larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) (10/07/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0419m07@vector.dallas.tx.us> claris!netcom!edg@ames. arc.nasa.gov (Edward Greenberg) writes: > We soon learned that we could reach the verification operator by > dialing the affected prefix and 9901 (or, "official 1"). Then WE > could tell the verification operator to do her thing. What you relate is rather unusual. I can conceive of no useful purpose in providing the facilities to terminate a central office line from each CO in an official PBX trunk (the necessary interface) at manual DSA position used for verification. Telephone companies *discourage* verification, and certainly would not provide such direct access as a benefit to the customer; if the customer wants verification, then they dial "0". No telephone company personnel would want to verify a line, either from a business office standpoint or for installation/repair purposes. Even a craftsperson working on a repair problem has no need to talk to a verification operator because a verification position has no test apparatus and can tell a craftsperson almost nothing useful to facilitate a repair. A craftsperson working on a repair deals with a local test desk equipped with various test and measurement apparatus, which is furthermore staffed by a technically-qualified craftsperson. It seems more likely that you dialed a number which terminated at a local test desk in a repair service bureau. Every CO that I have seen has a local number which terminates at a local test desk, which may be local or remote to the CO; in some cases the local number is less than 7 digits, like "770" or "951". While a local test desk certainly has access to test trunks from the affected CO and could in effect perform the function of "busy line verification", I am rather surprised that they would do so without challenging your identity. Then again, I suppose that anything is possible in downstate New York. :-) Also, according to an official New York Telephone Maintenance Telephone Directory for the NYC and LI areas, the 9901 number (along with the 9970) was commonly used as a "charge/no charge" test line used for toll and coin line supervision testing. > In about 1973 or '74, we could no longer reach a verification operator > on official-1, but rather, 234-9901 would bring one up capable of > verifying anywhere in 516. Almost all No. 1 and No. 3 Toll Board (combined with DSA) positions have multiples for outside CO lines which terminate in the position using an "official PBX trunk" circuit. It is most likely that you found such a direct CO line. However, I would be extremely surprised if in fact all of area code 516 was verified at a common DSA facility, since there are MANY CO's in Nassau and Suffolk counties. I suspect that area code 516 is broken up into at least 3 DSA facilities which handle verification. <> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. - Uniquex Corp. - Viatran Corp. <> UUCP {allegra|boulder|decvax|rutgers|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry <> TEL 716/688-1231 | 716/773-1700 {hplabs|utzoo|uunet}!/ \uniquex!larry <> FAX 716/741-9635 | 716/773-2488 "Have you hugged your cat today?"
levin@bbn.com (Joel B Levin) (10/12/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0435m04@vector.dallas.tx.us> kitty!larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) writes: |In article <telecom-v09i0419m07@vector.dallas.tx.us> claris!netcom!edg@ames. |arc.nasa.gov (Edward Greenberg) writes: |> We soon learned that we could reach the verification operator by |> dialing the affected prefix and 9901 (or, "official 1"). Then WE |> could tell the verification operator to do her thing. | | What you relate is rather unusual. I can conceive of no... When I was an undergrad in greater Boston (~20 years ago) and we did a little desultory phone hacking (we spent most of our energy cracking the Computer Center's SDS-940 :-)), we learned about some set of numbers I no longer recall exactly. NNX-9901, -9902, -9903, etc. (or some subset thereof) could be used to reach what we believed to be a verification operator, a rates-and- routing operator, and a DA or TSPS supervisor (or both). I don't remember whether all NNX's supported this. Certainly all the business offices were NNX-9950 (our radio station was -9550 and we got a lot of wrong numbers). A lot of these things I am sure are no longer true. Nets: levin@bbn.com | or {...}!bbn!levin | POTS: (617)873-3463 | [Moderator's Note: All the 9900 series of numbers used to be used by IBT and many other telcos. IBT still uses quite a few of them. Years ago, 9900 and 9901 were the Chief Operator; 9902 was verification; 9903 through 9906 were direct lines to Directory Enquiry. 9954 looped around to 9955 and outpulsed '611', to get the repair desk in a given office. If you were quick enough, you could dial anything you wanted out on 9955 if you got your dialing finished before the call-extender cut in. 9990 through 9999 were test lines; always busy, silent termination, etc. 994x and 996x generally just terminated in the frames on the supervisor's desk or vicinity. Finally, 9411 was nearly always the business office. That much has stayed intact: The Illinois Bell Corporate Headquarters in Chicago is 312-727-9411. PT]