telecom@ucbvax.UUCP (12/26/85)
Yes, there are some LOCAL trials. Yes, there are specs for collecting such info from CCIS data. But there are also some reasons why widespread availability in any USEFUL form won't be around for quite awhile: 1) In at least one local trial, users could BLOCK their calls from being ID'd. This could only be bypassed by dialing a special code which would record the calling party's number AT THE CO. The info would only be made available if the called party made an official complaint and filed a police report regarding obscene or harrassing calls, and even then the police would get the number, not the called party. There was also a hefty per-use charge for this service. Ya' see, there are interesting privacy issues involved. You may think it's OK for you to get the numbers of everyone who calls you. But do you think it's OK for businesses to COLLECT that info from random inquiry calls and use it to make up telephone "mailing lists" for future advertising, perhaps by automated calling equipment? And exactly WHAT GOOD does getting a random phone number for an obnoxious calling business really do you? Odds are it will be some random trunk on some random unlisted circuit. To DO anything with it, you'd have to file all of the official complaints and paperwork--and in such a case the odds are that YOUR having the number (it's probably a dial-out only trunk anyway, so you can't even call it!) won't do you much more good than if the number was only recorded for official investigative use by the appropriate authorities. But keep in mind, if you can see other people's numbers, they (including businesses) can see yours. And the odds are that the businesses will tend to make much greater use of this info than you as an individual will do. Individuals tend to have simple dialin/out trunks, but businesses, especially telephone solicitation types, tend to have numbers that you CAN'T CALL BACK. You'll have to rely on the authorities to take action-- I hope you like red tape. 2) Before the Bell breakup, I would have predicted widespread CCIS implementation. But with the masses of bizarre carriers, WATS resellers, "tin can and string" operations, etc., I suspect that the number of calls that will not be passing useful calling number information will remain very high. 3) People often suggest that calling party number ID will end obscene and harrassing phone calls. Well, I doubt it, unless we ban pay phones at the same time. --Lauren--
flowers@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU (Margot Flowers) (01/06/86)
In Los Angeles, emergency calls to 911 show up with the caller's address and phone number at a CRT. What kind of set up is used here?
GRUPP@MIT-MC.ARPA ("Paul R. Grupp") (01/06/86)
> Date: Thu, 26-Dec-85 12:56:38 PST > From: vortex!lauren at rand-unix.ARPA (Lauren Weinstein) > > Yes, there are some LOCAL trials. > Yes, there are specs for collecting such info from CCIS data. > > But there are also some reasons why widespread availability in any > USEFUL form won't be around for quite awhile: > > 1) In at least one local trial, users could BLOCK their calls from > being ID'd. ... Just what I want; when calling frends I'll leave it on, when calling buisnesses I'll block it. > 3) People often suggest that calling party number ID will end obscene > and harrassing phone calls. Well, I doubt it, unless we ban pay > phones at the same time. Fine, if someone calls me with a BLOCKED ID my answering machine will get the call, as will calls where the ID doesn't match my "ok list" data base. Now I use an answering machine to screen ALL calls, so at least with IDs people who know me could bypass this by turning on their ID. --Paul
telecom@ucbvax.UUCP (01/12/86)
> In Los Angeles, emergency calls to 911 show up with the caller's address > and phone number at a CRT. What kind of set up is used here? What you are referring to is generally called Enhanced 911 since it provides detailed calling party identification, as opposed to plain old 911 which at best only provided a telephone number. A 911 call is routed to a special central office trunk circuit, with such trunk being similar to that of TSPS, in that the trunk (under attendant control) can hold the calling subscriber seized to the trunk, can re-ring the line, etc. This 911 trunk also has available to it the calling number of the subscriber line which called it; this calling number is sent over a data line to a telephone company data center which maintains a centralized data dase of subscriber line numbers against actual name, address, and possibly other information. The resultant identity data is then sent back (not necessarily by the same route) to the public safety organization where the 911 calls are answered, where it is displayed on a terminal. The general trend is to have centralized data bases on a statewide or LATA-wide basis of subscriber number correlated to name, address, etc., rather than to expect the information to reside in the actual central office where the call originated. This scheme also quiets some concerns of telephone company management about potential abuse of information if were too easily accessed by telephone company personnel; such would be the case if the data base resided in each central office. Most of the Enhanced 911 that has already been implemented has been done so with technical variations in each installation. To a certain extent this is unavoidable, but efforts are being made to standardize the apparatus and method of installation (at least from the standpoint of AT&T Network Systems and AT&T Technologies). One of the great benefits to be derived from standardization is that Enhanced 911 will eventually be available everywhere, with calls routed to the PROPER public safety agency for the address of the calling party; i.e., the telephone company data base will determine to which public service agency the call should be routed. Under these circumstances, a central office will no longer be an arbitrary boundary for the public safety agency answering 911 calls - which is only proper, since a given central office will often serve more than one political subdivision. ==> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York <== ==> UUCP {decvax|dual|rocksanne|rocksvax|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry <== ==> VOICE 716/741-9185 {rice|shell}!baylor!/ <== ==> FAX 716/741-9635 {G1, G2, G3 modes} duke!ethos!/ <== ==> seismo!/ <== ==> "Have you hugged your cat today?" ihnp4!/ <==