loughry@tramp.colorado.edu (J. Loughry) (09/18/89)
I found this tidbit in Tom Clancy's new novel, "Clear and Present Danger." Jack Ryan (who lives near Annapolis, I believe) is out mowing the lawn when he receives a call on his cordless phone. He answers it, then: "Ryan terminated the call and placed one to his house, which had three lines. It was, perversely, a long-distance call. He needed a D.C. line for his work. Cathy needed a Baltimore connection for hers, plus a local line for other matters." Maybe someone can explain this to us Westerners. Joe Loughry loughry@tramp.colorado.edu
amanda@intercon.com (Amanda Walker) (09/19/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0383m02@vector.dallas.tx.us>, loughry@tramp.colorado.edu (J. Loughry) writes: > "Ryan terminated the call and placed one to his house, which had three > lines. It was, perversely, a long-distance call. He needed a D.C. > line for his work. Cathy needed a Baltimore connection for hers, plus > a local line for other matters." > > Maybe someone can explain this to us Westerners. The phone service around DC and Baltimore is a bit strange... In many areas, you get a choice of what kind of line you want, with different kinds having different areas that are considered "local". The quoted example sounds a little stretched, but that kind of thing does happen in these parts :-)... Amanda Walker amanda@intercon.com
klb@lzaz.att.com (K.BLATTER) (09/19/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0383m02@vector.dallas.tx.us>, loughry@tramp.colorado. edu (J. Loughry) writes: > I found this tidbit in Tom Clancy's new novel, "Clear and Present Danger." > Jack Ryan (who lives near Annapolis, I believe) is out mowing the lawn when > he receives a call on his cordless phone. He answers it, then: > > "Ryan terminated the call and placed one to his house, which had three > lines. It was, perversely, a long-distance call. He needed a D.C. > line for his work. Cathy needed a Baltimore connection for hers, plus > a local line for other matters." > > Maybe someone can explain this to us Westerners. > > Joe Loughry > loughry@tramp.colorado.edu Clearly this is an example of using FX (Foreign eXchange) lines. Jack had an FX Line which terminated in Washington DC, and Cathy had an FX line which terminated in Baltimore. Perhaps someone else out there in netland could give a better description of an FX line, but here goes my explanation... An FX line is a suscriber line which terminates in a central office other than the central office which provides local access to the telephone network. These numbers are most often used by businesses that have operations in another city which would justify the added expense of one of these lines. If you subscribe to this feature, you would literally have a phone number which would be non-local. Therefore, referring to Clancy's novel, in calling his own house from his yard over an FX line, he would have to make a toll call. Also, most people are familiar with this service as radio stations often use this service -- especially stations that have large broadcast areas. I remember growing up and when the radio station would have a contest, they would list six or seven numbers that listeners could call into to win. While each of these numbers was from a different geographical area, they all terminated at the radio station. Kevin L. Blatter AT&T - Bell Labs Standard Disclaimer
morris@jade.jpl.nasa.gov (Mike Morris) (09/21/89)
Amanda Walker <amanda@intercon.com> writes: %In article <telecom-v09i0383m02@vector.dallas.tx.us>, %loughry@tramp.colorado.edu (J. Loughry) writes: %> "Ryan terminated the call and placed one to his house, which had three %> lines. It was, perversely, a long-distance call. He needed a D.C. %> line for his work. Cathy needed a Baltimore connection for hers, plus %> a local line for other matters." %> Maybe someone can explain this to us Westerners. %The phone service around DC and Baltimore is a bit strange... In many areas, %you get a choice of what kind of line you want, with different kinds having %different areas that are considered "local". The quoted example sounds a %little stretched, but that kind of thing does happen in these parts :-)... When I read the book I just assumed that he had a electronic key system, with a local line and 2 foreign exchange lines. Yes, DC is wierd. Mike Morris UUCP: Morris@Jade.JPL.NASA.gov ICBM: 34.12 N, 118.02 W #Include quote.cute.standard PSTN: 818-447-7052 #Include disclaimer.standard cat flames.all > /dev/null