From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Dec 7 23:35:25 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.6) id iB84ZPG04671; Tue, 7 Dec 2004 23:35:25 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 23:35:25 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200412080435.iB84ZPG04671@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 #584 TELECOM Digest Tue, 7 Dec 2004 23:35:00 EST Volume 23 : Issue 584 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson How to Call From A to B to C? Please Help (M. Henri) VOIP for Life? (Lisa Minter) Treo650 v Blackberry (Mark) Partner System (t568aort568b@aol.com) DirecTV Group Sells Half Stake in New Satellite Unit (Telecom dailyLead) Western Electric and Al Capone (Jim Haynes) Free Month of Vonage + Gmail Invite (goykhmanster@gmail.com) Connecting VoIP Device to Home Wiring (Ringo Langly) Re: Countering the "Lingo Sucks" Thread (T. Sean Weintz) Re: Countering the "Lingo Sucks" Thread (Hank Karl) Re: Lingo Voip Isn't Really Cheap (John Levine) Re: Dropping SBC For a VOIP Solution-Vonage or Packet8 (Ringo Langly) Re: Phone Works But Extensions Don't Ring (Tony P.) Re: Will Radar Detectors be Regulated Out of Existence? (Bitu) Lycos Pulls Anti-Spam 'Vigilante' Campaign (Lisa Minter) Mix Up; Some Stuff Lost in Processing (TELECOM Digest Editor) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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: M. Henri Subject: How to Call from A to B to C? Please Help Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 00:13:22 GMT Hi, I'm currently working on a venture possibility in my small town that is an hour away from a major City. Placing call to that major city(town A) is a long distance from my town (town B). But a town in between (town C) is not a long distance for both ends. People would call from town A to town C and reach town B without any additional charge besides the monthly charge from the services of my own company. That software would have to accept 2 set of entry from the clients touch tone phone: first entry would be some unique client code and the second entry would be the 10 digits phone number to town B. From there the call would be made allowing a bridge to be made between the two intended cities. I was wondering if anyone knows what it would require technically to achieve such thing. I don't even know how many incomming line would be required for this project. Hope anyone can help. remove _nospam from the email address to reach me. Marc [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I used to do this same thing back about 1973 or so. In central area of Chicago, I had lines with a recorded message 24/7. A friend who lived in Joliet, IL (815) had an unlimited, extended line which included all of 312 plus the Chicago metro area of 815. I got him to put his line on permanent call forwarding to my recorded message in exchange for another line I got him for his own incoming calls. Consequently, the 'toll free' for callers to my recorded message line picked up everyone that was otherwise local to Joliet, Illinois. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Date: Tue, 07 Dec 2004 19:27:40 -0500 Subject: VOIP for Life? http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=64171 VOIP for Life? Just when you thought the VOIP price wars could go no further, Dedham, Mass.-based RNKVoIP announced Monday that it will offer a $999 'phone for life,' an unlimited VOIP calling service. RNKVoIP, a division of RNK Telecom is a privately held telecommunications carrier that provides wholesale services for broadband providers, carriers, and retail distributors. The move is not a huge threat to Vonage or any of the other VOIP carriers with nationwide or international reach. But it is significant in that it calls out residential VOIP service for what it really is -- a low margin service differentiated mostly by clever marketing and cutthroat pricing. [The carrier's president and CEO Richard Koch] says that based on residential customer calling averages, RNK's costs to maintain phone-for-life customers are miniscule. "If you stay our customer for ten years, we'll have only spent about $400 of the $999 you paid," he says. Full story at: http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?site=lightreading&doc_id=64171 ------------------------------ From: Mark Subject: Treo650 v Blackberry Date: 7 Dec 2004 17:45:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Has anyone done an investigation as to the specific features and benefits of each of these devices. Ultimately they seem similar in almost every way. One thing that I really don't understand is the email. How does the treo work v the blackberry. I heard rumors that for the treo to work your computer must be on, and it must be forwarding your messages to versamail. Is this true. How does the blackberry work instead? Any information will be greatly appreciated. ------------------------------ From: t568aort568b@aol.com Subject: Partner System Date: 7 Dec 2004 09:05:08 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am looking for a Avaya Partner system that will handle 4 incoming lines and at least 7 extentions. It also needs to have 4 voicemail boxes. I would like to have 4 display phones. If anyone has a system like this for sale please send me an email at function12 at aol dot com. Thanks, Eric ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 13:02:45 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA Subject: DirecTV Group Sells Half Stake in New Satellite Unit to SkyTerra Telecom dailyLead from USTA December 7, 2004 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=17945&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * DirecTV Group sells half of stake in new satellite unit to SkyTerra BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Virgin eyes China market * Telecoms unconvinced of China's landline potential * Qwest wins 3-year, $10M Denver contract USTA SPOTLIGHT * USTA members urge Congress to help schools, libraries, rural communities EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * Bill Clinton draws attention to new search engine REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Former Global Crossing executives likely to face SEC fine * Powell urges action on telecom bills Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=17945&l=2017006 Legal and Privacy information at http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp SmartBrief, Inc. 1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20005 ------------------------------ Subject: Western Electric and Al Capone Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Tue, 07 Dec 2004 17:36:33 GMT I'm currently reading a book, "Manufacturing the Future - a History of Western Electric" by Stephen B. Adams and Orville R. Butler. Al Capone had a couple of casinos across Cicero Avenue from the Western Electric Hawthorne Works. Joseph Juran was a statistics expert in quality control at Western. After spending some time in Capone's establishment after hours, Juran noticed that one roulette wheel operator worked "like a robot", making the operation of his wheel amenable to statistical analysis and prediction. His expertise enabled him to win $100, which at the time was several weeks' pay. (Compare with the much later activities of some college students documented in the book, "Eudaemonic Pie". They used computers in briefcases and radios in their shoes in a successful scheme to predict the behavior of a roulette wheel.) jhhaynes at earthlink dot net ------------------------------ From: goykhmanster@gmail.com Subject: Free Month of Vonage + Gmail Invite Date: 7 Dec 2004 14:41:43 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am a present Vonage customer for 9 months and I have had nothing but good experience with Vonage. I would be privileged to share my experience with anyone else who would like to sign up for Vonage + refer you for one free month of Vonage service and give you a gmail invite if you don't have a gmail account yet. If you have any questions about Vonage service, VOIP or simply would like a referral link to signup for Vonage service and get one free month -- email me at goykhmanster@gmail.com and I'll be happy to assist you. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Vonage is generally a very good company and quite inexpensive. I had to chat with them today about installing a new Linksys router and TA. The wait on hold was pretty awful, but the senior tech I spoke with (finally) told me they are 'almost constantly' holding training classes for new employees, both technical and customer service-wise. I think he said at the present time there were about two hundred new employees in the training classes. So things may get better. And being located in New Jersey, many of the old Norvergence people have applied there for jobs. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ringo Langly Subject: Connecting VoIP Device to Home Wiring Date: 7 Dec 2004 11:24:11 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi all, I'm a subscriber of Packet8, and on their VoIP box it says not to connect it to the home wiring in my home. I'm assuming they get folks who connect it without unplugging the Ma Bell line and this blows the box. If I disconnect the outside lines (no voltage on phonelines) is there any reason not to connect the VoIP box to make all my phones hot? I only have three phones throughout the house, and I've been told such a box like this should put out enough voltage to carry such a load. Just curious -- Thanks, Ringo [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: As long as you *disconnect everything* pertaining to Bell first, you should be okay. PAT] ------------------------------ From: T. Sean Weintz Subject: Re: Countering the "Lingo Sucks" Thread Date: Tue, 07 Dec 2004 11:33:38 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Dan Lanciani wrote: > tkoppel@adelphia.net (Ted Koppel) wrote: >> If you're going to complain about Lingo, at least do it for real reasons: >> - still not sending callerID *name* (although they are sending number) >> on outgoing calls > So what does it mean to send callerID name on outgoing calls? I was > under the (mis?)impression that calling name presentation was normally > implemented by the terminating switch doing a database dip using the > SS7-passed calling number. I heard some talk of an end-to-end > version, but I thought it wasn't generally supported. > Dan Lanciani > ddl@danlan.*com Exactly. If the name on caller ID is not coming up, it's not the sending telco's fault, it's the receiving telco's fault. ------------------------------ From: Hank Karl Subject: Re: Countering the "Lingo Sucks" Thread Date: Tue, 07 Dec 2004 15:32:29 -0500 Organization: NETPLEX Internet Services - http://www.ntplx.net/ On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 22:55:46 -0500 (EST), Dan Lanciani wrote: > tkoppel@adelphia.net (Ted Koppel) wrote: >> If you're going to complain about Lingo, at least do it for real reasons: >> - still not sending callerID *name* (although they are sending number) >> on outgoing calls > So what does it mean to send callerID name on outgoing calls? I was > under the (mis?)impression that calling name presentation was normally > implemented by the terminating switch doing a database dip using the > SS7-passed calling number. I heard some talk of an end-to-end > version, but I thought it wasn't generally supported. There is a way to send end-to-end caller ID Name (on NI-x PRI as well as SS7). As far as I know, its supported, and is starting to be used, but its not used as much as database dips. > Dan Lanciani > ddl@danlan.*com ------------------------------ Date: 7 Dec 2004 15:18:06 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Lingo Voip isn't really cheap Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > LINGO may suck but in my opinion, VERIZON SUCKS WORSE. Any idea why > Verizon would charge me $68/mth (including taxes) for local service > when I can get more features from Lingo. Probably because Lingo only works if you already have a $40/mo broadband connection. I don't understand why people think that something they pay for every month is "free". I have a Vonage phone and like it OK, but I'm under no illusion that Vonage+broadband is cheaper than POTS. Regards, John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of The Internet for Dummies Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, Mayor "I shook hands with Senators Dole and Inouye," said Tom, disarmingly. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What you say is true if the only purpose of your broadband line is to handle the phone. But you use the internet line for other things do you not? For example, surfing the web, etc. You cannot allocate the entire broadband cost to Vonage (or your VOIP carrier). PAT] ------------------------------ From: Ringo Langly Subject: Re: Dropping SBC For a VoIP Solution -- Vonage or Packet8 ?? Date: 7 Dec 2004 11:20:21 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi ... it might be the Google Groups screwing-up, not sure but I did post a review last week yet it's not showing-up in the thread. Either way here's another quick review after using the phone for a week. Setting-up the Packet8 VoIP box was cake, and it was ready to go after maybe 10 minutes. My first delimma was I had to enable DHCP on my router, which I generally keep turned off. After checking online there is no way to assign a static IP to the VoIP device they sent me. Anyway, my first call went well, but there is a noticeable delay when calling a landline -- and the more traffic going over your broadband the more the delay. My roommate was running Bittorrent downloads, and it wasn't until after I disconnected her computer that the delay was low enough to actually carry on a conversation. But with the broadband line opened-up (no downloads) it worked great! The sound quality was excellent and though the delay was maybe 1/4-1/2 second at times it worked well. I even called the technical support, which I got right through in like 2 rings, but they couldn't do anything for the delay. I had update the firmware in the box before calling them too. One feature I tried that didn't work well was the call forwarding. I forwarded the line to my work number, called my house, and within a couple of rings my work phone rang. The delay was (no kidding) 2-3 seconds. Total pipe-organ effect, which makes this feature useless for me. But all and all it's good enough for what you pay -- which is about $25/month. I'm paying $15 more then that for SBC, which doesn't work when it rains due to a bad buried line they won't fix. Plus the unlimited L/D is nice! Caller ID, callwaiting, etc all work good too -- other then the person's name doesn't come over -- just the phone number on caller ID. So hope that helps someone. I might still try Vonage when they are in my area, but for now Packet8 works good enough for me. If I can get my roommate to limit her Bittorrent downloads I'll be pulling the plug on SBC. Take care, and I'll post anything new as it comes up. Ringo ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Phone Works But Extensions Don't Ring Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 17:35:13 -0500 In article , kevinliffey@btinternet.com says: > My telephone and three extensions work fine for outgoing calls -- but > ringing is very erratic. The phone farthest from the master socket > only begins ringing about six rings after the first socket, or doesn't > ring at all. In checking the wiring, I've noticed that our electrician > installed 'master socket' plates for the three extensions as well as > the true master socket. Could that be the explanation? Corrosion is your problem. Somewhere along the line you've got a bad connection and it takes a lot of pushes to get the electrons to jump through that crap. ------------------------------ From: Bitu Subject: Re: Will Radar Detectors be Regulated Out of Existence? Date: 7 Dec 2004 16:18:52 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com RADAR DETECTORS WILL BE BANNED SOONER THAN WE WOULD LIKE. Anyways it does not matter. Radar detectors do not protect you against speed cameras, red light cameras or automated traffic enforcement equipment. Police officer operated speed traps are being replaced by cameras at an alarming rate. If is as advertised this product called PHOTO BLOCKER SPRAY is our salvation. They claim that it was tested by the media on their website www.phantomplate.com On the videos it shows the police saying that it really works by making your license plate invisible to traffic cameras. Can anybody tell me if this is true? www.photoblocker.com please let me know what you think. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: We talked about this very subject here in the Digest a couple months ago. Perhaps some of the partipants in that conversation will tell you what our group consensus was regards the images the police use. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 12:14:59 EST From: Lisa Minter Subject: Lycos Pulls Anti-Spam 'Vigilante' Campaign Just days after Lycos Europe's launch of an anti-spam DDoS tool raised eyebrows in the security space, the company appears to have scrapped the campaign. Early last week, the company released a downloadable screensaver programmed to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks against known spam sites, but the move sparked a shooting war with spammers and attracted condemnation from security researchers. On Friday, Lycos Europe gave up the ghost, posting a "Stay Tuned" note on the MakeLoveNotSpam.com Web site it was using to distribute the screensaver. The Lycos Europe home page, which heavily promoted the screensaver all week, was also scrubbed clean of any references to the screensaver. Company officials did not respond to requests for comment, but security experts were not mincing words. "I find the anti-spam downloadable DDoS tool to be without a doubt irresponsible, possibly illegal, sets a really bad precedent, gives the wrong impression to users, and possibly the dumbest thing I have heard of this week," said Adrien de Beaupre, an incident handler with the SANS Internet Storm Center (ISC). "I can summarize my thoughts into a single word. Dumb. With a capital 'D,'" de Beaupre told eWEEK.com. Dan Goldberg, a senior security analyst with MADJiC Consulting Inc., described the Lycos Europe move as "vigilantism" and said the use of questionable tactics to deal with a security risk created more problems that it solved. "In this case, it only causes traffic saturation. It's a noble gesture to fight back against spammers, but when you try to take down a spam site, a lot of innocent people get caught in the crossfire. As a big company, Lycos has to be more responsible than that," Goldberg said. Evidence of a shooting war in cyberspace was uncovered by anti-virus vendor F-Secure. The company reported that one of the spam sites under attack by the Lycos screensaver simply added a Meta Refresh tag that redirected all incoming traffic back to Lycos. "As an end result, depending on how the Lycos client works, the screen savers downloaded from MakeLoveNotSpam.com might be attacking the download site itself," F-Secure said in a notice. Although the Lycos site is no longer offering the screensaver, MADJiC Consulting's Goldberg says it's likely the DDoS attacks against the spammers will continue for some time. "The software is out there. People have downloaded it and shared it with their friends and family. It's being used and will continue to be used," he said. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance Reuters News Service. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Mix up; Some Stuff Lost in Processing Date: Tue, 07 Dec 2004 23:00:00 EST Tuesday was not a good day here. First off, massis crashed for some reason; I had to get Noah M. to go in the machine room and reset it. Then, once massis was restartd, a few pieces of email got mangled and lost, through no fault of MIT. Just my bad nerves, I guess. So if you sent email here between 2 AM Eastern and noon Eastern on Tuesday and it was not printed here, then it is one of the pieces which got lost, sorry. Please resubmit it. Then Vonage sent me a new Linksys TA to replace the Motorola TA I was using. Because of my relatively complex wiring it was not an easy swap out. I had to lay on my back on the floor under the desk, and untangle a bunch of unmarked cables. Between my NetGear wireless router, my hub and the new Linksys TA I spent a couple hours getting it all put together. Then, one of the ethernet cables turned out to be shorted somehow. Not a fun day, to be sure. If you sent a message sometime Tuesday and it did not get in this issue, please resubmit it with my apologies. Also, remember to check out our extended news section on our web site. It is located at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra with a lot of additional telecom/computer/internet news from our wire service. PAT ------------------------------ 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. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. 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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 #584 ******************************