TELECOM Digest Thu, 3 Feb 94 14:29:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue 60 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Digital Sound and Unisys Agreement; Other News (Randall Gellens) Recommendations on Small Cellular Phones Wanted (Steve Lawrence) Increase Stand-by Time of Mobile Phones (Yang Yu-shuang) Data Over Power Lines: a Newbie Question (David Anthony Ruppel) Looking For Inexpensive/Simple Analog PBX (Sam Lipson) Wanted: Fortran VCR+ Program / Eight Digit Decode (David Roberts) Re: Informing Ourselves to Death (David Hough) Re: Informing Ourselves to Death (Christopher M. Wolf) Re: Informing Ourselves to Death (Carl Moore) Re: Informing Ourselves to Death (Timothy Finin) Re: DID Questions (David Devereaux-Weber) Re: Phone Number History (Rich Greenberg) Re: Phone Number History (Al Varney) Re: Phone Number History (Carl Moore) 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 GEnie. 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 compilation-copyrighted by Patrick Townson Associates of Skokie, Illinois USA. We provide telecom consultation services and long distance resale services including calling cards and 800 numbers. To reach us: Post Office Box 1570, Chicago, IL 60690 or by phone at 708-329-0571 and fax at 708-329-0572. Email: ptownson@townson.com. ** 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 gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom. It has no connection with the unmoderated Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom.tech whose mailing list "Telecom-Tech Digest" shares archives resources at lcs.mit.edu for the convenience of users. Please *DO NOT* cross post articles between the groups. 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: RANDY@MPA15AB.mv-oc.Unisys.COM Date: 03 FEB 94 09:11:00 GMT Subject: Digital Sound and Unisys Agreement Agreement Extends Message Processing Solution to New Markets Worldwide Digital Sound and Unisys yesterday announced an agreement to offer midrange message-processing solutions to telephone companies worldwide. Under this agreement Unisys will market the Digital Sound VoiceServer 3110 message-processing system as part of its voice- messaging architecture. Partnering with Digital Sound will enable Unisys to economically provide enhanced services to the more remote serving areas of larger telephone companies, communicating voice, fax and text messages between the VoiceServer 3110 and Unisys own Network Application Platform (NAP) message-processing system over data communications facilities. The Digital Sound open systems platform already interoperates with NAP, and together the two platforms combine into a distributed architecture to offer a total solution to telecommunications service providers. Additionally, the VoiceServer 3110, Digital Sound's largest-capacity message-processing system will scale the NAP capabilities downward allowing smaller telecommunications companies to benefit from distributed voice processing and mixed-media services. "We believe the partnership with Unisys will allow us to reach new customers and new markets, especially overseas," said Robert Knight, president of Digital Sound. Eight of America's ten largest phone companies call on Unisys to execute millions of mission-critical transactions daily. Thirty-five of the world's largest telecommunications companies also rely on Unisys to deliver innovative new sources of revenue. Unisys NAP provides cost-effective solutions for the rapid introduction of voice messaging, fax mail, enhanced 911 capability, and other market-sensitive offerings. Digital Sound is a leading supplier of high-capacity network-based message processing systems. It makes and markets the VoiceServer family of products which integrate voice, fax, e-mail and other messaging technologies on a single, open systems platform that links to both telephony and computer networks. A CONSORTIUM OF CANADIAN COMPANIES is developing interactive cable television in Quebec (AP, 1/24/94). During the next three years, the companies plan to spend $200 million to begin offering movies on demand, shopping, banking and advertising services. Recently, Hearst Corp. has joined the consortium, investing $20 million. It will provide business listing and advertising services on the cable system, called UBI (Universal Bidirectional Interactivity). The system is an attempt to move some of the services traditionally available through personal computers to television, said Frank Bennack Jr., Hearst's president and chief executive. Other consortium members include Le Group Videotron, National Bank of Canada, Hydro-Quebec, Canada Post Corp., Videoway Communications and Loto-Quebec. HEWLETT-PACKARD AND PACIFIC TELESIS GROUP will develop an interactive video-on-demand service for the California market later this year (AP, 1/24/94). Pacific Telesis Video Services will use HP computers to store and transmit movies to regions where it is upgrading its wires, including Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego and the Silicon Valley. Randall Gellens randy@mv-oc.unisys.com| A Series System Software Unisys Corporation [Please forward bounce messages| Mission Viejo, CA to: rgellens@mcimail.com]| ------------------------------ From: lawrence@s1.elec.uq.oz.au (Steve Lawrence) Subject: Recommendations on Small Cellular Phones Wanted Date: 3 Feb 94 02:30:10 GMT Organization: Prentice Centre, University of Queensland I am looking for information on which is the best of the really compact cellular phones. I have heard that the Audiovox Mini-vox lite is prone to the case falling apart. Thanks for any information. Steve ------------------------------ From: yang@mundoe.maths.mu.OZ.AU (Yang Yu-shuang) Subject: Increase Stand-by Time of Mobile Phones Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia Date: Wed, 2 Feb 1994 05:06:08 GMT Hi Net Friends, I am a new mobile phone user. In general, it is an useful toy. However, it also has some potential problems. The biggest problem is with the battery life. It is a bit of pain to carry a heavy battery and to re-charge it everyday. Most of the battery power is consumed during the stand-by time. People can't afford to talk to long. The problem could be solved if the mobile phones are designed differently. For instance, it could have an internal switch which turned the receiver circuit on and off periodically for a short interval to monitor the incoming calls. Off because it should be on during the conversation. For instance, turn it on for 0.01 seconds every second would not miss an incoming call but could increase the stand-by time by a factor of 100. We all know that a pager consumes very little power and many cordless phones do this to save battery power. Any comments? YSY yang@maths.mu.oz.au ------------------------------ From: umruppel@cc.umanitoba.ca (David Anthony Ruppel) Subject: Data Over Power Lines: a Newbie Question Date: Tue, 1 Feb 1994 18:49:26 -0500 Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada I am interested in finding information related to devices such as the 'plug'n'power' units available at Radio Shack and similar units. Any information or reference would be greatly appreciated. Please reply via e-mail to: umruppel@cc.umanitoba.ca Thanks in advance. D. Ruppel ------------------------------ From: srl@dirac.i-kinetics.com (Sam Lipson) Subject: Looking For Inexpensive/Simple Analog PBX Organization: I-Kinetics, Inc., Cambridge, MA USA Date: Tue, 1 Feb 1994 22:34:36 GMT We're looking for a simple, or at least inexpensive PBX to use for connecting data and or FAX modems to outside phone lines. What we have in mind is two to four outside phone lines, and say, six to twelve internal "ports". A modem, or FAX machine, dials out (perhaps with 9+ number), and gets connected to one of the free outside lines, if one is available. An inbound call would get connected to one of two designated devices. We have absolutely no need to call between "extensions", and in fact could skip the inbound calling capability if it significantly lowers the price. I've been pointed towards the AT&T Partner system, but in the two line, six extension configuration it prices out at $1K (list?). Sam ------------------------------ From: daver@sulawesi.Eng.Sun.COM (David Roberts) Subject: Wanted: Fortran VCR+ Program / Eight Digit Decode Date: 2 Feb 1994 19:15:57 GMT Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc., Mountain View, CA Recently, someone posted a Fortran version of the vcrplus decoder to either rec.video or comp.dcom. I'd like a copy. I've looked for an archive of rec.video, but can't find one, is there one? I'm also looking for vcr+ software that handles eight digit codes. (the standard C one only does six digits) Does anyone have this? Thanks, DaveR ------------------------------ From: dave@llondel.demon.co.uk (David Hough) Subject: Re: Informing Ourselves to Death Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 07:08:51 GMT In article tom@travis.csd.harris.com (Tom Horsley) writes: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I did not get quite the same impression > of Postman's speech that you and Gilder recieved. I do not think > Postman said computers were dangerous, only that they could be misused > and too much reliance could be placed in them. At least one other person > enjoyed Postman's meditation, as the next letter in this issue will > reveal. PAT] Is this an apt place for the quote 'To err is human, but to really foul it up you need a computer'? Dave G4WRW @ GB7WRW.#41.GBR.EU AX25 dave@llondel.demon.co.uk Internet g4wrw@g4wrw.ampr.org Amprnet [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A sign I had hanging on the wall for a few years said, "Our computer is so human that when it makes a mistake it blames it on another computer." PAT] ------------------------------ From: cmwolf@fsh.mtu.edu (Christopher M. Wolf) Subject: Re: Informing Ourselves to Death Date: Thu, 03 Feb 1994 07:49:39 EST I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the article "Informing Ourselves to Death" that you mailed. I re-mailed it to several people. As an Electrical Engineer and a Computer Scientist, I think it was a good article to keep in mind in the future. Christopher Wolf cmwolf@fsh.mtu.edu Electrical Engineer/Computer Scientist [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The reactions have been mixed. You probably read what George Gilder said here the next day; I guess it must have pushed his buttons the wrong way. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Feb 94 06:45:53 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Informing Ourselves to Death tom@travis.csd.harris.com writes: > He was talking about some 18th century professional quack (who's > name I forget), who went around opposing things like trains with a > bunch of psuedo science babble about how the breathtaking speed would > be bound to psycologically damage the travellers. How do you arrive at 18th century (the 1700s)? Trains came in the 19th century, and I remember reading someplace that 30 miles per hour was considered fast back then. (In some old "Highlights for Children" magazine of about 30 years ago, I recall some composer being held back in some studying out of fear of "hurting the brain".) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Feb 1994 21:07:30 -0500 From: Timothy Finin Subject: Re: Informing Ourselves to Death Organization: Computer Science, University of Maryland Baltimore County I found the comments by Neil Postman to be quite interesting but paradoxical, or at least ironic. The real point of this speech (for me) seems to me to be expressed in the following passages: > The tie between information and action has been severed. Information > is now a commodity that can be bought and sold, or used as a form of > entertainment, or worn like a garment to enhance one's status. It > comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected > from usefulness; we are glutted with information, drowning in > information, have no control over it, don't know what to do with it. > And there are two reasons we do not know what to do with it. First, as > I have said, we no longer have a coherent conception of ourselves, and > our universe, and our relation to one another and our world. ... > Second, we have directed all of our energies and intelligence to inventing > machinery that does nothing but increase the supply of information. ... > Or, let us come down to a more personal level: If you and your spouse > are unhappy together, and end your marriage in divorce, will it happen > because of a lack of information? If your children misbehave and bring > shame to your family, does it happen because of a lack of information? > If someone in your family has a mental breakdown, will it happen > because of a lack of information? > I believe you will have to concede that what ails us, what causes us the > most misery and pain - at both cultural and personal levels - has nothing > to do with the sort of information made accessible by computers. The > computer and its information cannot answer any of the fundamental quest- > ions we need to address to make our lives more meaningful and humane. ... and is a comment on the *content* of the information which is being conveyed by the new medium. What I found ironic is that I was only reading this interesting and thought-provoking essay *by virtue of the new medium*. And what's more, there are probably tens of thousands of people like me who would never have read and thought about Postman's ideas if it were not for the Internet, newsgroups and email. And what's even more, the article has generated dozens or maybe hundreds of interactions and conversations among people arguing over these ideas and the underlying philosophical notions. To me, this was evidence that the strong reading of his essay is not true. Tim Finin Phone: 410-455-3522 Computer Science Department Fax: 410-455-3969 University of Maryland Baltimore County Email: finin@cs.umbc.edu 5401 Wilkens Ave., Baltimore MD 21228 Home: 410-783-2625, 215-386-1749 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 94 08:27:14 CST From: weberdd@clover.macc.wisc.edu Reply-To: weberdd@macc.wisc.edu Subject: Re: DID Questions On Sun, 30 Jan 1994 23:34:33 -0800 Thomas Tengdin wrote: > Can anyone tell me how DID lines pass the number down the trunk? The DID trunks I have used in the past have used pulse or DTMF. David Devereaux-Weber, P.E. weberdd@macc.wisc.edu (Internet) The University of Wisconsin - Madison (608)262-3584 (voice) DoIT - MACC Communications; B263 (608)262-4679 (FAX) 1210 W Dayton St. Madison, WI 53706 ------------------------------ From: richgr@netcom.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Phone Number History Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 1994 22:02:35 GMT In article TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to Steve Schlesinger : > The Amoco Oil Refinery which makes up about ninety percent of the > physical space in Whiting oddly enough had a dial PBX system in place > for a few years before Whiting went from manual to dial service. When > you dialed '9' from the PBX instead of getting a new dialtone you > simply sat there a couple seconds and the 'number please?' lady came > on the line. Their switchboard number was (Whiting) 2111 and it of > course became 659-2111, although under the old system no one actually > asked the operator for 2111, they merely would say 'Refinery' or > 'Standard Oil' (as it was known in those days), and the operator would > immediatly plug them into one of a dozen or so lines going into the > company PBX. Hunt groups in those days consisted of the operator Pat, what happened after the operator plugged into the refinery's "hunt group"? Did the outside caller get an Amoco operator who then connected them to the desired extension? Were the dial capabilities of the PBX only usable within Amoco? Rich Greenberg Work: ETi Solutions, Oceanside & L.A. CA 310-348-7677 N6LRT TinselTown, USA Play: richgr@netcom.com 310-649-0238 GMT-8 I speak for myself and my dogs only. Canines: Chinook & Husky [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In those days there was a network called 'Stan-O-Tel' which stood for 'Standard Oil Telecom'. All Amoco (but then its name was Standard Oil of Indiana) facilities around the USA were connected through Stan-O-Tel. All the refineries had tie-lines to each other and the headquarters in Chicago via SOT. Each local facility as well as the Chicago headquarters dialed 9 to get an 'outside line' in their local community. I think they dialed 8 to get the telecom switch at the headquarters in Chicago (followed by a four digit extension at someone's desk at headquarters). I think they dialed 7 followed by three digit codes to connect with the tie lines to other facilties followed by the extension at the local facility which depending on the local equipment might be two, three or four digits. I think Whiting Refinery also had some code you could dial which got you a 'Chicago dial tone' on a FX line. I know Whiting Refinery had a Chicago number in addition to the Whiting number 2111. I think it was 'SOuth Chicago-8 2000' but my memory fades out on that. All PBXs in those days were one-way things. You had internal extension-to-extension dialing and 9 for outside lines. Incoming calls went to the PBX operator who extended them, usually on a cord board. When my grandfather worked there he was one of the managers and he had a six-button, five line phone on his desk. The phone had two refinery extensions, plus an FX line with a Chicago number and his own private local number, Whiting 372. His home number was Whiting 6159, and a school I went to there sometimes was 3200. The payphone in the school cafeteria was 9567. *Those* numbers I do remember. I seem to recall them putting in the 'new automatic switchboard' at Amoco about 1955 or so. Prior to that, intra-refinery calls were handled by an operator at a switchboard within the complex along with all the incoming and outgoing calls. Whiting was the last place in the Chicago area to 'convert to dial service', and that was about 1962. >From everywhere else we had dial service, but if you wanted to call someone in Whiting we dialed '711' and it would click ... from five seconds to a minute later a woman (during the day; they had some guy at night) would answer by saying "Whiting!" and you'd tell 'em the number you wanted. When it was announced Whiting was 'cutting to dial service' on a certain date at 2:00 AM, I stayed at my grandparent's house (in Whiting) that night to see how it was done. Starting about 1:55 AM I went off hook and the guy said 'number please?'. I asked for '1234' which was the number for the recorded message giving showtimes at the Hoosier Theatre downtown. I did it again at 1:59 AM and the man connected me again. At about ten seconds after 2:00 AM I went off hook and got nothing. At 2:01 AM I went off hook and there was dial tone. No more 'number please', however dialing 659-1234 got me the theatre announcement. The phones originally had blank fronts with no dial but for about three months before the cutover the installers had gone to every phone in town and retrofitted the instruments with a rotary dial and a little tag which said 'dial is not in operation until xx/xx/xx at 2:00 AM.' (I think it was 1959-60). A curious thing the day before: From a phone in *Chicago* the 711/wait for operator/give number worked as always. But I tried dialing (a day prematurely) 659-1234 and it rang! The theatre box office answered but within a few seconds the Whiting operator came on the line asking 'number please?' The way she saw it, the theatre phone had gone off hook to make an outgoing call when in reality they had gone off hook to answer me. I guess it was all wired in parallel at that point pending the cutover, and at the time, they saw no reason for anyone in Whiting to go off hook unless the Whiting operator was handling the call. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 94 07:53:56 CST From: varney@ihlpe.att.com Subject: Re: Phone Number History Organization: AT&T In article , PAT says: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, I gave a hasty rendition of the >> history. We went from 3L/4D to 2L/5D about 1950 or so; then about 1960 >> we began seeing 7D in the phone book and as the only way things were >> being assigned. And Steve Schlesinger asks: > Before 3L/4D wasn't there 2L/4D? PAT responds, in part, with: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Not that I know of. Before name/number > combinations (which existed almost from the beginning in big cities) > there were just numbers. In small towns, one to four digit numbers were > common and that was it. If a town had only one exchange, or switchboard, > its name was usually the name of the town where it was located, and > reciting it as part of the number was redundant. When things expanded > to include names, some towns got to keep their (town) name as the phone > exchange name; i.e. Atlantic City, NJ still has the exchange name > ATlantic City, although 285-xxxx is the way it is expressed now. Where > conflicts occurred, they made up other names for conflicting exchanges. Exchanges never had conflicting names because telephone companies always had to name the building containing the exchange. In most cases, the town name WAS the exchange name and was also the name customers were told to use for calling purposes. In advertising, this permitted such phrases as "Springfield Lumber Co., Telephone 37". (I have exactly this text -- for another town -- on a wooden yard-stick from the 40s.) Of course, after customer dialing became common, the exchange names were chosen for their ease of dialing/spelling in the local area. But regional differences made such names as "KArl" vs. "CArl" a source of operator dialing errors, so the Bell System created an "approved list" of exchange names. The oft-referenced BSTJ article from September, 1952, "Nationwide Numbering Plan", indicates there were then about 20,000 COs in the USA and Canada. Eleven different numbering plans were in use within the Bell System. By then, the three-letter exchange names had "officially" been eliminated; for example, PENnsylvania in New York was changed to PEnnsylvania-6 (of course, the customer still dialed the same 636 code). These 11 plans were (page 854 of above BSTJ volume): Referred to as Listed as Dialed as Place ---------------- ----------------- ---------- ----------------- Two-five LOcust 4-5678 LO 4-5678 Philadelphia, PA Two-four MArket 6789 MA 6789 Indianapolis, IN 1 letter, 4 or Franklin 9-2345 F 9-2345 San Diego, CA 5 digit Franklin 6789 F 6789 Five digit 2-5678 2-5678 Binghamton, NY Four digit 3456 3456 Winchester, VA Three digit 325 325 Jamesport, NY Combined 5 & 4-1234 4-1234 Des Moines, IA 6 digit 62-2345 62-2345 The remaining plans were combinations of the above: Combined two-four and two-five Los Angeles, CA Combined two-five and five digit El Paso, TX Combined four and five digit Manchester, CT Combined three and four digit Ayer, MA It would appear there was no instance of a single "6 digit" area. And exchanges still have names -- however, the names are not used for dialing purposes. Interestingly, there are very few LEC records that use NPA-NXX for identification of an exchange. The name (or a shorthand) is used instead. Al Varney [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What you point out is true here in the Chicago area. None of the IBT facilities are known as 312-whatever where conversation among telco employees is concerned. They are all known by the name of some one exchange within the building which was there from fifty years ago, i.e. 'Irving' or 'Merrimac' or 'Newcastle'. "What office do you work in?" ... "I'm in the Lakeview CO ..." PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 94 14:40:21 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Phone Number History This responds to the Moderator's Note. I don't have the information in front of me, but I do NOT think Atlantic City, NJ uses prefixes of the form 28x. There ARE prefixes there of form 34x. (It's in area 609, which arrived in late 1950s[?]. There is a 201-285 nowadays in Morristown, NJ, but I don't know how old it is.) There are several exchanges which retained the place name, with many of them in the NYC area. I have never before heard of 7D calling across the state line between Illinois and Indiana at Chicago; I take it this is very old. (I did see 7D calling in a Wilmington [Del.] call guide from some Wilmington prefixes to metro Philadelphia area, although the flate rate area was only in Delaware. I think it was later when local calling from Wilmington was extended into Pennsylvania, and such is still 7D today; rest of Phila. metro area requires 1+NPA+7D to reach from Delaware, and there has been a 328 at Swarthmore, PA for years, duplicating 328 at New Castle, Delaware.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well Atlantic City *did* have "ATLantic City" exchanges a long time ago. Regards 7D between Hammond/Whiting/East Chicago, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois, yes, this is quite old. Hammond had dial service beginning about 1956 or so; Chicago numbers were just dialed 7D, and vice-versa. Whiting subscribers asked the operator for the seven digit number (no reference needed to 'Chicago') or the seven digit number in Hammond and the Whiting operator *touchtoned* the number. I remember being amazed at how fast the beep-beep-bloop tones went out. From Chicago we could dial Hammond numbers as 7D but we were not to ask the local operator for Whiting numbers. We could do that, but the policy was to dial 711 and talk to the Whiting operator direct. Or maybe not ... maybe we were to call the local operator and *she* dialed 711 to place the call, thus the phraseology 'Whiting' when the distant operator answered; it is more likely operators would say this to each other rather than to the subscriber. All of northern Indiana used to be under Illinois Bell rather than Indiana Bell until about twenty years ago. A historian who has written quite a bit about northern Indiana and Standard Oil's relationship to the area has reminded me that until sometime in the 1920's (when Illinois Bell was created out of the old Chicago Telephone Company) that phone service in Whiting was handled by Standard Oil at the refinery switchboard. Whiting always was a 'company town' just like Gary, Indiana. The Whiting Refinery has been around since 1890. When Whiting had its own phone directory (it has been merged into one for northern Indiana for several years) the entire directory was all of seven or eight pages with the listings for Standard Oil taking up about half the book. They've had centrex now for a few years on their own exchange with the rest of Whiting keeping the old 659 numbers. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #60 ***************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253