dgc@math.ucla.edu (11/25/88)
Original question:
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Is there a device available which can be used to toll-
restrict long-distance calls? I have a friend whose
daughter runs up bills of $500 per month.
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Response which barely addresses question, gives gratutitous advice, and
shows absolute lack of knowledge of dealing with chilren:
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Why doesn't she just tell her daughter to stop running up the
phone bill? It sounds to me like what she needs is to give her
daughter a taste of some kind of punishment, not some gadget to
prevent outgoing phone calls.
BTW, things like this do exist, but I don't know where you can buy
one.
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Programmable restrictors are available, by mail order, from
Comcor
9 East 37th Street
New York, NY 10016
800-221-3085 (in New York: 212-481-4224)
They are item TS-1 in the Comcor catalogue and they list for $79.95,
plus shipping. It is inserted in series with the telephone line
(preferably where it first enters the home) and serves any number of
phones on that line. It runs on a 9-volt battery (in my experience the
standard mini 9-volt batteries, even alkaline, don't last much more
than a month)--I would try to rig up a supply using 6 alkaline D-cells
in series This should last for a couple of years. One could also try a
rechargable 9-volt battery always connected to a charger--the problem is
that this may be unplugged by the person you are trying to limit.
It is programmable from any telephone connected to it. It requires a
4-digit PIN (which can be changed by the user--a switch on the device
resets the PIN to the default). You can "allow" certain prefixes,
disallow others, etc. in (seemingly) unlimited combinations. It
contains an automatic dialer. If you know the PIN you can, on a one-
call basis, completely override the device, without reprogramming it.
Problems:
1. It is difficult, slow, fraught with errors, and time consuming to
program.
2. The manual contains ambiguities and unresolved situations.
Determining what it does by trial and error is VERY time consuming.
3. It only looks at the first 11 digits you dial. This can be a
problem if you use 10XXX dialing for other long-distance carriers
(of course you can "allow" only one of these by, for example,
disallowing 10XXX and then allowing 10288) or want to control
certain long foreign-dialing sequences.
4. To be secure it should be in a locked-box where the telephone line
enters the home. Such a box is NOT provided and is a nuisance to
install.
5. When the battery goes dead (which happens with no warning) it stops
restricting. It would be better if a dead battery disabled outgoing
calls.
6. It often creates difficulties for "legitimate" telephone users.
dgc
David G. Cantor
Department of Mathematics
University of California at Los Angeles
Internet: dgc@math.ucla.edu
UUCP: ...!{randvax, sdcrdcf, ucbvax}!ucla-cs!dgcdave@uunet.UU.NET (Dave Horsfall) (12/05/88)
In article <telecom-v08i0186m03@vector.UUCP> dgc@math.ucla.edu writes: | | 5. When the battery goes dead (which happens with no warning) it stops | restricting. It would be better if a dead battery disabled outgoing | calls. Ummm... I would be just a little bit annoyed if I couldn't make an emergency out-going call, just because of a stupid flat battery! This sounds like RISKS material. -- Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU), Alcatel-STC Australia, dave@stcns3.stc.oz dave%stcns3.stc.oz.AU@uunet.UU.NET, ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave PCs haven't changed computing history - merely repeated it