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From: stanley@phoenix.com (John Stanley)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: COCOT's on the Corner
Message-ID: <15441@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 17 Dec 90 01:02:17 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 884, Message 3 of 10


   I have just had the amazing experience of seeing the birth of a
COCOT. From a hole in the ground, to a slender metal pole, to the cozy
blue box with magic inside.

   At first glance, it looks just like a NY Tel payphone. Nowhere does
it say NY Tel. The top insert has all the normal info, with the
additional "For emergencies, dial 911". Syracuse does not have 911
service implemented, even though we pay a surcharge for it. I didn't
try it to see if the phone was programmed.

   The insert where the phone number goes is blank. The lower insert,
where the info on who provides what LD service is supposed to be, is a
generic panel with fill in the blanks. Directory assistance.
Emergency.  Operator. Repair.

   The only two blanks filled in are the Emergency number (211,
different than the upper insert says), and Operator. There is nothing
for repair, nothing that says the LD carrier. Nothing that says who
the owner of the phone is.

   Aha! I will dial the operator and see who the AOS is. I pick up the
handset, and hear, in addition to dialtone, McGruff the Crimefighting
Dog talking about neighborhood watch and taking a bite out of crime.
How unique -- PSA's on COCOT's. I dial 0. Country music comes on. So
does the operator. She shouts at me. I shout back. The country music
plays on.  "What number are you at" she shouts. "Don't know". "What
city are you in?"  "Syracuse." "What state is that?" How convenient in
an emergency, dial the operator.

   I find out she works for Oasis. She asks me the number I was
calling.  I wasn't, just her. Why she thinks I would try to complete a
call with Kenny Rogers playing loud enough that I have to shout is
beyond me. She wrote a trouble ticket. How they will find the phone, I
don't know.  There are a lot of them in Syracuse.

   I think I know who owns the phone. I am going to call him tomorrow.