Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: clements@bbn.com
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Speech on Telephone Privacy
Message-ID: <2167@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 14 Dec 89 10:51:08 GMT
Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu
Organization: TELECOM Digest
Lines: 34
Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 574, message 2 of 7

In article <2064@accuvax.nwu.edu> michael@stb.uucp writes:
> [... cites emergency calls from unknown numbers ...]
>You cannot just ignore phone calls from numbers you don't know.
> [...]
>ANI [sic, really CLID]  gives no effective new features to end users.

This is just silly.  There are five cases:
   A) Call is unidentified, "Number refused by caller"
   B) Call is unidentified, "Out of area, number not available"
   C) Call is identified, and I (the callEE) know the number and like it.
   D) Call is identified, and I know the number and dislike it.
   E) Call is identified and I don't know whose number it is.

Given that, I can totally ignore categories A and D, always answer
category C and route B and E to an answering machine for screening and
possible answering.  You might choose a different selection.  I might
change the selections depending on whether I am going to be awake or
not.  But that is certainly an effective new feature.

>It gives plenty of ABUSE to people compiling information and
>selling it.

That's why selective blocking by the callER is a requirement in my
view.  It must be possible to CHOOSE whether you will give out your
number.  If it's an emergency, I think the caller would not be so
foolish as to block the calling number.  In any case, I would arrange
to give a message "I don't take unidentified calls" when I get such a
call.  Then the caller could redial from an unblocked phone if it were
REALLY necessary.  (I don't expect this case to arise in practice, but
that's how I would handle it if it did.  You might choose some other
option.  It's a free country.)


Bob Clements, K1BC, clements@bbn.com