wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (David Lesher) (07/31/90)
Several days ago, I mentioned one reason for that old Call Director on
George's desk in the Oval Office. There's another. Security.
The Telephone Security Group, an interagency group, sets the standards
that cover sets in "sensitive discussion areas" i. e. where classified
material is talked about. These reports are called {surprise;-]}
"TSG's". The TSG's come in about six volumes. I just happen to have my
latest one in front of me ;-}
The TSG's are ONLY concerned with the passing of ON-HOOK audio. If you
are stupid enough to willingly discuss classified material on the
{non-encrypted} telephone, Uncle Sam has new quarters awaiting you in
Kansas. But if the phone can/might/does pass audio when HUNG-UP, that
phone won't be TSG approved.
Now in the old '500' set days, this was no problem. After all, that
set has a mechanical hookswitch, that in non-keyset use, breaks both
sides of the line. But life is not that simple in the fantastic world
of wizz-bang software control phones. You say your attendent has call
paging, i.e. she pronounces "Gorby's on line 3", and it comes out the
speakerphone on your set? It just flunked, I suspect.
As you might imagine, life has gotten a lot more complex since
everyone from Aadvark to Xebiz started making phones. Mostly because,
like anything else with a heavy software component, it's really easy
to see something work, and damm near impossible to PROVE it will
always work, or fail in a predictable manner. Thus, it's taken many
years for the TSG's to approve computer controlled PBX's and smart
phones. Plus, of course, by the time they get a model approved, it's
obsolete and MD.
Note that does NOT mean that the White House can't have a new PBX that
handles everything. But the SETS in the "sensitive" areas will likely
be either time-proven (mechanical hookswitches and all) or less smart
than the Panasonic you just got at Macy's Medina Telephones, Inc.
wb8foz@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (305) 255-RTFM pob 570-335 33257-0335