From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Mar 30 15:44:14 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i2UKiER10936; Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:44:14 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:44:14 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200403302044.i2UKiER10936@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #151 TELECOM Digest Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:43:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 151 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Level 3 Announces Wholesale VoIP Customer Agreement With 8x8 (VOIP News) AT&T Ushers in New Era in Communication With Launch of AT&T (VOIP News) VoicePulse Announces Plans for Encrypted Phone Service (VOIP News) Re: Nuisance Recorded Phone Calls (No Spam) Re: Nuisance Recorded Phone Calls (John Bartley) AOL Connection Leads to $2,500 Phone Bill (Carl Moore) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:27:14 -0500 Subject: Level 3 Announces Wholesale VoIP Customer Agreement With 8x8 Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-30-2004/0002137119&EDATE= Broadband VoIP and Video Communications Company Purchases Level 3's Local Inbound and Voice Termination Services SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT) today announced at the Spring 2004 VON Conference & Expo that 8x8 (Nasdaq: EGHT), a broadband VoIP and video communications service provider, has purchased wholesale VoIP services from Level 3. 8x8 (http://www.8x8.com) purchased (3)VoIP(SM) Local Inbound and (3)Voice(R) Termination services from Level 3. 8x8 serves residential and business customers through a suite of offerings under the Packet8 and Packet8 Virtual Office brands that include broadband telephone service for residential customers, consumer videophones and virtual office PBX solutions for small businesses. "Packet8 is a worldwide communications service available today to anyone with broadband Internet access," said Barry Andrews, president of 8x8. "The quality and broad market coverage of Level 3's advanced VoIP solutions are enabling us to quickly deliver feature-rich, cost-effective voice and video services to our growing base of business and residential customers." "We're pleased that 8x8 has selected Level 3 as its primary provider of wholesale VoIP solutions," said Sureel Choksi, president of Softswitch Services for Level 3. "Level 3 has a full set of wholesale VoIP offerings that give 8x8 and other customers the control they need to develop and quickly roll-out new products and services." (3)VoIP Local Inbound service significantly reduces communications costs for call center operators, conferencing providers, and other enhanced service providers that require a reliable local-calling infrastructure. The service complements both (3)VoIP Toll Free(SM), Level 3's new toll-free, nationwide calling solution, and its worldwide (3)Voice Termination service. "Level 3's wholesale VoIP solutions enable our customers to develop new services at significantly lower cost and with traditional phone quality," said Kevin Dundon, senior vice president of Wholesale Voice Services for Level 3. "Customers can create their own products using multiple Level 3 wholesale VoIP services as building blocks." The (3)VoIP Local Inbound service rides Level 3's patented softswitch platform, which has successfully processed more than 300 billion minutes in voice and data calls since 1999. The service also utilizes Level 3's extensive local networks, offering industry-leading geographic coverage. The (3)VoIP Local Inbound service enables customers to: * Establish local presence in 73 markets across the United States; * Design and deliver new applications quickly and cost-effectively; * Streamline call flows; * Deploy and maintain application servers at a single location. (3)Voice Termination service, originally launched in December 1999, enables PTTs, inter-exchange carriers, enhanced service providers, cable operators and other companies to terminate calls in the U.S. and abroad. (3)Voice Termination was the world's first long-distance voice service that offered customers voice quality indistinguishable from traditional telephone networks, but with the efficiencies and inherent cost advantages of IP. In December 2003, Level 3 significantly expanded its softswitch-based (3)Voice Termination service by enabling customers to hand off traffic directly to Level 3 using an IP interface, further lowering their fixed network costs and capital expenses. Level 3's expanded voice capability allows IP-to-IP interconnection with the Level 3 network at the high levels of security required for voice traffic. Level 3 is an industry pioneer in the development of VoIP technology and services. Today the company offers a broad suite of wholesale, business and residential IP-based voice solutions over a robust softswitch-based network platform that carries more than 30 billion minutes of IP-based voice and data calls every month. For more information about Level 3's portfolio of VoIP services, please stop by VON booth #615, or visit http://www.Level3.com. About Level 3 Communications Level 3 (Nasdaq: LVLT) is an international communications and information services company. The company operates one of the largest Internet backbones in the world, is one of the largest providers of wholesale dial-up service to ISPs in North America and is the primary provider of Internet connectivity for millions of broadband subscribers, through its cable and DSL partners. The company offers a wide range of communications services over its 22,500 mile broadband fiber optic network including Internet Protocol (IP) services, broadband transport and infrastructure services, colocation services, and patented Softswitch managed modem and voice services. Its Web address is http://www.Level3.com. The company offers information services through its subsidiaries, Software Spectrum and (i)Structure. For additional information, visit their respective Web sites at http://www.softwarespectrum.com and http://www.i-structure.com. The Level 3 logo and (3)Voice are registered service marks and (3)VoIP and (3)VoIP Toll Free are service marks of Level 3 Communications, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. 8x8, Packet8 and Packet8 Virtual Office are trademarks of 8x8, Inc. SOURCE Level 3 Communications, Inc. Web Site: http://www.level3.com Photo Notes: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990721/LVLTLOGO PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467 ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:40:40 -0500 Subject: AT&T Ushers in New Era in Communication With Launch of AT&T Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com Note: I took the subject line for this message from the headline on the press release itself, but it seems to me that AT&T is quite full of themselves if they think it is they who are ushering in the "new era." Several other companies, including VoicePulse, Vonage, and Packet8, have beat them to that claim, and several reviews I have read suggest that those other companies do it better. Certainly, anyone interested in VoIP should compare the features and prices of the other companies before going with AT&T, and it wouldn't hurt to spend a little time at places like the BroadbandReports.com VoIP forum reading the user reviews on the various providers. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-30-2004/0002137485&EDATE= AT&T Ushers in New Era in Communication With Launch of AT&T CallVantage Service Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston First Major Cities to be Served Introductory Promotion Offers Unlimited Calling and Advanced Features at 50 Percent Off Regular Price of $39.99 Per Month DALLAS, March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AT&T today launched its residential Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service, called AT&T CallVantage(SM) Service, providing the residents of Texas a high-tech alternative for their personal communications needs. Starting today, AT&T's CallVantage Service will begin setting the benchmarks for what the company believes will be the industry's most reliable and innovative broadband phone service in the country as it becomes generally available to consumers in the Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas. The service will be expanded to serve the San Antonio metropolitan area over the next several weeks through a controlled introduction with additional markets in the state and the nation to follow early this summer. Yesterday, the company also announced the local availability of AT&T CallVantage Service in parts of New Jersey. "AT&T already provides traditional residential local service to more than 4 million households nationwide, but AT&T CallVantage Service marks the beginning of an exciting new era in telecommunications that gives customers another competitive choice," said Cathy Martine, AT&T senior vice president for Internet Telephony, Consumer Marketing and Sales. "AT&T will continue to lead the adoption of VoIP services by both businesses and consumers as it delivers the next generation of communications that our customers demand." AT&T CallVantage Service requires a customer to have a high-speed Internet connection to the home. While most households have access to these broadband connections through their local cable or telephone company, only about one in five subscribe nationally. In Texas, broadband penetration runs close to this national average with higher pockets of penetration in some of its major metropolitan areas according to data from TNS Telecoms. VoIP applications might just be the "value-add" that consumers are seeking to justify their investment in broadband, Martine said. AT&T CallVantage Service is different than traditional phone services because it uses IP-based networks instead of traditional circuit-switched phone networks to make calls. That means AT&T CallVantage not only can offer customers typical features such as call waiting, three-way calling, and call forwarding -- all free of charge -- but far more advanced ones as well. Indeed, consumers will get unprecedented convenience and control with innovative features including: * "Call Logs," which tracks incoming and outgoing calling with "click to dial" capability; * "Do Not Disturb," which allows customers to receive calls only when they want, while letting emergency calls ring in; * "Personal Conferencing," which enables users to set up a meeting with up to nine additional callers; * "Locate Me," which enables home phones to find customers by ringing up to five phones all at once or one right after the other; * "Voicemail with eFeatures," which allows customers to hear their messages from any phone or PC and forward the voicemail to anyone on the Web via e-mail. All that is required for service is an easy-to-connect, plug-in telephone adapter (TA) provided by AT&T, and a broadband Internet connection and regular telephone supplied by the customer. It is simple to use and easy for consumers to install -- typically in 10 minutes. AT&T CallVantage Service works with most any cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband connection. The TA is compatible with most home computer networks and may be used in conjunction with various home network routers. And, the adapter can be used from almost any location where there is a telephone and a broadband connection. That gives customers the ability to take their telephone numbers with them wherever they travel. To kick-start the AT&T CallVantage Service launch, AT&T will offer a special introductory rate of $19.99 a month for six months to those who subscribe by May 31, 2004. This promotional rate includes a complete calling solution that provides unlimited local and long-distance domestic calling, including calls to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, discount rates for international calling, and a suite of advanced features that customers have never experienced before. AT&T CallVantage will cost $39.99 a month thereafter. The company plans to add many more advanced features over the next 12 months. As a special incentive, the company will offer AT&T CallVantage customers one month of free service (maximum of 12 months) for each referral and sale made through its "Refer-a-Friend" program. The company's commitment is to expand AT&T CallVantage Service to 100 major markets by year's end as part of AT&T's growing strategic focus on IP- based communications services. The company expects to sign up 1 million business and consumer customers by year-end 2005. "Imagine extending this set of features to your entire family and the connectedness that functionality will provide. With an IP-based service, imagination combined with software opens up enormous possibilities," Martine added. AT&T CallVantage Service is an innovative service that promises to transform the way people communicate. A core concept to the service, built on AT&T Labs patented technology, is the ability to quickly introduce new features and capabilities to the platform. "New technologies like VoIP in no way substitute for the important, pro- competitive local phone policies that are needed to be established by the Texas Public Utility Commission under the Federal Communication Commission's Triennial Review Order," said Tom Pelto, AT&T vice president of law and government affairs. "Without question, VoIP is the future of telecommunications in this country, however, the Unbundled Network Elements Platform (UNE-P) is the present and remains the gold standard that has allowed some 1.8 million Texans to select a competitive local phone service provider. Voice is the killer application and UNE-P is the only way today to get it into the bundle. "Healthy competition is the engine that will drive investment and innovation that leads us to the future," he said. "Without UNE-P, you would not have seen the wave of innovation to introduce VoIP. Without UNE-P, you will not see VoIP grow, nor will Texans experience the full array of attendant benefits and investment." With the addition of AT&T CallVantage Service, AT&T offers consumers a broad range of communications services designed to meet almost any need and budget. AT&T's portfolio of offers includes everything from new and innovative services like broadband telephony to traditional bundled packages of classic local, long distance and Internet services. The company plans to support the marketing of AT&T CallVantage Service with an extensive communications campaign that will include mass market advertising on television, radio and in print and through direct mail, viral marketing and online. Television and print advertising begins in Texas tomorrow. To learn more about AT&T CallVantage Service, consumers can visit http://www.att.com/CallVantage or call 1-866-816-3815 extension 64525. About AT&T For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE: T) has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services. The foregoing contains "forward-looking statements" which are based on management's beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by and information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside AT&T's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This information is presented solely to provide additional information to further understand the results of AT&T. SOURCE AT&T Web Site: http://www.att.com/CallVantage How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VoIPnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: VoIPnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:03:48 -0500 Subject: VoicePulse Announces Plans for Encrypted Phone Service Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-30-2004/0002137086&EDATE= VoicePulse Announces Plans for Encrypted Phone Service Broadband Phone Service Allows Customers to Make Secure Phone Calls SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- VON (VOICE ON THE NET) CONFERENCE AND EXPO, -- VoicePulse Inc., one of the nation's leading providers of broadband phone service, and Sipura Technology, manufacturer of the feature rich SPA-2000 phone adapter, today announced plans to secure customers' broadband phone calls using encryption. The new capability leverages technology built into the SPA-2000 as well as modifications to VoicePulse's own softswitch, developed in house. "The lack of encryption in consumer VoIP offerings has been a growing concern among users," said Ketan Patel, VoicePulse executive vice-president. "For the first time, customers will be able to pick up a telephone and carry on a conversation that is protected from eavesdropping - electronic or traditional. This is something that was rarely available even to PSTN phone users." Unlike consumer VoIP offerings to date, the new capability will protect customer phone calls by encrypting the portion that travels over the public Internet -- a frequent request by residential consumers, and an absolute requirement for business users. VoicePulse is the first company to announce plans to offer this level of security, due to be implemented in the second quarter of 2004. VoicePulse allows consumers to use their existing cable or DSL Internet connection for phone service. The service includes traditional features such as caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding and voicemail as well as a host of advanced features such as distinctive ring, call filters, telemarketer blocking and anonymous call rejection. Consumers need only a high-speed Internet connection and an ordinary touch-tone telephone to use the service. VoicePulse uses Voice-over-IP technology to deliver the next generation of broadband phone service. VoicePulse's services include: -- Unlimited local, regional and 200 US long distance minutes for $14.99 per month -- Unlimited local, regional and US long distance calling for $24.99 per month -- Traditional features such as Caller ID, Call Waiting with Caller ID, 3-Way Calling, Call Transfer, Call Return, Caller ID Blocking, Repeat Dialing -- Advanced features including Telemarketer Blocking, Do Not Disturb, Anonymous Call Rejection, Distinctive Ring. -- Voicemail with optional e-mail delivery of messages as sound attachments -- Choose your own area code -- Low international calling rates About Sipura Technology: Sipura Technology, Inc., located in San Jose, California, delivers products that are economically and functionally designed for large-scale global Voice over IP deployments. By providing exceptional value, Sipura offers customers high quality products that support rapid service adoption with secure and sustainable growth. Web address: http://www.sipura.com About VoicePulse: VoicePulse is a New Jersey based communications company that uses its VoIP network to deliver advanced features and high-quality phone service to residential and small-business consumers. The company leads the industry in delivering innovative features and excellent customer service. For more information about VoicePulse, please visit http://www.voicepulse.com. VoicePulse is a trademark of VoicePulse Inc. http://www.voicepulse.com For more information, please contact: VoicePulse Inc. Rima Vaghasiya Phone: (732) 339-5100 ext. 1 rima@voicepulse.com Sipura Technology Sherman Scholten Phone: (408) 572-5674 sherman@sipura.com SOURCE VoicePulse Inc. Web Site: http://www.voicepulse.com http://www.sipura.com ---------------------------------------- How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 09:00:18 -0500 From: No Spam Subject: Re: Nuisance Recorded Phone Calls PAT: Your information on RespOrg is correct, but these calls are probably not intentionally 'nuisance' calls. The number belongs to CCA, a financial services organization. I called them on behalf of a 'concerned user' of one of my systems, and they explained that they are not a sales or telemarketing organization. If they are calling a number in error, they are happy to remove said number, however, I explained to them that I just needed to confirm the nature of the call, and would let the end-user decide how to proceed. I suspect that they are trying to contact someone (who may or may not be you) for a legitimate reason. Your description reminded me of the time that Citibank called me because the noticed an unusually high quantity of transactions on my card. I had started my Holiday shopping. I would suggest giving them a call to confirm if they're calling you, or if they have a 'wrong number'. The 'nuisance' coordinator at x210 said she'd be more than happy to remove the 'dialled' number if they were calling it in error. If you'd like to authorize me to contact them on your behalf, email me privately with which of your numbers they dialled. J On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 21:14:35 EST TELECOM Digest Editor discussed Nuisance Recorded Phone Calls: > I have lately been getting one or two calls daily from a recorded > message which identifies itself as 'customer service' and claims to > have an important matter to discuss with me. I am to call back to > 'customer service' at 877-706-5624. For several days, I just ignored > it, treated it as a nuisance to petty too complain about very much. > I found is impossible to block the number from calling me. I was not > even able to track down *who* owned the number. > But I found something of value today and it may be useful for you as > well. The 'Resporg' (or Responsible Organization) Identification Line > can tell you which telco has the line in question. Dial 800-337-4194 > (recorded menu) and enter the entire ten digit number (800,888,877, > 866-xxx-xxxx) you are inquiring about. Confirm your entry when > requested. The recording will then read out the name of the resporg > and the number to call for troubles with it. I found out that my > nuisance calls were originating via Allnet, in Dallas, TX and the > number to call to report troubles, etc is 800-466-4600. > I hope this detail will be of value to readers. > PAT ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 11:22:58 PST From: John Bartley or K7AAY@ARRL.NET Subject: Re: Nuisance Recorded Phone Calls I recognize the MO. It's a collection agency. They called me looking for another John Bartley who had stiffed his dentist. I advised them that I was not the John Bartley they were looking for, and they went away. However, I did obtain their e-mail address, and sent them an e-mail I also BCC'd back to myself to document the conversation, in case the dentist appears in my credit history as the source of a false bad debt. John E. Bartley, III K7AAY telcom admin, PDX - Views mine. celdata cjb net - Handheld Cellular Data FAQ *This post quad-ROT13 encrypted. Reading it violates the DMCA.* [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: In regards to your note about calls from CCA in (a suburb of) Dallas, TX what I was able to find out is either they are as division of Southwestern Bell *or* Southwestern Bell is somehow affiliated with them. I dumped SBC out of my home totally almost a year ago, in May, 2003. I *had* a full service package from them (local service, long distance, DSL, and Cellular [via Cingular Wireless]). I had it all for about two years, under the my personal number, the main billing number at my home, except the cell phone. More than a year ago, I began to have a lot of trouble with SBC, to the point I had to call the business office at least once each month, to lodge complaints. The bills just kept getting higher and higher. They were getting money two ways: a large credit balance on my account (several hundred dollars sent in advance to pay for a year of DSL) and when that money was all used, then they had auto debit from my bank account here in Independence. One month they got paid TWICE. I sent them a check, then they went in the same month and got another payment from the bank. They claimed it was an accident, and offered to refund my money. It never showed up. Then once, because of my age and disability they decided I was eligible for 'Lifeline'? service and quoted certain rates. They did not keep any of those promises. Although they claimed that *60 would block unwanted/anonymous calls from getting through, they said (in a later conversation) that if a caller presented 000-000-0000 as their calling number ID, it was not an anonymous call, therefore they could not help me further with it. They told me DSL could be obtained for $29 per month instead of $49 per month, but then continued to bill me $49 and said the earlier quote was a 'mistake', that I was not eligible, because although I do have Cingular Wireless it did not 'appear on the same phone bill'. When I decided to switch entirely to Prairie Stream (our local area telco) SBC stalled forever, and was not going to allow me to switch since I had DSL. They said I was 'ineligible for conversion'. So I dumped DSL and all SBC service totally, going with cable modem from Cable One who is also going to be offering phone service soon. No sooner had I gotten rid of SBC entirely and was working on the bad taste in my mouth, I began getting requests from them to come back. DSL for $29, no questions, full package of telco for a very low rate, *and* a free fifty dollar gift card to sign up. About a month after I had left them totally, they went again to my bank trying to get more money, and because I told bank not to pay them further each month, they decided to place me for collection. Some days I would get two pieces of mail from them in the same day; one piece offering a great deal to return to them, and a second piece saying pay us the $117 you owe. I asked them for a complete breakdown of how they arrived at the $117 figure, and to deduct the overpayment from a few months earlier (bank draft in a month when a check also went in) and I got nothing from them at all, just more offers of great bargains if I would leave Prairie Stream and come back to them. I told CCA (out of some suburb in Dallas) to please get me a total, final, detailed balance due, deduct the overpayment and tell me how much was still due. They said 'call SBC and ask them to get the matter straightened out.' Well, SBC will not even talk to me since I am not a customer of theirs any longer. I have suggested to CCA they should not use an autodialer to call numbers and play recorded messages about 'customer service' without first identifing who they are calling, that they should give caller ID when they call, and that they should cease calling on request. I think there are laws against all those forms of behavior. I have suggested SBC should simply go ahead and sue me; let it come to a head so they can be shown for the liars and fools they are. Oh, one last thing ... a couple months ago, I got tired of this and sent them a fifty dollar money order with a note saying "despite your lies and misrepresentations, if I still owe you anything after you have applied the credit due to me, then use this fifty dollar money order, and file is considered closed." I never heard another word from them until CCA started calling March 9 except for one more 'we miss you' letter with bargains galore if I would return and accept more of their lies, etc. Now it appears they cannot locate the $50 I sent even though I marked my telephone number on the bill and enclosed one of their dunning notices. I guess they feel *I* should get in line at the customer disservice department at SBC and go through the whole thing once again. CCA said they would ask SBC for my file and a copy of my bill, but to allow 2-3 weeks for it to arrive. "Then we will call you and expect payment in full." I guess even though as the lady claimed to me, 'SBC will have to look in their records for something that far back' (a year ago) I am expected to have all my own records from a year ago at my fingertips so I can send them immediate payment (of how much ever is left, minus my credit and my fifty dollar payment at the end.) Why does *anyone* stay with the large telcos if they can find other more effecient bunches like Prairie Stream or Vonage? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 13:47:59 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: AOL Connection Leads to $2,500 Phone Bill Did you see that story in New York and elsewhere? Someone accidentally ran a phone bill up to $2500 because of a mistaken belief that a call to an AOL number within 973 in New Jersey was a free local call. The story had the note about the usual need to use leading 1 if it's a toll call, and also said that's not always the case "in some East Coast service areas". Remember about use of 7D for all calls (even toll) within a NJ area code. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V23 #151 ******************************