dave@uunet.uu.net (12/04/90)
I know that both AT&T and Sprint offer the "feature" of dialing
another LD number without disconnecting from the LD carrier via the
"#".
I often wish to call my Bell Atlantic voice mailbox from a hotel
with my LD calling card. The voice mail system wants me to enter "#"
to be prompted for my password. Guess what happens? That's right,
the LD carrier disconnects that call and prompts me to make another.
Both AT&T and Sprint suggested, they really did, that I tell Bell
Atlantic they should pick a different key!
I suppose a DLE key is beyond the computer communications protocol
sophistication of the LD carriers.
Dave uunet!snowgoose!dave dave%snowgoose@uunet.uu.net
[Moderator's Note: But don't you have to hold the # key for at least a
couple seconds to get a carrier disconnect? Most voice mail systems
require far less. That is, you could probably just give a half-second
of # and access voice mail without it being long enough to trigger the
network disconnect. Sprint and ATT both indicate in their literature
to hold down the # key for a couple seconds to make it work right. PAT]john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (12/07/90)
snowgoose!dave@uunet.uu.net writes: > I often wish to call my Bell Atlantic voice mailbox from a hotel > with my LD calling card. The voice mail system wants me to enter "#" > to be prompted for my password. Guess what happens? That's right, > the LD carrier disconnects that call and prompts me to make another. Did you actually try this with AT&T, or are you just theorizing? This is exactly why the '#' will not work for "recall" while the call in progress is supervised (distant end off-hook). I check my voice mail regularly with an AT&T calling card. My VM system requires the entering of the '#' key up the wazoo and I have yet to be disconnected by AT&T. BTW, I just tried accessing my VM using the Sprint 800 access. Even with the copious entering of '*' and '#' to put the VM through its paces, I was not disconnected. Methinks you are making big noise about no problem. If you are actually having difficulty, have your 'right coast' people call the 'left coast' to find out how it's done. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
dave@westmark.westmark.com (Dave Levenson) (12/07/90)
In article <15248@accuvax.nwu.edu>, snowgoose!dave@uunet.uu.net writes: > I know that both AT&T and Sprint offer the "feature" of dialing > another LD number without disconnecting from the LD carrier via the "#". > I often wish to call my Bell Atlantic voice mailbox from a hotel > with my LD calling card. The voice mail system wants me to enter "#" > to be prompted for my password. Guess what happens? That's right, > the LD carrier disconnects... The AT&T network is only sensitive to the # when the far end is on hook. You may # out of the current call before it has been answered (of if it is busy) or after the far end had hung up. If you voice mail system is still off-hook when you enter the # to terminate your password, it should not disconnect you. The MCI network, on the other hand, does disconnect on # on calls in the talking state (i.e. both ends off hook). I don't know about Sprint. Most voice mail systems demand a longer-than-standard # or any other touch tone used when they're listening to speech, as a way of avoiding the occasional momentary similarity between the # and random speech sounds. If they shorten the minimum # duration, some voices will sound like # and cause unintended feature activation. This is commonly called 'talk-off' in that industry. Dave Levenson Internet: dave@westmark.com Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!dave Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857
drawson@spiff.tymnet.com (Dick Rawson) (12/08/90)
Aspen (by Octel) lets me type * instead of # initially when dialing in, for just this reason. Dick Rawson
lairdb@crash.cts.com (Laird P. Broadfield) (12/08/90)
In <15248@accuvax.nwu.edu> snowgoose!dave@uunet.uu.net writes: [stuff about pressing # to enter voicemail....] >[Moderator's Note: But don't you have to hold the # key for at least a >couple seconds to get a carrier disconnect? Most voice mail systems >require far less. That is, you could probably just give a half-second >of # and access voice mail without it being long enough to trigger the >network disconnect. Sprint and ATT both indicate in their literature >to hold down the # key for a couple seconds to make it work right. PAT] Nope. From _numerous_ locations throughout the ConUS I have made the mistake of hitting the # key to sign on to our voicemail system too soon and had AT&T dump the connection. The "key" here is to _wait_ about three or four seconds into the answer message, at which point AT&T is apparently no longer listening. I haven't tried a LONG # at all; only short ones. Perhaps the call-progress is significant to the tone-recognizer; before it has "realized" the connection, or after it has recognized a hangup, maybe any # works, but during a connection only a _long_ #? Just guessing.... Laird P. Broadfield UUCP: {akgua, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!lairdb INET: lairdb@crash.cts.com
SKASS@drew.bitnet (12/10/90)
Laird Broadfield writes: > In <15248@accuvax.nwu.edu> snowgoose!dave@uunet.uu.net writes: > [stuff about pressing # to enter voicemail....] >>[Moderator's Note: But don't you have to hold the # key for at least a >>couple seconds to get a carrier disconnect? [...] > Nope. From _numerous_ locations throughout the ConUS I have made the > mistake of hitting the # key to sign on to our voicemail system too > soon and had AT&T dump the connection. The "key" here is to _wait_ [...] This is my experience with AT&T. The literature that came with ASPEN, our voicemail system, warns users to wait until the welcome message has finished before pressing #. Short vs. long doesn't matter. Soon vs. late is the key. I get disconnected every time I'm too hasty, never when I wait. On the same subject, does anyone else find that ASPEN or other systems have particular trouble hearing the number 3? I often have to hold the 3 key down for longer than the others for it to be recognized, and from some phones, I can't enter my mailbox number at all because the 3 isn't heard. Steve Kass-Math&CS Dept-Drew U-Madison NJ 07940-(201)4083614-skass@drew.bitnet
wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher) (12/11/90)
>[stuff about pressing # to enter voicemail....]
Re: # for call drop not working with answer supervision
Users have described different behaviour from different parts of the
country. This sound to me as if not everyone has the same grade of
answer supervision. That's nothing new, as we've talked about that in
years past.
We may THINK we have 100% FCD or the equivalent, but do we?