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From: SCR596@CYBER2.CENTRAL.BRADFORD.AC.UK (Drew)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Ring Equivalent Numbers (UK)
Message-ID: <telecom-v08i0198m01@vector.UUCP>
Date: 10 Dec 88 21:54:43 GMT
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X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 198, message 1

Here in the UK every phone, and in fact every piece of equipment connected
to  the  phone  network  (modems  etc), has a Ring Equivalent Number (REN)
assigned to it.  Most touchtone phones have a REN of 1.0.    We  are  told
that  we  must  not  use  devices that exceed a total of x RENs on a line,
where x is a number I don't know.  I guess  there  may  be  an  equivalent
notation (if not exactly the same) in the US.

What  I  want to know is, what exactly is REN, how is it measured and what
happens if you exceed it?  What is the maximium REN  total  allowed  on  a
residential  line?    Is  this  the same all over the country?  Are phones
listed as 1.0 REN really that, or are they, say, 0.8 REN?

Yours quizzingly, Drew Radtke.