TELECOM Digest Wed, 12 Jan 94 00:38:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue 26 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: All Wire Isn't The Same (Carl Oppedahl) Re: All Wire Isn't The Same (Kriston J. Rehberg) Re: How are VCR Plus+ Numbers Generated (Aninda Dasgupta) Re: How are VCR Plus+ Numbers Generated (John T. Grieggs) Re: Surcharge for Tone Dialing to be Dropped (Dave O'Shea) Re: Surcharge for Tone Dialing to be Dropped (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Surcharge for Tone Dialing to be Dropped (Dave Niebuhr) Re: How to Phone US 0800 Numbers From the UK? (A Alan Toscano) Re: How to Phone US 0800 Numbers From the UK? (A. Padgett Peterson) Re: Looking For Cordless Headset Telephone (Subodh Bapat) Re: Caller ID in Pennsylvania (Jeffrey J. Carpenter) Re: ITU Method For Writing Telephone Numbers (Carl Oppedahl) Re: Methods to Prevent Stalking and Phone Harrassment (Dan Borkowski) Re: Technical Description of PBXs Wanted (Mike Renault) Re: User Interface From Hell (Kriston J. Rehberg) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: All Wire Isn't The Same Date: 11 Jan 1994 07:40:07 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In John Warne <19064001@SBACVM.SBAC.EDU> writes: > There has been discussion recently regarding crosstalk between pairs > of wires in two-pair cable ("Two Phone Lines to One Phone Jack"). > A recent BELLCORE bulletin pointed out that two-pair inside wire (AKA > station wire or JKT) can be found to have been made in two quite > different ways. > The cross-sectional view of one wire reveals the plastic outer sheath > is formed around the conductors in a cloverleaf-like pattern, holding > a certain relationship between the conductors for the length of the > cable (AT&T *used* to make their two-pair stuff this way), resulting > in less crosstalk between pairs. > The sheath of the other type (which AT&T is using now) does not hold > the conductors in any particular alignment, but is a loose outer > covering. This wire exhibits greater crosstalk when used for two > telephone lines. > You can detect the second type of cable easily -- it's smaller in > overall diameter, the conductors slide within the jacket, and it > simply *feels* cheap (editorial comment). In my opinion, the new > stuff is junk, and, probably, at a higher cost to the purchaser. > I have a roll of General Wire at the shop that is constructed in the > "good old way," but several of our suppliers can't seem to find any > more of it in their warehouses. > I'd recommend the second pair in the new stuff be used only for backup > in case the first pair is damaged in some way, and not used for a > second service. I am sure the person posting this is well-intended, but I fear that through inadvertence the phrasing used may make people buy wire other than the stuff they wanted to buy. Let's define four colors - R G Y B - and with that, here is a typical so-called "quad" wire. R G Y B And the point is, you could cut the wire anywhere along its length, and you would see the same cross section, differing only in that all four wires may have rotated, e.g. Y R B G but, as you will appreciate, the relative configuration remains the same, R has Y to one side and G to the other, for example. This is Bad Wire For Two-Line Use. It is the cloverleaf type wire mentioned above. Many Readers Have Reported Cross-Talk With Such Wire. Now let's define four numbers, corresponding to color codes as follows: 1 - white with blue stripe 2 - blue with white stripe 3 - white with orange stripe 4 - orange with white stripe These numbers are arbitrary -- they are only meaningful in the following diagrams. 1 2 3 4 This is one typical configuration for "twisted pair" wire, which is what you *should* use for two-line (or more-line) work. At points along the way you may find any of these: 2 1 4 3 or 1 2 4 3 or 2 1 3 4 The main point, as you will have guessed, is that if you stripped off the outer jacket of the cable for some length, you will find 1 and 2 twisted around each other, and 3 and 4 twisted around each other. Often, indeed almost always, this kind of wire has an outer jacket that is of constant thickness. It has a cylindrical hollowness that contains the twisted pairs. Quad wire, on the other hand, typically fills the spaces between the wires, so that when you strip off the jacket it has a cloverleaf- shaped hollowness. For two-line use, don't buy quad. Buy twisted pair. Usually you can recognize twisted pair phone wire from the use of the striped color codes, such as blue with a white stripe etc. Usually you can recognize quad wire from the use of the R G Y B color codes. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW Oppedahl & Larson (patent lawyers) Yorktown Heights, NY voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: All Wire Isn't The Same Reply-To: krehberg@vnet.IBM.COM Date: Tue, 11 Jan 94 10:32:53 EST From: V2ENA81%OWEGO@zeta.eecs.nwu.edu In-reply-to: John Warne's message of Sat, 08 Jan 94 19:42:49 EST: [quad wire crosstalk discussion] > I'd recommend the second pair in the new stuff be used only for backup > in case the first pair is damaged in some way, and not used for a > second service. In light of NY Telephone's (now NYNEX) use of the quad wire, yet consistently not using it for two-line phones, is probably due to the fact that they'd rather not rewire a building with faulty cabling and would rather use the second pair for both as a backup and as a reinforcing agent to make the wire strong enough not to break as easily as two-lead wire can. When I moved out of my parents' house, they needed to use the wire left over from my computer phone line because theirs had deteriorated. Kriston J. Rehberg Internet External :krehberg@vnet.ibm.com Associate Programmer/Analyst FSC Internal RSCS :V2ENA81 AT OWEGO ENSCO, Incorporated FSC Internal AFS :v1ena81@legend.endicott Loral Federal Systems Co, Owego, NY Tel: 607-751-2180 :Tieline: 662-2180 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jan 94 08:42:53 EST From: add@philabs.Philips.Com (Aninda Dasgupta) Subject: Re: How are VCR Plus+ Numbers Generated Magnavox sells a Voice Recognition remote that: - allows programming of VCR - is a universal remote - recognizes commands from more than one person. So, for about $100 to $150, you can hold up the remote in your hand and say something like : "Record, Thursday, Start 9:00 pm, End 9:30 pm, Channel 4." And the remote does the rest. No need to look up codes and punch them in. Training the remote to recognize your voice takes a few minutes as the user is prompted on an LCD screen to read out a few numbers and words that appear on the screen. Very user friendly. See your local Magnavox/Philips dealer for demonstrations. Aninda DasGupta (add@philabs.philips.com) Ph:(914)945-6071 Fax:(914)945-6552 Philips Labs\n 345 Scarborough Rd\n Briarcliff Manor\n NY 10510 ------------------------------ From: grieggs@jpl-devvax.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (John T. Grieggs) Subject: Re: How are VCR Plus+ Numbers Generated Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Date: Tue, 11 Jan 1994 19:09:25 GMT In article , Arthur Rubin wrote: > Well, you do need to program in the translator from the "published" > channel numbers (the ones used to encode the VCR+ code) to the channel > numbers your VCR and/or cable box use, and to program the box to learn > how to program your VCR and/or cable box, but I don't THINK there's > anything more that needs to be done. (Of course, all of this was > intended for those people whose VCR is blinking "12:00" (actually, > mine blinks "--:--" when not set), so do you really expect them to > attempt to tell you how to program a "universal remote".) Well, actually, I got mine because my cable company delivers scrambled signal to my house. The chintzy plastic box they rent me as a decoder is able to be controlled via IFR. Which is a darn good thing, because the VCR it is attached to must be tuned to channel 3 all the time if it wants to see any signal at all. VCRPlus is able to handle this situation. I give it codes and leave my VCR turned off and with tape. When it's time to tape, the VCRPlus unit changes channels on the cable box, turns on the VCR, and starts taping. When the programmed time elapses, it stops and turns off the VCR. Once in a while, I need to run a little program I got from the net a while back, to manually generate a VCRPlus code, when I want to tape something from a local station which is not listed in TV Guide. I assure you, none of my VCR clocks blink. Perhaps you should consider broadening your somewhat patronizing definition of whom the product is intended for? John T. Grieggs (Telos @ Jet Propulsion Laboratory) 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, Ca. 91109 M/S 525-3660 (818) 306-6506 Uucp: {cit-vax,elroy,chas2}!jpl-devvax!grieggs Arpa: ...jpl-devvax!grieggs@cit-vax.ARPA ------------------------------ From: dave_oshea@wiltel.com (Dave O'Shea) Subject: Re: Surcharge for Tone Dialing to be Dropped Date: 11 Jan 1994 18:36:23 GMT Organization: WilTel A. Padgett Peterson (padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com) wrote: >> In addition, it is phasing out the optional business Flat Rate and >> untimed Message Rate plans for businesses in upstate NY and imposing >> timed message rate for them. > This is the scary part simce everywhere I go I see regional carriers > attempting to eliminate "flat" and "unmetered" plans. As telecommuting > and information hightway access begins to take hold, the elimination > of unmetered local service is the biggest threat to individual > connectivity that I can imagine. Well, in a word, no. It will mean that those of us who have been tying up a trunk for six hours at the same price as a 30-second call will have to stary paying for the privilege -- though I wouldn't be terribly surprised to see some alternative local loop providers selling a "flat-rate"-type service to people who are priced out of the market by the LEC's. As it is, I probably burn up seven or eight hours a month of modem time, and virtuaally all of it is long-disatance anyway. Considering that I can do ~18kb/s with a Telebit 3000, I'm probably saving money compared with using PC Pursuit or some similar service. One of the big reasons that long distance rates seem to "bottom out" somewhere in the 10 cents/minute rate, even for the most humongous customers is that the LD carriers have to pay most of that to the LEC for the local loop. Perhaps as the RBOCs are able to recoup something for those millions of unbillable hours of local connect time, this will ease up. > Of course, the biggies (Compu$erve, Plodigy, etc.) will have 800 > numbers and just pass the cost along, but one might expect amateur > BBSs, SLIPs, and the like to become much less popular. The biggest > threat would be to the infant telecommuting industry and the home > office which relies on unlimited local service and the best means for > achieving the Clinton/Gore "20% reduction in commuting" would go up in > smoke. If an employee is worth telecommuting, even a $4/hour connection charge is fairly minor in the face of, say, a $65,000 salary/benefits package. Even if you get charged that for eight hours a day, it's minor. Most employees who would best benefit from telecommuting are the ones who are well into long-distance calling areas. And who knows -- I don't follow ISDN or related services too closely, but it (and similar services) will become more widely available as the cost of bandwidth falls. Keeping the local connection price artificially low is a disincentive for LEC's to provide higher capacity and better services. > True, TANSTAAFL still applies and I suppose metering is inevitable > particularly since it is both cheap and desirable for the Telcos. The > only advantage that I can see for the consumer would be that with > metered service, the subscriber would have a right to a call detail > listing the individual calls by called number, time, and duration. Desirable, probably. Cheap, no. All those CDR records mean gags of new storage, more throughput needed on billing systems, and a near complete re-working of billing software and tariffs. Dave O'Shea dos@wdns.wiltel.com Sr. Network Support Engineer 201.236.3730 WilTel Data Network Services Do I *look* like a WilTel spokesman? ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: Surcharge for Tone Dialing to be Dropped Date: 11 Jan 1994 07:41:19 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In johnl@iecc.com (John R Levine) writes: >> Of course, the biggies (Compu$erve, Plodigy, etc.) will have 800 >> numbers and just pass the cost along ... > Unlikely. An 800 number costs at rock bottom ten cents a minute, > while message rates are usually more like two cents. Even with > metered local service, calling direct is considerably cheaper. > Note that in New York City, the calls are metered, but local calls are > charged one unit (about a dime) per call, no matter how long the call > is. If ever there were a rate plan that favors modem users, that's > it. Uh, this is the case, in New York City, only for residential callers. If you have a business line a lengthy local call costs much more than a brief one. In dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) writes: > In TELECOM Digest V14 #19 oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) writes: >> In Eric De Mund >> writes: >>> Given that backwards state of affairs, maybe my dad *is* telling me >>> the truth when he says that he can't even *get* touch-tone service at >>> his home in central Nassau County (Westbury), Long Island, New York, >>> telephone number (516) 333-xxxx. Incredible. >> I don't know the situation now, but a few years ago a friend in >> Westbury had three lines in the house, one of which was a 516-333. >> The 516-333 had been in place for a decade or more, and he kept it >> because it was a flat-rate line -- no charge for local calls. > Flat Rate is available to all residence customers and maybe some small > businesses. Flat rate might mean two things -- local calls never cost anything, or local calls cost one message unit no matter how long you are connected. For most phone exchanges in New York state, residence customers get the latter, not the former. Only a relatively small number of exchanges in NY state have true flat rate, where all local calls never cost anything. In NY Telephone's service area (most of NY State) nearly all business service (no distinction made between large or small businesses) is charged so that lengthy local calls cost more than brief ones. > Here are the exchanges in the 33X series for Area Code 516: > 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 > ------------------------------------------------------------- > 33X | |PtJef|GdnCy|<----Westbury--->|Hksvl|GdnCy|Wstby| | > Code: PtJef - Port Jefferson; Hksvl - Hicksville (a small tale here); > GdnCy - Garden City. > Note that all except 331 are in Nassau County and all are next door so > to speak from each other and there are a plethora of businesses and > government offices is that area. I don't think that they'd put up > with rotary only dialing. I find that in general the numerical nearness of telephone exchange numbers has little or no correlation with geographical nearness. I suggest that it would have even less correlation with central office equipment types. By this I mean that while you will sometimes see a "run" of exchange numbers that are clearly closely related (e.g. 333, 334, 335) once the "run" has a break (e.g. from 336 to 337) then I suggest that there is probably no correlation of geographic areas and no particular correlation of central office equipment types. The 337 wires fan out from one building to cover Garden City, while the 336 wires fan out from a *different building* to cover Hicksville. Once we appreciate that they are different buildings, we can see that there is no particular reason to assume anything in common about the type of equipment inside. Carl Oppedahl AA2KW Oppedahl & Larson (patent lawyers) Yorktown Heights, NY voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jan 94 14:35:03 EST From: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (Dave Niebuhr) Subject: Re: Surcharge for Tone Dialing to be Dropped In TELECOM Digest V14 #19 there was a question as to whether 516-333 was touchtone equipped. I checked yesterday with the business office (since NYTel is now known as NYNEX, I ended up in a Rockland County (upstate) office instead of one on Long Island) and found out the following. 516-333 (Westbury, NY) does have touchtone available and the switch is a DMS-100. All CLASS (SS7) features are enabled for anyone who wants them. Therefore, I would suspect that whoever said that touchtone was not available in that exchange didn't know what was available or not. Dave Niebuhr Internet: dwn@dwn.ccd.bnl.gov (preferred) niebuhr@bnl.gov / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093 ------------------------------ From: atoscano@attmail.com (A Alan Toscano) Date: 11 Jan 94 00:01:07 GMT Subject: Re: How to Phone US 0800 Numbers From the UK? In article MAARUF ALI, writes: > Could someone please tell me how to phone US 0800 numbers from the UK? Several previous replies suggested AT&T's USA Direct Service, but stated that the service could only be used to call AT&T-serviced "800" numbers. THERE IS NO LONGER ANY SUCH REQUIREMENT. AT&T previously filed a tariff, allowing the Service to pass "800" calls to the local exchange carrier (serving whatever "gateway city" is processing the USA Direct traffic), for subsequent routing to the appropriate long distance (interexchange) carrier. Generally, then, the following three requirements are necessary to complete a call via AT&T's USA Direct Service, to a USA "800" number: 1. There must be USA Direct access for the country you're in. This is usually a toll-free access telephone number. Alternatively, in a few countries, you may use special public telephones. In even fewer countries, both access methods exist. (To learn more about USA Direct, from outside of the USA, call collect: +1 412 553 7458.) 2. You must be calling an "800" number which does not have a geographic restriction against calls from the "gateway city" (in the USA) which serves USA Direct traffic from the country you're calling from. (This is unlikely, but possible. Most USA "800" numbers have no such restriction.) 3. You must have an AT&T Calling Card to which the cost of the international segment of the call may be billed. International customers holding an acceptable bank credit card may request an application for an AT&T Calling Card by calling (collect): +1 816 654 6004. It's my impression that AT&T will not, due to international agreements, knowingly complete USA Direct calls to Canadian or Carribean numbers. Ideally, with North America's increased awareness on global trading, American businesses will, over time, become better educated on international telecommunications issues. In the mean time, I hope the above will be helpful to those businesses which, due to their specialized needs, for example, must trade with American corporations in spite of any current naivete. Disclaimer: I don't work for AT&T. I'm just a customer. A Alan Toscano Postal: P O Box 741982; Houston, TX 77274-1982 Voice Mail: +1 713 415 9262 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jan 94 08:40:30 -0500 From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson) Subject: Re: How to Phone US 0800 Numbers From the UK Clive D.W. Feather wrote: > Some of us would *love* to be able to call US 800 numbers and pay for > the calls. Or have a way to find out the POTS number. Even in UK-only > publications, I *still* see US companies only quoting their 800 > numbers. Pat mentions one possibility. Another is that the copmpany is too small to handle its own marketing and has "outsourced" the order business to a mass order taking (is there a one word description?) organization. In this case, the 800 number may be the only way the order-taker knows which company's name to answer with. (Remember when you were supposed to ask for a particular "operator number" and this told the outsourcer which company to respond as). Thus an "800 only" number is a flag to me that 1) The company has probably outsourced the order system and 2) They do not have anyone at their office to take orders. At one time I used to be amazed at the "one-man" operations operating out of their home with giant advertising. Being somewhat more cynical now, I accept that "allow four to six weeks for shipping" means the company has no stock and is waiting for sufficient paid orders to qualify for volume discounts before ordering any. Warmly, Padgett [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Either that, or they also farm out the orders to be filled elsewhere on a drop ship basis. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bapat@gate.net (Subodh Bapat) Subject: Re: Looking For Cordless Headset Telephone Date: 11 Jan 1994 00:34:41 -0500 gcorbett@husc8.harvard.edu (Gregory Corbett) writes: > Can anyone help me? > I am looking to obtain a cordless, "Headset" telephone that operates > with a small microphone and "walkman-like" earpiece. > Where can I obtain such a phone? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Try the "Hello Direct" mail order > catalog. Phone 1-800-HI-HELLO for details. "Hello Direct" is now > an official supplier of equipment to Illinois Bell customers through > telco's 'work at home center'. PAT] I just saw a Ginzu-knife commercial on TV advertising a do-it-yourself device. What this seems to be is a flat metal headset that goes on your head but has absolutely no electronics in it. Instead, one of the "earpieces" is a round metal plate with a Velcro patch on it. You get another adhesive Velcro patch which goes onto the back side of a regular cordless phone. When you put on the "headset" and attach the two Velcro pads together, you essentially get hands-free operation and mobility -- which is what the original poster wanted. (Of course, you could use this with a wireline phone too, if all you want is hands-free operation and not mobility.) I have no idea how well it works or how comfortable it is. If you already have a cordless phone, this alternative will cost you $19.95, as opposed to the $399.95 cordless headset from Hello Direct. ------------------------------ From: jjc+@pitt.edu (Jeffrey J. Carpenter) Date: Tue, Jan 11 06:15:40 1994 GMT Subject: Re: Caller ID in Pennsylvania In article , is written: > My understanding is that although the State's PUC has ruled on > Caller ID service, deployment (by local carriers) is being held by a > State Supreme Court challenge. This Act is meant to overcome the wiretap law problems previously found by the courts. > Is the Bill mentioned under consideration, or has it passed? It was signed into law last month. Jeffrey James Bryan Carpenter |* Go Orioles! * Catch the Fever! *| Computing and Information Services, University of Pittsburgh 600 Epsilon Drive, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15238-2887 jjc+@pitt.edu, +1 412 624 6424, FAX +1 412 624 6436 ------------------------------ From: oppedahl@panix.com (Carl Oppedahl) Subject: Re: ITU Method For Writing Telephone Numbers Date: 11 Jan 1994 07:55:08 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC In etm@email.teaser.com (Erik Thomas Mueller) writes: > By the way, I'm posting this message from a Minitel. Everyone in France now > has USENET and Internet mail access via 3617 EMAIL on the Minitel. A Minitel > costs about $3.50/month. ISDN is available everywhere. Plus we also have > Bibop! I am very interested to see this message which suggests that everyone in France with a Minitel has Usenet and Internet access. But can I send email to everyone on Minitel? If so, what is the general addressing format? Or is 3617 EMAIL a private company that is offering a gateway between Minitel and the Internet? What is "email.teaser.com"? Carl Oppedahl AA2KW Oppedahl & Larson (patent lawyers) Yorktown Heights, NY voice 212-777-1330 ------------------------------ From: dborkowski@gte.com (Dan Borkowski) Subject: Re: Methods to Prevent Stalking and Phone Harrassment Organization: GTE Laboratories Date: Tue, 11 Jan 1994 12:57:47 GMT Don't assume that changing a home telephone number (even to unlisted) will stop harassing phone calls. Case in point: My sister was in a situation with a former *friend* who was harassing her (phone calls, stalking, rocks through windows, etc.), so she started by getting a restraining order and an unlisted phone number. The phone was quiet for about two weeks, but the calls started again. At this point she noticed that she hadn't received a phone bill that month. Well, it turns out that she probably did, but her former *friend* probably had stolen it from her mailbox (yes, that's a crime, but try proving it w/o witnesses!) and read her new phone number right off the bill. So she paid to get another new unlisted phone number. Her former *friend* was then arrested on a charge of violating the restraining order, and while in the police department, her former *friend* read her new phone number off the police report. So she paid to get another new unlisted phone number. This scenario probably would have continued, but fortunately this was college, and she graduated soon thereafter and left that town forever. Dan Borkowski GTE Laboratories Incorporated dborkowski@gte.com All opinions are my own. ------------------------------ From: mmr@merlin.dev.cdx.mot.com (Mike Renault) Subject: Re: Technical Description of PBXs Wanted Organization: Motorola Codex, Canton, Massachusetts Date: Tue, 11 Jan 1994 15:06:24 GMT Don Pelton writes: > I'm looking for sources of good technical descriptions of PBX > technology and standards. Can anyone suggest books, articles, > newsgroups and/or other internet resources? Standards documents? PBX standard for the US is ANSI/EIA/TIA-464-A-1989. Title is "Private Branch Exchange Switching Equipment for Voiceband Application". My copy cost $67.00. This document is aimed towards the designers of PBXs. Call Electrionic Industries Association in Washington DC to order, sorry I don't have their phone number. Michael Renault (617)-821-7613 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: User Interface From Hell Date: Tue, 11 Jan 94 10:10:10 EST From: V2ENA81%OWEGO@zeta.eecs.nwu.edu johnl@medusa.gsfc.nasa.gov wrote: > I just received the user guide for our ROLM PBX voice mail system. > Although I like to think of myself as technologically literate, the > user interface for the voice mail system intimidates me. The rather > thick user guide lists many features, options and user commands. The > system structure is summarized in 6 pages of decision tree diagrams. > User commands are things like "*73" (replay a message), and there are > alot of them. I already have an 89 page user guide for my ROLM > telephone. Does anyone else find this as frustrating as I do? The > local phone company uses similar commands to access the new features > that have been added to their switch software. At first glance, the ROLM phonemail (voice mail) system is extremely difficult to master at first, especially if you DON'T have a ROLMphone. The ROLMphones have templates on them with most of the phonemail commands like delete, save, listen, record, skip, etc., plus extra keys which on our phones are mostly inactive. If you DON'T have a ROLM phone, you can still use the DTMF touch-tones and flash feature of your existing phone, but I weep for you. The ROLM phones seem to use a digital-style link between the PBX and the phone itself for the special buttons and fancy blinking lights, but it will still accept that white-bread DTMF fone with flash capability you may have floating around. At least on our system, which was put into full operation sometime in the spring and early summer of '93, the phonemail prompts are very descriptive, but can drive a new user crazy. Follow the tutorials in the user manuals. I, unfortunately, didn't have that luxury until after I cut my teeth on it. Be SURE to beg, borrow, or steal one of the flip-chart-style help indices that stick to your phone. It gives you all the commands in a handy flip-chart format. Disclaimer: I am not an employee or representative of ROLM, who seems to make very good PBX's and phones. At least better than the Northern Telecom PBX's I've been a captive customer of before. Kriston J. Rehberg Internet External :krehberg@vnet.ibm.com Associate Programmer/Analyst FSC Internal RSCS :V2ENA81 AT OWEGO ENSCO, Incorporated FSC Internal AFS :v1ena81@legend.endicott Loral Federal Systems Co, Owego, NY Tel: 607-751-2180 :Tieline: 662-2180 ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #26 *****************************