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Message Digest Volume 28 : Issue 149 : "text" Format Messages in this Issue: Re: Texting May Be Taking a Toll Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Re: ANI vs. Caller ID & Re: [telecom] ANI vs. Caller ID Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Re: AT&T to discontinue CallVantage voip service Re: T-Mobile glorifies vandalism? Re: 1984 All Over Again? Re: 1984 All Over Again? Re: Payphones Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Apt buildings--where is the demarc box? Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Melted coax (was: ANI vs. Caller ID)
A good paper on wood dielectric properties is: "DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF WOOD AND HARDBOARD: VARIATION WITH TEMPERATURE, FREQUENCY, MOISTURE CONTENT, AND GRAIN ORIENTATION" by William James of the Department of Agriculture. http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrp/fplrp245.pdf <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote in message news:c6cf56a9-30c0-40ba-9bf0-c9813fef3c81@r34g2000vbi.googlegroups.com... > It is true many services are bundled today. But that has always > been the trend in many products and services, especially in > technology. Can one buy a black and white television set today? > One without remote control? Remote controls for televisions are MUCH cheaper than the complex and hard to install switches. Their reliability is better than mechanical switches too. But why do they make them so tasty for dogs? -- 73, Dr. Barry L. Ornitz WA4VZQ BLOrnitz48@charter.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:09:31 -0500 From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Message-ID: <afSdnb3MIbtG97jXnZ2dnUVZ_vKdnZ2d@posted.nuvoxcommunications> In article <h01of8$56l$1@reader1.panix.com>, David Lesher <wb8foz@panix.com> wrote: >One thing I'm almost ashamed to admit to.... I'm confused where >911 reporting fits in. It's not CNID based; it's not ANI based >[or is it?] either. Correct, "neither". PSAP trunkage is a 'different animal', using it's own signalling protocols. Not really it's own protocols, just some differently designated fields in some special-purpose SS7 call origination/setup packets. Connectivity to the 911 center comes directly from the local C.O. that the customer tail circuit is attached to. That C.O. has knowledge of the actual wire-pair the call is originating from, and a simple *local* (i.e, to the carrier, not a common multi-carrier system) data-base dip will provide the location of the line termination. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 00:38:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Zee <zzaldy@gmail.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: AT&T to discontinue CallVantage voip service Message-ID: <6f9443ec-2900-48c3-8048-592c43f473aa@g1g2000yqh.googlegroups.com> On May 2, 2:44 am, "George S Thurman" <gsthur...@aol.com (nospam)> wrote: > Just rec'd a letter from AT&T saying they are going [to] discontinue > [their]VOIPservice, known as CallVantage. The letter was dated April > 17, but an exact discontinuation date was not mentioned. I have tried > Vonage, but did not like the poor quality of some of the connections, > although I did like some of the features it had [which] CallVantage did > not. I will not go back there. Can someone recommend anotherVOIPservice? > > George "Skipper" Thurman You may want to check out Onesuite.com pay as you go VoIP service. It's $2.95 monthly for the service that includes free incoming calls and a phone number. If you want to use your previous number then porting is free. Outgoing rate is 2.5 cents to a US number and 1.9 cents to Canadian numbers. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 01:00:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Zee <zzaldy@gmail.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: T-Mobile glorifies vandalism? Message-ID: <2309b7f4-527e-418b-acf0-9f0dab1572c8@l12g2000yqo.googlegroups.com> On Apr 27, 12:53 am, Fred Goodwin <fgood...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Have you seen the T-Mobile commercial is which a young lady stops her > car along a rural highway, pulls out a chain saw, and proceeds to cut > down a telephone pole, bringing down the entire line? > > Besides the fact that the poles appear to be carrying three-phase > power lines, and I know its just a commercial, but still: I had to > wonder if T-Mobile couldn't have made their point about "cutting the > cord" by having the lady cut the cord of her home phone, rather than > vandalizing the poles of a telco or utility company. > > What's next? Blowing up a central office? > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > That commercial takes the classic approach to marketing: show the > sheep something they're afraid of, and then sell them a product that > lets them pretend they're not. > > * Men are afraid of beautiful, self-sufficient women who make their own decisions. > * Women are afraid of power lines > * Everyone is afraid of chain saws > > So, by extrapolation, when you sign a T-Mobile contract, you become a > beautiful, self-sufficient electrician and lumberjack with a buzzing, > scary blade. > > Bill Horne > Temporary Moderator Got any links online for this commercial? I can't seem to find it. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:45:19 +1000 From: David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: 1984 All Over Again? Message-ID: <pan.2009.06.02.08.45.17.977085@myrealbox.com> On Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:52:03 -0400, Robert Neville wrote: > David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com> wrote: > >> And speaking of Telco issues, what is the situation in the US with >> people using VoIP and getting the dial-tone cut from their ADSL link? >> >> Such things are becoming quite popular here in Australia, and the >> incumbent land-line telco here (Telstra) is starting to take a >> significant hit to their revenues. ........ > The market in the US has essentially decided that voice will be served > as a value added bundle with fiber or coax broadband. So, VOIP over dry > pair DSL is there, but won't be a major player. The regulator in Australia sets the price the incumbent copper line Telco can charge for line-only services, and this is quite competitive in comparison to the normal service with dial-tone (about 50% less rental). The VoIP providers here also have far lesser per-call costs, and you can even get your existing number ported to your VoIP service. Because of these factors, "Naked DSL" services are a big growth area here - especially for people who may move addresses and only need a new Internet connection to keep their existing VoIP number. With the government now rolling out a national FTTH network the existing copper network may be basically obsolete in about 10 years. -- Regards, David. David Clayton Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Knowledge is a measure of how many answers you have, intelligence is a measure of how many questions you have. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:41:15 -0700 From: Steven Lichter <diespammers@ikillspammers.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: 1984 All Over Again? Message-ID: <QbfVl.8517$Lr6.8403@flpi143.ffdc.sbc.com> Robert Neville wrote: > David Clayton <dcstar@myrealbox.com> wrote: > >> And speaking of Telco issues, what is the situation in the US with >> people using VoIP and getting the dial-tone cut from their ADSL >> link? >> >> Such things are becoming quite popular here in Australia, and the >> incumbent land-line telco here (Telstra) is starting to take a >> significant hit to their revenues. > > > People cutting the copper line and going cell only in the US is a > significant drain on telco revenue, with most of the major wireline > companies reporting net line losses of 100K or more per > quarter. That's against a huge installed base, but a far cry from the > days when telcos were trying to find enough spare pairs for all the > second and third lines people wanted a few years back. The telcos with > solid wireless revenues are generally treading water, but companies > like Qwest (with no in house cell operation) are in serious trouble. > > Residential consumer provisioned VOIP (as compared with digital voice > from a cable company, etc.) isn't large enough to be significant. The > single largest company offering that service is Vonage, which reported > only 2.6 million lines 4Q08. And that's essentially flat after a high > churn rate. Even with all the other wannabes, there's probably less > than 3M lines and you can bet at least half of those are riding over > cable company coax. > > The market in the US has essentially decided that voice will be served > as a value added bundle with fiber or coax broadband. So, VOIP over > dry pair DSL is there, but won't be a major player. > at&t had to look over 500 pairs to find a good one to move my line too, all the others were either open or shorted. I could not believe how bad the outside plant was until I talked to a tech. The other day I noticed 10 heavy gang truck a;; over the street, it looks like they are going to replace the cable. The noise and crosstalk was so bad on my line it made my DSL useless for 2 weeks it took them to get a handle on it. I finally was forced to use the WiFi that they supply in the area. -- The Only Good Spammer is a Dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2009 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot In Hell Co. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:28:43 GMT From: tlvp <PmUiRsGcE.TtHlEvSpE@att.net> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: Payphones Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Message-ID: <op.uutnp6rmwqrt3j@acer250.gateway.2wire.net> On Sun, 31 May 2009 19:13:42 -0400, <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote: > On May 31, 7:25 am, bon...@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) wrote: > >> If by 'information', you mean what is now called 'directory assistance', >> with the exception of 800-555-1212, it is to be expected that there >> would >> be a payment demand for -that-. "Everybody" charges for Directory >> assist. >> calls these days. The third-party pay-phone operators (who place COCOTS >> that _they_ own on other peoples property) are notorious for having DA, >> like 'operator-assisted' calls handled by a contracted service of their >> choice -- with exorbitant rates passed through to the customer. > > The other day I was surprised to see not only a public pay phone, but > a telephone directory in the shelf underneath it. > > In the old days most pay phones had phone books with them, some simply > free standing on a shelf underneath, many in binders attached in > various ways, from simple chains to pull out levers. Larger banks of > pay phones had a shelf of several local telephone books. Very large > banks had many telephone books available. Even as they switched from > booths to kiosks they provided a shelf for the directory. > > I haven't checked lately, but I think the cost of directory assistance > these days is $1.00; even more from a cell phone ($1.50?). I don't > know if 1+NPA+555-1212 works anymore or what the charge is for that, > but local 411 often has national listings. In some places they're > providing, for a fee, other information too such as yellow pages > listing, such as restaurants in an area. > > I could understand charging when a listing is in the book, but often > times someone has a new number that isn't available. > > (Last night on the train I heard someone use their cell phone to call > Information, I wonder what it cost.) I've heard of -- even tested out -- free, ad-sponsored DA numbers. Don't recall them exactly now, but they were all, IIRC, of the form: string together, in appropriate order, one each of {800 888 877 866], [free goog], [411]. (Yeah, of the 16 possible combos, only very few will provide a free DA service -- sorry I don't remember which, if any.] Or, by example: 800 free 411 (800 3733411) ; 800 411 free (800 3733411) ; 800 goog 411 (800 4664411) ; 800 411 goog (800 4114664) ; and [There are] 12 more, with 888, 877, or 866 in lieu of 800. Rather similar to the web URL for free DA another reader posted ;-) . Disclaimer: I might be all wet on this ... . Cheers, -- tlvp ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2009 06:48:02 -0700 (PDT) From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Apt buildings--where is the demarc box? Message-ID: <2416a705-b45a-415f-89a0-5bfa434e4c22@o20g2000vbh.googlegroups.com> In apartment, condo, and co-op multi-family buildings there is often no individual "demarc" box for individual units. Rather, the lines consolidate in large junction boxes which are maintained by the telco. All an individual unit has is a plain phone jack. In the event there is trouble on the line where is the 'cut off' point to determine responsibility for repair? To the subscriber, the cut off point would appear to be in their own apt since they obviously don't have (nor should have) access to the central junction box. Thanks. (Any other information about line maintenance in multi-family housing would be appreciated.) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:34:52 -0700 From: Steven Lichter <diespammers@ikillspammers.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Re: ANI vs. Caller ID Message-ID: <x9fVl.18202$%54.12376@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com> Tony Toews [MVP] wrote: [Moderator snip] > Which then leads to the exorbitant rates that hotels in city centres > charge for local and long distance phone calls. I wonder just how > much revenue they are really getting given that folks who are staying > in such almost certainly all have cell phones. Why would you stay in Seattle when Microsoft is located in Redmond; across the bay, that is unless you are working in downtown. -- The Only Good Spammer is a Dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2009 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot In Hell Co. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:04:02 -0500 From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com> To: redacted@invalid.telecom.csail.mit.edu Subject: Melted coax (was: ANI vs. Caller ID) Message-ID: <4A25DA12.3030801@annsgarden.com> Temporary Moderator wrote: > Since you've had a lot of experience testing microwave equipment in > the field, I'd appreciate your help to debunk some _very_ tall > tales. I have heard hundreds of apocryphal stories about microwave > failures due to utterly unbelievable causes. The list includes: > > 1. Melted coax due to concentrated solar energy, on one > particular day of the year. I think this is a reference to "solar outage" phenomenon that occurs in satellite receiving antennas. Every fixed satellite antenna is aimed at a fixed spot in the geostationary orbit. Twice each year, in the spring and fall, the earth's revolution about the sun causes the geostationary orbit to pass through the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path with respect to a point on earth). This transition can require several days. During this period, once each day the sun moves directly behind the satellite (or, more precisely, the rotation of the earth causes the satellite to transit the sun). The white-noise RF energy emitted by the sun far exceeds the satellite signal, and simply swamps the satellite signal. A received television signal will slowly fade to noise, then slowly come back. The worst-case situation occurs when the satellite transits the center of the sun; in this case, the outage can last as long as ten minutes. For several days before and after the worst-case day, shorter and less obtrusive outages occur. The entire sequence of outages can last as long as a week. These outages occur on different days, and at different times during the day, depending on the longitude of the satellite and the geographic location of the ground antenna. Several websites provide "solar fade" calculators; here's an example: http://www.spacecom.com/customer_tools/html/body_sunoutage_calc.htm As you can probably guess, this phenomenon is a big headache for cable TV companies. As soon as the first noticeable outage occurs, the phone starts ringing. A related problem is solar heating. During a solar outage, infrared light reflected into the feedhorn can damage the feedhorn, and in an extreme case, it could damage coaxial cable connected to it. This is probably the origin of the "melted coax" phenomenon that Bill mentions. This, of course, depends on the reflectivity of the reflector. For this reason, the reflector has a "matte" finish that will (hopefully) scatter the long-wavelength infrared light but accurately reflect the shorter wavelengths of the satellite signal into the feedhorn. Flat exterior latex paint works well for this purpose. But, as a certain unfortunate cable TV engineer once learned, high-gloss silver paint does not. Neal McLain ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecom- munications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to Usenet, where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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