From: utzoo!decvax!duke!unc!brl-bmd!TELECOM@Usc-Eclb Newsgroups: fa.telecom Title: TELECOM Digest V2 #128 Article-I.D.: brl-bmd.412 Posted: Fri Oct 29 05:41:31 1982 Received: Sat Oct 30 05:15:51 1982 TELECOM AM Digest Friday, 29 October 1982 Volume 2 : Issue 128 Today's Topics: Dialing Ones Home NPA Re: Electronic Mail Service Cermatek Automatic Call Processing Unit (ACPU) GTE/Telenet 617vs617 More On Op. Codes Query - Local Area Data Sets "Equal Access" to competitve Inter-Exchange Carriers PBX Inquir TWX History NY Telephone Selling Phones 2nd Area Code Planned For New York City Daemon Dialer [I was on vacation last week, so no TELECOM digests were published] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 13 Oct 1982 0739-EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Dialing one's home NPA Home NPA can usually be dialed in Georgia and North Carolina; it seems to depend on the local dial administration folks. To do it right does require extra translation (Ga and NC sent calls to your own C.O. out to the toll machine and back, which is kind of wasteful). It is not perceived that the extra translation is worth allowing both ways to work. Telco mentality is simply "there shouldn't be two ways to do anything." ------------------------------ Date: 13 Oct 1982 1248-MDT From: Walt Subject: Re: Electronic Mail Service Telenet offers a service called Telemail which has a similar effect - ie. they provided the computer that stores your mail, and you dial into your local Telenet PAD (of which there are a whole lot), connect to this computer and read or send mail. I've never used the service myself. -- Walt Haas HAAS@UTAH-20 ...harpo!utah-cs!haas ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 1982 0830-EDT From: John R. Covert Subject: Cermatek Automatic Call Processing Unit (ACPU) The new Cermatek ACPU chip, CH1820, appears at first glance to be a really nice new product. Closer inspection, however, shows that it has at least two major deficiencies which make it unusable for its designed purpose. It would be nice if manufacturers of products which would use the CH1820 would recognize these deficiencies and prevail upon Cermatek to redesign the chip. The first major deficiency will prevent the ACPU from processing calls correctly under many circumstances. The chip claims to incorporate a feature enabling it to determine whether the line to which it is attached accepts DTMF (Tone-Dial) signals. The description of the "feature" follows: After dial tone detection, an automatic selection process of DTMF or Pulse dialing is begun. The first digit to be dialed is dialed via DTMF tones. The ACPU then monitors the telephone line to see if dial tone has been broken. If dial tone is absent the local TELCO switching system accepts DTMF tones. In this case the balance of the number is dialed using DTMF. If dial tone remains, DTMF is not supported by the local TELCO, and the CH1820 responds by backing up and dialing the complete number using pulse dialing. There are two flaws in this algorithm. The first, and most obvious, is in the case of CENTREX and PBX systems, where the first digit is used as an access code (e.g. 9 for outside). Using the above algorithm, the CH1820 would dial 9, discover that dial tone has not been broken, and back up and dial the 9 again. The call would be sent to an incorrect number. The second flaw is less obvious. In modern, electronic switching systems, the number being dialed is often buffered until the switching system's CPU is ready to process the digit. In busy central offices, there is often a substantial delay after the first digit is dialed before dial tone is removed. Additional digits may be dialed in this time, but the CH1820 would make the error of backing up, causing the call to go to an incorrect number. The second major deficiency in the chip is in the call progress tone detection algorithm. The detection of ringing versus busy is not very easy. The algorithm the CH1820 uses is inadequate. The following description of the tone detection appears in the preliminary data sheet: Dial tone is recognized as constant energy in the frequency band of 300 to 700 Hz. Busy tone is recognized as 200 to 700 ms of energy in the dial tone band followed by a minimum of 200 ms of non-dial tone band energy or silence. Ringback [audible ring] tone is recognized as 700 ms or more of dial tone band energy followed by 200 ms or more of non-dial tone band energy or silence. One of the most widely used PBXs in the industry, the Rolm MCBX, provides an audible ring of 500 ms on calls dialed into the switch from the outside. Calls to modems (or other devices) in this PBX would fail. Avoid products incorporating the CH1820 until a new version is available which corrects these deficiencies. ______________________________ Date: 14 Oct 1982 10:56:08-EDT From: dee at CCA-UNIX (Donald Eastlake) To: telecom at rutgers Subject: GTE/Telenet 617vs617 Telenet vs GTE: It may depend on what type of connection you have with Telenet but I would dispute Lauren's claim that Telenet has not detriorated under GTE. When Telenet was its own thing, the people working for it at least had some idea what was going on and you could generally find someone responsible. Now they are trying to do the service end of things increasingly with random GTE people and dispatching them through general complex GTE channels such that you have to talk to 3 or 4 people, none of whom seems to be willing to take much responsibility or be very definite. They also have taken to doing cute things like reloading the software into our TP with no notice and throwing away the old version such that we were without service for 4 days. 617vs617: Re: Frankston's remarks, I am equally annoyed that you can't simply always dial 1 in front of numbers within 617 if you are within 617. I suppose the claim is that people want to know if they are dialing a "toll" call and want to minimize the number of digits but no one seems to care about the wasted effort in having to look up whether or not you have to dial 1 or more likely randomly try to wrong thing first and then the other. If I go to the effort of making a telephone call, I really don't care if its local or not though I suppose it might make some difference if it was overseas. In any case, it would be nice to be able to dial what ever prefix is required to effectively declare that I don't care if its a "toll" call or not. ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 82 8:05:47-EDT (Mon) From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) cc: cmoore at BRL Subject: op. codes, 209 area There are several prefixes in 209 area whose operator codes start with 916 (different area in SAME state). These include 555 (dir. asst.), although its V&H coor- dinates match those of Fresno. ------------------------------ Date: 14 Oct 82 15:52:58-EDT (Thu) From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) cc: cmoore at BRL Subject: more on op. codes I presently don't know why any prefixes would have operator code from a non-bordering state or province. Earlier, I noted a few Maine prefixes whose op. codes start with 617 (eastern Mass. area code), and I have since found these combinations: Maine, op. code starting with 802 (Vermont) Idaho, op. code starting with 303 (Colorado) I wonder what I'll find for op. codes in New Hampshire and Wyoming, the states "skipped over" above. ---------- Note (not by me) about 1 + your own area code + 7 digit number for automatic, transportable dialer makes me wonder how complex the changes would be to accomodate such a thing. I do see how it is a nuisance without "+ your own area code" being possible when you and the number you call are in same area. This is in addition to other notes about one's own area code. I wrote about DC area and NYC, and someone else wrote that it's the best solution to toll calls within same area code when "area code" prefixes and 1+ DDD are in same area (no such areas at least for now). ------------------------------ Date: Thursday, 14 October 1982 15:55-EDT Sender: KLOTZ at MIT-OZ From: Leigh L. Klotz To: jsol at MIT-OZ Subject:Help? Being a telephone expert, do you know anything about "Local Area Data Sets"? They're 9600 and greater "modems" for direct connection. I have a 4-wire connection to BBN from Terrapin and one of these critters, but not two. The phone company has stalled for 3 months, and I just found out today that they don't have any more and have to buy them. I talked to the guy who designed it and he referred me to Codex, who sells them to the phone company. They can get me a pair in 4 weeks, but that doesn't help me today when I need it (or three months ago...). Do you know anybody who has a pair or one they aren't using that I could borrow or least or rent for 4 weeks? Thanks, Leigh. ------------------------------ Date: 16 October 1982 13:21-EDT From: "Marvin A. Sirbu, Jr." Subject: "Equal Access" to competitve Inter-Exchange Carriers To: Telecom at USC-ECLB The divestiture agreement calls for the Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) to provide "equal access" to both AT&T Long Lines and the other inter-exchange carriers (IECs) The following is from a paper by Norwood G. Long, Director Loop Planning, Bell Telephone Laboratories presented at a Workshop on Local Access in St. Louis last month. "When a telephone call is placed in the switched message network, the user must specify the unique number of the called party by entering a structured list of identifiers and geographical designators. For local calls only central office (3 digit) and customer (4 digit) codes are needed.... The next level in addressing is the area code, a 3 digit code identifying a region with the second digit a "1" or a "0", such as "201" for Northern new Jersey. Finally, the initial digit or digits may have, in some locations, a specialized call-type identification function; "1" can mean a toll call, "01" can mean international call, etc. "One way of allowing the user "equal access" in selecting among all available inter-exchange carriers would be to add digits identifying the selected carrier to the dialing code.... "The following example... shows one way in which the issues discussed above might be approached. Since the issues are still under active discussion by regulators, carriers, and others, it should not be construed as a proposal. "Numbering for message toll: 10XX + normal ten digit number, where "XX" specifies the carrier. If 10XX is absent, call is carried by a carrier preselected by the user. "Access to all IEC's would be through an intermediate tandem switch, unless traffic studies show wnough traffic to justify the cost of direct end-office-IEC hub trunks. From an end office, trunks to both the access tandem switch and an IEC hub would have 3 dB loss; access tandem to IEC hub trunks would have 0 dB loss. Traffic blocking on a two link end office to access tandem plus tandem to IEC hub call would be adjusted to be the same as on a direct end office to IEC hub call." ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 1982 1226-PDT From: Jim Celoni S.J. Subject: PBX inquiry The University of Santa Clara is shopping for a 1200-line PBX for our 44-building campus and has received proposals from Northern Telecom (SL-1 VLE Generic X11), CP National (Mitel SX-2000), American Bell (AT&T D2000 FP8), InteCom (IBX), Rolm (LCBX Release 7), United Technologies (Stromberg DBX 5000), and ComPath (Wescom 580L). Other companies weren't interested in bidding (e.g. GTE, Anderson-Jacobson, Datapoint, Harris, IBM). Staying with the Centrex served from our #1 ESS CO (in Pacific Telephone territory) is possible too, either month-to-month or under a forthcoming tariff offering guaranteed rates for three years. (Centrex is about all the operating companies will have for large customers after the split.) Rumor has it that Rolm's developing a new incompatible MC68000-based switch, Northern a new incompatible switch, that Bell's Antelope is not a Dimension add-on (and will be out soon for smaller sizes and later for ours), and that still-uninstalled switches (some from startup companies) will outshine them all. I'm not permitted to give prices or say which bidders are finalists or how the terms they're offering us are different from their standard ones, but I'd really appreciate your comments on the proposed systems, on the rumors, on PBX vs. month-to-month vs. Centrex contract, etc.. I'll keep your reply between us if you want, and I'll summarize for Telecom whatever of the rest is of general interest. Many thanks. --j ------------------------------ Date: Fri Oct 22 1982 21:18:24 PDT From: Lauren Weinstein Subject: TWX history Greetings. Can somebody tell me when the ASCII TWX network first began to appear? When did the term "twix" first start to be used, and has it ever been used outside of the U.S.? I am not concerned with the Baudot telex network, which has been available domestically and internationally for many years. (As an aside, I believe that use of the term "TWX" is now being discouraged -- you're now supposed to call the ASCII service "Telex II".) Any info would be appreciated. Thanks much. --Lauren-- P.S. I started thinking about this while watching an old rerun of "M*A*S*H"! Klinger ran into a room holding a slip of paper and said, "I've got a twix here you're going to want to see..." Seems to me that the usage is wrong both in space and time. TWX in *Korea* during the Korean War? Telex, yes, but TWX? Looks like the writers blew it on this one -- probably didn't realize there was any difference. --LW-- ------------------------------ Date: 24 Oct 82 17:27:52 EDT (Sun) From: floyd!cmcl2!edler@Berkeley Subject: NY Tel. selling phones New York Telephone is offering to sell currently installed telephones to residence and business customers with single-line telephones. The offer applies to Standard, Trimline, or Princess sets, dial or tone, desk or wall. There is a 30 day limited warranty for electrical parts, excluding cords. If you take them up on this, they will put it on your bill, and if you are a residence customer they will bill you in six installments if you like. The offer is good until December 31, 1982, after which it will presumably change. The price is $50 for either of my two standard desk touch-tone sets, which I have had for less than a year. The current monthly charge that I would save is $3.73, so it would take about 14 months to make my money back. Are other phone companies making similar offers? Is this a good deal? Will the price go down after January 1, 1983? Will significantly better phones be available soon for a better price? Should I take them up on the offer? Jan Edler cmcl2!edler (nyu) pyuxll!jse (btl piscataway) ------------------------------ Date: Wed 27-Oct-1982 16:48-EDT From: Bill Russell To: DORN.ACF1@NYU, Richard Kenner , TELECOM@USC-ECLB Subject: 2nd Area Code for New York City Planned >From the NY Times, Wed, October 27th, 1982, by The Assocciated Press The New York Telephone Company said yesterday that it was considering a second area code for New York City in 1984 to meet the growing demand for and use of the telephone. The company ``is presently looking into ways to increase the supply of phone numbers in New York City to meet future needs,'' said a spokesman, John Quinn. Mr. Quinn said that amoung the proposals being considered was ``a new area code covering Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.'' He said the new area code would be 718, with Manhattan and the Bronx keeping 212. The 718 area code would be considered a local call if dialed from in New York City. If the plan, which requires approval by the State Public Service Commission, is adopted, it would be implemented in mid-1984, he added. A second area code would free up to 800 exchanges--the first three digits of a phone number, Mr. Quinn said, double the amount now available. The telephone company nearly two years ago began requiring the dialing of the numeral ``1'' before all long-distance numbers from New York City, but ``the several hundred'' exchanges it provided are being rapidly ``eaten up'' as a result of a growing technology and direct inward dialing, Mr. Quinn said. He said all the exchanges provided by adding ``1'' would be used up by 1985. Direct inward dialing--dialing without going through a central operator--``requires a large nunber of code blocks,'' he said. More extensive use of beepers and mobile radio systems, which will make car telephones much more accessible, also reserves large blocks of numbers. The proposal for dual area codes is currently being studied by San Diego and Los Angeles, two cities that will implement the system before New York does, Mr. Quinn said. New York City currently has more than six million phone numbers. ------------------------------ Date: 29 October 1982 00:05 edt From: Schauble.Multics at MIT-MULTICS Subject: Daemon Dialer I have been seen ads for this beast for a long time. It is a small box that you plug into any extension outlet in your house. It then provides speed calling services for all of the phones in your house. You pick up the phone, dial the speed call code (touch only) and the daemon dials the number for you. I would very much like to know how this works, in detail. Seems to me that if you do this, the CO will also receive the tones directed at the daemon and attempt to respond to them. How is this avoided? Paul ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest ********************** -------