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The Telecom Digest for July 10, 2012
Volume 31 : Issue 167 : "text" Format
====== 30 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
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Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 02:03:37 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Cold call firms flaunt rules that block telemarketers
Message-ID: <yccuvmu3l3uv$.17i6gag0b1hdb.dlg@40tude.net>
On Wed, 4 Jul 2012 17:14:55 -0400, Moderator wrote, anent SIT tones:
> I've used it for about three years, on and off: never had a problem
> with a call from a human, including the local police.
May I ask, in view of the SIT tones being offered on the page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_information_tones
being repeated (with 2nd playthrough beginning about 2 seconds after
the first begins), does one want to play back as part of one's OGM the
whole, repeated, 4-second-long SIT tone recording as offered on that
page? Or just a single "once-through" of a SIT tone sequence (3 tones
only, in < 2 sec.)?
TIA. Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2012 10:42:18 -0500
From: pv+usenet@pobox.com (PV)
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Cold call firms flaunt rules that block telemarketers
Message-ID: <id2dnQ_qQYZHZmfSnZ2dnUVZ_oOdnZ2d@supernews.com>
mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net writes:
>being repeated (with 2nd playthrough beginning about 2 seconds after
>the first begins), does one want to play back as part of one's OGM the
>whole, repeated, 4-second-long SIT tone recording as offered on that
>page? Or just a single "once-through" of a SIT tone sequence (3 tones
>only, in < 2 sec.)?
Back when I did this (some years ago), I used audacity to create a
super-fast recording of the tones - each of the 3 tones played for .2
seconds. Later on, I removed tones 2 and 3, and there was just a quick
beep at the beginning of my message that was hardly noticable.
People still doing this say that some PD systems are listening for the
first 2 tones now, but you can still go faster than the "official" tones
and have it work. I can't speak to that - I haven't done this since the
DNC list went live. I may have to try it again to see if "Heather from
card services" goes away. *
--
* PV Something like badgers, something like lizards, and something
like corkscrews.
Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2012 18:42:20 -0500
From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Wireless Firms Are Flooded by Requests to Aid Surveillance
Message-ID: <jtd5su$mg7$1@dont-email.me>
In the first public accounting of its kind, cellphone carriers
reported that they responded to a daunting 1.3 million demands for
subscriber data last year from law enforcement agencies seeking text
messages, caller locations and other information in the course of
investigations. ..
Because of incomplete record-keeping, the total number of law
enforcement requests last year was most likely higher than the 1.3
million that the carriers reported to Mr. Markey. Also, the total
number of people whose customer information was turned over through
those requests could be several times higher because a single request
often involves multiple callers. For instance, when a police agency
asks for a cell tower "dump" for data on subscribers who were near a
tower during a certain period of time, it may get back hundreds or
even thousands of names...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/09/us/cell-carriers-see-uptick-in-requests-to-aid-surveillance.html?hp
or
http://tinyurl.com/8xuh3cr
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 08:31:15 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind
Message-ID: <p062408facc20203dbe79@[10.0.1.6]>
Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind
By AMY O'LEARY
July 6, 2012
Quora is a Web site that crowdsources answers to just about any
question imaginable, including "What is the meaning of life?" and "Is
it possible to stick someone to the wall with Velcro?" But anyone
searching for a phone number for the company is out of luck. Not only
is the number unlisted, but the very question "What is the phone
number for Quora?" has gone unanswered for months.
Quora is not the only social technology company that presents an
antisocial attitude to callers. Twitter's phone system hangs up after
providing Web or e-mail addresses three times. At the end of a long
phone tree, Facebook's system explains it is, in fact, "an
Internet-based company." Try e-mail, it suggests.
LinkedIn's voice mail lists an alternate customer service number.
Dial it, and the caller is trapped in a telephonic version of the
movie "Groundhog Day," forced to work through the original phone tree
again and again until the lesson is clear: stop calling.
Voice calls have been falling out of fashion with teenagers and
people in their 20s for some time (text only, please). But what is a
matter of preference for the young is becoming a matter of policy for
technology companies; phones cost money, phones do not scale.
Besides, why call when you can use Google, or send a Twitter message?
On the other end of the line, however, some people may not know how
to Google, or do not want to use Twitter. These users may be older,
or less technically adept, and they are finding the method of
communication they have relied on for a lifetime shifting under their
feet. It does not make sense, they say, that a company with products
used by millions every day cannot pick up the phone.
The companies argue that with millions of users every day, they
cannot possibly pick up a phone.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/07/technology/tech-companies-leave-phone-calls-behind.html
***** Moderator's Note *****
Just think: Touch Tone service used to be a status symbol. Now,
technology allows companies to separate the buyers from the spyers in
the most elemental way: if you're calling them, they don't want to
deal with you.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:23:12 -0400
From: Pete Cresswell <PeteCress@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Tech Companies Leave Phone Calls Behind
Message-ID: <j81mv75nov7klfm9iilff229e72qrmf71a@4ax.com>
Per Monty Solomon:
>Quora is a Web site that crowdsources answers to just about any
>question imaginable, including "What is the meaning of life?" and "Is
>it possible to stick someone to the wall with Velcro?" But anyone
>searching for a phone number for the company is out of luck. Not only
>is the number unlisted, but the very question "What is the phone
>number for Quora?" has gone unanswered for months.
>
>Quora is not the only social technology company that presents an
>antisocial attitude to callers. Twitter's phone system hangs up after
>providing Web or e-mail addresses three times. At the end of a long
>phone tree, Facebook's system explains it is, in fact, "an
>Internet-based company." Try e-mail, it suggests.
A few years back I was working for a major mutual fund.
They picked the vendor for a rather large contract based, in
part, on which vendors had a live person answer the phone when
they called.
--
Pete Cresswell
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 23:07:31 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Q.: Coincidence? or Consequence?
Message-ID: <iu4mscueczek$.xiajfh5wvgb0.dlg@40tude.net>
I've read, "DNSChanger Malware Set to Knock 1,000s Off Internet on Monday".
So is that why T-Mobile's WAP/HTML gateways, or Opera's OperaMini proxies,
left my T-Mobile handset high and dry while trying to browse to google, and
netaddress, and wikipedia, and Opera's own blogging site today?
Error messages all read, approximately, "The server timed out. You tried to
access the address ..., which is currently unavailable. Please be sure you
have the right URL and have typed it correctly. ... Request timed out."
Just a fluky coincidence? or somehow a consequence of the closing of the
FBI's temporary replacement DNS host in conjunction with "DNSChanger"?
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
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