covert@covert.enet.dec.com (John R. Covert 10-Sep-1990 1123) (09/10/90)
Speaking of E911 service (well, _somebody_ must have been...), the following is from the Elkins, W. Va., INTER-MOUNTAIN for 28 August 1990. The article is repetitive and sometimes vague, but gives an interesting picture of telecom life in the West Virginia hills: PHANTOM CALLS The Upshur County Communications Center is still having problems with "phantom callers" as more than 1000 calls per month not intended for the center are ringing in on the emergency 911 lines. The chief dispatcher for the Upshur County Communications Center told the county commission this week the ComCenter is still having trouble with "phantom calls." Officials from the C&P Telephone Company told the commissioners that equipment changes in the Rock Cave area of the county are expected to solve the problem but the new equipment will not be completely in place until July of next year. Meanwhile, more than 1000 calls per month not intended for the ComCenter are ringing in on the emergency 911 lines. Often, according to Chief Dispatcher Cathy Collins, there is no one on the line. Collins went on to tell the commissioners and the C&P officials that dozens of calls from the same telephone line will ring into the ComCenter -- which is located in the basement of the Upshur County Courthouse -- in the middle of the night. One Frenchton Road resident, Paul Southard, complained about a different problem. His complaints earlier this year prompted the meeting between C&P and the county commissioners. He said that almost every time he places a long distance call, he ends up reaching the ComCenter. Then, in the middle of the long distance call the line will go dead. After that, it begins to ring again and the call will be answered at the ComCenter. Southard added that at other times, he will pick up his phone and before he can even dial, he will hear ringing and the ComCenter answers. One of the C&P officials, Karen Saymansky, said that the problem probably is in Southard's line and not at the central office. Bill Claggett, also of C&P, agreed with Saymansky and said that Southard's wire was probably telling the central office that it is dialling 911. [A talented wire!--DN] Southard protested that he has had his lines into his house checked, but Claggett explained that the problem is probably between the house and the C&P main line. According to Claggett, the line may have been damaged during construction in the area and water in the line could be causing the problem. However, the telephone company officials admitted that considering the variety of problems being experienced, several different causes may be to blame. They suggested that perhaps some mis-dialled calls are being directed to the ComCenter. Directory assistance calls may be ringing in at the ComCenter if the caller is failing to dial a "1" before he dials 411. Also, the Rock Cave central office may be misdirecting some calls to the ComCenter because of a feature of the older equipment. The central office is scheduled to be upgraded in June of next year and that should solve the problem, the telephone officials said. The remaining problems seem to be related to old or damaged lines and moisture in the line that is simulating an actual call. [Talented moisture!--DN] Collins told the C&P officials that, as far as she knows, there has not been any problem with emergency calls not reaching the ComCenter. Susan Lawson, manager of rates and tariffs for C&P told the commissioners that there did not seem to be any problem with the emergency 911 system itself. Claggett added that it appeared it was just a coincidence that the problems started after the Enhanced-911 system was installed. Some of the problems have been cleared up by calling the phone company's repair service, Collins said. Lawson suggested that it might be easier if the ComCenter appoint one person to handle the telephone problems. If a variety of situations are causing problems, he added, it only confuses things if several different repair persons try to track down solutions. [The article concludes with discussion of delays in CO hardware upgrades.] Dale Neiburg, Washington D.C. Work: 202-822-2402 [Moderator's Note: They might want to also consider that some children, phreaks and assorted other folks consider it quite a funny joke to conference two unrelated parties via three-way calling, then let them (the two called parties) squabble with each other while the perpetrator goes spastic with laughter at his little prank. PAT]