[comp.dcom.telecom] Safety in Numbers

rfarris@rfengr.com (Rick Farris) (02/26/91)

As I rushed to meet a client today, I ran over to the AT&T 730 that
I've programmed to call the number which activates call forwarding of
my main number to my cellular phone.  Things worked as usual, I
watched as the phone dialed 72#259-6793.

All of a sudden, it occurred to me that I wasn't dialing from the line
which has call-forwarding installed.  (I had swapped phones around a
couple of months ago.)  Out of curiosity, I called 259-6793 to see if
it was forwarding correctly.  It was.  Here's what I think is
happening:

I have six lines, all billed to the main 259-6793 number.  Clearly,
when I call long-distance from any of the six lines, the billing
office is getting ANI (BNI?) from the 259-6793 line.

Near as I can tell, the call-forwarding computer (subroutine) is also
receiving the 259-6793 ID, no matter which line I call from.
Therefore, I can activate call-forwarding on 259-6793 by calling from
any of my six numbers.

Pretty cool, huh?  On the other hand, suppose I wanted to be able to
forward one of my other numbers, independently?

I called the business office and they didn't have the slightest clue
about how call-forwarding worked, and transferred me to repair who was
similarly clue-less.  Oh well.

The good news is that when CLI starts up later this year, I don't have
to worry about accidently compromising one of my "private" numbers --
I had already started training myself to always dial out from "public"
numbers.


Rick Farris  RF Engineering POB M Del Mar, CA 92014  voice (619) 259-6793
rfarris@rfengr.com     ...!ucsd!serene!rfarris      serenity bbs 259-7757