Telecom-Request%usc-eclc@brl-bmd.UUCP (Telecom-Request@usc-eclc) (01/08/84)
TELECOM Digest Sunday, 8 Jan 1984 Volume 4 : Issue 5 Today's Topics: time of day in Md. MCI Mail Telex Service Line polarity InterLATA calls InterLATA calls by the RBOCs Beverly Hills Courier advertisement Happy 818 day!! MCI Mail ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 5 Jan 84 9:44:41 EST From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@brl-vld> Subject: time of day in Md. Time of day is available as a local call anywhere in Md. If you are in DC calling area, call 844-2525 for DC time of day. Elsewhere in Md., call 844-1212 for Baltimore time of day. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Jan 1984 1141-EST From: John R. Covert <RSX-DEV at DEC-MARLBORO> Subject: MCI Mail Telex Service Well, it's up. The following glitches, which will hopefully be removed soon, exist: On a message sent to an ITT TELEX in DC, the message arrived three times; the last two said "suspected duplicate." (Better they send duplicates than not at all.) On an attempt to reply from that Telex machine, the number was not accepted. ITT hasn't figured out how to route ten digit numbers (all other numbers beginning with six (other MCII Telex numbers) are shorter). However, by dialling the MCII gateway, waiting for a response, and then entering the 6501046199 (my MCI Mail Telex ID), the message was delivered. When MCI mail Customer service was asked about this, they said it only works from outside the continental US. Not good if you can send a message to someone who can't reply. But this customer service rep also thought that you could only send to Telexes outside the U.S. But they give rates for domestic telex. ------------------------------ Date: 5 Jan 1984 1950-EST From: Philip A. Earnhardt <S.PAE at MIT-EECS> Subject: Line polarity I have a touch-tone telephone. About every 20th dial tone, I'm unable to generate any tones. I'm able to generate tones after getting a new dial tone. This has been happening for at least a year. Is this caused by somehow getting reversed line polarity? What else could be causing this? If helpful, I'm in the (617) 625 exchange. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Jan 84 11:26:38 est From: ulysses!smb@Berkeley (Steven Bellovin) Subject: InterLATA calls A few days ago, I inquired about the LATA boundaries in the New York area. I had received a bill from NJ Bell that showed calls to New York City in the intraLATA section, which made no sense to me -- NJ Bell and NY Bell are not only separate companies, but they're owned by two different RBOCs (Regional Bell Operating Companies), Bell Atlantic and Nynex. I've just learned that this is legitimate. It seems that there are two "corridors" where interLATA calls are handled by the local operating companies; these are most of northern NJ and the 212 area code, and calls between NJ's Delaware Valley LATA and the Philadelphia LATA. I confess that the logic of this escapes me. --Steve Bellovin ------------------------------ Date: 6 Jan 1984 1432-EST From: John R. Covert <RSX-DEV at DEC-MARLBORO> Subject: InterLATA calls by the RBOCs I suspect that the exceptions in these two cases are a result of the fact that, due to the very high volume of traffic in these areas, there are an extremely large number of circuits from Class 4 and Class 4/5 offices (these kind of offices usually remained with the BOCs -- a class 5 office is an end-office and a class 4/5 office is an end-office which concentrates toll connecting trunks for telephone users in that office and nearby class 5 offices) in one LATA to offices in the other. Another exception was recently made in the Balto-Wash corridor because of the large number of simulated FXs in that area. Northern New Jersey also has a large number of simulated NYC FXs. I wonder whether the exception also includes the operation of the physical circuit across the LATA boundary, or whether the BOC has to lease that circuit from a long-distance carrier? ------------------------------ Date: 7 Jan 1984 0003-PST Subject: Beverly Hills Courier advertisement From: Ian H. Merritt <SWG.MERRITT@USC-ISIB> On the back page of the Beverly Hills Courier newspaper of January 6, 1984, I found the following add: [This is printed on a tombstone which I couldn't easily reproduce here] I N N M M EEEEE M M OOO RRRR I AAA M M I NN N MM MM E MM MM O O R R I A A MM MM I N N N M M M EEEE M M M O O RRRR I AAAAA M M M I N NN M M E M M O O R R I A A M M I N N M M EEEEE M M OOO R R I A A M M MM MM AAAAAA BBBBBBBB EEEEEEEEEE LL LL MMMM MMMM AA AA BB BB EE LL LL MM MM MM MM AA AA BB BB EE LL LL MM MMM MM AAAAAAAAAA BBBBBBBB EEEEEEEE LL LL MM MM AA AA BB BB EE LL LL MM MM AA AA BB BB EE LL LL MM MM AA AA BBBBBBBB EEEEEEEEEE LLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLL DIED DECEMBER 31, OF GOVERNMENT MEDDELING, IN HER 98TH YEAR. SHE PROVIDED US WITH THE GREATEST TELEPHONE SYSTEM THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN. THE CONFUSION RESULTING FROM HER LOSS WILL BE A LIVING TESTAMENT TO THE EFFICIENCIES SHE PROVIDED. BEING BIG IS NOT NECESSARILY BAD! Lone Star Industries, Inc. [Signed James Stuart] ------------------------------ Date: 7 Jan 1984 2001-EST From: John R. Covert <RSX-DEV at DEC-MARLBORO> Subject: Happy 818 day!! Well, it's 818 day, and a happy 818 day to all Telecommers. Aside from the lack of 818 in most private PBX ARS patterns nationwide (well, duplicate dialling exists for 9 months, but if you're given an 818 number, unless you're a phone hacker you won't know to dial 213 if 818 misbehaves) the 818 cut seems to be going remarkably well here in New England, where I've checked. Around the country in general (not General Tel, well, one) things are interesting. Most interesting is Memphis, where 818 sort of works, at least for some exchanges, but 818 555-1212 isn't in the toll machine, or is in wrong. It's missing in the following local exchanges I've checked (and certainly many more I won't be checking): Quincy, Mass 471, Contoocook, NH 746, Rochester, NY 223, Tyngsboro, MA 649, Houston, TX 977 (But ok in 953), and not in the Band 5 WATS Table in whatever machine our Band 5 WATS in Houston comes from, Rolling Meadows, IL 640, Chicago, IL 569, Ann Arbor, MI 665, and Tampa, FL 879. That's actually only about 10% of the exchanges I've checked. I'll certainly find more, but I won't bore you with the details (at least not until 9 months from now when it really matters). ------------------------------ Date: Sat 7 Jan 84 23:06-EST From: Joseph D. Turner <RG.CUTTER%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA> Subject: MCI Mail Having just recently gotten MCI Mail (well, my brother, actually), I wanted to comment on it a litttle bit. I think that the terminal-to-terminal part of it is fine. Even the U.S. Snail service is O.K., if not a slight bit slow --- I mailed myself a letter on a Friday, and it got to me Wednesday --- but everything else is completely overpriced. 4-hour delivery? Hell, I could call someone for far less cost (and faster, too!). The computer itself isn't bad, in fact it's quite user-freindly. The quality of the letter, however, was disappointing. They advertise "laser printing" --- well, maybe they should think twice about that. My letter was readable, but faint. Maybe they should use the laser for the custom letterheads, and use a NEC Spinwriter or some such for the letter itself? Who knows. Their laser printer might have been having a bad day when my letter was done. In any case, if they reduced the prices a bit and put an on-line directory of subscribers so one could find the User Name of someone if you didn't know if they were on the service or not, then I think a) I would like it better, and b) it would (maybe) get a little more popular than it is now. Thought -- forget the US Snail stuff, and provide users witth a cheap terminal/300bd modem? Hmmm, sounds like what The Source did/does... -- cutter -- ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest *********************