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From: cowan@marob.masa.com (John Cowan)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Sports Stadium Use of a "Dedicated" Phone
Message-ID: <13953@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 23 Oct 90 15:09:52 GMT
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In article <13822@accuvax.nwu.edu>, riddle@hoss.unl.edu 
(Michael H. Riddle) writes:

>Isn't there an "in-between" alternative, where the instrument appears
>to be dedicated ring-down service, but in reality places the call when
>the customer goes off-hook?

New York Telephone provides exactly this service for the New York
Stock Exchange.  If I remember correctly, it's called a Virtual
Dedicated Circuit, or something of that sort.  It's essentially:

	1) a special bit of programming in the CO such that the switch
will automatically complete the call rather than extending dial tone, plus

	2) some kind of tariff arrangement whereby if the call doesn't
complete at least n% of the time you get your money back, where n% is
tuneable but large.

You pick up the instrument and wait about 2-4 sec, then hear ringing
tone.  The receiving line can be a POTS line in principle, although
it's more typical for it to be another line of the same kind so that
either end can call the other just by picking up.  I suppose
asymmetric solutions might be useful in other contexts.

In article <13823@accuvax.nwu.edu> roy@phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith)
writes:

>	When I was a kid growing up in New York (1960's) there were
>green boxes on lamp posts containg phones with which you could call
>the police.  You didn't have to dial, just lift the handset.  Anybody
>know exactly what these were?  Leased ring-down lines from NYTel or
>private wires actually owned by the police department?  And where did
>they ring-down to?  The nearest precinct house, or some pre-911
>central location?

I don't know where they went then, but as of now they ring the same
place 911 does.  However, they are a lousy system.  Essentially, they
are multidrop single circuits, and your call has to wait until all
other calls on your particular circuit (potentially a lot of boxes)
clear.  The word from an acquaintance of mine, a former 911 operator,
is "Avoid them.  They take longer to get through and they have lower
priority because of the high frequency of bogus calls -- take the time
to find a payphone" For the non-New Yorker, payphones are very common
here, both utility and COCOT; there is close to one per corner even in
nlow-rent neighborhoods. 


cowan@marob.masa.com	(aka ...!hombre!marob!cowan)