larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) (09/04/89)
> In article <telecom-v09i0339m07@vector.dallas.tx.us> the Moderator writes: > > What is the CN&A Bureau, how does it operate? > > [Moderator's Note: All telcos have Customer Name and Address Bureaus, and > they are generally just an internal function at the telco, with little or > no public contact. The purpose of CNA is to compile and maintain the records > used by Directory Assistance; to make sure the entries in the telephone > book are correct, and related matters. They also service inquiries from > other telcos needing information regards subscriber names, etc for resolution > of billing disputes (customer says, "I never made that long distance call, > etc..."). > ... > Illinois Bell is the only telephone company I know of -- but there may be > others -- which gladly publishes the number of the CNA Bureau, and invites > the public to use it, at a special surcharge, of course. New York Telephone (a NYNEX BOC) does not have a "CNA Bureau" - for the use of the public, or otherwise. New York Telephone maintains ALL customer records on a centralized computer system located downstate known as CRIS (Customer Record Information System). CRIS contains ALL records pertaining to a given customer, except for some technical details involving Special Services (data circuits, inter-PABX tie line circuits, alarm circuits, etc.). Throughout New York Telephone facilities are various data terminals which connect to CRIS and access its data base. In most instances, a given CRIS terminal may access only pre-defined subsets of the CRIS data. For example, a business office will access no technical data beyond that necessary for billing inquiries and service order processing (i.e., USOC codes, mileage components, termination charges, etc.). On the other hand, a repair service bureau will access only technical details and will not have any billing details (EXCEPT if the service has been, ahem, "interrupted" for non-payment :-) ). In the case of directory assistance, local computers in a DAB (Directory Assistance Bureau) obtain a daily update from CRIS. The local DAB computer database contains NO MORE information with respect to the customer name and address than appears in a published directory listing. A regular operator in a DAB has NO access to non-published telephone numbers - it simply ain't in the local database. Calls of an emergency nature which require access to non-published telephone numbers are handled by a supervisory operator (usually at a TSPS position) having an adjacent CRIS terminal. CRIS is updated and maintained by the CRSAB (Customer Record System Administration Bureau). However, the philosphy of New York Telephone is that NO ONE has the "need to know" JUST customer name and address, and there is not even an internal number within its organization to handle such inquiries. If for some reason an employee needs to know such information, they will have to use a CRIS terminal or contact someone with access to same. Since New York Telephone conducts periodic audits of CRIS activity, employees are, ahem, "discouraged" from unauthorized CRIS access. In the case of communication common carriers requiring customer name and address to resolve billing disputes, New York Telephone has a division known as Industry Relations having CRIS terminals set up just for this purpose. However - officially, at least - no one contacts anyone in Industry Relations other than "authorized" representatives of communication common carriers. The only other need for customer name and address information is that of law enforcement agencies, and in the case of New York Telephone, all such requests are handled through their Security Department. In the case of Enhanced 911 service, a subset of the CRIS database is maintained in certain E911 service bureaus - which may be some distance from the local serving area (Buffalo, NY, for example, is handled out of Syracuse - some 120 miles away). As far as I know, E911 systems have NO ACCESS to their data base except for identification of a specific incoming call at the time that the call was received. <> 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?"
laba-2ac%web-2a.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (09/06/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0346m02@vector.dallas.tx.us> kitty!larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) writes: >X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 346, message 2 of 7 >> In article <telecom-v09i0339m07@vector.dallas.tx.us> the Moderator writes: >> > What is the CN&A Bureau, how does it operate? > New York Telephone maintains ALL customer records on a centralized >computer system located downstate known as CRIS (Customer Record Information >System). CRIS contains ALL records pertaining to a given customer, except >for some technical details involving Special Services (data circuits, >inter-PABX tie line circuits, alarm circuits, etc.). Throughout New York >Telephone facilities are various data terminals which connect to CRIS and >access its data base. [...] > In the case of communication common carriers requiring customer >name and address to resolve billing disputes, New York Telephone has a >division known as Industry Relations having CRIS terminals set up just >for this purpose. However - officially, at least - no one contacts >anyone in Industry Relations other than "authorized" representatives >of communication common carriers. When I use to work at MCI, we had a list of the so-called CNA bureaus that we would call when we needed to look up the name of a disputed number, and NYNEX was right in there. We would call them up, and after giving them a number (I.D. number, no doubt), we would give them the telephone number in question. Pac Bell is the same way. In the area of security, in MCI, their customer system was called OCIS (pronounced "oh-sis"), for On-line Customer Information System. It ran (runs) on multiple IBM 3070's running VMS, in a CICS appication (it uses DB-2 for the database). The thing I seem to remember is that they were lax as far as what you can get from OCIS. Almost everybody could get the full billing information on you (from anywhere in the country, the country is divided up into 7 divisions, and you'd have to "access" each division to find somebody, but that just takes a few more keystrokes). The only thing they placed restrictions on was who could view Calling Card codes and who could do changes to that account. They just now got on-line call-detail, and the call detail is held on-line for 3 months before it is archived. That is how I found an ex-girlfriend (and saw who she was calling to boot). We had fun looking up celebrities and other people we knew to see who they were calling (get the numbers, call the appropriate CNA, then volia, "We Got Your Number!") It was a great way to kill time, needless to say. Needless to say also, I don't work at MCI anymore, that's why I'm telling you all this. Robert Gutierrez <ranma@cup.portal.com> from a borrowed acount. ****ALL VIEWS STATED ARE NOT THE SAME SHARED BY THE UNIV. OF CALIF**** >>>IF YOU REPLY TO THIS ACCOUNT, make the Subject: "c/o Ranma"<<< Na Choon Piaw P.O Box, 4067, Berkeley, CA 94704-0067 laba-2ac@web.berkeley.edu Disclaimer: I'm speaking only for myself!