leichter@lrw.com (LEICHTER-JERRY@CS.YALE.EDU) (07/11/90)
Here in Stamford - and in my experience most of Connecticut - we have to dial 1+7 for calls outside the local calling area, omit the 1 for calls in it. Do it the wrong way and you get an intercept. The oddity is the way the intercept is implemented. It doesn't take place immediately after the last digit - not to mention after the exchange, which is possible. Instead, you get two or three normal rings and THEN a long, wordy message telling you exactly what you should have done. This is a real time-waster when you are dialing an unfamiliar number, as you sit there convinced that you've made it through. I find that a good fraction of the time, but the time I get the intercept I've closed the telephone book or put away the business card with the number on it. Then I get to start over again. Why would anyone set up intercepts this way? Is it done this way elsewhere? -- Jerry
"Jerry B. Altzman" <jbaltz@cunixe.cc.columbia.edu> (07/12/90)
In article <9607@accuvax.nwu.edu> leichter@lrw.com (LEICHTER-JERRY@ CS.YALE.EDU) writes: >The oddity is the way the intercept is implemented. It doesn't take >place immediately after the last digit - not to mention after the >exchange, which is possible. Instead, you get two or three normal >rings and THEN a long, wordy message telling you exactly what you >should have done. [complaint deleted...] >Why would anyone set up intercepts this way? Is it done this way >elsewhere? I don't know if pay phones fit in this category, but in at least three other states (PA, NJ, and NY), if you dial a number without putting in the correct amount of change, you get two or three rings, and *then* a voice says "deposit xx more cents". This is both now and in the days of the AT&T/Ma Bell monopoly. I've also seen this on toll calls in all three of those states nowadays. //jbaltz (yet another jerry) jerry b. altzman 212 854 8058 jbaltz@columbia.edu jauus@cuvmb (bitnet) NEVIS::jbaltz (HEPNET) ...!rutgers!columbia!jbaltz (bang!)
KOSSACKB@ricevm1.rice.edu (Jordan Kossack) (07/15/90)
On 12 Jul 90, jbaltz@cunixe.cc.columbia.edu (Jerry B. Altzman) says:
- I don't know if pay phones fit in this category, but in at least three
- other states (PA, NJ, and NY), if you dial a number without putting in
- the correct amount of change, you get two or three rings, and *then* a
- voice says "deposit xx more cents".
- This is both now and in the days of the AT&T/Ma Bell monopoly.
This is not entirely true. I was in Rockland County, NY last
month [ 914 / NYNEX ] and I was trying to make a call from one town to
another, both in Rockland. Anyway, I dropped a quarter in a pay-phone
and dialed the number. After two or three rings, my quarter is
returned and I get a message to the effect of "please deposit
forty-five cents." OK, so I drop the two bits back in, add two dimes
and redial the number. After the obligatory two or three rings, my
$0.45 is returned and I get the same "please deposit ..." message. I
grab the change from the return slot and pump it back into the fone
... lo and behold, I am finally connected to the other party.
I agree with leichter@lrw.com (JERRY LEICHTER):
>Why would anyone set up intercepts this way?
Jordan Kossack | N5QVI | Student Staff
----------------+----------+ Office of Networking and Computing Systems
KOSSACKB@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU | Rice University Houston Texasjohn@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (07/16/90)
Jordan Kossack <KOSSACKB@ricevm1.rice.edu> writes: > After two or three rings, my quarter is > returned and I get a message to the effect of "please deposit > forty-five cents." OK, so I drop the two bits back in, add two dimes > and redial the number. After the obligatory two or three rings, my > $0.45 is returned and I get the same "please deposit ..." message. A utility pay phone has no way of knowing how much money you initially deposit. All it knows is if you put in at least the "initial rate" for a local call, which is a "go -- no go" situation. If the initial rate is $0.20 and you dump a dollar in for a local call, if the call is completed, the phone will blithely collect your buck, period. The same goes for a "non-local" call where more than the initial rate is required. If you have deposited the initial rate, the phone must return it so that the automatic coin system (not the phone) can count your deposit from $0. What I don't understand is this "two or three" rings before your initial deposit is returned. Around here, if I dropped $0.20 into a phone, then dialed something outside of my local area, the dimes would be in the coin-return slot before my finger was off the last button. It's almost startling. Then immediately the voice would say [for example], "Forty-five cents please. [pause] Please deposit forty-five cents for the first three minutes. [longer pause] Forty-five cents please." Dropping a coin during this sequence would shut the recording up. If you wait long enough between coins you get, "Please deposit ten cents" (or whatever is required to complete the total requested). When you have complied, you get "thank you" and your call goes through. If you put in too much from not having the correct change, you would get "Thank you. You have ten cents credit for overtime." Due to the CCS7, this last message is usually spoken over the first ring. The whole procedure has always seemed most unambiguous. The only ringback tone you ever hear is that of the called number. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
kabra437@pallas.athenanet.com (Ken Abrams) (07/16/90)
In article <9685@accuvax.nwu.edu> "Jerry B. Altzman" <jbaltz@cunixe. cc.columbia.edu> writes: >>The oddity is the way the intercept is implemented. It doesn't take >>place immediately after the last digit - not to mention after the >>exchange, which is possible. Instead, you get two or three normal >>rings and THEN a long, wordy message telling you exactly what you >>should have done. >[complaint deleted...] >>Why would anyone set up intercepts this way? Is it done this way >>elsewhere? "You can please some of the people all the time and all of the people some of the time" ... but when you are the Phone Company, somebody will ALWAYS find something to complain about. I'm not sure exactly what the complaint was since I didn't see it. The whole seven digit number must be dialed because a LOT of people get VERY confused when you interrupt them in the middle of dialing. This varies some depending on the place you are calling from and exactly what kind of invalid number you dialed. Most announcements ring a few times to allow the message to play starting at the beginning instead of "barging in" in the middle. Even digitally recorded messages are usually presented to the network in cycles and wait for the start of the cycle just like mechanical drums. Ken Abrams uunet!pallas!kabra437 Illinois Bell kabra437@athenanet.com Springfield (voice) 217-753-7965