jorge@arizona.UUCP (Jorge OchoaLions.) (06/28/84)
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to communicate with a TELEX station from a computer running UNIX ? I want to communicate with people who use the TELEX system. I am interested in one-way communications only. Can anyone give me a hint as to how to do this, or is it just not possible ? Jorge OchoaLions University of Arizona Department of Computer Science.
zemon@felix.UUCP (07/02/84)
The easiest way to let your Unix system communicate with
Telex terminals is to subscribe to Western Union
Telegraph's EasyLink system. I just spent a couple of
months learning that this is virtually the only way to do
it effectively (unless you want to lease your own Telex
line and adaptor hardware -- modems won't do it).
If you want to communicate with USA Telex terminals, then I
strongly recommend EasyLink. For international
communication, any of the competitors will probably do just
as well. We have used MCI Mail (alias Western Union
International -- no relation to WU Telegraph) successfully
for international traffic but are very dissatisfied with
the domestic service.
The basic problem is that there are a number of competing
telex communication networks. If you attempt to send mail
to a Telex number, almost everybody *assumes* that the
number is on the Western Union Telegraph network. Routing
messages across networks requires explicit action on the
operator's part and may not work. For instance, Western
Union Telegraph ("real" Telex) subscribers have a lot of
trouble sending messages to MCI Mail (domestically located
Western Union International) telex numbers because the
numbers are too long.
Art Zemon
FileNet Corp.
714/966-2344
...!{ucbvax,decvax}!trwrb!felix!zemon
Telex I: 383902 FILENET CMjohnl@haddock.UUCP (07/03/84)
#R:arizona:-1243100:haddock:16800018:000:946 haddock!johnl Jun 30 08:49:00 1984 There are several vendors that sell Unix - Telex interface packages (we at INTERACTIVE do, for example.) But if you just want to send a few Telex messages now and then, I suspect that your best bet is to sign up for one of the computerized store and forward mail systems that interface to Telex, such as MCI mail or WU Easylink. You communicate with such systems in ASCII via regular modems and phone lines, so either you can use cu, dial out, and type the message by hand, or write a program that automates the process by dialing out, logging in, typing appropriate commands, waiting for prompts, etc. It's pretty cheap, too. I use MCI mail (id JOHNL, write any time) and find that my Telex messages run about $1.00 apiece. Easylink's pricing seems about the same, although Easylink has a monthly minimum usage charge. John Levine, ima!johnl PS: My own personal opinons here, not necessarily those of any organization or sentient being.