Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!bionet!hayes.fai.alaska.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: hplabs!mcdcup!phil@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Phil Weinberg SPS) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Finding Your Own Phone Number Message-ID: <12897@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 1 Oct 90 21:13:04 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: Phil Weinberg SPS Organization: Motorola Semiconductor Products, Sunnyvale , CA 94086-5303 Lines: 36 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 703, Message 6 of 15 In article <12637@accuvax.nwu.edu> decwrl!well.sf.ca.us!well!nagle (John Nagle) writes: > It's time to lobby for some standardized way to find out your own >phone number. With Caller ID, the other end can find out; it's >annoying that you can't. It would be especially valuable if it were I once tried to find out the number of an unidentified (untagged) pair by calling the phone company (Pac Tel) and requesting them to tell me what number I was calling from. I was refused this information, and when I asked to speak to a supervisor to explain why, the supervisor gave me a story that it was to prevent "people" from tapping into someone else's line, finding out what the number is, and using the other person's service as their own. I was also told that this "illegal" use of other peoples' lines was very prevalent among bookies and number writers. I had to pay for a service call for a PacTel expert to come out, dial the mysterious number to get the recording back as to what my number was, and write it down on a tag (it took him about 4 minutes total - a slow writer). I agree with John Nagle that in this age of more and more gizmos using the telephone lines it becomes more and more convenient, if not necessary, for one to be able to identify a pair of unfamiliar wires. << Usual Disclaimer >> Phil Weinberg @ Motorola Semiconductor, Sunnyvale, CA 94086-5395 UUCP: {hplabs, mot,} !mcdcup!phil Telephone: +1 408-991-7385 [Moderator's Note: There is something you should remember: When you were on that 'unidentified pair of wires' they (the wires) *might* have been someone else's service. They might have picked up the phone and heard on you on there. Then what? PAT]