The Telecom Digest for July 10, 2010
Volume 29 : Issue 186 : "text" Format
Messages in this Issue:
| Federal USF Out of Control | (Robert Neville) |
| How to Send Email to SMS Cell Phones, By Carrier | (Thad Floryan) |
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Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:26:42 -0600
From: Robert Neville <dont@bother.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Federal USF Out of Control
Message-ID: <4C365EB2.7070808@bother.com>
The Federal Universal Service Fund along with the Al Gore "I Invented
the Internet - You Must Pay For It" slush fund extension is skyrocketing
out of control. In January this year the tax was raised to 14.1%, and as
of July 1, was raised again to 15%.
Now that cellphone companies such as TracFone can tap it to underwrite
the cost of "free" cell phones for so-called disadvantaged users, expect
the USF to quickly approach the taxation levels previously only seen in
hospitality and rental car receipts.
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:56:23 -0700
From: Thad Floryan <thad@thadlabs.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: How to Send Email to SMS Cell Phones, By Carrier
Message-ID: <4C369DE7.6030702@thadlabs.com>
Earlier today I came across an interesting emergency alert service
for residents of Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley), California.
As they state on the "About" page (http://www.alertscc.com/about.html):
" AlertSCC is a free, easy, and confidential emergency alert service
" built on the BlackBoard Connect platform, which is used by counties,
" school districts, colleges, and other entities around the country.
" The system utilizes telephone voice messages, emails, and text
" messages to send alerts.
"
" The County of Santa Clara has purchased 911 and 411 databases for
" the system. Email addresses and phone numbers for mobile devices
" must be registered with the system (via this website) to receive
" alerts. This alert system is an integral piece of a comprehensive
" emergency communications system that the County and cities will
" use to communicate with the public during an emergency.
Intrigued, I first examined the Blackboard Connect page:
http://www.blackboard.com/Alert-Notification/Connect-Platform.aspx
I then wanted to sign up for the service in my county and was
puzzled by the question "SMS telephone number?". A Google search on
"SMS telephone number format" revealed this URL:
http://www.appscout.com/2007/10/how_to_send_email_to_sms_cell.php
and then I recognized that was how email can be sent to a cellphone
and I had forgotten the format for my carrier, AT&T Wireless, since
it's been ages since I setup the servers at work (I'm now retired)
to call me whenever overtemp, power outage, and other problems hit
the data centers.
I hope the above URL will prove useful to others, but I'm curious why
they list Cingular Wireless and Cellular One. In 1992 I signed up
with Cellular One for my first cellphone account and I've kept the
account all the way through Cingular to AT&T today (with incredible
service and what seems a perpetual monthly free 5,000 minutes among
other things; no joke: no dropped calls and extremely strong signal
anywhere I travel in the SF Bay Area).
Back to the Blackboard Connect: they state on their web pages:
" MASS NOTIFICATION
"
" The Blackboard Connect service provides millions nationwide
" with time-sensitive information – via voice, text, e-mail and
" more. It’s the proven way to alert your stakeholders and enhance
" their safety by keeping them informed, involved and prepared.
Anyone here know HOW they can do that without swamping COs and the
cellphone service carriers?
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