911 that goes back to the
forties). But annoying the emergency services is on the cops home turf
and is more important to them than some poor soul being woken at one
in the morning to hear an anatomical inventory. Obviously if they
could trace calls then, they can trace calls now. In the old days,
special equipment had to be placed on lines in the CO to trace a call
and sometimes an engineer had to be present. But today with computers
and electronic switching, no one has to be around while the call is
going through.

	By the way the TXE-4 exchange will accept Touch Tone, but you
have to ask them to turn it on, for which there is no charge. Yup, the
UK has free Touch Tone.


Julian Macassey, n6are  julian@bongo.info.com  ucla-an!denwa!bongo!julian
N6ARE@K6IYK (Packet Radio) n6are.ampr.org [44.16.0.81] voice (213) 653-4495