danielw@wyn386.mi.org (Daniel Wynalda) (02/10/91)
Zenith/Heath still disposes of returns/defective boards in a generous manner. I personally know one company that makes BIG $ buying rejected motherboards from Zenith in bulk - along with machines/parts etc. They then swap parts that are broken out of machines with other machines that have different problem parts. This results in a perfectly working, new machine, for almost no cost. To do this however, you must be willing to buy LOTS of their stuff, not just three partial PC's that don't work. Enough of that, what does it have to do with Telecom anyway? The company which I now work for recently went online with ATS (American Telecommunication Services). This company aggregates AT&T services and offers SUBSTANTIAL discounts for minimum fees. When changing over to ATS they pick our lines for 732 rather than 288 for AT&T. 732 is the AT&T software defined network that has been much discussed on this system. Apparently something went wrong yesterday when AT&T was "reconciling their database". At about 9:30am, I began getting intercepts that stated "You have reached a private network. You must be authorized by your long distance representative for use of this network. To dial long distance, please dial 10288 +1 + area code + phone number. There was no intercept number. Apparently we got wiped from the "authorized" database. Here's my question -- about a month ago, I could dial 10732 + 1 + area code + phone number from home and the call would go through via AT&T. I also notice that using 732 now, I can't get a response back from 700-555-4141. This is the number that reads back what long distance service you are currently subscribed to -- it just says "Can't be completed as dialed." The service, other than being wiped from the database yesterday, has been the same as I had using the 288 pick code. One thing I did notice: Using 288 I couldn't get ANI back from some of the numbers mentioned previously in this group -- I would call and either get prompted for my calling number or get a default number (like 616-555-1212). When using the 732 network, ANI works beautifully. I'll let you know what the aggregators explanation is for the service outage. I'd be interested in knowing if the change that AT&T was reconciling banned all of the "Non SDN users" from using the SDN. Where did the calls get billed when placed over 732 rather than 288 last month? I don't know that I got the bill but with the volume of calls here I wouldn't notice calls anyway. Daniel Wynalda | (616) 866-1561 X22 Ham:N8KUD Net:danielw@wyn386.mi.org Wynalda Litho Inc. | 8221 Graphic Industrial Pk. | Rockford, MI 49341