LANGFORD@crc.crc.vcu.edu (04/05/89)
A friend and I had a strange experience this weekend. She came home and
played back her answering machine, and got this:
<beep> <beep> <beep> (those tones that come with intercept recordings)
"We're sorry, all of our circuits are in use now; please try your call
again later."
Is this a new service? The switch notifies people when high utilization
occurs? Was her recorder trying to make calls to its friends? The
message (and especially the tones) sounded real, or I would be more inclined
to expect a joke (it was April 1st.....).
Any guesses?
...Bob Langford, Medical College of Virginia...pda@gatech.edu (Paul Anderson) (04/06/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0124m07@vector.UUCP> LANGFORD@crc.crc.vcu.edu writes: >A friend and I had a strange experience this weekend. She came home and >played back her answering machine, and got this: > <beep> <beep> <beep> (those tones that come with intercept recordings) > "We're sorry, all of our circuits are in use now; please try your call > again later." I have had the same thing happen to my answering machine here in Atlanta once every other day for a week and a half now... Can anyone take any guesses as to what is happening? paul -- Paul Anderson gatech!stiatl!pda (404) 841-4000 X isn't just an adventure, X is a way of life...
nigel@cc.imperial.ac.uk (Mad Nige) (04/07/89)
Here in the UK we used to have a similar problem, where we would come home and find that the local (system-X) exchange had left messages on our answering machine saying "You have dialled incorrectly. Please replace the handset and try again." Eventually we worked out that this happened if someone dialled and waited for just enough rings that the machine would pick up the line and then hung up. The exchange would think that we had picked up the line and then after nothing was dialled issued the message. Nigel Whitfield.
dts@cloud9.Stratus.COM (04/07/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0125m09@vector.UUCP>, stiatl!pda@gatech.edu (Paul Anderson) writes: > In article <telecom-v09i0124m07@vector.UUCP> LANGFORD@crc.crc.vcu.edu writes: > >A friend and I had a strange experience this weekend. She came home and > >played back her answering machine, and got this: > > <beep> <beep> <beep> (those tones that come with intercept recordings) > > "We're sorry, all of our circuits are in use now; please try your call > > again later." > > I have had the same thing happen to my answering machine here in Atlanta We had a similar problem with the dialup lines at our company. The modems started answering the phones when there was no call. The result, predictably, was lots of screaming modems (The "your phone is off the hook" noise). The problem turned out to be a servicing error at the local #5ESS switching office. They has replaced some of the line cards and had set them up wrong. Evidently the line voltage was high enough to confuse some devices into thinking it was time to go off-hook. The modems in this case were Microcoms, and they evidently (according to our hardware types) were properly within spec. -- Daniel Senie UUCP: harvard!ulowell!cloud9!dts Stratus Computer, Inc. ARPA: anvil!cloud9!dts@harvard.harvard.edu 55 Fairbanks Blvd. CSRV: 74176,1347 Marlboro, MA 01752 TEL.: 508 - 460 - 2686
kdf@ihlpa.att.com (Ken Frantzen) (04/07/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0125m09@vector.UUCP> Paul Anderson <stiatl!pda@gatech. edu> writes: >>A friend and I had a strange experience this weekend. She came home and >>played back her answering machine, and got this: >> <beep> <beep> <beep> (those tones that come with intercept recordings) >> "We're sorry, all of our circuits are in use now; please try your call >> again later." A guess what may be happening. Somebody with a 3-way calling feature calls you. The switch hook is flashed (instead of hanging up). This activates the 3-way calling. Another number is dialed - plus another flash. Your machine is now bridged on the call that gets the no circuit announcement. You now record the announcement. I'd think you'd eventually get a recording of a live conversation if this happens several times.
ssr@cos.com (Dave Kucharczyk) (04/07/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0125m09@vector.UUCP> Paul Anderson <stiatl!pda@gatech. edu> writes: >In article <telecom-v09i0124m07@vector.UUCP> LANGFORD@crc.crc.vcu.edu writes: >>A friend and I had a strange experience this weekend. She came home and >>played back her answering machine, and got this: >> <beep> <beep> <beep> (those tones that come with intercept recordings) >> "We're sorry, all of our circuits are in use now; please try your call >> again later." >I have had the same thing happen to my answering machine here in Atlanta >once every other day for a week and a half now... Can anyone take any >guesses as to what is happening? yes, someone with three way calling is having a good laugh now, at your expense. just wait till you start getting 'the call you have made requires a twenty five cent deposit'. dave
dmkdmk@uncecs.edu (David M. Kurtiak) (04/08/89)
>In article <telecom-v09i0124m07@vector.UUCP> LANGFORD@crc.crc.vcu.edu writes: >>A friend and I had a strange experience this weekend. She came home and >>played back her answering machine, and got this: >> <beep> <beep> <beep> (those tones that come with intercept recordings) >> "We're sorry, all of our circuits are in use now; please try your call >> again later." > >I have had the same thing happen to my answering machine here in Atlanta >once every other day for a week and a half now... Can anyone take any >guesses as to what is happening? > >paul I occasionally have had this strange phenomenon happen to me, and couldn't explain it until one day I was right there when it happened. It appears that an incoming call rang the phone once. The answering machine picked up, but the caller immediately hung up at the same time (maybe a wrong number?). The answering machine (being a real el-cheapo economy model), didn't detect that the 'call' was disconnected. It went on playing the outgoing message to the dial tone now being sent by the telco. Dial tone timed out, while the answering machine is now listening for a message to be left, resulting in the telephone company recording seeming to have called me! ------- David M. Kurtiak Internet: dmkdmk@ecsvax.uncecs.edu Bitnet: DMKDMK@ECSVAX.BITNET UUCP: dmkdmk@ecsvax.UUCP {rutgers,gatech}!mcnc!ecsvax!dmkdmk "What do you expect? The truth or the story? Take the story, it's always more interesting."
fjh@uunet.uu.net (phantom) (04/08/89)
>From article <telecom-v09i0124m07@vector.UUCP>, by LANGFORD@crc.crc.vcu.edu: > Is this a new service? The switch notifies people when high utilization > occurs? Was her recorder trying to make calls to its friends? The > message (and especially the tones) sounded real, or I would be more inclined > to expect a joke (it was April 1st.....). Oh, you have service from Contel. The year-round April Fool's joke! I have heard worse sounding intercepts, so it probably is legitimate. But then, there are ways to 3-way legitimate recordings to others' numbers. :)(: Francis J. Haynes uunet!slinky!fjh