[comp.dcom.telecom] Cincinnati Bell 950-xxxx Payphone Problems

rhyre@cinpmx.attmail.com (01/31/91)

In Cincinnati Bell territory, RBOC payphones in certain exchanges
(231, 752, and 772) are unable to dial '950' numbers. The calls are
marked as 'bogus', and routed to an AT&T operator with a charge of
$77.77.  I suspect that LEC switches are misconfigured, since the
calls work from certain exchanges but not others (The phones are plain
old Cincinnati Bell payphones, not COCOTs. Residential lines in the
same exchanges can apparently dial the 950 numbers.)

Calls to repair and the business office fail to get any meaningful
response.  In one case, I was told that my troubles resulted from the
phone being switched over to MCI long distance service (in error) and
the LEC switched it back to AT&T.

My understanding is that the switches are 5ESS or DMS-100 series.
Distinctive ringing is the only new service that has been added
recently, so I suspect that switch software was upgraded to allow for
that.

Can anyone supply me with the proper buzzwords to use to convince
Cincinnati Bell that their equipment is to blame? I'd prefer not to
escalate to the PUC unless I have to.

Thanks.

Ralph Hyre (rhyre@attmail.com)