Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Sat, 22 Jun 1991 13:48:48 GMT From: Rob Stampfli Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Operator Busy Break-In Now Costs $1.60 Message-ID: Organization: Little to None 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 478, Message 6 of 9 Lines: 41 In article gws@cblph.att.com (Gary W Sanders) writes: > With my Ohio Bell Phone bill I saw an interesting little notice. This > capability has been around for a long time, but was generaly used for > emergencies. Now Ohio Bell is encourging people to use the service for > non-emergency calls.. > DIAL 0 (OPERATOR) TO INTERRUPT A BUSY LINE ON A LOCAL CALL. > Do you need to talk to someone, and the line is busy? For a $1.60 per > call, you can ask the Ohio Bell Operator to interrupt a busy line. The > Operator will inform the called party that someone is trying to reach > them. The called party will then have to the option to hand up, freeing > the line for you to make your call to them. Suppose the line is being used by a modem. I wonder what the operator has been instructed to do in this case. Does the operator "listen" first so as not to disturb the modem, or do they arbitrarily drop the call? If they don't drop the call, what do they tell the intended caller? (Mentioning that a modem is in use is, in my mind, giving away details about the call in progress.) Also, suppose I am using my new AT&T-only-otherwise-unbillable calling card to make the call. Does the charge get billed through AT&T? Rob Stampfli, 614-864-9377, res@kd8wk.uucp (osu-cis!kd8wk!res), kd8wk@n8jyv.oh [Moderator's Note: When the operator is asked to 'verify busy' or interupt a call, they will first listen on the line only for a second or two to detirmine the status. A single word or two of conversation is sufficient. Even that brief intrusion might cause the modem to receive garbage, but the operator DOES NOT 'drop the call'. It is up to the caller and called party to disconnect when they wish to do so. The operator will merely advise them what a third party has requested. In the event it is a modem, the operator is unable to give that advice, and tells the third party that notification is impossible. PAT]