TELECOM Digest     Tue, 28 Jun 94 04:35:00 CDT    Volume 14 : Issue 301

Inside This Issue:                           Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Bidding War For - Western Union ?! (James H. Haynes)
    MCI Used NEXTSTEP For "Friends and Family" Campaign (Robert La Ferla)
    AT&T, Paris and Freedom (Jean-Bernard Condat)
    NYNEX 1+10D; EasyReach 700 International (Jeffrey W. McKeough)
    Need New ESN For my Cellphone (Douglas Reuben)
    Trunk Switch Bypass Device Needed (Leroy Casterline)
    Africa Email via X.25? (Ed Moore)
    TELECOM 95 Space Available (Jerry Skene)
    Industry Numbering Committee to Meet (Greg Monti)
    International Calls to Taiwan; Sometimes System Says "Not Valid" (R.
Casey)
    Looking For Cell Phone Parts (gleason@mwk.com)
    How to Put '*' in Phone Number (Modem) (Henry Alan Segal)
    Washington Post Article (Stephen Goodman)
    (Very) Sorry Wrong (800) Number (Dave Thompson)
    Re: O.J. Simpson Case (David G. Cantor)
    Re: O.J. Simpson Case (TELECOM Digest Editor)

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----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: haynes@cats.ucsc.edu (James H. Haynes)
Subject: Bidding War For - Western Union ?!
Date: 28 Jun 1994 05:20:22 GMT
Organization: University of California, Santa Cruz


Item in the Sunday paper says two companies, First Data Corp. and
Forstmann Little & Co. are bidding for Western Union.  First Data is
described as an information-and-transaction-processing company that
transfers money.  Forstmann Little & Co. is a leveraged buyout firm.
First Data bid $896 million, Forstmann Little bid $951 million, and
First Data added $65 million to its bid.  A bankruptcy court judge
ruled friday that the company will be auctioned in September.  (Get
your bid in by Sept 2.)

"Millions of people in the United States do not have bank accounts.
Western Union, now 144 years old, wires money out of town for them and
sells them money orders."  Western Union Financial controls estimated
90% of the money-transfer business, took in about $400 million last
year.  (I guess that means the retail money-transfer business.  First
Data transfers money between bank accounts.)

"Western Union created New Valley in 1991 and transferred all debt to
it.  [Some of us prefer to call it New Abyss.]  New Valley, based in
Paramus, N.J. went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in 1993."  -


haynes@cats.ucsc.edu

------------------------------

From: Robert La Ferla <Robert_La_Ferla@hot.com>
Subject: MCI Used NEXTSTEP For "Friends and Family" Campaign
Reply-To: Robert La Ferla <Robert_La_Ferla@hot.com>
Organization: Hot Technologies
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 04:46:34 GMT


I just got back from NEXTSTEP Expo where Steve Jobs mentioned in his
keynote that MCI was able to steal tens of millions of customers away
from it's competitors using a custom billing application developed
under NEXTSTEP.  He said that the object oriented NEXTSTEP gave MCI an
18 month jump on it's rivals.  He also demonstrated an application
(similar if not the MCI one) and I must say it was quite impressive.
A marketing manager could send electronic mail with a "business
object" (in this case a new marketing campaign) and the sales staff
could simply drag it out of the mail application and drop it into the
marketing application - the application would instantly have the
"smarts" about "Friends and Family" or whatever the new campaign was.
Incredible stuff.  He said that "Enterprise Objects" is the most
important innovation that NeXT has produced since they designed
"NEXTSTEP" itself.


Robert La Ferla    Hot Technologies
Registered NEXTSTEP Developer and Consultant
Robert_La_Ferla@hot.com

------------------------------

From: JeanBernard_Condat@Email.FranceNet.FR (JeanBernard Condat)
Organization: FranceNet
Reply-To: JeanBernard_Condat@Email.FranceNet.FR
Subject: AT&T, Paris and Freedom
Date: 28 Jun 1994 07:22:36 GMT


PARIS, France - June 27, 1994 18:30-22:00. AT&T salutes the one thing
that brings people together better than we do.

                            Freedom.

Yesterday, I was invited to look at 'a sound sculpture for the Arc de
Triomphe by Bill Fontana' in Paris.

" This sound sculpture sponsored by the French Ministry of Culture, the
City of Paris and AT&T includes three installations relating to the
visual and aural experience of the Arc de Triomphe in the pedestrian
access tunnels, at ground level, and on the observation level. In the
pedestrian tunnels, the sound of the sea creates an acoustical passage
for the traffic island as a sound island.  On ground level, the same
sound serves as a white sound to transform and hide the traffic noise
occuring in the immense traffic circle. On the observation level where
visitors have a panoramic view of Paris, an installation explores the
idea of hearing as far as one can see, acoustically viewing Paris.

" The Arc de Triomphe is part of one of the most dramatic visual perspective 
in Paris, being in the axis defined by the Pyramide at the Louvre and
La Defense. Visitors standing on the upper observation level have
dramatic panoramic views of Paris."

                  --------------------

I invite all the reader of this message to appreciate during the next
holidays in France, the Arc de Triomphe of Place de l'Etoile and to
drink a beer on the Champs-Elysees without the poor Bill Fontana'
sculpture and the English-written AT&T Direct Services publicity.
Phone me directly with your "AT&T Calling Card" to +331 47874083, ok?


Jean-Bernard Condat  
Chaos Computer Club France
47 rue des Rosiers, 93400 St-Ouen, France
Phone: +331 47874083, Fax: +331 49450129
Email: JeanBernard_Condat@email.FranceNet.FR

------------------------------

From: jwm@student.umass.edu (Jeffrey W. McKeough)
Subject: NYNEX 1+10D; EasyReach 700 International
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 03:36:02 -0400


Last Friday seems to have marked the end of the permissive dialing
period in the 413 NPA.  Since then, all intraLATA calls outside my
local calling area must be dialed 1-413-NXX-XXXX.  This includes calls
that were formerly seven digits, which I hadn't expected from what I
had read.  One nice side-effect of this is that seven-digit calls are
now entirely local (and included in my basic service fee), while all
toll calls are now dialed via 1+.  Having used a similar setup at
UMass/Amherst, where local calls were 9 + 7D, and toll calls required
use of a security code, I grew to like the reminder that the call I
was dialing was in fact a toll call.

Monday marked the beginning of International calls via AT&T EasyReach.
When I entered the forwarding menu, I was told to enter AC + seven
digits for a domestic number, and 011 + Number (it didn't specify
Country Code, City Code, etc.) for international numbers.  The help
menu indicated that if I forwarded to an AT&T World Connect Country,
all US and World Connect calls would be forwarded.  If I forwarded to
a non-World Connect country, only US calls would be forwarded.


Jeffrey W. McKeough    jwm@student.umass.edu

------------------------------

From: dreuben@netcom.com (Cid Technologies)
Subject: Need New ESN For my Cellphone
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 00:59:49 PDT


My old Audiovox CMT-450 is in the shop - after five years it stopped
working and shows "NO SVC" even in excellent coverage areas. Audiovox
is going to tell me how much it will cost to fix (I can't wait till
they see the Novatel ESN in there and ask me why I have a 142/Novatel
ESN instead of a 138/Audiovox one! ;) )

So I may need to get a new phone. However, in the past, I've sent my
phones out to get them cloned, and although generally reliable, it
takes a week and I have to lay out like $200 *each* for the process,
so that I can have a variety of phones for differing situations, all
with the same number(s). (But never on at the same time, of course ...)

Is there any shop or service provider out there who will burn a chip
for me if I give them the proper ESN? I can easily put the new chip in
the phone myself, and thus save on the cost and time of not having my
phone.

I'd like to get all my phones onto one ESN, and if I do get a new
phone I don't want to send all three (or four, depending on how much
Audiovox wants to fix the old CMT-450) phones away and pay $800 to do
the ESN changes.

Obviously I'd like a reputable place, and I'd be glad to substantiate
that I am the TRUE owner of the phone, ie, provide sales receipts,
etc., so that no one suspects that I am trying to commit cell fraud by
cloning other people's phones. (Although this would be a really dumb
and slow way to do it, and most cell fraud criminals have phones which
they can just put whatever ESN they want into ... Hey, actually, I'd
like a phone like that, but for my own legitimate purposes...)

So if anyone knows of a place where I can call in an ESN and a
manufacturer's model, send some sales receipts or something, and have
them mail me a new chip, PLEASE save me $800 and let me know! :)


Thanks in advance,

Doug CID Technologies (203) 499 - 5221

------------------------------

From: casterli@csn.org (Leroy Casterline)
Subject: Trunk Switch Bypass Device Needed
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 21:06:54 -0600
Organization: Cahill Casterline Limited
Reply-To: casterli@csn.org


Hello once again, telecom experts!

I am looking for a device that I can use on a multi-line PC-based
switch to bypass the switch in the event of a malfunction.  The PC
goes between the CO and the PBX on several trunks, so bypass in the
event of failure is important.

I'd like the bypass to operate in a 'watchdog' mode, where I send it
confirmation every few seconds that I am alive and working, presumably
via an RS-232 port.  In the event that I stopped 'tickling' the port,
it would switch the CO line directly to the PBX, bypassing my PC-based
system.

Ideally, the bypass device would be intelligent enough to switch each
line individually, and could be set to NOT switch a line while it
carried loop current, waiting for loop current to cease before
switching that particular line.  Lines which carried no loop current
would be switched immediately.  I need to handle between 12 and 48
lines (on each side of the PC box) per installation.


What I have now:

                 -------------------
                 |                 |
    CO  ---------| PC-based Switch |--------- PBX
                 |                 |
                 -------------------


What I'd like:

                 -------------------
                 |                 |
    CO  ---------|-| - - - - - - |-|--------- PBX
               --| |    Bypass   | |
              |  -------------------
      RS-232  |    |             |
      Control |    |             |
      Line    |  -------------------
              |  |                 |
               --| PC-based Switch |
                 |                 |
                 -------------------


Thank you for your kind assistance.


Leroy Casterline   Cahill Casterline Limited
303/484-2212       casterli@csn.org

------------------------------

From: edmoore@vcd.hp.com (Ed Moore)
Subject: Africa Email via X.25?
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 1994 03:32:17 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard VCD


Friends of mine will soon move to Togo (West Africa).  We are
exploring possibilities for them to establish email service.  In
another forum I'm discussing the email services available locally in
Africa.  Togo also has international X.25/X.28 service.  My extremely
limited knowledge of X.25 comes from hearing people talk about TYMNET
and SPRINTNet, plus one paragraph in the O'Reilly book "Connecting to
the Internet."  I have no idea what X.28 is.

1) What kinds of email service providers in the US could be reached via
   X.25/X.28?  I saw something that said MCIMail is reachable. 
   Probably CompuServe.  One site in Togo runs UUCP over X.25.  Should
   I expect to find US Internet service providers who provide UUCP
   accounts, who are reachable via X.25?

2) This is the scenario I believe to be true.  My friend calls a phone
   number in Togo to connect to X.25.  I presume he logs in with a user
   ID and password.  Then it seems he must identify what remote system
   he wants to connect to.  That system prompts for another login.  So
   he uses a standard, voice grade phone line to get to the X.25 entry
   point.  What is the advantage of using X.25 to reach outside the
   country rather than continuing the call through ordinary voice grade
   phone lines?  Clarity, cost?

Thanks for any help you can give me.


Ed Moore   Hewlett-Packard
Vancouver, WA, USA   edmoore@vcd.hp.com

------------------------------

From: Jerry Skene <jskene@delphi.com>
Subject: TELECOM 95 Space Available
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 94 16:49:03 -0500
Organization: Delphi (info@delphi.com email, 800-695-4005 voice)


  ---------------Telecom 95 space available.--------------------
 
If your company would be interested in having access to a fully
appointed presentation room in the USA pavilion of Telecom 95
in Geneva next year, read on.
 
We have two conference rooms which will be available to other
companies for daily presentations or meetings. These rooms seat 16
people, and have video/slide projector, etc. Connection to PC or
videoconference lines would also be possible.
 
If your company cannot provide sufficient meeting space on your own
stand, or you are on the long waiting list for exhibit space, or
cannot afford a dedicated booth at Telecom, this would be an ideal way
to ensure your company of a presence at this large and prestigious
international telecommunications exhibition.
 
If you are interested, please send me an Email to discuss.

 
jskene@delphi.com

------------------------------

From: Greg Monti <GMONTI@npr.org>
Subject: Industry Numbering Committee to Meet
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 17:51:59 EDT


The June 24, 1994 issue of {Communications Daily} notes that the
Telephone Industry Numbering Committee will meet July 24-29.  Among
the topics to be considered: personal communications system (PCS)
number portability, assignment of 800-555 numbers and assignment
guidelines for interchangeable area codes that no longer use 1 or 0 as
the second digit.  The story shows the contact for TINC to be Ron
Havens, 913-634-6881.  The meeting will be held in Toronto.


Greg Monti, Tech Mgr, FISPO, Distribution Division
National Public Radio          Phone:    202 414-3343
635 Massachusetts Av NW        Fax:      202 414-3036
Washington, DC  20001-3753     Internet: gmonti@npr.org

------------------------------

From: wa2ise@netcom.com (Robert Casey)
Subject: Int'l Calls to Taiwan; Sometimes System Says "Not Valid"
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login:
guest)
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 02:52:19 GMT


Called a friend in Taiwan lately, in the middle of the call, the line
cuts out.  (Backround noise went to zero, nothing unusual, as this
happens when he's not talking, but this pause was longer.  When I got
no response, then I knew the connection was lost), OK, no biggie, it
happens.  Called the number again, got an error message saying that I
had dialed a non-valid international number.  Tried again, same
message.  After trying several times in around 20 minutes, the call
went thru, and had my friend back.  He says the same thing would
happen when he (when living in the USA) tried to call his family from
USA to Taiwan.  He'd end up waiting a day or so before the problem
would clear.  He says telephone service in Taiwan is not too reliable.
But why did the telephone system say that I dialed a not valid
international number, and not say "lines to Taiwan are down now, try
later"?  Also, do they still have analog lines from here to there?  I
would have thought everything's digital now?  Or is the Taiwan phone
system noisy?

------------------------------

From: Lee K. Gleason <gleason@MWK.COM>
Subject: Looking For Cell Phone Parts
Date: 27 Jun 94 23:06:53 CST
Organization: M. W. Kellogg, Houston TX


I'm looking for a mail order source for cell phone parts such as
power cords and antennae, for my Panasonic TP-500.

The local stores charge proces for parts that are beyond outrageous
 ... anyone know of a source for this stuff?


Lee K. Gleason N5ZMR   Control-G Consultants   gleason@mwk.com

------------------------------

From: segalh@ecf.toronto.edu (SEGAL  HENRY ALAN)
Subject: How to Put '*' in Phone Number (Modem) 
Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 02:20:00 -0400


I have call waiting on my line, and if a call comes in when I am using
the line for my modem, it causes a disruption, sometimes logging me
out.

The solution is to dial *67 (I may have that wrong, but I know what it
is) before the phone number.  Now, I am using Procomm, and it doesn't
accept the '*' character.  Is it just the software?  Is there an
alternative code I can use?


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In most telecom jurisdictions, the asterisk
can be replaced with '11', as in 'eleven' -- not 'one, one' (to the dismay
of some puritans, although you accomplish dialing 'eleven' by pressing the
digit '1' twice in a row, granted. That is to say, '1167' will generally
be accepted in lieu of *67.  In fact, 11-anything generally can be used
in place of *-anything if you are using Procomm or have one of those very
old *ten* button touchtone sets where there is nothing on either side of
the zero key.  Try it on your phone and see.   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Stephen Goodman <0003945654@mcimail.com>
Subject: Washington Post Article on Free Access Wanted
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 94 10:41:00 EST


The {Washington Post} had a story on either the 6/22 or 6/23 edition on
page 1 about how Maryland is offering Free Internet access.  Is this
article available online?  Does anyone have a copy of it they can either
post on the Digest or send to me?  I'm curious to read it.

Thanks!


Stephen_Goodman@MCIMail.com

------------------------------

From: Thompson, Dave <davet@fpg.logica.com>
Subject: (Very) Sorry Wrong (800) Number
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 94 16:49:00 PDT


{Network World} June 20 1994 page 2 has a "Correction" to an item June
6 page 2 about Bell Atlantic announcing new AIN features for 1-800
subscribers, with the subhead "Dial 1-800-OPTIONS".  The correction
says this "was believed to be a fictitious 800 number ... [but] is
actually in service by another company and should not be used ....
[For Bell Atlantic use] (703) 974-4507."  Oops!  I wonder if they
actually tested it -- or maybe it's for an area that doesn't include
their location (probably Framingham MA)?

Come to think of it, is there a standard or convention for the
intercept you get if you dial a 1-800 number from outside its
subscribed area (or any of the areas for a geographically reused
"local" number), as opposed to one not in service at all? I carefully
follow the instructions given (sometimes approaching "from CONUS,
PR/VI, and Ontario, except NYC and Ossining, dial ..." ;} so I've
never paid attention to this behavior!


Dave Thompson, davet@fpg.logica.com
Logica North America, +1 617-890-7730


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: "I'm sorry, the number you have dialed cannot
be reached from your calling area. This is a recording, <switch ID>."   PAT]

------------------------------

From: David G. Cantor <dgc@ccrwest.org>
Subject: Re: O.J. Simpson Case
Reply-To: dgc@math.ucla.edu
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 21:25:57 -0700


In TELECOM Digest, Mon, 27 Jun 94, Volume 14, Issue 300, Robert L.
McMillin, in an article full of opinion, makes a number of comments
about the O. J. Simpson case.  Frankly, I don't see what the O. J.
Simpson case has to do with telecommunications (except, perhaps that
it was reported over telecommunications media).  Moreover, his posting
has numerous minor, but significant, errors.

For example, he refers, twice, to the "Los Angeles City District
Attorney". TELECOM Digest readers should be aware that the City of
Los Angeles doesn't have a District Attorney.  Gil Garcetti, the
person to whom he is referring, is the Los Angeles COUNTY District
Attorney.

The difference between Los Angeles County and Los Angeles City is not
trivial.  While the City is the largest of over 80 cities in the
County, the population of the County is roughly three times that of
the City.  Los Angeles City does have an elected City Attorney who
handles, among other things, misdemeanor matters in the City.

As another example, McMillin refers to "the municipal courts building
in Santa Monica (or Beverly Hills)" as if one of those places is where
the case will be heard.  The case is, in fact, being tried in the Van
Nuys SUPERIOR Court, the same Court in which the Menendez case was,
and continues to be, heard.


David G. Cantor    Department of Mathematics     
University of California at Los Angeles   dgc@math.ucla.edu

------------------------------

From: TELECOM Digest Editor <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 1994 21:08:46 CDT
Subject: Re: O.J. Simpson Case


In article <telecom14.300.8@eecs.nwu.edu> I noted:

> Idiots are everywhere it seems; people were at the house the other day 
> trying to snatch up any bloody souveniers they could find; bits of the
> carpet, etc. One fellow had a carpet-cutting tool with him to remove a bit
> of the carpet. They in turn were arrested for trespassing; probably none of
> them have any idea what they did wrong. 

Someone reading this mentioned to me that when the 'Los Angeles' crashed and
burned in 193<mumble>, souvenier hunters swarmed over the site snatching
up anything they could, including the captain's Naval Academy ring (which
was still attached to his cold dead finger). 

There seems to be nothing new under the sun, but sometimes I forget what
all is under the sun to begin with. How's this one for exquisite taste
and fine citizenship?  A couple days ago a woman on the west side of
Chicago was crossing the street pushing her shopping cart full of whatever
she had purchased and leading her four year old daughter by the hand.
A car swerves out of control and heads straight at her. She had the presence
of mind to shove her daughter out of the way in the nick of time but she
wound up getting hit by the car (with her daughter safely to the side) and
her shopping cart overturned in the street. As she laid there unable to
get up and unconscious, passers-by on the sidewalk came out into the 
street -- not to help her, mind you -- but to help themselves to the
contents of her shopping cart and her purse which was laying nearby. All
the while, the little girl was trying to protect her mother and telling
people to 'leave us alone'. All of her groceries were stolen as well as
whatever she had in her purse. The paramedics showed up within a couple
minutes or less and hauled her off to the hospital along with the little
girl who by now was totally terrified. 

Like one of my heroes Henry Ward Beecher, I've never believed in the
concept of a place called Hell, but sometimes *I wish I did* because if 
anyone deserves to burn there it would be the nasty, greedy people who
go to the site of disasters (either small personal ones or the more
major type) and pick through the possessions of the helpless victims.
That's life in Chicago and I guess its standard operating procedure for 
some in the City of Angeles as well. Truly, a nation of idiots. 

Thanks to David Cantor for his corrections to McMillin's article yester-
day, but none the less, McMillin's comments are well-taken, at least
by some of us.  PAT]

------------------------------

End of TELECOM Digest V14 #301
******************************

