Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!samsung!shadooby!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Finding Out the "Real" Number Behind a 1-800 Number Message-ID: <2347@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 21 Dec 89 10:44:56 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 24 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 587, message 1 of 9 "Fred R. Goldstein" writes: > Accepting a call on an 800 line is equivalent to paying for it. These > lines may be billed on a minutes-of-use basis, without regard for the > source of the call. So if you did know the underlying non-800 number, > it would be billed as an 800 call anyway. Nope! There is no clock or counter on the POTS line associated with 800 service. Dialing into the number directly, without using the 800 alias would result in no 800 billing. 800 billing is done in two ways: in the originating CO, as part of the AMA system; or in the carrier's tandem switch. AT&T still uses, for the most part, originating CO billing as a carry-over from the old days, while other carriers do their own billing in their own switches. Remember, many companies now offer 800 service, and they have no access to any data relating to the incoming calls on the POTS number that didn't go through their system. Also, many 800 service plans (like the one I have) depend on where the call originates from. A call to the ordinary POTS number would just not register. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !