[fa.telecom] TELECOM Digest V4 #88

telecom@ucbvax.ARPA (09/19/84)

From: Jon Solomon (the Moderator) <Telecom-Request@MIT-MC>


TELECOM Digest          Wednesday, 19 Sep 1984     Volume 4 : Issue 88

Today's Topics:
                   Using a phone next to a noisy fan.
                       Re: TELECOM Digest   V4 #85
                       International "800" Service
                       Reflections about payphones
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Date: 17 Sep 1984  20:48 MDT (Mon)
Sender: KPETERSEN@SIMTEL20
From: Keith Petersen <W8SDZ@SIMTEL20>
Subject: Using a phone next to a noisy fan.

Much of the trouble you have hearing when using a phone in a noisy 
environment is caused by the microphone (transmitter) in the handset.
This is because of the "side-tone" that is provided so you can hear 
your own voice in the receiver while talking.  A very effective 
solution is to get a Roanwell "Confidencer" noise-cancelling 
microphone.  These are available direct from Roanwell or from your 
telephone equipment supplier.  On a 500-series handset you simply 
unscrew the cap and remove the old carbon transmitter and replace it 
with the new Roanwell unit.  On other types of handsets which don't 
have a screw-off cap, it may be necessary to replace the whole 
handset.
--Keith

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Date: Mon, 17 Sep 84 11:19:44 pdt
From: <hplabs!intelca!cem@Berkeley>
Subject: Re: TELECOM Digest   V4 #85

In Telcom V4 #85 ucbvax!tamir mentioned one of his requirements for a
smart phone was continuous or more than 15 redials on busy. I recently
read an article that said "attack dialing", or continous redialing on 
busy was illegal for more than 15 retries. Is this true? Can someone 
point me to the correct FCC reference, or article/paragraph? I have my
modem/computer do my home dialing also and it doesn't stop after 15 
tries.
                        --Chuck

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Date: Tue, 18 Sep 84 8:49:55 CDT
From: Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI <wmartin@ALMSA-1.ARPA>
Subject: International "800" Service

Just received a sample copy of one of those expensive newsletters
($277 for 24 issues), called International Communications News. Most
of the data is on satellites, but this one short item looks to be of
particular interest to Telecom readers:

AT&T, FRENCH AGREE ON FIRST TRANSOCEANIC TOLL-FREE SERVICE

AT&T today unveiled a proposal for the first transoceanic
telecommunications service that would allow businesses in the US to
receive toll-free telephone calls from customers in foreign locations.
In a filing made today with the FCC, the company sought initial
approval to make AT&T International 800 Service available between the
US and France later this year. The French PTT has agreed to
concurrently offer a toll-free international service for US-to-France
calls.

(From the Sept 14, 1984, issue.)

Comment: I bet these numbers are kept really hush-hush! Think of the
charges a malicious caller or prankster could force a company to pay
if he found out an international 800 number and called it repeatedly.
I also find it hard to imagine that this service is really that
worthwhile. The usual uses of 800 numbers (telemarketing, data
dial-ups, customer service) don't seem to fit well in a US-to-France
link situation. Anybody have some ideas as to what kinds of businesses
would use this service and for what purposes?

Will Martin

ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin

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Date: 18 Sep 1984 12:20 PDT
From: Lars Poulsen <LARS@ACC>
Subject: Reflections about payphones
Reply-to: LARS@ACC

The Sep 24 issue of Communications Week has an article about equipment
now available for the "Private Pay Phone" market.  The issues raised
about significant features made me realize some of the significant
differences between the - otherwise technically similar and mostly
compatible - switched networks here and in Europe.

Apparently, a Private Pay Phone - like a PBX - needs a cpu and a list
of long distance charges coded by prefixes, areacodes etc in order to
charge for the call as it is being made. This obviously complicates
the equipment.

In my native Denmark, in contrast, the carrier will provide you with a
charge pulse for each message charge unit spent; whether on metered
local service or on long distance calls. In fact, residential lines
have a meter connected across the access loop at the CO, and this is
how phone bills are generated - itemized long distance bills are only
available for operator-assisted calls. If you want, you can rent a
meter to install at your own end of the loop so that you can verify
your phone bill.

This makes a pay phone very simple: all it has to do is count the 
coins and add available message units to an up-down counter as coins
are inserted, then subtract a message unit for each charge pulse.

The result of this is much lower charges for medium-distance toll 
calls.
                / Lars Poulsen

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End of TELECOM Digest
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