deej@IUS2.CS.CMU.EDU (David Lewis) (04/20/87)
> In past times, MA bell was a focal point for a lot of telephone activity, but >even then there were other companies. Now it's the known mess. How in the >past, and how now, does anyone coordinate? Such matters as protocols, >assignment of area codes, plans for new service offerings, etc. Are there >agencies such as ANSI involved? Do they all meet with some sort of >trust-busting exemption? Are we worse off after the bustup in terms of >coordinated development? Do companies copy each other to some extent to >coordinate service offerings? > > An example of an issue would be this: "call-waiting" has been out long >enough >now for "the public" to begin to have some understanding of what it is an >what those funny beeps mean etc. This was an advantage of a new concep >disseminating itself into the populace over time. (But, answering machines are >also now widely understood even though they required no particular standards >activity.) > >I wonder about the developments such as passing the caller's number, call >screening, etc. It would seem advantageous to have some aspects of the form of >this service comprehensible to "the populace", and more specifically for >instrument makers to know what to look for on the line no matter where the >call originated. I'm sure there are Bellcore people out there rushing to answer this, but... Much of this is done by Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), which is an offshoot of Bell Labs (now completely independent of AT&T) owned by the Regional Bell Operating Companies. Bellcore does a lot of standards setting and new services planning. I know a little about it; I'm starting in their Network Services Planning Center in June... <=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=> Arpa: deej@ius2.cs.cmu.edu Usenet: {ihnp4|ucbvax|cmucspt}!cmu-cs-ius2!deej Bell System: (412) 681-6380 USMail: 5170 Beeler St., #1 Pittsburgh, PA 15217-1002 Carrier Pigeon: The big red brick house with the plate-glass windows out front. The opinions contained herein must be mine. No one else will claim them. "If you're not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem." -- <=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=>=<=> Arpa: deej@ius2.cs.cmu.edu Usenet: {ihnp4|ucbvax|cmucspt}!cmu-cs-ius2!deej Bell System: (412) 681-6380 USMail: 5170 Beeler St., #1 Pittsburgh, PA 15217-1002 Carrier Pigeon: The big red brick house with the plate-glass windows out front. The opinions contained herein must be mine. No one else will claim them. "If you're not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem."