Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Wed, 15 May 91 07:53 EDT From: Macy Hallock Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: *-Prefixed Calls on Cellular Phones: Uniformly Coded? Free? Message-ID: Organization: Hallock Engineering and Sales Medina, Ohio USA +1 216 722 3053 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 363, Message 1 of 10 Lines: 66 >> I am curious (yellow) about * prefixed calls on cellular phones. >> Has anyone got a list? Are they uniform across service providers? OK, I'll throw in my $.02 here: In Cleveland/Akron Ohio: 1-800-525-5555 is the Ohio State Highway Patrol emergency reporting line. You can report any traffic emergency, DWI driver, etc. to it. No cellular company in Ohio is supposed to be charging airtime for its use. I've used it several time, it seems to ring into a single dispatch for the state and messages are relayed to the correct authority by the state computer or radio nets. This number is setup expressly for cellphone use ... and the dispatchers know it. Seems to be a well run, well trained arrangment. This number was setup before most cell carriers were able to agree on how to setup shortcut dialing ... and before 911 was widely installed. 911 rings to 911 dispatch in most areas. Very uneven info about charging for airtime. This state has a 911 law that says calls to 911 are not chargable to the caller. In some, but not all, cellular areas, dialing *911 is the same as dialing 911. Other * numbers: GTE Mobilnet initiated a uniform set of * service codes a couple of years ago and pushed the industry very hard for standardization on their scheme. So we have *70, *71, *71, *18 and others for control of features here. Mobilnet does charge for the airtime (.5 minute) when these features are invoked. *111 is tech service, *611 is billing/customer disservice, *411 is info (chargable airtime on this) and *711 is undefined for the moment (may become roamer service, I'm told) My technical sources at Mobilnet tell me that the * services are used for internal service codes (like *70) or speed dial numbers to outside lines (like *611). Billing is done on all calls by the switch, and the billing dept. prices the calls according to current company policies. I'm told that ANY number can be setup as a speed call or redirected. This is used to block 900 and 976 calls, and has been used to block certain other problem numbers in the past. The Motolola EMX's they use have a pretty decent set up for translations. Moblinet, like many other cell carriers, has made agreements with local radio stations for special numbers for traffic reporting (dial *TV8, etc). These are all billed/not billed according to the agreement made for that service. Presumably I could cut a deal with Mobilnet for *MACY to call me ... and even be a free/no airtime call ... if I worked out some type of arrangement with them. I have asked my sources at Mobilnet for more information on the standards they are putting into place in the near future concerning enhanced type cellular services. I'm told their recent change from Motorola to AT&T as a primary switch vendor was partially due to the better support of special service features of the AT&T product. (I wonder if revenue enhancement is coming to Mobilnet....) More on this when I get it. Macy M. Hallock, Jr. N8OBG 216-725-4764 Home macy@fmsystm.UUCP macy@NCoast.ORG uunet!aablue!fmsystem!macy Please use only these three reply addresses.