Steve Forrette <forrette@cory.berkeley.edu> (06/04/91)
Tim Irvin writes: > What is really strange (off the subject -- sorry Pat), is that any of > these numbers gets a recording (in fact any unused number in the area) > that says, "The number you have reached X-X-X X-X-X-X is being checked > for trouble, please try your call again later." This was a problem > when I was giving a friend my new number, but I gave him the wrong > number, and he tried to reach me for over a week, continually getting > " ...checked for trouble...". He finally called DA and discovered he > had the wrong number. Does anyone have ideas as to how to get these types of problems resolved? I've tried in vain on a couple of occasions to get Pacific Bell to fix wrong recordings or other minor CO trouble, and Repair Service seems very uninterested. At first, they can't understand the problem, and resort to "we just tested your line, and didn't find anything wrong." Once I convince them that it's not "in my line", they take the report, the ticket soon gets cleared, and the problem is still there. I've all but given up. During my recent move, there was a half-day delay between my old service disconnect and the referral starting to work. In the meantime, the "... is being checked for trouble, please try your call again later" recording was active. Since I receive business calls on that line, I was somewhat disappointed at this situation. A call to the business office revealed that this was quite normal. A very poor standard practice, I would say. Steve Forrette, forrette@cory.berkeley.edu
"Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr" <TERRY@spcvxa.bitnet> (06/05/91)
In article <telecom11.425.14@eecs.nwu.edu>, forrette@cory.berkeley.edu (Steve Forrette) writes: > Does anyone have ideas as to how to get these types of problems > resolved? I've tried in vain on a couple of occasions to get Pacific > Bell to fix wrong recordings or other minor CO trouble, and Repair > Service seems very uninterested. At first, they can't understand the > problem, and resort to "we just tested your line, and didn't find > anything wrong." Once I convince them that it's not "in my line", > they take the report, the ticket soon gets cleared, and the problem is > still there. I've all but given up. For over a year (from the day the exchange was activated), the 201-915 1A ESS had garbled messages. For example, dialing an invalid number would give a very noisy recording: "Your call cannot be com<splssstttthhh>as in the system." At first, I thought this was due to a Centrex configuration - the "not in the system" message was used for unassigned extensions. However, I tried it from a 915 coin station, and had the same problem. Repeated calls to repair failed to clear it. Finally, I called the person in charge of configuration on the switch and __he__ couldn't get it fixed. Finally he had them change something in the switch hardware and we now have clean (and LOUD!) messages that make sense. The unassigned extension message is now "We're sorry, your call can not be completed as dialed. Please check the number or ask your attendant to help you." I suppose they are reluctant to fix it because there's no revenue loss in a bad recording. Still, you'd think they'd pay some attention to it. Terry Kennedy Operations Manager, Academic Computing terry@spcvxa.bitnet St. Peter's College, US terry@spcvxa.spc.edu (201) 915-9381
Bill Woodcock <woody@ucscb.ucsc.edu> (06/06/91)
Steve Forrette writes: > Does anyone have ideas as to how to get these > types of problems resolved? I've tried in vain on couple of occasions > to get Pacific Bell to fix wrong recordings or other minor CO trouble, > and Repair Service seems very uninterested. At first, they can't > understand the problem, and resort to "we just tested your line, and > didn't find anything wrong." Once I convince them that it's not "in > my line", they take the report, the ticket soon gets cleared, and the > problem is still there. I've all but given up. Your line is almost certainly served out of one of the two switches at 2116 Bancroft. There's an NT DMS100 and an AT&T 1AESS there, and between the two of them, they serve almost all of Berkeley and north Oakland. The phone numbers there are as follows: (reasonably) Techie folks: +1 415 540 1129 Management folks: +1 415 644 7953 Or at least those were the numbers last fall, when I last enjoyed the inestimable pleasure of business dealings with Pac*Bell. <groan> bill.woodcock.iv..woody@ucscb.ucsc.edu 2355.virginia.st..berkeley.ca.94709.1315
Jim Gottlieb <jimmy@denwa.info.com> (06/09/91)
In article <telecom11.433.6@eecs.nwu.edu> TERRY@spcvxa.bitnet (Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr) writes: > For over a year (from the day the exchange was activated), the > 201-915 1A ESS had garbled messages. For example, dialing an invalid > number would give a very noisy recording: > "Your call cannot be com<splssstttthhh>as in the system." > I suppose they are reluctant to fix it because there's no revenue > loss in a bad recording. Still, you'd think they'd pay some attention > to it. One thing I have always admired about the Japanese is their attention to detail. And I think of this every time I hear some garbled telco recording here in the U.S. Because never once have I heard one in Japan. In fact, some of their telco recordings sound absolutely wonderful. Give a call to +81 3 5275 0000. Every time I hear this recording, I'm just blown away. Compare it to _our_ typical disconnect recording. This recording, by the way, comes from KDD, the international carrier, after doing an SS7 lookup to the telco (NTT) and discovering the number is not in service. It is in English and Japanese. I'd be curious to know if it is given in different languages depending on what country it is being dialed from (maybe in German and Japanese when dialed from Germany?).
trebor> (06/11/91)
jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) writes: > This recording, by the way, comes from KDD, the international carrier, > after doing an SS7 lookup to the telco (NTT) and discovering the > number is not in service. It is in English and Japanese. IDC, one of the other international carriers, has many nice little features too. Usually you dial 0061 to access IDC. But you can also dial 0062, make your call, and after it is over the IDC billing computer will call you back and tell you the length and cost of your call -- free! There are other 006X prefixes that do things like third party billing. IDC also sends you monthly itemized bills if you want them, and they are bilingual. I've never been disappointed with their service, and, unlike KDD, they seem to be using all digital cables (including the new pacific fiber cables) with no satellite links at all. The connections are totally crystal clear. I call my mom in North Carolina from Tokyo and she thinks I'm at the gas station around the corner. Robert J. Woodhead, Biar Games / AnimEigo, Incs. trebor@foretune.co.jp