Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: westmark!dave@rutgers.edu (Dave Levenson) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Operator Assist Calling Card Calls Message-ID: Date: 25 Mar 89 02:42:59 GMT Sender: news@vector.UUCP Organization: Westmark, Inc., Warren, NJ, USA Lines: 33 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 108, message 3 of 9 In article , DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu) (DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN) writes: > A few days ago, I was making a calling card call from a rotary (Bell) > payphone, and when I asked the operator for the lower rate since I > couldn't Touch-Tone the calling card number in myself, she said she > allready knew and was billing me at the lower rate. > > This makes me wonder: How do the operators (Bell and AT&T) know that > it's a rotary phone? ... The CCIS database has information provided by the local operating company indicating which directory numbers are supposed to have touch tone service. While the information is not entirely up-to-date, the intent is that if you dial a 0+ call from a rotary phone, your call should be routed directly to the operator. If the same call is dialed from a line which is on record as having touch tone service, you'll get the MCCS Logo (Bong!) tone first. This same database is supposed to indicate the existence of a calling-card for every authorized user, to provide card-number validation. It also contains the translation of 800 numbers into their POTS equivalent numbers for routing toll-free calls. It indicates which numbers are coin telephones (which are invalid destinations for collect calls). -- Dave Levenson Westmark, Inc. The Man in the Mooney Warren, NJ USA {rutgers | att}!westmark!dave