howell@soleast.solbourne.com (Bob Howell) (08/30/89)
This has probably been discussed before, but I am new to reading news and I
need some information.
I have quite a few phones in my large house. I need to be able to answer a
call, put it on hold, hang up, walk to another part of the house, pick up a
different phone and resume the conversation. A couple years ago I had a
device from AT&T that plugged into the 110 line voltage and into a phone jack
and allowed a call to be put on hold using the flash-hook. It did the job
just fine, but eventually stopped working. My local AT&T phone store said
they used to sell these devices but they do not have them as a product anymore,
so I could not to get another one. I also had a similar device from DAK which
only plugged into the phone line, but it would not work with Call Waiting so
I returned it. The AT&T device worked fine with Call Waiting, and, if I
remember right, even sounded a distinct tone when the call was put on hold.
Does anyone know where I can get a device like this from either AT&T or
otherwise? I know you can buy phones that have hold buttons, but I don't
really want to replace all the phones in my house with new ones. Thanks.
Bob Howell howell@solbourne.com
Solbourne Computer, Inc. ...!{boulder,sun}!stan!howell
(617) 273-3313 howell%stan@boulder.colorado.educlark@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Roger Clark Swann) (09/08/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0333m04@vector.dallas.tx.us>, howell@soleast. solbourne.com (Bob Howell) writes: > .... A couple years ago I had a > device from AT&T that plugged into the 110 line voltage and into a phone jack > and allowed a call to be put on hold using the flash-hook. It did the job > just fine, but eventually stopped working. I have one of these devices in my junk box. It has a Sears label, but sounds like the same device. I could never make the thing work that well. It would put the line on hold even when I didn't want it held... And I think it didn't always release the line right away. > ................................. I also had a similar device from DAK which > only plugged into the phone line, but it would not work with Call Waiting so > I returned it. Same story here. > Does anyone know where I can get a device like this from either AT&T or > otherwise? I know you can buy phones that have hold buttons, but I don't > really want to replace all the phones in my house with new ones. Thanks. > Bob Howell howell@solbourne.com > Solbourne Computer, Inc. ...!{boulder,sun}!stan!howell > (617) 273-3313 howell%stan@boulder.colorado.edu I had my service changed to _single line_ CENTREX with hold and three way calling for $5 extra per month. US West said that the CENTREX service was the ONLY was to get _hard hold_ ( to engage hold: flash and hit *9, hang-up. The phone will start ringing after a few seconds, so one can walk to another phone and resume the conversation by just going off hook again ). This feature is NOT available is part of the the regular residential feature group that US West markets as TeleChoice. ( like features are cheaper when purchased under the TeleChoice plan than under the CENTREX ). I am sure there is no difference at the CO, just the marketing and tariffs, etc. I really enjoy having both the three-way calling and the hold, but the charges are a little steep, I think. After all, my service is measured and if I originate both sides of a three-way call, I get charged double the rate for the duration of the call. In reply to Patrick's comments a few weeks back on whether it was better to have special equipment on site or pay the local OC for various services, for the long term it sure seems better from my point of view to go the buy route. My one Panasonic phone with built in hold works great. However, it would take awhile to pay back the purchase of several new phones with hold at the rate of $30 per year, ($2.50 for hold, for 12 months). One further comment, it seems that US West is behind most of the other LOC's in providing the newer features of CLASS and Touch*Star ( or whatever it is that Patrick keep talking about :-). US West just keeps pushing the old standard speed calling, call waiting, 3-way calling under a new marketing package. There was a news story I saw over a year ago where a US West spokes person was asked about the newer features such as caller ID, call block, call trace, selective forward and so on. The person replied that US West was looking into the features but that they didn't think they were viable in today's market place.... > OoooK... < Roger Swann | uucp: uw-beaver!ssc-vax!clark @ | The Boeing Company |
chip@vector.dallas.tx.us (Chip Rosenthal) (09/10/89)
ssc-vax!clark@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Roger Clark Swann) writes: >X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 360, message 3 of 7 > There was a news story I saw over a year ago where a US West spokes person > was asked about the newer features such as caller ID, call block, call > trace, selective forward and so on. The person replied that US West was > looking into the features but that they didn't think they were viable in > today's market place.... > OoooK... < US West is one of the greatest impediments to the modernization of the phone system. While the rest of the country is moving forward with a new set of standards (ESF framing, B8ZS line coding, etc.), US West is digging in their heels trying to maintain their investment in obsolete equipment. If you ever try to get a piece of T1 equipment into the US West area, you will come up against a strange beast called ZBTSI. This non-solution addresses the issue that a T1 line conveys the timing in the data, and data is represented by pulses. Long strings of zeros mean long intervals with no pulses, and the repeaters can lose track of the timing. The preferred solution is to use a line coding technique called B8ZS which replaces eight consecutive zeros with a special code word containing a pulse pattern which does not occur in normal traffic. The receiving equipment recognizes this code word and restores the eight zeros. Older equipment not only lacks the ability to support B8ZS encoding, but goes so far as to munge it beyond recognition. The US West non-solution is a technique called ZBTSI which pre-empts the T1 facilities data link, normally used for network control and status monitoring, and requires storage and processing of the data on a frame by frame basis. This kludge is totally incompatible with existing standards and future ISDN capabilities, impedes the ability to do useful things with the facilities data link, and reduces call quality by introducing significant processing delays. The spokesman is right, these advanced calling features aren't viable. But it isn't because of any lack of demand, it's due to obsolete network equipment. (It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: these are just my personal opinions.) -- Chip Rosenthal / chip@vector.Dallas.TX.US / Dallas Semiconductor / 214-450-5337 Someday the whole country will be one big "Metroplex" - Zippy's friend Griffy