David Gast <gast@cs.ucla.edu> (06/21/91)
I called a friend of mine who lived in one of the dorms at UCLA last school year the other night. I called on Sunday and the quarter ended on Friday so I expected to get an intercept like "The number you dialed is not in service ..." and I was hoping "the new number is ..." Instead I got connected to new tenants. I am not sure if it was the same room number, but it was the same dorm (I asked). Less than one business day is way too quick in my opinion. The only reasonable explanation would be that the old tenants forgot to cancel their phone service or that GTE was slow in processing it. Otherwise it is substandard service from our beloved GTE. David
Linc Madison <linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu> (06/22/91)
In article <telecom11.475.3@eecs.nwu.edu> David (gast@cs.ucla.edu) writes: > I called a friend of mine who lived in one of the dorms at UCLA last > school year the other night. I called on Sunday and the quarter ended > on Friday so I expected to get an intercept like "The number you > dialed is not in service ..." and I was hoping "the new number is ..." > Instead I got connected to new tenants. I am not sure if it was the > same room number, but it was the same dorm (I asked). It was almost certainly the same room number. In any situation where you have a Centrex or PBX for a college dormitory, the assignment of a number to a given line is almost etched in stone. Extension 1234 is and always has been and always will be Room 321 in Unit IV. In order to provide the intercept and such, they would have to reserve more than twice as many telephone numbers in a block. (All numbers in Berkeley prefixes 642 and 643 are reserved for the University of California. They would need to reserve at least two more prefixes to have intercepts.) That's because, when you move the entire student body off campus, or to new rooms for the new year, you would have to take half the numbers out of circulation. There just aren't enough numbers. Actually, I had a problem my senior year in college because of exactly the reverse situation: for no reason whatsoever, New Jersey Bell arbitrarily changed the number for the room I was moving into. Since I knew that the number was suppsed to be 4-0732, that's what I told my friends and family. Since the University knew that the number was supposed to be 4-0732, that's what they published in the student directory. It turns out that they swapped that line with 4-0372 (note the transposed digits), with the same effect on the people who were supposed to have *that* number. I have no idea how many calls I lost that year. Linc Madison = linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu = ucbvax!tongue1!linc
David Albert <albert@das.harvard.edu> (06/22/91)
In article <telecom11.475.3@eecs.nwu.edu> David Gast writes: > I called a friend of mine who lived in one of the dorms at UCLA last > school year the other night....Instead I got connected to new tenants. > Less than one business day is way too quick in my opinion. The only > reasonable explanation would be that the old tenants forgot to cancel > their phone service or that GTE was slow in processing it. No; at Harvard, the dorm phone numbers are permanently assigned to the rooms. You can only get one phone line in each room, and if you move out then whoever moves in gets the same number. Intercept recordings are unheard of -- they won't put one on the line even if the room is unoccupied for a period of time. David Albert UUCP: harvard!albert INTERNET: albert@harvard.edu
David Gast <gast@cs.ucla.edu> (06/26/91)
After reading my mail and the messages in the Digest, I think I should explain the phone system in the dorms at UCLA. I guess I should have explained earlier some of the features. Unlike the most of the other schools I know about, the dorms are not part of a centrex system. In addition, they do not have a PBX. The particular number I was calling, was in 213-209-XXXX. The University uses 231-825 (825 = UCL as in UCLA) and 213-206. It is not possible to reach any of the dorm rooms from University phones without dialing 9 (and getting an outside line) or depositing twenty cents (from a payphone). People who wish to get phone service contact GTE; they do not contact UCLA. In addition, they must pay standard rates. (Actually, I have seen GTE personnel take advantage of students and charge them *more* than they should be charged -- for example, by requiring rental of telephones -- but that is another story, which has already been reported to the Digest). Now it does turn out that GTE and UCLA have some sort of agreement whereby a given phone number is always connected to a given room. At least GTE claims this; the telecommunications office at UCLA said that the university was not involved. I am not surprised that GTE and UCLA would conspire to give students inferior service. I would also not be surprised if UCLA does not know what it is doing or if this agreement is only a vapor-contract. The person at GTE told me that UCLA handles the interior wires in the dorms. How much do you want to bet that they sell the interior wiring plan to students even though GTE would never have to come out? The person at GTE said that because the phone numbers are reassigned to the same room numbers, then it is not necessary to come out to the dorm and move wires around to set up service. I pointed out that there is a digital switch and that to set up service, GTE merely has to type a few commands at the computer and everything is set up. She agreed. (Note: Initiation of service charges are not reduced). I still believe that not providing an interrupt is substandard service. The students pay the same fee to hook up service even though less work is required. The students pay the same fee for telephone service -- they do not get a discount. Therefore they should be entitled to an interrupt. Someone mentioned that telephone numbers are running out. True, but 200 numbers would not make a big difference. (I am estimating that there are 200 rooms in the dorms). Anyway, it would be better to reduce the telemarketers phone numbers :-) (There are lots of telemarketers in the area). Also, if person X lives in an apartment, s/he gets an intercept when s/he moves out. Why should person Y living in a dorm, pay the same amount and not get an intercept? One reason may be that if you call a number and get an intercept, you don't have to pay for the call; if you call a number that has been reassigned immediately, you have to pay for the call. Thus, the phone company gets some additional revenue while providing substandard service. I was able to determine from GTE that the previous tenants did have their phone service turned off. BTW, Linc Madison wrote about his experiences his senior year. I had similar troubles my senior year at the same university. David Gast
Andy Jacobson <IZZYAS1@mvs.oac.ucla.edu> (06/28/91)
In TELECOM Digest V11 #490, David Gast <gast@cs.ucla.edu> writes: > The particular number I was calling, was in 213-209-XXXX. The > University uses 231-825 (825 = UCL as in UCLA) and 213-206. It is not > possible to reach any of the dorm rooms from University phones without > dialing 9 (and getting an outside line) or depositing twenty cents > (from a payphone). Now you might note that for some reason the 209 prefix is reserved for UCLA residence halls, and some few offices in the Westwood Federal Building. The two prefixes in the local CO in Westwood that are assigned to residential and businesses in the area are 824 and 208. (Another prefix 443 has just recently shown up but only on new payphones on the UCLA campus.) While space on the 208 and 824 prefixes is certainly at a premium, I think the usage of the 209 prefix is almost entirely static. > Someone mentioned that telephone numbers are running out. True, but > 200 numbers would not make a big difference. (I am estimating that > there are 200 rooms in the dorms). I think you're way off. I don't have an exact number but there are well over 200 rooms in each of the buildings. I would think the total number is probably more than ten times that. > People who wish to get phone service contact GTE; they do not contact > UCLA. In addition, they must pay standard rates. > Now it does turn out that GTE and UCLA have some sort of agreement > whereby a given phone number is always connected to a given room. At > least GTE claims this; the telecommunications office at UCLA said that > the university was not involved. I am not surprised that GTE and UCLA > would conspire to give students inferior service. I would also not be > surprised if UCLA does not know what it is doing or if this agreement > is only a vapor-contract. > The person at GTE said that because the phone numbers are reassigned to > the same room numbers, then it is not necessary to come out to the > dorm and move wires around to set up service. I pointed out that > there is a digital switch and that to set up service, GTE merely has > to type a few commands at the computer and everything is set up. She > agreed. (Note: Initiation of service charges are not reduced). I think you will find this to be one of several standard arrangements that phone companies have set up at educational institutions. I've seen it done several different ways, but at the many schools I have seen, this one is quite prevalent.I have come in direct contact with this system when I was once an undergraduate at Lake Forest College (in Illinois). Illinois Bell had the exact same arrangement there with sequential numbers permanently assigned to rooms, etc. I had a number in Lake Forest that I wanted to have in the dorm room I was assigned. IBT refused, and gave me all sorts of excuses, similar to the ones you cite above, why the permanently assigned numbers had to stay, which I cut through like butter. They finally said that I could have my number (and only this once, ever) if I got written permission from the dean of students. When I spoke to the dean, he was surprised about the whole thing, but seemed to recall some silliness from IBT about their insistence on doing things with sequential numbers. He didn't care at all though, and immediately gave me permission. The IBT rep (case worker) was livid! A visit to the Highland Park IBT office to put down a deposit for the service (normally not required), and several days of no phone service later, I finally got my number. I was informed though that I would never be able to have that number again once I moved, and that it would be permanently assigned to that room. As of four years later it still was. > I still believe that not providing an interrupt is substandard > service. The students pay the same fee to hook up service even though > less work is required. The students pay the same fee for telephone > service -- they do not get a discount. Therefore they should be > entitled to an interrupt. Listen, nobody gets a referral out of GTE around here unless they absolutely demand it. Many times I have gotten into heated arguments with the service reps over this. If you do get a referral, its 30 days maximum. I have gotten 60 days but only after demanding to speak to a supervisor and threatening to bring the PUC into it. Yes, these guys are shysters, they want to *charge* money for it. One thing that GTE can claim, and IBT did, is that the room will soon be occupied by a student over summer (whether it will or not), and thus they can't give you a referral when the line will be back in use right away anyway. At Lake Forest College, they didn't put any message on, the number would just ring (even though the loop was dead). A. Jacobson <izzyas1@mvs.oac.ucla.edu>
Michael VanNorman <tuttle@world.std.com> (06/30/91)
gast@cs.ucla.edu (David Gast) writes: > I called a friend of mine who lived in one of the dorms at UCLA last > school year the other night. I called on Sunday and the quarter ended > on Friday so I expected to get an intercept like "The number you > dialed is not in service ..." and I was hoping "the new number is ..." > Instead I got connected to new tenants. I am not sure if it was the > same room number, but it was the same dorm (I asked). I used to live in the dorms at UCLA and discovered that the phone numbers are assigned permanently to each room. If you think about it, it does help GTE on data entry. The only thing they need to change about the billing is the name. The account number (phone number) and address are always the same. With the high turnover rate in the dorms it probably adds up. Mike