From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Apr 21 18:30:56 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id i3LMUu113792; Wed, 21 Apr 2004 18:30:56 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 18:30:56 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200404212230.i3LMUu113792@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 #199 TELECOM Digest Wed, 21 Apr 2004 18:31:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 199 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson OSS Firm Launches VOIP Watchdog (VOIP News) Rural Communications Announce Voice Over Internet Deployment (VOIP News) Review of NorVergence (Patty) Toll Free (1-800) Line ANI Delivery Question (news.sbcglobal.net) Re: And Now, Usenet c.d.t. is Ruined Also! (Paul Vader) Network Slow Down With Hot Weather (Charles B. Wilber) Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 (Clarence Dold) Re: Paying For Incoming Mobile Phone Calls (Steven J Sobol) Re: Sex.Com Settles Monumental Case Against VeriSign (Clarence Dold) Read My Mail, Please/The Silly Privacy Fears About Google (M Solomon) 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: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 10:31:45 -0400 Subject: OSS Firm Launches VOIP Watchdog Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.boardwatch.com/document.asp?doc_id=51351 OAKLAND, Calif. -- Switch Management Corporation, a leading OSS software provider to the telecommunications industry, today announced the launch of VoIP Watchdog(TM). VoIP Watchdog is a web-based quality of service (QoS) monitor and alarm manager that alerts network managers when route quality (VoIP or TDM) drops below acceptable levels. Full story at: http://www.boardwatch.com/document.asp?doc_id=51351 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/ ------------------------------ From: VOIP News Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 15:51:27 -0400 Subject: Rural Communications Announces Voice Over Internet Deployment Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-21-2004/0002156664&EDATE= St. Joseph County Gears Up for Major Deployment in 4th Quarter 2004 VoIP to be offered first to business and consumers using Rural Communications Wireless Broadband in St. Joseph County THREE RIVERS, Mich., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Rural Communications today announced a major new deployment to deliver a full complement of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to business customers and consumers in late 2004. The company, which already serves hundreds of consumers with its wireless broadband services and thousands of local telephone lines, said it will include VoIP to its portfolio and aggressively market a full suite of VoIP-enabled services to customers in St. Joseph County. Rural Communications will also roll out a new VoIP consumer offer in lower Kalamazoo County in early 2005. Rural Communications President and CEO Gerald Ludwick said the company is currently beefing up its communications infrastructure for the increased demands of a VoIP deployment. We anticipate that consumers will respond very aggressively to an offering that combines voice and broadband over a single connection with significant cost savings. The cost savings are achieved by eliminating the overpriced and cumbersome technology used by the old telephone companies. "VoIP combined with Wireless Broadband is one of the most innovative and cost effective ways to deliver communications in recent memory, and will deliver tremendous value to all customers by leveraging the efficiencies and advanced communications capabilities of IP-based technology," said Ludwick. Rural Communications' strategy for delivery of VoIP is to eliminate the need for multiple carrier networks that are using outdated technology and replace the outdated technology with IP based technology that is provided by a single company. This strategy dramatically increases the Quality of Service (QOS), Manageability, and Cost Effectiveness of our end product to the consumer. Businesses are attracted to VoIP technology because it simplifies access for voice, data and the Internet so that companies can reduce the amount of devices they need to purchase and manage. Consumers are drawn to VOIP because it simply saves them money. SOURCE Rural Communications Web Site: http://www.ruralcommunications.net ------------------------------ From: PBrockhage@aol.com (Patty) Subject: Review of NorVergence Date: 21 Apr 2004 13:43:05 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Joel Keck wrote: > From what I've read, the customer service is terrible. Ok, > admittedly every company has at some point or another been known for > bad customer service. There are growing pains, especially if > Norvergence is growing as fast as it seems. My only statement on > this subject currently (I address this further, later on) is that > they will need to improve this area to keep customers. Any company > with a continued record of horrible customer service often gets in > trouble with state agencies. I'm sure they are aware of this issue > and there was some indication from the posts I read that they had > improved to some measure. As a person who works for a telecommunications company that works with NorVergence, and is a customer of theirs, I must say ... their customer service is beyond terrible. They don't document ANYTHING, even though they are telling you that they are updating your account. When our company was trying to get new cell phones (they have a free upgrade after one year) it literally took me over 4 months which involved 8 calls and 4 different contacts, who didn't document anything so I was starting fresh every time. And the names I got during these calls, which I would use later to refer someone to them, no one knew who they were so there was no accountability. And the end result, we didn't get what we asked for, instead got replacement phones and were told the "real" phones we were to get would come in later. We have a pool in our office to see how long it will take them to deliver. I took 1 month. I have lost, as it's over 3 months now. NOW, on our cell phone bills, we are getting charged for services that our phone doesn't even support. When I called last month to have these charges removed or credited, I literally had one of their customer representatives raising his voice at me and telling me I was wrong. (His reasoning we got these charges _ "They wouldn't show up unless someone accessed it from the phone" - AGAIN, OUR PHONE DOESN'T EVEN SUPPORT THESE SERVICES SO HOW CAN THEY BE ACCESSED??) He refused to give us a refund or credit and said that if we don't pay the bill there will be "creditor issues" down the line. So we ended up having to cancel the "services" we were charged for. Just got this month's bill, and we are STILL getting charged for these services. I called, spoke with someone, and got the following answer "Well, it looks like they only took off part of the services. I'll have to forward this to the cellular department and get back to you" Meanwhile, it sounded like there was a serious party going on in the background. I was suprised to hear so much commotion on in the back, since I assumed, from not being able to get through most of the day, that they were just swamped with calls from customers. I know it's cliche to say the customer is always right (because that's not always true), but you should treat the customer with respect and understanding or at least make them think you are taking care of them, which I don't know that I've ever received from their Customer Service department. I usually get someone who mumbles their name into the reciever, gets my info 4 or 5 times before they actually get into my account, and get a promise of a call back, which never comes. I would advise ANYONE who thinks customer service is important (I do, especially in a company where their accounting isn't always accurate, nor is their info on what services we have even though they provide the services and you have to constantly call to rectify the situation) and who doesn't want to waste days upon days on the phone with someone who refuses to do anything for you, do not sign up with NorVergence. You will have to deal with this imcompetant department for at least 5 years. I don't wish that on my worst enemy. ------------------------------ From: news.sbcglobal.net Subject: Toll Free (1-800) Line ANI Delivery Question Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 12:17:43 GMT I have a 1-800 PRI line connecting to the Cisco access server for staff remote dial-up access while travelling and all users are charged a fix minute rate to cover the cost regardless of the originating call location. Now that the budget is tight, a new rate plan is proposed to charge the international traveller a higher rate and if possible, apply different rate based on the originating country. From the access server, I could obtain most of the incoming call's Calling Party Number from the Q.931 setup message only if the "call type" is national. Otherwise, the Calling Party Number is either Unknown or blank. In the case of Unknown Calling Party Number, the call type is also unknown and the cause code is 0x00C0 "Network screen". As for the blank Calling Party Number, the call type is national and the code is 0x21A3 "Presentation unavailable". I believe the Network screen is a network function and the Presentation unavailable is a user requested function. Is it true that ANI is a guarantee service for the PRI 800 service line and ANI cannot be blocked? If so, can those two functions be provisioned such that all ANI information be delivered to the access server (CPE)? Otherwise, any other possible suggestion in identifying the originating number? Admittedly, for a non-telecom guy, getting to decode the Calling Party Number Information Element content has been very challenging. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks, K.K. ------------------------------ From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (Paul Vader) Subject: Re: And Now, Usenet c.d.t. is Ruined Also! Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 15:19:10 -0000 Organization: Inline Software Creations Editor writes: > if possible, but now comes word from Carl Navarro that someone has > hijacked c.d.t. and raped it totally. Read this series of sad messages > he and I exchanged earlier today: You don't hijack a newsgroup. The messages got there at sites who don't properly run their local cache of moderated groups. At my provider, we never saw those messages. If someone did see them, it's because their news provider is an absentee landlord. * * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something like corkscrews. ------------------------------ Date: 21 Apr 2004 08:36:05 EDT From: Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) Subject: Network Slow Down With Hot Weather Continuing with the Editor's theory that the network speed reduction is not weather-related I would suggest that it might be partially weather related. For example, it is difficult to see how weather temperature could have a direct effect on network speed. However, it can have a direct effect on people and their habits. When it is very hot it is possible that more people are inside enjoying air conditioning when they might otherwise be outside. Since they are inside, they could be accessing the network which they would probably not be doing if they were outside. The additional air-conditioning being used could also be stressing the power system, perhaps bringing some servers down. I would look for a multi-level cause-and-effect relationship. Charlie Wilber Dartmouth College Original author wrote: > Why would this happen? Is it most likely a problem with my home wiring > or could it be somewhere else? I have no way of testing my phone lines > and I know the phone company isn't gonna bother with it. ------------------------------ From: dold@FedsXXNoXA.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Feds: No Analog TV by '09 Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 04:43:10 UTC Organization: a2i network Tony P. wrote: > The other thing to keep in mind about CRT based televisions is that > over a period of about 5 years they're pretty much shot nowadays. I > can already see my 5 year old set redding out. But then it gets heavy > usage. Yougottabekidding. My primary TV is a 1993 32" RCA CRT that still looks as good as it ever did. I recall TVs from the 70's that I replaced CRTs in at about 8-10 years and people thought they had new sets. The old CRT was awful. That hasn't happened with any of the more recent sets. I retired a 13" VCR combo when the VCR went bad after 10 years, and replaced it with a 24" VCR DVD combo that was $299 at Costco last month. I have a 5" color portable that looks fine after 20 years or so, but it doesn't get much use. I don't expect a TV purchased today to be dead of natural causes in another five years. Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Re: Paying For Incoming Mobile Phone Calls Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 23:47:53 -0500 John Levine wrote: >> My question is: Do all mobile phone rate plans in the U.S.A. charge >> talk-time for the incoming calls? > There are a few that offer first incoming minute free, but the mobile > subscriber pays all the per-minute fees. In Ohio, AirTouch USED to offer Calling Party Pays. A friend used it. I'm thinking they got rid of it due to lack of demand for the feature, but I don't know for sure. JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, Apple Valley, CA PGP: 0xE3AE35ED Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / sjsobol@JustThe.net Domain Names, $9.95/yr, 24x7 service: http://DomainNames.JustThe.net/ "someone once called me a sofa, but i didn't feel compelled to rush out and buy slip covers." -adam brower * Hiroshima '45, Chernobyl '86, Windows 98/2000/2003 ------------------------------ From: dold@SexXComXSe.usenet.us.com Subject: Re: Sex.Com Settles Case Against VeriSign/Network Solutions Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 04:45:17 UTC Organization: a2i network Monty Solomon wrote: > After the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals The most often overturned court in the country? Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 09:20:37 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Read My Mail, Please / The Silly Privacy Fears About Google By Paul Boutin Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were the heroes of the Net from the moment they launched their better-than-the-rest search engine in 1998, right up until two weeks ago. On April 1, they announced plans for Gmail , a Googleized alternative to the free Web-based e-mail services offered by Hotmail, Yahoo!, and a slew of smaller companies. Depending on your take, Gmail is either too good to be true, or it's the height of corporate arrogance, especially coming from a company whose house motto is "Don't Be Evil." At first, Web hipsters dismissed Gmail as an April Fool's hoax. But Google's offer is real. Gmail will provide each user an entire gigabyte of free e-mail storage. That's about 250 times the 4-megabyte limit of a basic Yahoo! Mail account and 10 times Hotmail's 100-megabyte "super-user" package, which costs $60 a year. In return for all that inbox space, Google wants just one favor: to be allowed to scan the content of your incoming messages and serve content-targeted ads alongside them. If you haven't tried it, it sounds creepy. But after a week of testing the prerelease version of Gmail, I'm on the other side of the fence. Gmail isn't an invasion of privacy, and its ads are preferable to the giant blinking banners for diets and dating services that are splashed across my other Web mail accounts. http://slate.msn.com/id/2098946/ ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. 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