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From: goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Answer Supervision on PBX
Message-ID: <13937@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 22 Oct 90 16:31:13 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 756, Message 6 of 12


In article <13844@accuvax.nwu.edu>, dave@mars.njit.edu (Dave Michaels
cccc) writes...

>We have an AT&T Definity something orother PBX here on campus.  I
>recently discovered that the CO does not send answer supervision info
>to the PBX. As a result, we pay for calls that ring for more than 30
>seconds if they are answered or not.  Any PBX's not have this problem?
>Why won't (cant?) NJ Bell provide that information to the PBX?  Also,
>is there any way around the fact that since the school is a 'business'
>with a 'business line' the residents of the residence halls who are on
>the system must pay for local calls?

>Do all schools with PBX's have these problems?
>[Moderator's Note: Not all schools have that problem. Just the ones
>which buy cheap equipment thinking they will save money.   PAT]

No fair, Pat.  It's NOT the fault of the PBX!

Central offices routinely deny answer supervision to subscribers.
It's not impossible for them to provide it, but as a rule, telcos
consider answer supervision a private matter. (ISDN, on the other
hand, normally provides it, but sometimes will fail when the other end
is analog.)

If NJBell wanted to be nice about it, they'd provide answer
supervision, but I haven't met a Bell yet who was routinely nice about
it.  Maybe they think it's a benefit of Centrex service, since that
does provide accurate billing on message toll calls. (It doesn't pass
supervision; it is CO-based, so the CO uses its own knowledge in
writing up the bills.)  So PBX users suffer.  Maybe the FCC will
eventually end this little scam but it has lasted so far.  


Fred R. Goldstein 
Digital Equipment Corp., Littleton MA
goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com voice: +1 508 486 7388

Do you think anyone else on the planet would share my opinions, let
alone a multi-billion dollar corporation?