mis@uunet.uu.net> (05/08/91)
I am curious (yellow) about * prefixed calls on cellular phones. Has anyone got a list? Are they uniform across service providers? (fat chance) ... I noticed that some of the California providers have traffic information lines, etc. Doug Reuben recently pointed out that although *611 is free, one *might* be charged a roaming charge, which is then removed when one complains. Are all of the *-prefixed calls free (and supposed to be free of roaming charges?) Does anyone know how these are implemented? When they translate to a real phone number, is there any way of determining the translation? When I was recently in New Orleans, Bell South Mobility advertised that 911 was "always free." (It was unclear whether roamers would be charged a roaming fee.) Is this typical practice? [Moderator's Note: In many large urban areas 911 won't work correctly from cell phones -- at least the dispatchers cannot get a reading on your location. Here in Chicago, *999 gets the Minutemen, a division of the Illinois State Police who handle expressway and interstate highway duty. 911 gets a recording saying to call the operator to report the emergency. And 911 is never 'free' ... to the caller, yes, but the charges are always reversed to the emergency agency, at least from landline phones. I assume cellular is the same where 911 is available, such as New Orleans. PAT]
irvin@northstar105.dartmouth.edu (05/14/91)
In TELECOM Digest V11 #347, Mark Seiden writes: > I am curious (yellow) about * prefixed calls on cellular phones. > Has anyone got a list? Are they uniform across service providers? (fat > chance) ... I noticed that some of the California providers have > traffic information lines, etc. > [Moderator's Note: In many large urban areas 911 won't work correctly > from cell phones -- at least the dispatchers cannot get a reading on > your location. Here in Chicago, *999 gets the Minutemen, a division of > the Illinois State Police who handle expressway and interstate highway > duty. 911 gets a recording saying to call the operator to report the > emergency. And 911 is never 'free' ... to the caller, yes, but the > charges are always reversed to the emergency agency, at least from > landline phones. I assume cellular is the same where 911 is available, > such as New Orleans. PAT] Along the Interstates in North Carolina (in Cellular Areas) are signs that tell Cellular users to dial *HP for the Highway Patrol. Plus in some city (I can't remember which now), there was a radio station that advertised it's Cellular Traffic number as *WXXX (or what-ever its call letters were), this rang at the main switchboard for the radio station (used to report accidents and traffic jams). It was free from all Cellular telephones, don't know about roamers. Not surprisingly, the radio station advertised the two Cellular carriers constantly (I assume in trade for this *-number). Tim Irvin
David E. Sheafer <nin15b0b@stan.merrimack.edu> (05/14/91)
In article <telecom11.357.6@eecs.nwu.edu>, irvin@northstar105. dartmouth.edu writes: > In TELECOM Digest V11 #347, Mark Seiden writes: >> I am curious (yellow) about * prefixed calls on cellular phones. >> Has anyone got a list? Are they uniform across service providers? (fat >> chance) ... I noticed that some of the California providers have >> traffic information lines, etc. These are the * prefixed numbers for NYNEX Mobile in New England (MA,RI and southern NH) and the appropriate charges: *18 follow-me-roaming activation No Charge # *19 Follow-me-roaming deactivation No Charge *33 Celtics Hotline Usage Rates *37 StockQuote Usage Rates *44 WVBF-FM Call to Report Traffic No Charge *63 WPRO-AM Call to Report Trafffic in Rhode island No Charge *64 (*NH) NH State Police No Charge *68 WRKO-AM Talkline No Charge *76 WBSM-AM New Bedford Traffic Conditions No Charge *77 (*SP) MA State Police No Charge *82 AAA Emergency Usage Rates *88 Time Usage Rates *92 WPRO-FM Call to Report traffic in Rhode Island No Charge *99 Weather Usage Rates *850 WHDH-AM Call to Report Traffic or News No Charge 411 Directory Assistance Usage Rates ## 611 Nynex Customer Service No Charge # In certain instances the host cellular service carrier may charge a daily activation fee for Follow-Me-Roaming activation. ## Plus New England Telephone Directory Assistance and Transport Charges. Listed features and Charges are provided fo NYNEX Mobile Access Numbers. David E. Sheafer internet: nin15b0b@merrimack.edu or uucp: samsung!hubdub!nin15b0b GEnie: D.SHEAFER Cleveland Freenet: ap345
Macy Hallock <macy@fmsys.uucp> (05/15/91)
>> I am curious (yellow) about * prefixed calls on cellular phones. >> Has anyone got a list? Are they uniform across service providers? OK, I'll throw in my $.02 here: In Cleveland/Akron Ohio: 1-800-525-5555 is the Ohio State Highway Patrol emergency reporting line. You can report any traffic emergency, DWI driver, etc. to it. No cellular company in Ohio is supposed to be charging airtime for its use. I've used it several time, it seems to ring into a single dispatch for the state and messages are relayed to the correct authority by the state computer or radio nets. This number is setup expressly for cellphone use ... and the dispatchers know it. Seems to be a well run, well trained arrangment. This number was setup before most cell carriers were able to agree on how to setup shortcut dialing ... and before 911 was widely installed. 911 rings to 911 dispatch in most areas. Very uneven info about charging for airtime. This state has a 911 law that says calls to 911 are not chargable to the caller. In some, but not all, cellular areas, dialing *911 is the same as dialing 911. Other * numbers: GTE Mobilnet initiated a uniform set of * service codes a couple of years ago and pushed the industry very hard for standardization on their scheme. So we have *70, *71, *71, *18 and others for control of features here. Mobilnet does charge for the airtime (.5 minute) when these features are invoked. *111 is tech service, *611 is billing/customer disservice, *411 is info (chargable airtime on this) and *711 is undefined for the moment (may become roamer service, I'm told) My technical sources at Mobilnet tell me that the * services are used for internal service codes (like *70) or speed dial numbers to outside lines (like *611). Billing is done on all calls by the switch, and the billing dept. prices the calls according to current company policies. I'm told that ANY number can be setup as a speed call or redirected. This is used to block 900 and 976 calls, and has been used to block certain other problem numbers in the past. The Motolola EMX's they use have a pretty decent set up for translations. Moblinet, like many other cell carriers, has made agreements with local radio stations for special numbers for traffic reporting (dial *TV8, etc). These are all billed/not billed according to the agreement made for that service. Presumably I could cut a deal with Mobilnet for *MACY to call me ... and even be a free/no airtime call ... if I worked out some type of arrangement with them. I have asked my sources at Mobilnet for more information on the standards they are putting into place in the near future concerning enhanced type cellular services. I'm told their recent change from Motorola to AT&T as a primary switch vendor was partially due to the better support of special service features of the AT&T product. (I wonder if revenue enhancement is coming to Mobilnet....) More on this when I get it. Macy M. Hallock, Jr. N8OBG 216-725-4764 Home macy@fmsystm.UUCP macy@NCoast.ORG uunet!aablue!fmsystem!macy Please use only these three reply addresses.