goldstein@DEREP.DEC (Fred R. Goldstein) (12/17/85)
I hate to disappoint all of you in telecomland who are so sure that "called number identification service" is impossible or at least unavailable, but it's been in trial for some time low. Called Number ID is one of the elements to Local Area Signalling Services (LASS), which is one of Bellcore's secret weapons to save Centrex, among other things. It's implemented on the 1AESS, and probably soon on 5ESS, if not other COs. A subscriber must, of course, pay for the service -- geegaws like the Telident box are bunko. CNID service works by having a data link from the CO to the customer site. Phone numbers from distant exchanges _within_the_same_LATA_ are also included. No beam-me-up-Scotty technology there, either. The data is sent around using CCIS (Common Channel Interoffice Signalling -- a specialized packet network for telephone signalling). It doesn't cross LATA boundaries yet, but the world's telephone companies are developing a new CCIS called Signalling System #7 whose design is optimized for inter-carrier use. (I've got the CCITT Red Book spec here; it's quite a complex set of protocols.) Part of the CCIS/SS7 message is Calling Number ID. Even if the originating CO is a stepper, today's technology provides CNID capabilities. Most small COs send toll traffic using CAMA (Centralized Automatic Call Accounting), in which the calling number is sent in-band to the toll office for billing. With LASS, the toll office sends this along. Calling Number ID is one of the services which is standarized in ISDN, which in turn relies on SS7 for interoffice signalling. Obscene phone callers should stay away from the Florida LATA where the trials are going on, and with widespread ISDN trials by 1987, who knows?
FTD%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA ("David D. Story") (12/23/85)
What a pile of crap. Forwarding ID's will stand up in court about the same as collecting evidence on illegal wiretaps. Does't mean that the tappers can't pull a trap to jail function either ! Nor your friendly Arpa people that like to verify (with sheepskin airbags) the authenticity of such garbage. So go read it again and communications law. I suggest that you try the 25 volumes of FCC code then try the rest of constitutional law governing federal and state regulations. EVIL