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From: HOEQUIST@bnr.ca (Charles Hoequist)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Wrong Recordings
Message-ID: <telecom11.429.11@eecs.nwu.edu>
Date: 5 Jun 91 15:51:00 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 429, Message 11 of 12

Steve Forrette, in reference to his and Tim Irvin's difficulty with
inappropriate automatic-intercept recordings from Pac Bell, asks what,
if anything, can be done to correct this. Well, as always, 'it depends
 ...', in this case on where the problem lies and how Pac Bell stores
its recordings.
 
If this is in fact a software problem (the switch is programmed to
play the "line is being checked" message at the wrong time), the
correction will wait until subscriber irritation forces Pac Bell to
have a patch made. Since the problem doesn't actually cripple the
switch, the patch would go out at whatever interval Pac Bell's
supplier releases patches and upgrades. (where do they get their
switch software?)
 
Assuming it's a case of the wrong recording being in place (and that
Pac Bell no longer uses tape loops :), then fixing it could be simple
or next to impossible. The latter is the case if the telco has its
intercept announcements burned into a PROM in the switch somewhere.
Burning a new PROM is both tedious and supports an old technology, so
they won't want to do it.  On the other hand, if the guilty
announcement is just a file sitting on a disk that the switch reads in
as needed, then replacement can be just about as quick and dirty as
the telco wants.
 

Charles Hoequist  hoequist@bnr.ca  
BNR Inc.   PO Box 13478   Research Triangle Park NC 27709-3478, USA