TELECOM Digest Fri, 18 Feb 94 09:53:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue 88 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Nationlink *32 Problems, Also SNET Accessline (Douglas Scott Reuben) EFF Wants YOU - to Call For Senate Hearings on Clipper! (Monty Solomon) How to Share a 64Kbps Leased Line With Ten Users (9600bps) (Tohru Asami) Informative Books on AT&T System 75 (glenne@csd4.csd.uwm.edu) Phones and AC Power (James H. Haynes) Experience With Cable & Wireless (Good or Bad) (Drew Kramer) 1994 Discover Awards (Darlene Quinn) Are There Standards For PBX's? (Bob Brickman) AT&T Directory Assistance (Monty Solomon) Digital Cellular Phone Review (TDMA) (Dave Rand) Looking for Employment (David J. Rockafellow) 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 18 Feb 1994 03:34:27 GMT From: Douglas Scott Reuben Subject: Nationlink *32 Problems, Also SNET Accessline Hi, I dunno if the people at Nationlink/Roam America/etc. (McCaw?) are aware of this, but if you hit *32 in the same visited market more than once, the Nationlink system does not give out the local roam port number. Thus, for example, if a Boston customer (00007) travels to Maine (00501) and hits *32 ONCE, the recording which callers to the Boston number will hear is: "The mobile customer you are dialing has moved to another area. To reach this customer, please dial (207) 776-0100. At the tone, enter the complete mobile number, without '1'." (Yes, I think the port for Biddeford, ME ends in 0100 or something). If you hit *32 TWICE (or more), you get the same recording, MINUS the roam port number. It basically says "has moved ... to reach this customer, please dial . At the tone...". NOTE: Some companies, like Cell One/Boston, will CHARGE you AIRTIME for a *32 "Caller Notification" call. Thus, you will still be charged even if the visited system roam port number is not mentioned. (WHY does Southwestern Bell Cell allow this? What's the deal? CO/Boston has excellent rates, especially while roaming, but WHY discourage people from using auto call delivery (which they charge home airtime for, as well as toll charges and of course the prevailing roamer rates) or caller notification? It strikes me as being uncharacteristically cheap to try to gouge YOUR OWN CUSTOMERS when they roam elsewhere for CO/Boston's benefit. After all, in most markets, they are being robbed by paying $3.00 per day and $.99 per minute (a ridiculous rate which seems to be the de-facto standard now). Why try to rob your customers even more by charging them home airtime (ie, around $.50 per minute more)? I roam alot, but I never use CO/Boston's auto-call delivery and Nationlink during the day. Most other companies, including Metro Mobile (Bell Atlantic), Cell One/VT (Atlantic Cellular), NYNEX, etc. do NOT charge extra for their auto call delivery services; you only pay for the toll charges to deliver your call to the visited market. Anyone from SWBell care to comment on this?) I've also noticed terribly slow Nationlink activation delays between midnight and 2AM. What's going on here? Trying to be like Follow Me Roaming? ;( Additionally, SNET Cellular customers who subscribe to the Accessline service MAY have been overcharged if they forwarded their Accessline number out-of-state. Normally, any calls forwarded outside the New Haven area are rated at $.20 per minute, regardless of the destination. However, I finally got fed up with seemingly high charges, and requested a copy of the call detail. I noticed that calls out of CT were billed TWICE, ie, both as "In-state" and "Out-of-State" calls, with an effective rate of $.40 per minute. SNET was very apologetic about this and said all Accessline customers who may have been affected will be notified soon, but you may want to check up on this in a few weeks if you haven't heard from them. Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 1994 04:13:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFF Wants YOU - to Call For Senate Hearings on Clipper! [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Forwarded FYI. I also received a copy of this from Dave Banisar at EFF. PAT] From: Stanton McCandlish Subject: EFF Wants YOU - to call for SENATE HEARINGS ON CLIPPER! Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 17:20:00 -0500 (EST) Reply-To: ask@eff.org EFF WANTS YOU - TO CALL FOR SENATE HEARINGS ON CLIPPER! Feb. 15, 1994 Dear Friends on the Electronic Frontier, Thank you for your efforts in fighting the government's ill-considered Clipper proposal. We have already delivered over 2250 messages supporting H.R. 3627 to Rep. Cantwell, and your messages have continued to flood in. We'd now like to ask you to help us call for Congressional hearings on Clipper by writing to Senator Patrick Leahy c/o leahy@eff.org. As we have previously reported, the Clinton Administration has announced that it plans to proceed on every front to make the Clipper Chip encryption scheme a national standard and to discourage the development and sale of alternative powerful encryption technologies. If the government succeeds in this effort, the resulting blow to individual freedom and privacy could be immeasurable. So far, the government has resisted requests that it explain its policy. When the Presidential Decision Directive calling for Clipper deployment first appeared last spring, the Administration promised a report that re-evaluated cryptography and privacy policy in light of technological changes, the coming of the National Information Infrastructure, and the end of the Cold War. The Administration also made a commitment to meaningful public dialog before taking any major action on escrow deployment or new legislation. Yet in spite of the efforts of EFF, CPSR, ACLU, and other groups to provide extensive input to the Administration, the promised policy report never arrived, and the Administration has now said there will be no report after all. This failure of public accountability makes Congressional hearings an absolute necessity. There are individuals in Congress willing to look into the Clipper proposal and related policies -- if they hear from you. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), who chairs one of the key committees responsible for these issues, has asked for comments and concerns about the viability of the Clipper initiative. Here's where we need your help. *Please write Senator Leahy at: leahy@eff.org and ask that the Senate hold hearings about Clipper.* Senate hearings may be the only means of ensuring public feedback about Clipper, and, just as important, they may be the only means of forcing the Administration to explain its Clipper policy. Please express your concerns about the United States' Clipper policy and cryptographic policy in general. Your letters in support of hearings will be printed out and delivered to the senator. And if you haven't written Rep. Maria Cantwell to show your support for H.R. 3627, her bill to relax export restrictions on encryption technology, now's the time to do so. Just send e-mail to cantwell@eff.org and put "I support H.R. 3627" in your Subject header. Letters in support of the bill will be printed out and delivered to Rep. Cantwell. Our fight to keep national encryption policy out in the open -- and to continue allowing individuals to use encryption to ensure their own privacy -- has only just begun. In the coming weeks and months, we will be working to give you more ways to make your voice heard on these vital public issues. Sincerely, Jerry Berman Executive Director Electronic Frontier Foundation See ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/Clipper/ for more information on the Clipper/Skipjack key escrow scheme. ------------------------------ From: tru@kddnews.kddlabs.co.jp (Tohru Asami) Subject: How to Share a 64Kbps Leased Line With Ten Users (9600bps) Organization: KDD R.&D. Labs. Date: Fri, 18 Feb 1994 05:58:21 GMT I've heard that Pacific Communication Science Incorporated (PCSI) is selling a data compression machine, called CS-8000, which can compress a 64Kbps data link into a 9600bps data link. I wonder if the following communication is possible for cost saving. +---+ +---+ | M | | M | 64Kbps 9600bps | U | | U |9600bps 64Kbps User------[CS-8000]--------+ L | | L +------[CS-8000]------User User------[CS-8000]--------+ T | | T +------[CS-8000]------User User------[CS-8000]--------+ I | 64Kbps| I +------[CS-8000]------User User------[CS-8000]--------+ P +-------+ P +------[CS-8000]------User User------[CS-8000]--------+ L | leased| L +------[CS-8000]------User User------[CS-8000]--------+ E | line | E +------[CS-8000]------User User------[CS-8000]--------+ X | | X + | O | | O | | R | | R | +---+ +---+ My questions are as follows: 1. Are there any multiplexors from 9600bps to 64Kbps? 2. Are they compatible with CS-8000? 3. How much are they? 4. What companies are selling them? 5. What kind of problems do we enconter in the above configurations? 6. Did anyone try the same communication method? In this case, a User uses a telephone or FAX, and he may not intensively use his 64Kbps line. Regards, Tohru Asami KDD R&D Labs Manager of Network Engineering Support Group, KDD R&D Labs. 2-1-15 Ohara Kamifukuoka-shi, Saitama 356, Japan Phone: +81 492 66 7890, FAX : +81 492 66 7510 KDD = an international telecommunication company in Japan ------------------------------ From: glenne@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Neuromancer) Subject: Informative Books on AT&T System 75 Date: 17 Feb 1994 18:10:05 GMT Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Where I work, we have an AT&T System 75 phone system. I have received no training in its use. I barely know how to put users in hunt groups and pickup groups or how to setup new extensions. When there is a problem (like right now, the Hunt Group Busy Activation, even though it is set up properly as a Feature Access Code as *1 is not working) So as usual, when there is a problem, I dig through our pile of AT&T documentation: * AT&T System 75, System 75 XE, and System 85. Terminals and Adjuncts Installation and Test * Definity 75/85 Communications System, Generic 1, and System 75 Voice Terminal Operation * Definity 75/85 Communications System, Generic 1, and System 75 Administration and Measurement Reports * AT&T System 75 Student Guide (2 volumes) None of these books cover the information that I need to know. Not only that, but they read like technical manuals, and do not attempt to relay any concepts in human terms. I would find any manuals written in this style completely worthless. Are there any books out there that are that will give me the the detail I need to solve real problems with our System 75, and yet are written in a style that explains the basic concepts I need to know. Hopefully these books are not written by AT&T or are nothing like the technical manuals we have now. Thanks, Glenn glenne@csd4.csd.uwm.edu ------------------------------ From: haynes@cats.ucsc.edu (James H. Haynes) Subject: Phones and AC Power Date: 17 Feb 1994 18:59:41 GMT Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz We had a high wind storm here last night, with lots of power outages. So I went to bed early and was listening to one of the local ham radio repeaters to hear what was going on. A woman over at the supermarket called to ask someone to call the sheriff to come for a shoplifter they had caught. She said the phones inside the store were out because they are electronic and need AC power, and that the pay phones were also inoperative. I don't remember if the pay phones over there are COCOTs or Pac Bell. I was wondering if pay phones these days require AC power to operate, or if they still get all their power over the phone line and the problem here was a broken phone line. haynes@cats.ucsc.edu haynes@cats.bitnet [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Genuine Bell Telephones (as the little decals here say which IBT puts up by *their* phones) do not require an AC connection however I think many COCOTS do need AC to maintain their programming. It could be the store had one of those. Serves 'em right if it went out! :) PAT] ------------------------------ From: drew@ox.com (Drew Kramer) Subject: Experience With Cable & Wireless (Good or Bad) Date: 17 Feb 1994 17:09:18 GMT Organization: OTA Limited Partnership Does anyone have any experience with Cable & Wireless? They are bidding on both our voice and data service, and any information, good or bad, would be appreciated. You can reply via email, and I'll post a followup. USMail: OTA Limited Partnership E-mail: drew@ox.com 1 Manhattanville Road Phone: +1 914 694 5800 Purchase, New York 10577 FAX: +1 914 694 5831 ------------------------------ From: disaward@netaxs.com (Media Management Services, Inc.) Subject: 1994 Discover Awards Date: 17 Feb 1994 17:40:27 GMT Organization: Net Access - Philadelphia's Internet Connection Presented by Epcot '94 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida DISCOVER Magazine is pleased to announce that it is now accepting nominations for the fifth annual DISCOVER Awards program. These awards recognize breakthrough technologies in science and honor the men and women whose creative genius improves our quality of life. Companies, research institutions, and individuals are invited to nominate innovations in seven categories: 1. AUTOMOTIVE & TRANSPORTATION 2. AVIATION & AEROSPACE 3. COMPUTER HARDWARD & ELECTRONICS 4. COMPUTER SOFTWARE 5. ENVIRONMENT 6. SIGHT 7. SOUND Winning innovations and their inventors will be featured in a special October 1994 DISCOVER Awards issue. Plus, all finalists and winners will be showcased at "Innoventions," a new attraction opening at Epcot '94 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. If you would like to receive a nomination package, please contact Darlene Quinn via the internet at: disaward@netaxs.com 1994 DISCOVER AWARDS Phone #: (800) 637-8509 c/o Media Management Services, Inc. Fax #: (215) 579-8589 105 Terry Drive Suite 120 E-Mail: disaward@netaxs.com Newtown, PA 18940 ------------------------------ From: robrick@erenj.com (Bob Brickman) Subject: Are There Standards For PBX's? Organization: Exxon Research Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 23:12:11 GMT I have a question about digital pbx/phone systems. Are there any industry standards for the signaling levels and protocols between local desksets and the building switch? I know my deskset isn't POTS, but is there any commonality among the major and minor systems manufac- turers? This question came up in a discussion of the Macintosh Geoport communications pods and the possibility of someone offering a pod to connect to a pbx line (someone mentioned Rolm and Northern Telecom as major pbx vendors). I was wondering if Intecom was a system manufacturer that anyone out there had heard of (its what I have) and if it was possible it used a standardized protocol. Thanks in advance, Bob Brickman ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Feb 1994 00:05:35 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Directory Assistance In all states except New Jersey and Connecticut you can now request phone number and/or address information from AT&T Directory Assistance. They can't currently provide addresses in New Jersey and Connecticut. Monty Solomon / PO Box 2486 / Framingham, MA 01701-0405 monty@roscom.com ------------------------------ From: dlr@daver.bungi.com (Dave Rand) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 13:23:19 PST Subject: Digital Cellular Phone Review (TDMA) The following is my experience using the TDMA digital cellular system. I use services in San Jose, California with Cellular One as the carrier, and in Edmonton, Alberta using both Edmonton Telephones and Alberta Government Telephones as the carriers. My telephone is the Motorola "Digital Cellular Personal Communicator", labelled "L.A. Cellular". It is a dual mode phone, supporting both analog and digital service. I have used the small NiCd batteries, the small N-Mh batteries, and the XT versions of same. The telephone is very similar in weight to the popular 550 flip-phone. I paid about $700 for it, in January. The phone indicates a digital call by displaying "Digital", and by flashing the "in use" LED faster than for analog calls. "Analog" calls are also displayed. The phone can, and does, switch between analog and digital modes during call handoffs. The phone can request a scrambled telephone channel, as well, if your carrier supports it. Neither of my carriers appear to support it. By selecting this feature, the phone warns you of an unsecure line by beeping five times -- this can happen at call establishment, or during a handoff. The phone also supports an "Authentication key", which the cellular carriers can use to further validate your ESN, guarding against fraud. Neither of my carriers knew about this feature, and may not support it. This is a 6 to 26 digit number that you and your carrier agree on. The advertising literature suggests that using a "digital" phone (they seldom indicate TDMA or CDMA - as I understand it, most are TDMA) gives the user a number of advantages. 1. Increased talk time on a battery charge. 2. Increased security. 3. Clearer, digital connections. 4. More likely to get a connection on the first try. Of these, a few are true :-) You are *very* likely to get a digital connection in those areas that support it. Through San Jose, and the surronding area, I very seldom get a busy, although I often did on my analog only phone. The only problem is that not all cell sites are TDMA-equipped. I was unable to get a list of the areas that are "digital" from Cellular one, but it appears that there are only a few areas in San Jose, and San Fransisco. Sunnyvale, and surrounding areas are analog only, so far as I can tell. In Canada, *all* calls I made, for about 100 miles around the city of Edmonton, were digital, except for those I placed analog through the phone's option menu. This suggest a much higher deployment rate of TDMA in Canada. Digital connections are significantly worse in quality than analog. There are no exceptions. The Canadian systems were a little better than San Jose, but not nearly as good as analog on either system. There is a perceptable delay in the system, very noticable if you place a call to a person, and can see them. I guess it is around 100msec or so -- perhaps a bit more. It reminds you of the stilted conversations over satellite. Echo is, by far, the worst problem. I'm not sure what causes it, but it is *very* annoying. The digitization artifacts are quite audible, especially when talking to someone's digitized voicemail system. As far as increased security, this may be true. I am unable to pick up voice on a scanner -- but I still wouldn't want to give my visa number out over it ;-) Increased talk time -- perhaps. What they *really* mean is DECREASED standby time! Here's the scoop, based on my observation of the TDMA phone, and Motorola's claimed battery life. Battery TDMA phone Analog phone Small NiCd 4-5 hours 8+ hours Small NMh 8-10 hours 12-20 hours Large NMh 18-20 hours 24+ hours If you can afford it, I'm sure that the phone will give you additional talk time when used on a digital connection. I can't afford to talk that long! Now for the *REAL* problem: RFI. When in the digital mode, the phone interferes with every audio system. It causes my Bel radar detector to indicate reception of a Ka band signal (34+ Ghz). It causes noise in my CD player, in my car's amplifier, on all home telephone handsets (wired AND cordless). I suspect that it is due to the transmitter turning on and off at a regular rate; even though it is an FM signal, it appears as a low frequency AM, square wave modulated signal. Nasty. At least I can tell when I am in a digital area (my radar detector goes off). I'm sure that the quality problems will be resolved, eventually. But for now, TDMA phones are NOT the way to go. I'm looking forward to trying the CMDA phones, when they are available in my area. Dave Rand Internet: dlr@daver.bungi.com ------------------------------ From: david@hebron.connected.com (Uncle Waldo) Subject: Looking for Employment Date: Thu, 17 Feb 1994 23:58:37 -0800 Organization: Connected INC -- Internet Services Hello, I just got out of the Army and have been looking for a job in the communications field. I am a hard and loyal worker capable of working under stress and multiple jobs at once. I pick up on concepts and methods of operation quickly. Well, to get to the point before I bore you. Below is my resume please look it over and if you have any information that may help in my job search or a possible job offer of any sort, please e-mail me. Thanks, David J. Rockafellow 3922 S.E. Salmonberry Rd. rock@cadillac.asd.sgi.com Port Orchard, Wa. 98366 david@hebron.connected.com (206) 871-3864/5206 exspc@nctsemh-puget.navy.mil OBJECTIVE: * A position in the communications field with the opportunity for advancement based on job performance. EXPERIENCE: Network Management * Overall management of the transmission network. * Co-authored policies and procedures for operators within the network. * Radio spectrum management. Network Engineering * Engineered transmission backbone for tactical telephone networks. * Planed, coordiniated, and created network diagrams. * Briefed Brigade Commander and visiting dignitaries on system operation and status. * Engineered troposcatter and line of sight UHF and SHF radio systems. * Coordinated satellite access requests. Network and Systems Maintainence * Analyzed problems, and repaired or coordinated major repairs. * System, board and module level troubleshooting on computer and communications equipment. * Performed site inspections to ensure safty percautions, security measures and derectives were being followed properly. Information Systems Management and Operation * System and LAN Administration. * Taught operation of verious computer information systems and peripheral equipment. Radio Operator / Radio Telephone / Radio Teletype * Installation, operation and maintenance of digital terminals. * Telephone and cable installation. * Installed commercial and tactical antennas and generators. * Ensured communications and physical security procedures were applied. * Interpreted and used circuit routing lists and system traffic diagrams. * Transmitted, received, decoded, relayed, and distributed classified and unclassified documents. * Prepared status reports and accountability documents. * Worked in a net control station. * Performed troubeshooting on AM/FM radio systems and networks. Recognized by executive management for job proficiency and knowledge. Education * Communication Systems Control Element Course 1992 * Tactical Satellite Base Improvement Modification Course 1992 * Single Channel Radio Course 1990 Hobbies * Repeling, Backpacking, theater, amateur radio. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Dear Sir, thank you for submitting your resume, but I think you are overqualified for the positions I have available here. I wish you luck in finding a job. Maybe the local Radio Shack has an opening. PAT] ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V14 #88 *****************************