TELECOM Digest Wed, 30 Nov 94
TELECOM Digest Wed, 30 Nov 94 15:35:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue
432
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A.
Townson
Tracking Incoming Numbers (Jeff Murphy)
Regulation About Microwave Usage in the US? (Juergen Ziegler)
Havana's Direct Dial Code (Greg Monti)
LDDS Announces Service to Cuba (Fred Bauer)
Network Planners Wanted - Motorola Midwest Area (psiinc@mcs.com)
New Telecom Events Calendar (David Cordeiro)
Faxes, Data, Voice All in One Package. How? (David Stevenson)
Open Letter to Telecom Industry re: Standards (Wallace A. Ritchie)
Bell Atlantic Suspensions (Larry Ludwick)
Free Speech or Not (was Re: What Information) (Dennis G. Rears)
Philadelphia 911 Tragedy (Carl Moore)
Re: 911, CNID, was Re: Problem With 911 Service in Philadelphia
(M. Healy)
Prodigy Now Has Newsgroups (Stan Schwartz)
Help With Oki 892 ESN (Marc B. Grant)
Automatic Callback (Alain Arnaud)
MCI Conference Call (Brian Brown)
DTMF to Serial Port Help Wanted (Egan F. Ford)
Re: Tehran Changes Emergency Number (Thomas Diessel)
Last Laugh! Ameritech the Beautiful (Robert A. Virzi)
Still More Last Laugh! No Need For Type-Ahead (Alan E. Asper)
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jcmurphy@acsu.buffalo.edu (Jeff Murphy)
Subject: Tracking Incoming Numbers
Organization: UB
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 02:37:30 GMT
We'd like to take a "poll" of what numbers are calling into our modems
so that we can determine what percentage of calls are coming from on-
campus. All we need is the exchange part of each number.
Currently, the only way we see is to hook up a thirty button set to a
spread of 30 lines (out of 180) and use that as a representative set.
This info is going to help us decide whether or not it would be
worthwhile
to offer direct connectivity at the dorm room level to our campus
network
versus having dorming students dial into the string.
Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing, or can anyone
offer
a better solution? Apparently NYNEX has told us that they don't track
that
sort of activity, so can't provide us with the statistics.
Thanks in advance,
jeff
jcmurphy@acsu.buffalo.edu sunyab cit oss lead programmer analyst
standard disclaimers apply http://lurch.cit.buffalo.edu/~jcmurphy/
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why don't you get Caller-ID on those
lines if it is available in your community, and have the data from
all
the lines feed into a PC where the incoming line, time of call and
source can be recorded. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have this data
around anyway, given all the phreaks who like to call in and cause
hassles. For your purposes, it would provide very precise data on who
is doing what where your modems are concerned, and if at some time in
the future it is helpful to have available a record showing a call
from
telephone 'x' was received at a certain time and connected to modem
'z'
and onward into your network, so much the better. Of course an opening
message when your terminal servers answer announcing this would be a
courteous gesture to users. Something like: 'For the protection of our
users, and to assist in planning our network facilities in the future,
all incoming calls are logged with the records available for
examination
by authorized persons. These records are confidential. If you block
your
telephone identification when calling in, we must decline to service
you or connect you with the modem bank.'
Have the computer check for 'private' on incoming calls and when seen
send a signal back to the terminal server to disconnect the call.
Doing
this, you get twice as much for your money: not only the traffic
analysis
you are seeking but a handle on possible security problems as well.
And
time and again we have found that when your users know that *you know*
who
they are, the ones inclined to create problems simply stay away. When
you are in a position to call someone on the phone and say, "yesterday
at 7:00 PM we noticed this phone dialed into our modem bank and
connected
via telnet to site 'x'. Site 'x' has complained about it to us and we
were wondering what was going on ..." <grin> ... Well, when you are
in
a position to do that and your users know you can do it, the phreaks
tend to stay away. Phreaks don't like spotlights or diligent record-
keeping; they prefer darkness, confusion and anomynity. And don't
let
the privacy freaks lay a guilt trip on you with their whines about how
their freedom is being chilled or denied by someone having knowledge
of
when they call or how long they were connected, etc. You are not
interested
in any of that anyway. All you want is some idea how to configure
things
and some clues to use in detecting very outrageous abuse, etc. PAT]
------------------------------
Subject: Regulation about Microwave Usage in the US?
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 22:09:15 +0100
From: juergen@jojo.sub.de (Juergen Ziegler)
Reply-To: juergen@jojo.sub.de
While travelling in the US, I recognized a large number of microwave
links. Mostly to be operated by several telecommunications carriers
like local or long-distance companies.
But it seems to me, that "private" operators had their own links. Such
as
one factory plant to be linke to another.
What is the regulation about such microwave links in the US?
Who is entitled to apply for the neccessary frequencies?
Juergen Ziegler * Obervogt-Haefelinstr. 48 * 77815 Buehl (Baden) *
Germany
Juergen@Jojo.Sub.De ********************************* Fax: +49-7223-
900646
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 11:53:26 EST
From: Greg Monti <GMONTI@npr.org>
Subject: Havana's Direct Dial Code
Now that direct dial service to Cuba is being offered by several long
distance carriers, an article in {Communications Daily} notes that the
country code for Cuba is 53 and the area code for Havana is 7.
Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division
National Public Radio Phone: +1 202 414-3343
635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: +1 202 414-3036
Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 94 13:54 EST
From: Fred Bauer <FBAUER+aROCKVILLE%Rockville@mcimail.com>
Subject: LDDS Announces Service to Cuba
Since there has been mention of ATT/MCI direct dial access to
Cuba, I thought readers of the digest would be interested in the
LDDS press release. (Note that in the greater than 50% claim,
LDDS is including the capacity of IDB and WILTEL, since all the
trunks are connected to the same (IDB) switch).
---------------
23-NOV-1994 16:11 LDDS Communications, the first long distance
company to offer direct-dial calls to Cuba starting Nov. 25 at
5:00 p.m.
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 23, 1994--LDDS Communications, one of
the four largest long distance companies in the United States,
announced
Wednesday that it will offer direct dialing to Cuba beginning Friday,
Nov. 25 at 5:00 p.m.
Direct calls to Cuba have been approved by the U.S. and the Cuban
governments. "We are very proud to announce that LDDS will offer
direct-dial calls to Cuba before any other long distance carrier,"
said Mark Welton, vice president of marketing for LDDS.
In fact, "LDDS will have more than 50% of the circuits available
to Cuba, and is thereby uniquely positioned to offer more access and
fewer busy signals via direct-dial calls than any other long distance
carrier."
LDDS also announced that its per-minute rates will be extremely
competitive, at a flat $1.42 per minute for peak-period and $1.13 per
minute for off-peak calls to Cuba.
In addition to very affordable rates, LDDS will provide a complete
line of services including international direct dialing to more than
220 countries and will offer competitive rates to Latin America;
bilingual operator assistance and customer service; the innovative
OnLine(sm) calling card, Home Advantage(sm) and Homebound 800(sm)
residential services; an attractive collection of prepaid calling
cards; and other long distance services to facilitate calling to Cuba.
Those without the LDDS long distance services can still call Cuba
and Latin America with all LDDS calling cards and LDDS debit cards
available at select area retailers.
"Current LDDS customers will be the first to be able to use
direct-dial calling services to Cuba on November 25, when the service
begins," said Welton. "We encourage those who wish to be among the
first to call Cuba to contact us immediately at 1-800-HABLAME, our
Spanish-language center, to sign up for service with LDDS."
--------------------------------
Fred Bauer fbauer@access.digex.net
Principal Engineer voice: +1.301.212.7067
IDB Worldcom fax: +1.301.212.7055
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually Fred, I think all the carriers
began their Cuba service at 5:00 PM EST last Friday. It is very nice
that LDDS is offering the service also, but their customers were
merely
*among the first*, not the first. I wonder who the first subscriber
(of
some carrier) was to actually make a call? Does anyone yet have any
reports on the amount of traffic during this first week of operation?
Is the service widely known yet? PAT]
------------------------------
From: psiinc@mcs.com
Subject: Network Planners Wanted, Motorola Midwest Area
Date: 30 Nov 1994 17:11:54 GMT
Organization: MCSNet Services
Our continuing global expansion allows us to offer unparalleled growth
opportunities to talented engineers. We currently require Network
Planners to assist clients with the development of land mobile
telephony and digital networks. Strict requirements include a minimum
of a BSEE, 5+ yrs of public telecommunications network experience
(US), 2+ yrs experience in an interexchange carrier environment,
Network design, transmission engineering and traffic engineering
experience is also required.
As a world leader, we offer a competitive compensation package. For
immediate consideration, please send your resume and cover letter to
e-mail address: psiinc@mcs.com. (Name subject header: NET1929.) In
your cover letter, you must include years of public telecommunications
network experience and salary history. Thank you for your interest.
EOE.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 94 15:25:50 CST
From: david_cordeiro@wiltel.com
Subject: New Telecom Events Calendar
The Telecom Library and WilTel are proud to announce:
**** The Telecommunications Event Calendar ****
http://www.wiltel.com/library/events.html
We have placed a new section in the Telecom Library to keep track of
the many conferences, trade shows and other events that are of
interest to the Telecommunications Industry.
If you are involved with such an event, please send your information
to
Webmaster@WilTel.com. We will keep this list of events current and
available to everyone on the Internet.
The Telecom Library (http://www.wiltel.com/library/library.html) is
the
home of:
Telecom Glossary -- 800+ Telecom Terms and growing
RITIM -- Collection of Working Papers
and RITIM-L archive
Insight Research -- Report summaries and Telecom Marketing Research
Telecomreg -- Archive of the Telecomreg mailing list
Telecom Digest -- Hypertext articles from the Digest Archives
Long Distance Digest -- Newsletter for Telecom Resellers
For more information contact:
David Cordeiro
WilTel Network Services
Data, Voice and Video
918-588-5214
http://www.wiltel.com
------------------------------
From: af818@freenet.carleton.ca (David Stevenson)
Subject: Faxes, Data, Voice All in One Package. How?
Reply-To: af818@freenet.carleton.ca (David Stevenson)
Organization: The National Capital FreeNet
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 04:47:32 GMT
Hello friends,
I am posting a message for a pal who does not have net connections
like me (snicker, snork).
What I think he wants is a way of receiving faxes, data, voice on one
phone line.
Here is the description that he sent me:
Here is what I am looking for:
A software product or a modem and software combination which would
enable me to receive a data file unattended, or receive a fax file or
a voice mail message and record them to a hard disk.
I have an external Hayes Optima 14.4 (data+fax) but the software I
have can't receive voice and can only receive data if the data program
is loaded and can only receive faxes if the fax program is loaded.
Obviously, it would be good to have some sort of security so that no
files could be downloaded or deleted or viewed, etc.; a limit ot file
sizes or mail boxes etc, like voice mail. I am not very interested in
running a bulletin board, just being able to receive a data file from
one caller and then a fax from the next caller and perhaps a voice
message from the next caller, without having to manually switch
programs.
Prometheus seems to have a system called "Ultima Home Office"
available for both Mac and PC, but I can't find out if you can receive
a data file unattended like you can a voice or fax message. Compaq has
the voice and fax concurrent capability in their new systems but they
won't receive data without a separate program which can't share the
modem with voice/fax.
I realize you can run a phone line on two calls concurrently. I just
want software to switch capabilities on successive calls.
I travel far and wide within the nebula and often can't remember where
I have been. Would you please cc any replies back to me.
Thank you,
Dave Stevenson | WordWise
Ottawa, Ont. | Desktop Publishing/Editing
ph 233-7385 | ph 237-9802 fax 237-0650
------------------------------
From: writchie@gate.net (Wallace A. Ritchie)
Subject: Open Letter to Telecom Industry re: Standards
Date: 30 Nov 1994 05:15:36 GMT
This open letter is addressed to the attention of ANSI, ISO, Bellcore,
the LEC's, ESA, T1, TIA, EIA, IEEE, UL and any other organization in
the
world that promulgates standards related to the Telecom Industry.
This letter is occasioned by my recent discovery that the ITU has
resumed internet availability of its standards (gopher://info.itu.ch).
Having made the bold move a year or two ago, the ITU unexpectedly
withdrew access. Whatever individuals or forces have caused this
restoral
are to be applauded.
It is true that I won't spend my usual few thousand dollars with them
this
úÿ
year for standards information that I absolutely must have. (Maybe I
will
splurge with the savings and buy a Bellcore document or two that I
can't
immediately and directly justify economically). While the ITU will
loose
my check and many other like it, the loss will be more than offset by
the
tremendous furthering of its objectives. Tens of thousands of
engineers
and engineering students, those that don't work for AT&T, NT, IBM, or
other companies that can afford a $million (literally) standards
library,
will draw on this public resource. The level of misinformation about
Public Telephone Networks, due in large part to information
starvation,
will decline. Increased knowledge will eventually lead to more
products
in the market, lower prices, and a larger industry. Thank you ITU.
Now to all the other organizations, please see the light. Value based
pricing of standards (called extortion by some) is wholly
inappropriate.
Just throw the stuff out on ftp. Forget the argument that the fair
price
($1 per page or more) covers the high cost of producing the standards.
The world has changed. This argument is now X$&**!!. The internet
allows a
much more efficient standards process without the high travel budgets.
The travel savings should cover the cost of producing the file (which
is
electronic in any case). As to access, don't worry about the cost. If
you
can't justify the access, the internet community will surely mirror
the
documents around the world. Standards documents should not be a profit
center.
To Ameritech, who alone (to my knowledge) among the Bells provides
free
standards, please take the next step and put them online. You are to
be
applauded for your policy. You can save money now with the internet.
To all engineers associated with the standards bodies or companies,
please lobby your management to make these documents freely available
on the
net.
To everyone else, please refrain from flaming any of the
organizations.
Let's see if the grass roots that read this open letter WITHIN the
organizations can have the desired impact.
Thanks,
W. A. Ritchie Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 15:38:51 -0500
From: C.L.Ludwick:tmpa:gtfl
Subject: Bell Atlantic Suspensions
Pat,
Your assumption appears to be that no matter what happened Bell
Atlantic is the bad player. As for freedom of speech -- does it
include the right to publicly insult and denigrate your employer on
company time?
Larry
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No it does not include that 'right'.
See the next article in this issue for further elaboration on this
by Dennis Rears. PAT]
------------------------------
From: Dennis G. Rears <drears@pica.army.mil>
Subject: Free Speech or Not (was Re: What Information)
Reply-To: drears@pica.army.mil
Organization: U.S Army ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 19:28:15 GMT
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For starters, how about some
forthright
> information on the thousand plus employees who were punitively
suspended
> last week from their duties as a result of their exercise of their
> freedom of speech? Why don't you start by posting some factual
details
> about that incident on the Internet. This group would be a good
place
> to put Bell Atlantic's version of what happened. For those who
missed
> the preliminary report Sunday evening here, on Wednesday, the day
before
> Thanksgiving, over a thousand Bell Atlantic employees were suspended
> for speaking out about the telco's alleged plans to leave them at
the
> side of the road as the information superhighway is being built.
Some
> comment from the company on why a mass suspension like this was
needed,
> on the day before Thanksgiving, would be of interest. PAT]
I must disagree with Pat on this topic. In this particular instance
workers wore t-shirt describing themselves as road kill on the
information super highway at work. They were told repeatly that the
t-shirt was defaming the company and not to wear it at work. They
were told the final time to either change the shirt or wear it inside
out. They refused and were sent home suspended without pay for two
days. My source is the Phildelphia Inquirer. The issue was the
wearing of the T-shirts for not for speech.
There is no freedom of speech in the workplace on work time.
Freedom of speech is between the government(s) and the individual not
employer and employee.
The basic problem is that because of technology Bell Atlantic does
not need all the employees they have and wants to lay at least a
thousand. The issue basically comes down to does Bell Atlantic owe it
current workers a job even though there is no need for them.
dennis
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For those who are not familiar with
him,
Dennis was the founder of the Telecom Privacy journal, a very popular
e-journal which was started as an offshoot of TELECOM Digest several
years ago. Thanks very much Dennis for providing the additional
background
on this, and yes, I quite agree with you on the constitutional
provisions
relating to speech: the constitution discusses what the *government*
can
and cannot do to individuals, not what individuals may choose to do
with
each other or with reference to their employment, etc. Still it seems
to
me like things must be sort of out of control at B-A where employee
dis-
content is concerned if the company felt it necessary to strike back
in
such a draconian way against so many employees all on the same day.
As Larry points out in the article just before yours, employees do not
have
the right to insult their employer on company time, nor in my
estimation is
it a prudent thing to do on their private time either ... but still,
there
must be a lot of unhappieness among the workers there; a lot of
grievances
the company would do well to resolve before they get worse. For every
worker
who spoke openly and defiantly last Wednesday and got suspended, my
hunch
is there are two or three others who are in the closet but feeling
much the
same way. I can see both sides of this issue. Downsizing is always
very
painful and if it must be done, then do it with compassion and as much
assistance as possible.
In 1975, when Amoco announced that the credit card billing office was
going to relocate in Des Moines, Iowa, there were about 2000 workers
in
the Chicago office who were not going to be relocating. Amoco
announced
their plans two full years ahead of time and made what I think was a
most
honorable gesture to the workers left behind without a job: if they
agreed
to stay on the job until the day and the hour on which they were told
their
(individual) services were no longer required, that upon their
departure
the company would automatically -- in addition to severance pay, all
accrued benefits, etc -- hand them each an additional check for one
thousand dollars. But, said Amoco, if you screw up, if you bad mouth
us
and sabatoge us, steal from us or whatever and get caught, then out
you
go -- on your ass! -- with just what the law says we have to give you
and
no more. No need to have a union get involved; the union knows the law
and
so do we ... A few workers tested them on that, and even up to the
week
before the mass layoffs involved in closing the credit card billing
office
the persons involved were discharged from the company in disgrace. On
the
final two days of the Chicago operation, as employees went through the
Personnel Office enmasse collecting their final paychecks and signing
off
on insurance papers, etc they were met individually by a vice-
president
of Amoco who shook their hand and said "Mary Sue (or Pete, or Tom) I
want
to personally thank you so much for the way you have helped the
company and
supported us during the transition ..." and as promised each was
handed
a check for one thousand dollars over and above what they otherwise
had
coming to them.
Now were they so noble of their own volition, or because they were
scared
there might be a repeat of the scene in 1968 when Diners Club moved
their
processing offices to Denver? In 1968, Diner's (then in Manhattan)
secretly
set up a new processing office in Denver and hired several hundred new
workers without telling anyone. Then on the day before Thanksgiving in
1968 as they were handing out turkeys to the workers in Manhattan,
they
announced ever so casually, "Have a happy Thanksgiving (it was a two
day
holiday covering Thursday and Friday) and by the way, don't bother to
come
back to work on Monday because we won't be here ..." Shocked
employees
(at the time, Diner's had about 3000 employees; they were only
partially
converted to computer from manual record keeping) went on a rampage.
They
rioted, literally smashing the offices to pieces. They broke into the
computer room and destroyed some billing tapes which had not yet been
backed up. The billing tapes were tossed out the window on the fifth
floor shredded like confetti down to Columbus Circle and the ground
below.
As a result of the employee vandalism, Diners had to write off close
to two
million dollars in credit card receivables they were unable to
reconstruct
from other sources.
Now in 1975 when Amoco relocated to Des Moines, they like Diners were
accused of moving primarily to get rid of all the 'lazy black workers'
who had been hired in recent years. Denver, like Des Moines had lots
of
white people, the sons and daughters and wives of farmers; people
still
imbued with the Protestant Work Ethic; people who would work for a lot
less per hour than the 'lazy black workers' in the inner city
demanded,
and would do a better job at that. Skeptics said Amoco did not want to
have 'another Diners Club mess' on their hands so they allowed the
workers
to 'blackmail' them in the final year of the Chicago operation. I
think
not. I think they knew if you treat people honestly and with decency,
you'll get the same thing in return.
So as downsizing continues in the telecommunications industry over the
next several years -- and it must, it is bound to happen, especially
in
the bloated and swollen local telco operations -- it is absolutely
essential that the telcos adopt a 'more than fair' attitude. One wag
said to me, "the telcos are going to have to bend over backwards on
this;
not ask the workers to bend over foreward ..." <grin>. PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 94 13:54:36 EST
From: Carl Moore <cmoore@ARL.MIL>
Subject: Philadelphia 911 Tragedy
The beating victim (who died) was 16, not 14, and his name was Eddie
Polec. The mayor of Philadelphia has recommended disciplinary action
against seven operators in the 911 system; the union is fighting it.
The crime site, if I heard correctly, is near the boundary of two
police districts, and there were several police available (according
to KYW news-radio), but they were not notified and/or dispatched until
it was too late.
Five teens have been charged in connection with the incident.
------------------------------
From: healy@seviche.med.yale.edu (Matthew D. Healy)
Subject: Re: 911, CNID, was Re: Problem With 911 Service in
Philadelphia
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 18:14:29 -0500
Organization: Yale U.--Genetics & Medical Informatics
In article <telecom14.429.10@eecs.nwu.edu>, dannyb@panix.com (danny
burstein) wrote:
> Pat and all others: Amzaingly enough, most cities do -NOT- have CNID
> or other identifiers hooked up to their 911 system. Problem is
simply
> cost and the required rewiring of a -lot- of old equipment.
Well, 911 service at my apartment in Hamden, CT, certainly _does_
have caller-ID, and very efficient operators as well.
Several serious car crashes have happened at the corner near my
apartment building. In every case the sequence has been roughly as
follows:
*CRASH* sound from outside. My wife and I look out
the window to see what appears to be a nasty accident.
We call 911. Operator says, "Oh,yes, I see you are
calling from Whitney and Putnam. We've already gotten
several calls about that accident; they're on the way."
About 90 seconds after the initial crash we hear the
first sirens. Within about five minutes there are two
patrol cars, a fire engine, a paramedic van, and a
couple of ambulances at the scene.
I hear they can be a little slower in New Haven, because they are much
busier down there.
I see in today's newspaper that some people have been fired over the
Philadelphia incident, in which a person was beaten to death while
many people called 911 over an extended period of time.
Matthew D. Healy matthew.healy@yale.edu
Postdoc,Yale School of Medicine, Genetics & Medical Informatics,
SHM I-148, 333 Cedar St, New Haven, CT 06510
------------------------------
From: NYAD92A@prodigy.com (STAN SCHWARTZ)
Subject: Prodigy Now Has Newsgroups
Date: 30 Nov 1994 05:12:53 GMT
Organization: Prodigy Services Company 1-800-PRODIGY
Not that I'm a shill for Prodigy, but they've added Usenet newsgroups
to their "Plus" service level. I recommend it if it's the only
dial-up IP that one has access to, but in many places there are
cheaper alternatives.
Prodigy users on the Internet are the old-men-in-hats on the
Information
Highway.
STAN SCHWARTZ NYAD92A@prodigy.com
email accepted at --> stans@panix.com
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Stan, that's a terrible thing to say!
There is a place on the information highway for everyone, including
old men in hats. Look at me: I sit here everyday doing my thing,
although
where its getting me, I don't know. PAT]
------------------------------
From: marcbg@metronet.com (Marc B. Grant)
Subject: Help With Oki 892 ESN
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 22:19:25 GMT
Organization: Texas Metronet, Internet for the Individual
I have an OKI 892 that I need to change the ESN on. Anyone know where
I can get this info? OKI service refused to give it out, and the
local service center is numb. This is for legal use, but I can't find
someone who pass this info to me. Anyone have any ideas??
Marc B. Grant | Fax: 214-231-3998
marcbg@metronet.com | Pager: 214-246-1150
Amateur Radio N5MEI |
------------------------------
From: ecla@world.std.com (alain arnaud)
Subject: Automatic Callback
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 18:00:16 GMT
I need to set up an automatic callback system. In more details,
someone calls the system, let it ring once or twice and hangs up. The
system calls him back and provides a dial tone.
Who would make boards that would provide that function, preferably for
ISA bus.
Thanks,
Alain
------------------------------
From: bfbrown@teal.csn.org (Brian Brown)
Subject: MCI Conference Call
Date: 30 Nov 1994 18:07:16 GMT
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
I was just wondering what (if anything) people who called the MCI
1-800 number and entered the 7777 passcode thought of that conference
playback service. Was it easy to use, did it sound okay, were
instructions
clear, etc...??? If you had no problems with it and did not need to
give the DTMF interface any thought, I'd like to hear that, too.
Thanks,
BB
------------------------------
From: egan@cbs.cis.com (Egan F. Ford)
Subject: DTMF to Serial Port Help Wanted
Date: 30 Nov 1994 18:51:43 GMT
Organization: Call Business Systems
Reply-To: egan@cbs.cis.com
I need a box that will allow me to dial in to it with a touch tone
phone and after the box answers I press some tones and the box
converts them to numbers and pumps them out the serial port to a
program I have waiting to receive them.
I know there is such a box, but where can I find it.
E-mail please.
Thanks,
Egan F. Ford egan@cbs.cis.com egan@xmission.com
------------------------------
From: diessel@informatik.unibw-muenchen.de (Thomas Diessel)
Subject: Re: Tehran Changes Emergency Number
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1994 08:58:57 +0100
Organization: University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich
In article <telecom14.429.11@eecs.nwu.edu>, telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
(TELECOM
Digest Editor) wrote:
> According to the manager of emergency telecom services in Tehran,
> three or four out of every five calls received were nuissance calls
> made by children. The nuisance calls have considerably reduced in
> quantity since the emergency phone number was changed to 115
beginning
> this past month.
Do you know why they selected 115? Why didn't they stick to the
European
standard emergency number 112?
Thomas Diessel
University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich
Computer Science Department - D-85577 Neubiberg, Germany
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have no idea how/why they do things
the way they do them there. PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 14:09:09 -0500
From: rvirzi@gte.com (Robert A. Virzi)
Subject: Last Laugh! Ameritech the Beautiful
I really enjoyed this. Hope you do to.
BV
úÿ
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, okay, here we go, with apologies
to Katherine Lee Bates. PAT]
Posted to rec.humor or some related group:
In article <3at2qh$h5a@gagme.wwa.com>, boba@wwa.com (Bob Allison)
wrote:
Ameritech the Beautiful
by Laura Robbins
November 11, 1993
(Sung to the tune of America the Beautiful)
Ah! beautiful for telephones
At work, in home and car,
They beep and blink, they
buzz and ring,
No matter where you are.
Chorus:
Ameritech, Ameritech,
From sea to shining sea,
With microchips and optic strands,
Invades our privacy.
Oh! marvelous technology,
Results in awesome things,
Recordings answer every call,
No need for human beings.
Chorus:
Ameritech, Ameritech,
Press 1 through 10 and then,
There's no one there (to help or care)
So press them all again.
Oh! satellites magnificent,
Above the fruited plain,
You feed us TV's old reruns,
A monumental gain!
Chorus:
Ameritech, Ameritech,
God mend thine every flaw,
Until VoiceMail and cordless phones,
Are all against the law.
-------------------------
rvirzi@gte.com Think Globally. ===
+1(617)466-2881 === Act Locally!
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And that's not all! One final dig
at Ameritech to close this issue follows immediatly. PAT]
------------------------------
From: Alan E. Asper <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
Date: 30 Nov 94 13:42:22 CST
Subject: Re: Ameritech the Beautiful
Keeping in the whole pop-culture vein, I prefer envisioning sneering,
grey-suited and bandolier-clad Ameritech executives/banditos:
"Type-ahead? Our residential voice mail don' need no steenkeen
type-ahead!"
A (new and bewildered) customer,
Alan Asper Andersen Consulting
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If I expect to get this issue of the
Digest distributed in the normal way on Ameritech news groups, I think
I better quit while I am ahead. Gee Dennis, talk about making
insulting
and denigrating remarks toward telcos ... Its a good thing I don't
work for them; I'd be on the unemployment line starting tomorrow!
PAT]
------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V14 #432
******************************
432
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A.
Townson
Tracking Incoming Numbers (Jeff Murphy)
Regulation About Microwave Usage in the US? (Juergen Ziegler)
Havana's Direct Dial Code (Greg Monti)
LDDS Announces Service to Cuba (Fred Bauer)
Network Planners Wanted - Motorola Midwest Area (psiinc@mcs.com)
New Telecom Events Calendar (David Cordeiro)
Faxes, Data, Voice All in One Package. How? (David Stevenson)
Open Letter to Telecom Industry re: Standards (Wallace A. Ritchie)
Bell Atlantic Suspensions (Larry Ludwick)
Free Speech or Not (was Re: What Information) (Dennis G. Rears)
Philadelphia 911 Tragedy (Carl Moore)
Re: 911, CNID, was Re: Problem With 911 Service in Philadelphia
(M. Healy)
Prodigy Now Has Newsgroups (Stan Schwartz)
Help With Oki 892 ESN (Marc B. Grant)
Automatic Callback (Alain Arnaud)
MCI Conference Call (Brian Brown)
DTMF to Serial Port Help Wanted (Egan F. Ford)
Re: Tehran Changes Emergency Number (Thomas Diessel)
Last Laugh! Ameritech the Beautiful (Robert A. Virzi)
Still More Last Laugh! No Need For Type-Ahead (Alan E. Asper)
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere
there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of
public service systems and networks including Compuserve and America
On Line. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the
moderated
newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'.
Subscriptions are available at no charge to qualified organizations
and individual readers. Write and tell us how you qualify:
* telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu *
The Digest is edited, published and compilation-copyrighted by Patrick
Townson of Skokie, Illinois USA. You can reach us by postal mail, fax
or phone at:
9457-D Niles Center Road
Skokie, IL USA 60076
Phone: 708-329-0571
Fax: 708-329-0572
** Article submission address only: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu **
Our archives are located at lcs.mit.edu and are available by using
anonymous ftp. The archives can also be accessed using our email
information service. For a copy of a helpful file explaining how to
use the information service, just ask.
**********************************************************************
***
* TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from the
*
* International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland
*
* under the aegis of its Telecom Information Exchange Services (TIES)
*
* project. Views expressed herein should not be construed as
represent-*
* ing views of the ITU.
*
**********************************************************************
***
Additionally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such
as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your
help
is important and appreciated.
All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author.
Any
organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages
should not be considered any official expression by the organization.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jcmurphy@acsu.buffalo.edu (Jeff Murphy)
Subject: Tracking Incoming Numbers
Organization: UB
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 02:37:30 GMT
We'd like to take a "poll" of what numbers are calling into our modems
so that we can determine what percentage of calls are coming from on-
campus. All we need is the exchange part of each number.
Currently, the only way we see is to hook up a thirty button set to a
spread of 30 lines (out of 180) and use that as a representative set.
This info is going to help us decide whether or not it would be
worthwhile
to offer direct connectivity at the dorm room level to our campus
network
versus having dorming students dial into the string.
Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing, or can anyone
offer
a better solution? Apparently NYNEX has told us that they don't track
that
sort of activity, so can't provide us with the statistics.
Thanks in advance,
jeff
jcmurphy@acsu.buffalo.edu sunyab cit oss lead programmer analyst
standard disclaimers apply http://lurch.cit.buffalo.edu/~jcmurphy/
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Why don't you get Caller-ID on those
lines if it is available in your community, and have the data from
all
the lines feed into a PC where the incoming line, time of call and
source can be recorded. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have this data
around anyway, given all the phreaks who like to call in and cause
hassles. For your purposes, it would provide very precise data on who
is doing what where your modems are concerned, and if at some time in
the future it is helpful to have available a record showing a call
from
telephone 'x' was received at a certain time and connected to modem
'z'
and onward into your network, so much the better. Of course an opening
message when your terminal servers answer announcing this would be a
courteous gesture to users. Something like: 'For the protection of our
users, and to assist in planning our network facilities in the future,
all incoming calls are logged with the records available for
examination
by authorized persons. These records are confidential. If you block
your
telephone identification when calling in, we must decline to service
you or connect you with the modem bank.'
Have the computer check for 'private' on incoming calls and when seen
send a signal back to the terminal server to disconnect the call.
Doing
this, you get twice as much for your money: not only the traffic
analysis
you are seeking but a handle on possible security problems as well.
And
time and again we have found that when your users know that *you know*
who
they are, the ones inclined to create problems simply stay away. When
you are in a position to call someone on the phone and say, "yesterday
at 7:00 PM we noticed this phone dialed into our modem bank and
connected
via telnet to site 'x'. Site 'x' has complained about it to us and we
were wondering what was going on ..." <grin> ... Well, when you are
in
a position to do that and your users know you can do it, the phreaks
tend to stay away. Phreaks don't like spotlights or diligent record-
keeping; they prefer darkness, confusion and anomynity. And don't
let
the privacy freaks lay a guilt trip on you with their whines about how
their freedom is being chilled or denied by someone having knowledge
of
when they call or how long they were connected, etc. You are not
interested
in any of that anyway. All you want is some idea how to configure
things
and some clues to use in detecting very outrageous abuse, etc. PAT]
------------------------------
Subject: Regulation about Microwave Usage in the US?
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 22:09:15 +0100
From: juergen@jojo.sub.de (Juergen Ziegler)
Reply-To: juergen@jojo.sub.de
While travelling in the US, I recognized a large number of microwave
links. Mostly to be operated by several telecommunications carriers
like local or long-distance companies.
But it seems to me, that "private" operators had their own links. Such
as
one factory plant to be linke to another.
What is the regulation about such microwave links in the US?
Who is entitled to apply for the neccessary frequencies?
Juergen Ziegler * Obervogt-Haefelinstr. 48 * 77815 Buehl (Baden) *
Germany
Juergen@Jojo.Sub.De ********************************* Fax: +49-7223-
900646
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 11:53:26 EST
From: Greg Monti <GMONTI@npr.org>
Subject: Havana's Direct Dial Code
Now that direct dial service to Cuba is being offered by several long
distance carriers, an article in {Communications Daily} notes that the
country code for Cuba is 53 and the area code for Havana is 7.
Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division
National Public Radio Phone: +1 202 414-3343
635 Massachusetts Av NW Fax: +1 202 414-3036
Washington, DC 20001-3753 Internet: gmonti@npr.org
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 94 13:54 EST
From: Fred Bauer <FBAUER+aROCKVILLE%Rockville@mcimail.com>
Subject: LDDS Announces Service to Cuba
Since there has been mention of ATT/MCI direct dial access to
Cuba, I thought readers of the digest would be interested in the
LDDS press release. (Note that in the greater than 50% claim,
LDDS is including the capacity of IDB and WILTEL, since all the
trunks are connected to the same (IDB) switch).
---------------
23-NOV-1994 16:11 LDDS Communications, the first long distance
company to offer direct-dial calls to Cuba starting Nov. 25 at
5:00 p.m.
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 23, 1994--LDDS Communications, one of
the four largest long distance companies in the United States,
announced
Wednesday that it will offer direct dialing to Cuba beginning Friday,
Nov. 25 at 5:00 p.m.
Direct calls to Cuba have been approved by the U.S. and the Cuban
governments. "We are very proud to announce that LDDS will offer
direct-dial calls to Cuba before any other long distance carrier,"
said Mark Welton, vice president of marketing for LDDS.
In fact, "LDDS will have more than 50% of the circuits available
to Cuba, and is thereby uniquely positioned to offer more access and
fewer busy signals via direct-dial calls than any other long distance
carrier."
LDDS also announced that its per-minute rates will be extremely
competitive, at a flat $1.42 per minute for peak-period and $1.13 per
minute for off-peak calls to Cuba.
In addition to very affordable rates, LDDS will provide a complete
line of services including international direct dialing to more than
220 countries and will offer competitive rates to Latin America;
bilingual operator assistance and customer service; the innovative
OnLine(sm) calling card, Home Advantage(sm) and Homebound 800(sm)
residential services; an attractive collection of prepaid calling
cards; and other long distance services to facilitate calling to Cuba.
Those without the LDDS long distance services can still call Cuba
and Latin America with all LDDS calling cards and LDDS debit cards
available at select area retailers.
"Current LDDS customers will be the first to be able to use
direct-dial calling services to Cuba on November 25, when the service
begins," said Welton. "We encourage those who wish to be among the
first to call Cuba to contact us immediately at 1-800-HABLAME, our
Spanish-language center, to sign up for service with LDDS."
--------------------------------
Fred Bauer fbauer@access.digex.net
Principal Engineer voice: +1.301.212.7067
IDB Worldcom fax: +1.301.212.7055
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually Fred, I think all the carriers
began their Cuba service at 5:00 PM EST last Friday. It is very nice
that LDDS is offering the service also, but their customers were
merely
*among the first*, not the first. I wonder who the first subscriber
(of
some carrier) was to actually make a call? Does anyone yet have any
reports on the amount of traffic during this first week of operation?
Is the service widely known yet? PAT]
------------------------------
From: psiinc@mcs.com
Subject: Network Planners Wanted, Motorola Midwest Area
Date: 30 Nov 1994 17:11:54 GMT
Organization: MCSNet Services
Our continuing global expansion allows us to offer unparalleled growth
opportunities to talented engineers. We currently require Network
Planners to assist clients with the development of land mobile
telephony and digital networks. Strict requirements include a minimum
of a BSEE, 5+ yrs of public telecommunications network experience
(US), 2+ yrs experience in an interexchange carrier environment,
Network design, transmission engineering and traffic engineering
experience is also required.
As a world leader, we offer a competitive compensation package. For
immediate consideration, please send your resume and cover letter to
e-mail address: psiinc@mcs.com. (Name subject header: NET1929.) In
your cover letter, you must include years of public telecommunications
network experience and salary history. Thank you for your interest.
EOE.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 94 15:25:50 CST
From: david_cordeiro@wiltel.com
Subject: New Telecom Events Calendar
The Telecom Library and WilTel are proud to announce:
**** The Telecommunications Event Calendar ****
http://www.wiltel.com/library/events.html
We have placed a new section in the Telecom Library to keep track of
the many conferences, trade shows and other events that are of
interest to the Telecommunications Industry.
If you are involved with such an event, please send your information
to
Webmaster@WilTel.com. We will keep this list of events current and
available to everyone on the Internet.
The Telecom Library (http://www.wiltel.com/library/library.html) is
the
home of:
Telecom Glossary -- 800+ Telecom Terms and growing
RITIM -- Collection of Working Papers
and RITIM-L archive
Insight Research -- Report summaries and Telecom Marketing Research
Telecomreg -- Archive of the Telecomreg mailing list
Telecom Digest -- Hypertext articles from the Digest Archives
Long Distance Digest -- Newsletter for Telecom Resellers
For more information contact:
David Cordeiro
WilTel Network Services
Data, Voice and Video
918-588-5214
http://www.wiltel.com
------------------------------
From: af818@freenet.carleton.ca (David Stevenson)
Subject: Faxes, Data, Voice All in One Package. How?
Reply-To: af818@freenet.carleton.ca (David Stevenson)
Organization: The National Capital FreeNet
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 04:47:32 GMT
Hello friends,
I am posting a message for a pal who does not have net connections
like me (snicker, snork).
What I think he wants is a way of receiving faxes, data, voice on one
phone line.
Here is the description that he sent me:
Here is what I am looking for:
A software product or a modem and software combination which would
enable me to receive a data file unattended, or receive a fax file or
a voice mail message and record them to a hard disk.
I have an external Hayes Optima 14.4 (data+fax) but the software I
have can't receive voice and can only receive data if the data program
is loaded and can only receive faxes if the fax program is loaded.
Obviously, it would be good to have some sort of security so that no
files could be downloaded or deleted or viewed, etc.; a limit ot file
sizes or mail boxes etc, like voice mail. I am not very interested in
running a bulletin board, just being able to receive a data file from
one caller and then a fax from the next caller and perhaps a voice
message from the next caller, without having to manually switch
programs.
Prometheus seems to have a system called "Ultima Home Office"
available for both Mac and PC, but I can't find out if you can receive
a data file unattended like you can a voice or fax message. Compaq has
the voice and fax concurrent capability in their new systems but they
won't receive data without a separate program which can't share the
modem with voice/fax.
I realize you can run a phone line on two calls concurrently. I just
want software to switch capabilities on successive calls.
I travel far and wide within the nebula and often can't remember where
I have been. Would you please cc any replies back to me.
Thank you,
Dave Stevenson | WordWise
Ottawa, Ont. | Desktop Publishing/Editing
ph 233-7385 | ph 237-9802 fax 237-0650
------------------------------
From: writchie@gate.net (Wallace A. Ritchie)
Subject: Open Letter to Telecom Industry re: Standards
Date: 30 Nov 1994 05:15:36 GMT
This open letter is addressed to the attention of ANSI, ISO, Bellcore,
the LEC's, ESA, T1, TIA, EIA, IEEE, UL and any other organization in
the
world that promulgates standards related to the Telecom Industry.
This letter is occasioned by my recent discovery that the ITU has
resumed internet availability of its standards (gopher://info.itu.ch).
Having made the bold move a year or two ago, the ITU unexpectedly
withdrew access. Whatever individuals or forces have caused this
restoral
are to be applauded.
It is true that I won't spend my usual few thousand dollars with them
this
úÿ
year for standards information that I absolutely must have. (Maybe I
will
splurge with the savings and buy a Bellcore document or two that I
can't
immediately and directly justify economically). While the ITU will
loose
my check and many other like it, the loss will be more than offset by
the
tremendous furthering of its objectives. Tens of thousands of
engineers
and engineering students, those that don't work for AT&T, NT, IBM, or
other companies that can afford a $million (literally) standards
library,
will draw on this public resource. The level of misinformation about
Public Telephone Networks, due in large part to information
starvation,
will decline. Increased knowledge will eventually lead to more
products
in the market, lower prices, and a larger industry. Thank you ITU.
Now to all the other organizations, please see the light. Value based
pricing of standards (called extortion by some) is wholly
inappropriate.
Just throw the stuff out on ftp. Forget the argument that the fair
price
($1 per page or more) covers the high cost of producing the standards.
The world has changed. This argument is now X$&**!!. The internet
allows a
much more efficient standards process without the high travel budgets.
The travel savings should cover the cost of producing the file (which
is
electronic in any case). As to access, don't worry about the cost. If
you
can't justify the access, the internet community will surely mirror
the
documents around the world. Standards documents should not be a profit
center.
To Ameritech, who alone (to my knowledge) among the Bells provides
free
standards, please take the next step and put them online. You are to
be
applauded for your policy. You can save money now with the internet.
To all engineers associated with the standards bodies or companies,
please lobby your management to make these documents freely available
on the
net.
To everyone else, please refrain from flaming any of the
organizations.
Let's see if the grass roots that read this open letter WITHIN the
organizations can have the desired impact.
Thanks,
W. A. Ritchie Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 15:38:51 -0500
From: C.L.Ludwick:tmpa:gtfl
Subject: Bell Atlantic Suspensions
Pat,
Your assumption appears to be that no matter what happened Bell
Atlantic is the bad player. As for freedom of speech -- does it
include the right to publicly insult and denigrate your employer on
company time?
Larry
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: No it does not include that 'right'.
See the next article in this issue for further elaboration on this
by Dennis Rears. PAT]
------------------------------
From: Dennis G. Rears <drears@pica.army.mil>
Subject: Free Speech or Not (was Re: What Information)
Reply-To: drears@pica.army.mil
Organization: U.S Army ARDEC, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 19:28:15 GMT
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For starters, how about some
forthright
> information on the thousand plus employees who were punitively
suspended
> last week from their duties as a result of their exercise of their
> freedom of speech? Why don't you start by posting some factual
details
> about that incident on the Internet. This group would be a good
place
> to put Bell Atlantic's version of what happened. For those who
missed
> the preliminary report Sunday evening here, on Wednesday, the day
before
> Thanksgiving, over a thousand Bell Atlantic employees were suspended
> for speaking out about the telco's alleged plans to leave them at
the
> side of the road as the information superhighway is being built.
Some
> comment from the company on why a mass suspension like this was
needed,
> on the day before Thanksgiving, would be of interest. PAT]
I must disagree with Pat on this topic. In this particular instance
workers wore t-shirt describing themselves as road kill on the
information super highway at work. They were told repeatly that the
t-shirt was defaming the company and not to wear it at work. They
were told the final time to either change the shirt or wear it inside
out. They refused and were sent home suspended without pay for two
days. My source is the Phildelphia Inquirer. The issue was the
wearing of the T-shirts for not for speech.
There is no freedom of speech in the workplace on work time.
Freedom of speech is between the government(s) and the individual not
employer and employee.
The basic problem is that because of technology Bell Atlantic does
not need all the employees they have and wants to lay at least a
thousand. The issue basically comes down to does Bell Atlantic owe it
current workers a job even though there is no need for them.
dennis
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: For those who are not familiar with
him,
Dennis was the founder of the Telecom Privacy journal, a very popular
e-journal which was started as an offshoot of TELECOM Digest several
years ago. Thanks very much Dennis for providing the additional
background
on this, and yes, I quite agree with you on the constitutional
provisions
relating to speech: the constitution discusses what the *government*
can
and cannot do to individuals, not what individuals may choose to do
with
each other or with reference to their employment, etc. Still it seems
to
me like things must be sort of out of control at B-A where employee
dis-
content is concerned if the company felt it necessary to strike back
in
such a draconian way against so many employees all on the same day.
As Larry points out in the article just before yours, employees do not
have
the right to insult their employer on company time, nor in my
estimation is
it a prudent thing to do on their private time either ... but still,
there
must be a lot of unhappieness among the workers there; a lot of
grievances
the company would do well to resolve before they get worse. For every
worker
who spoke openly and defiantly last Wednesday and got suspended, my
hunch
is there are two or three others who are in the closet but feeling
much the
same way. I can see both sides of this issue. Downsizing is always
very
painful and if it must be done, then do it with compassion and as much
assistance as possible.
In 1975, when Amoco announced that the credit card billing office was
going to relocate in Des Moines, Iowa, there were about 2000 workers
in
the Chicago office who were not going to be relocating. Amoco
announced
their plans two full years ahead of time and made what I think was a
most
honorable gesture to the workers left behind without a job: if they
agreed
to stay on the job until the day and the hour on which they were told
their
(individual) services were no longer required, that upon their
departure
the company would automatically -- in addition to severance pay, all
accrued benefits, etc -- hand them each an additional check for one
thousand dollars. But, said Amoco, if you screw up, if you bad mouth
us
and sabatoge us, steal from us or whatever and get caught, then out
you
go -- on your ass! -- with just what the law says we have to give you
and
no more. No need to have a union get involved; the union knows the law
and
so do we ... A few workers tested them on that, and even up to the
week
before the mass layoffs involved in closing the credit card billing
office
the persons involved were discharged from the company in disgrace. On
the
final two days of the Chicago operation, as employees went through the
Personnel Office enmasse collecting their final paychecks and signing
off
on insurance papers, etc they were met individually by a vice-
president
of Amoco who shook their hand and said "Mary Sue (or Pete, or Tom) I
want
to personally thank you so much for the way you have helped the
company and
supported us during the transition ..." and as promised each was
handed
a check for one thousand dollars over and above what they otherwise
had
coming to them.
Now were they so noble of their own volition, or because they were
scared
there might be a repeat of the scene in 1968 when Diners Club moved
their
processing offices to Denver? In 1968, Diner's (then in Manhattan)
secretly
set up a new processing office in Denver and hired several hundred new
workers without telling anyone. Then on the day before Thanksgiving in
1968 as they were handing out turkeys to the workers in Manhattan,
they
announced ever so casually, "Have a happy Thanksgiving (it was a two
day
holiday covering Thursday and Friday) and by the way, don't bother to
come
back to work on Monday because we won't be here ..." Shocked
employees
(at the time, Diner's had about 3000 employees; they were only
partially
converted to computer from manual record keeping) went on a rampage.
They
rioted, literally smashing the offices to pieces. They broke into the
computer room and destroyed some billing tapes which had not yet been
backed up. The billing tapes were tossed out the window on the fifth
floor shredded like confetti down to Columbus Circle and the ground
below.
As a result of the employee vandalism, Diners had to write off close
to two
million dollars in credit card receivables they were unable to
reconstruct
from other sources.
Now in 1975 when Amoco relocated to Des Moines, they like Diners were
accused of moving primarily to get rid of all the 'lazy black workers'
who had been hired in recent years. Denver, like Des Moines had lots
of
white people, the sons and daughters and wives of farmers; people
still
imbued with the Protestant Work Ethic; people who would work for a lot
less per hour than the 'lazy black workers' in the inner city
demanded,
and would do a better job at that. Skeptics said Amoco did not want to
have 'another Diners Club mess' on their hands so they allowed the
workers
to 'blackmail' them in the final year of the Chicago operation. I
think
not. I think they knew if you treat people honestly and with decency,
you'll get the same thing in return.
So as downsizing continues in the telecommunications industry over the
next several years -- and it must, it is bound to happen, especially
in
the bloated and swollen local telco operations -- it is absolutely
essential that the telcos adopt a 'more than fair' attitude. One wag
said to me, "the telcos are going to have to bend over backwards on
this;
not ask the workers to bend over foreward ..." <grin>. PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 94 13:54:36 EST
From: Carl Moore <cmoore@ARL.MIL>
Subject: Philadelphia 911 Tragedy
The beating victim (who died) was 16, not 14, and his name was Eddie
Polec. The mayor of Philadelphia has recommended disciplinary action
against seven operators in the 911 system; the union is fighting it.
The crime site, if I heard correctly, is near the boundary of two
police districts, and there were several police available (according
to KYW news-radio), but they were not notified and/or dispatched until
it was too late.
Five teens have been charged in connection with the incident.
------------------------------
From: healy@seviche.med.yale.edu (Matthew D. Healy)
Subject: Re: 911, CNID, was Re: Problem With 911 Service in
Philadelphia
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 18:14:29 -0500
Organization: Yale U.--Genetics & Medical Informatics
In article <telecom14.429.10@eecs.nwu.edu>, dannyb@panix.com (danny
burstein) wrote:
> Pat and all others: Amzaingly enough, most cities do -NOT- have CNID
> or other identifiers hooked up to their 911 system. Problem is
simply
> cost and the required rewiring of a -lot- of old equipment.
Well, 911 service at my apartment in Hamden, CT, certainly _does_
have caller-ID, and very efficient operators as well.
Several serious car crashes have happened at the corner near my
apartment building. In every case the sequence has been roughly as
follows:
*CRASH* sound from outside. My wife and I look out
the window to see what appears to be a nasty accident.
We call 911. Operator says, "Oh,yes, I see you are
calling from Whitney and Putnam. We've already gotten
several calls about that accident; they're on the way."
About 90 seconds after the initial crash we hear the
first sirens. Within about five minutes there are two
patrol cars, a fire engine, a paramedic van, and a
couple of ambulances at the scene.
I hear they can be a little slower in New Haven, because they are much
busier down there.
I see in today's newspaper that some people have been fired over the
Philadelphia incident, in which a person was beaten to death while
many people called 911 over an extended period of time.
Matthew D. Healy matthew.healy@yale.edu
Postdoc,Yale School of Medicine, Genetics & Medical Informatics,
SHM I-148, 333 Cedar St, New Haven, CT 06510
------------------------------
From: NYAD92A@prodigy.com (STAN SCHWARTZ)
Subject: Prodigy Now Has Newsgroups
Date: 30 Nov 1994 05:12:53 GMT
Organization: Prodigy Services Company 1-800-PRODIGY
Not that I'm a shill for Prodigy, but they've added Usenet newsgroups
to their "Plus" service level. I recommend it if it's the only
dial-up IP that one has access to, but in many places there are
cheaper alternatives.
Prodigy users on the Internet are the old-men-in-hats on the
Information
Highway.
STAN SCHWARTZ NYAD92A@prodigy.com
email accepted at --> stans@panix.com
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Stan, that's a terrible thing to say!
There is a place on the information highway for everyone, including
old men in hats. Look at me: I sit here everyday doing my thing,
although
where its getting me, I don't know. PAT]
------------------------------
From: marcbg@metronet.com (Marc B. Grant)
Subject: Help With Oki 892 ESN
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 22:19:25 GMT
Organization: Texas Metronet, Internet for the Individual
I have an OKI 892 that I need to change the ESN on. Anyone know where
I can get this info? OKI service refused to give it out, and the
local service center is numb. This is for legal use, but I can't find
someone who pass this info to me. Anyone have any ideas??
Marc B. Grant | Fax: 214-231-3998
marcbg@metronet.com | Pager: 214-246-1150
Amateur Radio N5MEI |
------------------------------
From: ecla@world.std.com (alain arnaud)
Subject: Automatic Callback
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 18:00:16 GMT
I need to set up an automatic callback system. In more details,
someone calls the system, let it ring once or twice and hangs up. The
system calls him back and provides a dial tone.
Who would make boards that would provide that function, preferably for
ISA bus.
Thanks,
Alain
------------------------------
From: bfbrown@teal.csn.org (Brian Brown)
Subject: MCI Conference Call
Date: 30 Nov 1994 18:07:16 GMT
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
I was just wondering what (if anything) people who called the MCI
1-800 number and entered the 7777 passcode thought of that conference
playback service. Was it easy to use, did it sound okay, were
instructions
clear, etc...??? If you had no problems with it and did not need to
give the DTMF interface any thought, I'd like to hear that, too.
Thanks,
BB
------------------------------
From: egan@cbs.cis.com (Egan F. Ford)
Subject: DTMF to Serial Port Help Wanted
Date: 30 Nov 1994 18:51:43 GMT
Organization: Call Business Systems
Reply-To: egan@cbs.cis.com
I need a box that will allow me to dial in to it with a touch tone
phone and after the box answers I press some tones and the box
converts them to numbers and pumps them out the serial port to a
program I have waiting to receive them.
I know there is such a box, but where can I find it.
E-mail please.
Thanks,
Egan F. Ford egan@cbs.cis.com egan@xmission.com
------------------------------
From: diessel@informatik.unibw-muenchen.de (Thomas Diessel)
Subject: Re: Tehran Changes Emergency Number
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1994 08:58:57 +0100
Organization: University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich
In article <telecom14.429.11@eecs.nwu.edu>, telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
(TELECOM
Digest Editor) wrote:
> According to the manager of emergency telecom services in Tehran,
> three or four out of every five calls received were nuissance calls
> made by children. The nuisance calls have considerably reduced in
> quantity since the emergency phone number was changed to 115
beginning
> this past month.
Do you know why they selected 115? Why didn't they stick to the
European
standard emergency number 112?
Thomas Diessel
University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich
Computer Science Department - D-85577 Neubiberg, Germany
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have no idea how/why they do things
the way they do them there. PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 1994 14:09:09 -0500
From: rvirzi@gte.com (Robert A. Virzi)
Subject: Last Laugh! Ameritech the Beautiful
I really enjoyed this. Hope you do to.
BV
úÿ
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, okay, here we go, with apologies
to Katherine Lee Bates. PAT]
Posted to rec.humor or some related group:
In article <3at2qh$h5a@gagme.wwa.com>, boba@wwa.com (Bob Allison)
wrote:
Ameritech the Beautiful
by Laura Robbins
November 11, 1993
(Sung to the tune of America the Beautiful)
Ah! beautiful for telephones
At work, in home and car,
They beep and blink, they
buzz and ring,
No matter where you are.
Chorus:
Ameritech, Ameritech,
From sea to shining sea,
With microchips and optic strands,
Invades our privacy.
Oh! marvelous technology,
Results in awesome things,
Recordings answer every call,
No need for human beings.
Chorus:
Ameritech, Ameritech,
Press 1 through 10 and then,
There's no one there (to help or care)
So press them all again.
Oh! satellites magnificent,
Above the fruited plain,
You feed us TV's old reruns,
A monumental gain!
Chorus:
Ameritech, Ameritech,
God mend thine every flaw,
Until VoiceMail and cordless phones,
Are all against the law.
-------------------------
rvirzi@gte.com Think Globally. ===
+1(617)466-2881 === Act Locally!
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And that's not all! One final dig
at Ameritech to close this issue follows immediatly. PAT]
------------------------------
From: Alan E. Asper <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
Date: 30 Nov 94 13:42:22 CST
Subject: Re: Ameritech the Beautiful
Keeping in the whole pop-culture vein, I prefer envisioning sneering,
grey-suited and bandolier-clad Ameritech executives/banditos:
"Type-ahead? Our residential voice mail don' need no steenkeen
type-ahead!"
A (new and bewildered) customer,
Alan Asper Andersen Consulting
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If I expect to get this issue of the
Digest distributed in the normal way on Ameritech news groups, I think
I better quit while I am ahead. Gee Dennis, talk about making
insulting
and denigrating remarks toward telcos ... Its a good thing I don't
work for them; I'd be on the unemployment line starting tomorrow!
PAT]
------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V14 #432
******************************
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