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From: smk@attunix.att.com (S M Krieger)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: COCOT in GTE Land
Message-ID: <15718@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 30 Dec 90 17:30:14 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 908, Message 3 of 4


While trying to place a call from a COCOT in Fort Myers, FL last week,
what happened made me wonder how they interface with GTE.

After getting an "invalid number" synthesized message as I started
pushing 10288, I pushed "0".  It took about 8 rings for the GTE
operator to answer, but if she had answered earlier, she would have
heard a synthesized message from the phone, repeated twice, that said
something like, "Operator, this is a private phone.  Do not allow any
billing to this number".  When the operator did answer, I told her the
phone did not allow LD company selection and asked her to connect me
to AT&T.  She said I should dial 10288, but when I told her that
either the phone or line was broken (yeah, right) and treated 10288 as
an invalid number, she connected me to AT&T.

So I wonder what exactly the interface between the COCOT and phone
company is.  For example, in Bell Operating Company areas, the
operators know that the line is a COCOT, and often refuse to provide
any assistance because of it, but in this case, between the phone's
recorded message to the operator (which she didn't hear because it
took about twenty seconds to answer the phone and the recorded
messages ended in about ten seconds) and the fact she splashed me over
to AT&T, I wonder if the line appeared to her to be a normal phone
line.


Stan Krieger Summit, NJ
 ...!att!attunix!smk