Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Sat, 6 Apr 91 15:59:22 PST From: Tad.Cook@ssc.uucp Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Our Landlord Has a Charge-a-Phone Message-ID: Organization: TELECOM Digest Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 271, Message 2 of 12 Lines: 39 In article , john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > There is a diner in Los Angeles (the name escapes me) that has a phone > at every table. They are "genuine Bell" phones and each is connected > to CO dial tone. These are, in effect, Charge-a-Calls. You can place > 800, 10XXX, 950, 0+ (goes AT&T), but not local calls (except as 0+). > A group of us had dinner there a number of months ago and it was great > entertainment playing with the phone while waiting for our meals to > arrive! > [Moderator's Note: On I-55 from here to St. Louis all the food/gasoline > stops along the way have a similar arrangement. At each booth in the > restaurant, a wall-phone is hooked to a one-way outgoing line. All > calls from the phone must be zero-plussed or 10xxx zero-plussed with > billing on a collect, third number or telco credit card basis. PAT] I got a call recently from a guy who had purchased "a box" from a company in Florida that converted a standard cordless phone into a coinless private pay phone. He was planning on installing these in truck stops, where the weary trucker would request a handset from the waitress, who would bring it to him, and he would place credit card calls. The box allegedly had some credit card billing system where it would dial up some central AOS location. My caller was suspicious because this service was supposed to be provided by the distributor of the box, but the box seemed to let all calls go through. I told him that I didn't think this scheme was a good idea. Anyone with a VHF scanner could sit outside the truck stop listening to the 46 MHz signal from the base unit, and easily decode the credit card numbers. Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @N7ENT.#WWA.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET: ...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP