gould@pilot.njin.net (Brian Jay Gould) (10/12/90)
I can now get ANI (NJBell calls it CLASS service) at my home. I'd really like to get an ANI box with lots of features. An LCD display, printer, RS232, large memory, and a partridge in a pear tree. Anyone know of a good source? Brian Jay Gould
john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (10/13/90)
On Oct 12 at 0:55, Brian Jay Gould <gould@pilot.njin.net> writes: > I can now get ANI (NJBell calls it CLASS service) at my home. Gentle Reader: Miss Etiquette hates to pick nits, but the reason NJ Bell calls it CLASS is because that is what it is. ANI (Automatic Number Identification) was developed in the 1950s for the purpose of ticketing calls made over the DDD network. Any switch on the face of the planet can be adapted for ANI. CLASS, on the other hand, is relatively new technology requiring SS#7 signaling between participating offices. Among its many features is the infamous Caller-ID. While there has been some interchanging of these terms on this forum, it would be well to realize that ANI and Caller-ID are not one and the same. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
alai@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (Alex Lai) (10/17/90)
In a previous article, john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) writes: > Any switch on the face of > the planet can be adapted for ANI. Then why haven't they? Why haven't they offer ANI service as they have done with call-waiting, call-forwarding, and etc? > CLASS, on the other hand, is relatively new technology requiring SS#7 > signaling between participating offices. Among its many features is > the infamous Caller-ID. Could you please elaborate on CLASS? > While there has been some interchanging of these terms on this forum, > it would be well to realize that ANI and Caller-ID are not one and the > same. What's the difference between ANI and Caller-ID? Alex Lai Ohio University Communication Systems Management Athens, Ohio Internet: alai@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu ad094@cleveland.freenet.edu
john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (10/19/90)
On Oct 18 at 8:10, Alex Lai <alai@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu> > Then why haven't they? Why haven't they offer ANI service as > they have done with call-waiting, call-forwarding, and etc? Miss Etiquette is most dismayed that gentle reader is still confused. ANI is not a service offered to subscribers, but to IECs (who may extend the data received to LARGE customers). Most switches DO have ANI else how would they bill long distance calls except with operator inquiry? > Could you please elaborate on CLASS? The family of CLASS features, including but not limited to Call Back, Camp On, Call Block, Call Allow, AND Caller-ID, is accomplished through software in the CO switch. The features are offered directly to customers. For the features to work between COs, it is necessary that participating offices communicate with each other via SS#7. This is a data channel that transmits the called number, calling number, and various other information about the caller and callee. Since the information travels in a high speed data circuit rather than as MF tones in the voice channel, the requisite poop is exchanged without delay. > What's the difference between ANI and Caller-ID? ANI, Automatic Number Identification, refers to the fact that the CO switch can figure out what line is placing a particular call. In SXS switches it is accomplished with some arrangement involving high frequency tones (Larry L. would better be able to explain it), while crossbar has some mystical-looking array of toroidal transformers with wires weaving in and out. These Rube Goldbergian schemes were developed years and years ago so that long distance calls could be dialed and billed automatically. Later, when independent IECs came about, the caller's number that had been scooped up with ANI was (and still is) transmitted to the IEC as extra MF digits in the string preceding each call. Caller-ID is a service that transmits the caller's number directly to the called party. The actual technical means has been the topic of other discussions. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
barefoot@hobbes.ncsu.edu (Heath Roberts) (10/20/90)
>> Any switch on the face of >> the planet can be adapted for ANI. >Then why haven't they? Why haven't they offer ANI service as >they have done with call-waiting, call-forwarding, and etc? First, this statement should be qualified to read "any digitally- controlled switch..." After all, there are still some step and crossbar switches out there. The problem isn't so much with individual switches. It's with connecting all these switches together. Call forwarding can be done to any number from your local CO -- it just out-dials the number your phone is forwarded to on a trunk line (unless it handles the line the call is forwarded to directly) and the call is completed like any other. The switch just connects the incoming call with the outgoing trunk. Call-waiting is not available in all areas, only those that support it. Supporting it generally means that both serving switches, regardless of manufacturer, have SS7 (Signalling System 7), which defines a protocol for one switch to say "tell me when number XXX-XXXX is available, I have a call waiting on XXX-XXXX. When the line becomes free, the second switch calls back and says "Yo: that call you had waiting? I can complete it now. Please ring your party..." Likewise with CLID: instead of a switch just saying "this call is for XXX-XXXX", SS7 defines a protocol like "I have a call for XXX-XXXX from XXX-XXXX (or maybe from "calling number blocked") and the caller's name is so-and-so (or once again, maybe "the caller asked me not to identify him"). So if the switches your call is routed through don't support this kind of signalling protocol, it's not going to work... Availability of a common protocol is the primary technical reason ANI/CLID doesn't work everywhere, but another big reason is that individual state PUC's are not allowing such service to be provided. Here in North Carolina, the State Attorney General has declared that CLID is illegal... >> CLASS, on the other hand, is relatively new technology requiring SS#7 >> signaling between participating offices. Among its many features is >> the infamous Caller-ID. >Could you please elaborate on CLASS? Common Local Area Signalling System defines features like Call waiting, Ring-again, Call forwarding, Calling line ID, etc ... The features are not themselves new, nor it the standard, but it's just now being implemented across networks. >> While there has been some interchanging of these terms on this forum, >> it would be well to realize that ANI and Caller-ID are not one and the >> same. >What's the difference between ANI and Caller-ID? From my understanding, ANI is not always available in real time. I think originally this was available on incoming WATS (800) lines so businesses could see where their calls were coming from, and showed up on the bill at the end of the month. Caller ID occurs in the first half-second or so when the called phone starts to ring. Of course, ANI has been improved somewhat, and does work in real-time now, but only from switches that support SS7. Heath Roberts NCSU Computer and Technologies Theme Program barefoot@catt.ncsu.edu
grayt@uunet.uu.net (Tom Gray) (10/24/90)
In article <13827@accuvax.nwu.edu> Heath Roberts <barefoot@hobbes. ncsu.edu> writes: >>> Any switch on the face of >>> the planet can be adapted for ANI. >>Then why haven't they? Why haven't they offer ANI service as >>they have done with call-waiting, call-forwarding, and etc? It is true any switch in North America can be converted to ANI. Automatic Number identification is used for TELCO billing. A toll call is routed from the local exchange to the billing office (called CAMA - Centralized Automatic Message Accounting?). The CAMA offices sends answer supervision to the local office whch pulses out the calling number and some other information (ie coin call etc) to the CAMA office. The CAMA office then routes the call and is rrsposible for detecting answer supervision from the called partyt and billing the call. Older offices and certain party lines are not capable of providing ANI. They use the ONI system (Operator Number identification) in which one hears the familiar "Wich Number are you dialling please?" More modern digital offices are dispensing with CAMA and ANI and are using LAMA (Local AMA). In this case, the local office has a direct connection to the digital network and can be interrogated remotely by the TELCO's network management system for billing information. ANI is not Calling PArty ID. It is a feature of TELCO billing It is the means by which the TELCO generates caleed party information from older offices (not necessarily digital offices).