goldstein@DELNI.DEC.COM.UUCP (07/30/86)
Whether or not it is possible to have line hunting between lines with
different services is a matter of tariff. New England Telephone's
Rhode Island and New Hampshire tariffs, as I recall, allow residential
measured service only if there is no flat-rate service on site. RI
only allows it if it's the one and only line on the premises -- they
view it as a lifeline option. Mass., on the other hand, views it as
a perfectly normal option so there are no restrictions on mixing measured
($5.25/month including $2 CALC) with, say, Bay State East or Metropolitan.
The Mass. tariff is full of complex options which you can mix and match.
For example, there's: Measured, Contiguous, Suburban, Metropolitan,
Circle, Bay State East, Extended Community Calling. Not all in all
places, though.
Re: The Novation modem is a blue box? Having just read "Hackers" by
Steven Levy (hey, it's in paperback), I can pass along the tidbit that
the AppleCat modem was designed by none other than John Draper, a.k.a.
Captain Crunch, the notorious and compulsive phone phreak. He knew
exactly what he was doing! Great hack, though. I wonder if I can
get one to work with my PDT-11.
Someone mentioned that MF is common on customer premises because of
DID service. Not true, at least in the US of A! There is no readily
available telco service that uses MF signaling in CPE. PBXs don't
have MF registers or outpulsers. DID service is usually rotary pulse
only, because that works when the line is split prior to answer supervision.
The CO to PBX talk path only opens up when there's an answer and the call
is billed. The PBX to CO direction is always open in order to pass
ringback or intercept, which are free (unsupervised). DTMF (Touch-tone)
is now available for DID, but the PBX has to promise not to cheat.
MF is not used, period. MF is used on Centrex to Centrex tie lines,
but not on Centrex to PBX tie lines, since that would hit the customer
premise. Phone companies are a bit paranoid about MF, I guess.
fred