covert@covert.enet.dec.com (John R. Covert 22-Aug-1989 1450) (08/23/89)
>I was early for a movie this weekend, and at a Southern Bell payphone >in the theatre with time on my hands, tried several 10XXX-1-700-555-4141 >combinations, all of which led me to "This is the AT&T Telephone Network... >Thank you for..."(you know the rest). I thought the sign on the phone >was supposed to show the default carrier...not the only accessible one! This is part of making all carriers accessible from payphones. If you had called 10xxx-0-NPA-NXX-XXXX you would have reached your carrier of choice, if it is willing to provide operator payphone services. But for now, ONLY AT&T has the necessary hardware to handle coin-paid (1+) calls. The new code in most central offices to handle payphone default carrier selection simply ignores 10xxx on 1+ calls. Eventually the code will have to support two defaults -- a default for 0+ and a separate default for 1+. /john
johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us (John R. Levine) (09/27/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0408m06@vector.dallas.tx.us> ficc!peter@uunet.uu.net writes: >I would hardly think that Sprint (my carrier of choice) has no access to LA! When I was at LAX last week, I had no trouble sticking my FON card into one of the PacTel card reader phones and making a Sprint call. (Which is more than you can do here in Boston, the card reader phones at Logan don't know about MCI or Sprint cards.) It is true that although MCI and Sprint are set up to take calls from pay phones, a lot of the COs don't seem to handle 10XXX from pay phones very well. But I have two questions: 1 - If I dial 10333+0+number from a pay phone, I get a familiar-sounding bong and can dial in a calling card number. From a non-pay phone on the same prefix, I get a live operator. This seems to be the case for both MCI and Sprint? Why? 2 - When calling as above from a payphone, I can use my New England Tel card number, which is the same as my AT&T number, of course, but I can't use my FON card number. Why don't they accept their own cards? Again, the same situation holds with MCI. John R. Levine, Segue Software, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, +1 617 492 3869 johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us, {ima|lotus}!esegue!johnl, Levine@YALE.edu Massachusetts has 64 licensed drivers who are over 100 years old. -The Globe
0003962594@mcimail.com (Eric Swenson) (12/03/89)
If I walk up to a pay telephone and want to make a call (local or otherwise, same area code or different) without depositing coins, shouldn't I be able to dial 10777-0-[AC]-XXX-XXXX, get a BOING, and, assuming I have a U.S. SPRINT FONCARD, be able to dial my FONCARD number and complete my call? (I use US SPRINT as an example because this is, in fact, what I want to do, but I suppose my question could be generalized to refer to any 10XXX prefix). Isn't this part of what equal access was supposed to provide? (I've tried it, and after getting a BOING, before all 14-digits of my PHONECARD number are entered I get a recording saying that an invalid calling card number was used. I *CAN* make calls dialing US SPRINT's 1-800-877-8000 number and using the same 14-digit FONCARD number. I take it there is a difference between the two kinds of calls?) I believe it does work from my home phone (I have US SPRINT as my long distance carrier) to use 10288-0-[AC]-XXX-XXXX to select AT&T for a particular call, but what about pay phones?
john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) (12/04/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0546m07@chinacat.lonestar.org>, 0003962594@ mcimail.com (Eric Swenson) writes: > If I walk up to a pay telephone and want to make a call (local or > otherwise, same area code or different) without depositing coins, > shouldn't I be able to dial 10777-0-[AC]-XXX-XXXX, get a BOING, and, > assuming I have a U.S. SPRINT FONCARD, be able to dial my FONCARD > number and complete my call? Isn't this part of what > equal access was supposed to provide? You are confusing equal access with equal service. Equal access only provides that the local operating companies provide equivalent connection opportunities to each long distance carrier. Which ones they choose to use (FGA, FGB, FGD) and what service they choose to provide when connected is entirely in their hands. Just because AT&T goes ka-bong at home and at pay phones and their card works equally well doesn't mean that Sprint has chosen to provide the same service. Any long distance carrier can now offer (if it so chooses) coin-pay service just like AT&T, but that still seems to be an AT&T exclusive. You have actually hit on one of my major gripes with the AT&T competitors. We heard so much hoopla about the importance of getting the local telcos upgraded for equal access and now that they have it for the most part (even here), they aren't doing anything but providing the most basic service. What they really wanted was that "dial 1" default capability so they could be assured of reliable revenue. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
John Owens <john@jetson.upma.md.us> (12/07/89)
On Dec 2, 1:30pm, Eric Swenson wrote: > If I walk up to a pay telephone and want to make a call (local or > otherwise, same area code or different) without depositing coins, > shouldn't I be able to dial 10777-0-[AC]-XXX-XXXX, get a BOING, and, > assuming I have a U.S. SPRINT FONCARD, be able to dial my FONCARD > number and complete my call? In my experience, with Sprint and MCI at least, you can use your local BOC calling card (which is usually the same number as your AT&T card) for 10xxx+0+ calls, but FONcard or MCI card numbers will not work. I believe that the BOC does the calling card validation and handles the billing in this case. If you have any volume discounts with these carriers, your FONcard or MCI card calls would contribute to them, but using your BOC card probably wouldn't. (You probably wouldn't get your MCI "Around Town" discount either.) This is mostly speculation, so take it for what it's worth, but try using 10777-0-NPA-NXX-XXXX and using your local operating company card number. (C&P Telephone recently reissued fancier-looking "IQ Cards" to their customers to replace the old "Bell Atlantic cards". The new cards actually contain the last 4 digits, and the glossy brochure accompanying them explained [in marketing-ese] that default 0+ carriers can be now individually assigned to pay phones and that you can use their card regardless of the default carrier, or with specific carriers using those carriers' access codes.) John Owens john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US uunet!jetson!john +1 301 249 6000 john%jetson.uucp@uunet.uu.net
gutierre@nsipo.arc.nasa.gov (Robert Michael Gutierrez) (12/07/89)
<john@jetson.upma.md.us> writes in V-9, I-557, Msg 8 of 11: >On Dec 2, 1:30pm, Eric Swenson wrote: >> If I walk up to a pay telephone and want to make a call (local or >> otherwise, same area code or different) without depositing coins, >> shouldn't I be able to dial 10777-0-[AC]-XXX-XXXX, get a BOING, and, >> assuming I have a U.S. SPRINT FONCARD, be able to dial my FONCARD >> number and complete my call? >In my experience, with Sprint and MCI at least, you can use your local >BOC calling card (which is usually the same number as your AT&T card) >for 10xxx+0+ calls, but FONcard or MCI card numbers will not work. I >believe that the BOC does the calling card validation and handles the >billing in this case.......... John may have misinterpeted Eric's question, which I will attempt to clarify here. Eric's question would work for MCI since MCI *has* installed Automated Operator Positions (AOP's) in their network now, and subscribes to (I believe) 3 card authorization service companies. So, when you do dial 10222+1+NPA-NXX-XXXX, you should get a bong, and it should be MCI's AOP answering (you can let it time out, and it should go to a MCI TOPS operator). Now, the caveat is that the payphone will probably be programmed to intercept the call and go to an AOS (in the case of COCOTS only) in which case you have NO idea who is handling the call, and charging whatever outrageous amount to make that call. The incoming MF signalling from the local telco determines if the call is coming from a public or private payphone, and the MCI switch sees it is a 0+ call, and then sends the call to a switch which has an AOP (very few switches have AOP's still as of 6 months ago), then the usual AOP processes apply from here on. John's answer would be true, though, if you attempted to make an intra-lata call (within your service area), because the local BOC's don't subscribe/have access to the alternate L.D. carriers calling card databases. They only have access to AT&T's at the present time, though, this may change. BTW: MCI's AOP's are IBM PS/2 - Model 80's. >........................ If you have any volume discounts with these >carriers, your FONcard or MCI card calls would contribute to them, but >using your BOC card probably wouldn't. (You probably wouldn't get >your MCI "Around Town" discount either.) I was attempting to find out of the MCI Around Town discount was going to apply to BOC card calls, and the initial answer was 'No'. The problem was that Around Town determination was done at MCI's billing centers, not at the switch, and it was determined also by your *issued card number*, not the billing telephone number. I found out about this in my customer service days there, and the trick is to change your telephone number to that area's prefix, issue a card, then change back to your regular telephone number, and volia...you have 2 MCI cards with 2 around town areas. One area was based in San Rafel, and the other was based in Hayward (both in the San Francisco Bay area). Since the San Rafael card covered Marin and San Francisco for around town coverage, and the Hayward card covered the East Bay, I had Around Town coverage for most of the whole Bay Area! It was fun! Now that MCI has BOC billing, this trick could be a little harder since now MCI's computers do a check against the BOC's databases (this only applying to Pacific*Hell's.....<cough>...Pacific*Bell's area) when you sign up for service. Does this help clear up anything??? | Robert Gutierrez -- NSI Network Ops Center <gutierre@nsipo.arc.nasa.gov> | | NASA Science Internet Project, Bldg 233-8, Moffett Field, CA. 94035-5000 | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | "Pain....will you return it....I say it again....PAIN!" (Depeche Mode) |