30 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
Add this Digest to your personal
or 
The Telecom Digest for September 28, 2011
Volume 30 : Issue 244 : "text" Format
====== 30 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
|
Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Bill Horne 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 that person, or email address
owner.
Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without the explicit written consent of the owner of
that address. 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, and other stuff of interest.
|
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 15:48:16 +1000
From: David Clayton <dcstarbox-usenet@yahoo.com.au>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Want More Information? Just Scan Me
Message-ID: <pan.2011.09.27.05.47.15.43544@yahoo.com.au>
On Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:44:29 -0400, Monty Solomon wrote:
> Want More Information? Just Scan Me
..........
> Weeks earlier, a model walked a runway in Barcelona with a QR code
> emblazoned on the bodice of her Frans Baviera gown; meanwhile, a company
> called Skanz began selling silicone bracelets embellished with QR codes
> that enable anyone with a smartphone to scan your wrist and instantly
> access a Web page with your contact information, social media links, even
> favorite photos and videos.
>
> In other words: you've become a human hyperlink.
>
Don't tattoos last longer?
--
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, 27 Sep 2011 05:52:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael <michael.muderick@gmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: CO question
Message-ID: <ea42c638-fee6-4981-8b31-adba0a8b7ecc@k17g2000yqi.googlegroups.com>
My Verizon dialtone service is out. DSL works ok. When I finally
reached an 'agent' by repeating 'agent' in the voice prompts, I
explained that I had battery on the line and sidetone and I had
checked the NID/demarc.
The problem clearly was not at my home, even though they insisted they
would be out Thursday- five days later. FRUSTRATING.
Assuming I'm correct and the problem is not at my home, they said it
could either be in the CO, or some other device/location between my
home and the CO. What are they referring to? Does that serve a
neigborhood or a group of numbers in an exchange, i.e. 1234-1254, or
something like that.
TIA for your answer.
mm
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:06:39 -0600
From: Fred Atkinson <fatkinson.remove-this@and-this-too.mishmash.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: CO question
Message-ID: <20110927140738.95988.qmail@gal.iecc.com>
At 06:52 AM 9/27/2011, you wrote:
>My Verizon dialtone service is out. DSL works ok. When I finally
>reached an 'agent' by repeating 'agent' in the voice prompts, I
>explained that I had battery on the line and sidetone and I had
>checked the NID/demarc.
>
>The problem clearly was not at my home, even though they insisted they
>would be out Thursday- five days later. FRUSTRATING.
>
>Assuming I'm correct and the problem is not at my home, they said it
>could either be in the CO, or some other device/location between my
>home and the CO. What are they referring to? Does that serve a
>neigborhood or a group of numbers in an exchange, i.e. 1234-1254, or
>something like that.
>TIA for your answer.
>
>mm
If they are not getting out to your house when you have no
dial tone and it takes them five days then you should have called
your state PUC, PSC, PRC, or whatever they call the utility
regulators in your state.
What happens if you have a heart attack or a fire and need
to call 911? Without dial tone, you've got a problem unless you have
a cell phone.
Suggest that if this amount of time has gone by and you
still don't have dial tone that you should call your PUC, PSC, or PRC
ASAP and ask them to address the issue.
In recent years (and even years not so recent), the quality
of troubleshooting by telco persons has greatly diminished. I've
gone round and round with them on a number of occasions.
I was troubleshooting a line problem at a customer
location. When the repairmen came out and I told him that the line
was loop start and there was a problem with the battery on the ring,
he told me that on a loop start circuit that telco did not provide
battery. I immediately lost all confidence in him and escalated
it. I called his supervisor (who didn't believe my diagnosis). His
supervisor got on the phone with him and walked him through it. They
found out that my diagnosis was absolutely correct. The supervisor
apologized to me and acknowledged that I clearly knew what I was
doing. Whenever I met that repairman at other of my customer
locations, he didn't attempt to 'baffle me with b***s*** any
more. He just did what I asked.
And I could tell you more horror stories like that both when
I did line troubleshooting for my employers and for my own
service. I've had to call state regulatory comissions a number of
times both for my employers and for my own service. A quick call to
a utility from them often resolves an issue when the telephone
repairman will not/can not do it own his own.
Be skeptical of what the phone companies/repairmen tell
you. They often don't know what they are doing. They once told my
mother that because she had the old MCI service (dialing into MCI
then dialing a five digit code and a ten digit phone number) for long
distance that this was why her local service was intermittent
(sometimes she could get dial tone. Sometime she could not). When
mother told me what that repairman had told her, I told her to call
repair service and demand to speak to a supervisor and tell them to
get someone out there that knew what they were doing and be sure to
tell that supervisor know about that ridiculous story the repair man
had told her.
She did. They did. The woman that they sent the next time
clearly knew what she was doing. She found a couple of wires hanging
loose from a 42A block that were shorting together or clearing each
time a bed was rolled up against the wall. She removed those cut
wires. There was never another problem. When my mother told that
installer the ridiculous story the previous repairman had told her,
that installer laughed herself silly and acknowledged that it was
preposterous. I'd have gone and done the troubleshooting for mother
myself but she was three states away from me. I'm just glad this
woman knew what she was doing. I would have called the state PUC on
her behalf if this woman hadn't fixed my mother's line when she did.
Regards,
Fred
Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:49:18 -0400
From: tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: CO question
Message-ID: <1g8npvq2hard4.33lr2csyrp8r.dlg@40tude.net>
On Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:52:25 -0700 (PDT), Michael wrote:
> ...
> Assuming I'm correct and the problem is not at my home, they said it
> could either be in the CO, or some other device/location between my
> home and the CO. What are they referring to? ...
You mean, "What do they mean by 'CO'?"? -- Central Office (where the
switch is for your exchange). And apologies if you knew that already.
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.
Date: 27 Sep 2011 15:23:12 GMT
From: Doug McIntyre <merlyn@geeks.org>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: CO question
Message-ID: <4e81ea60$0$74947$8046368a@newsreader.iphouse.net>
Michael <michael.muderick@gmail.com> writes:
>My Verizon dialtone service is out. DSL works ok. When I finally
>reached an 'agent' by repeating 'agent' in the voice prompts, I
>explained that I had battery on the line and sidetone and I had
>checked the NID/demarc.
>The problem clearly was not at my home, even though they insisted they
>would be out Thursday- five days later. FRUSTRATING.
>Assuming I'm correct and the problem is not at my home, they said it
>could either be in the CO, or some other device/location between my
>home and the CO. What are they referring to? Does that serve a
>neigborhood or a group of numbers in an exchange, i.e. 1234-1254, or
>something like that.
>TIA for your answer.
Since DSL works and dialtone doesn't, the break is most likely
somewhere between the splitter off the DSLAM and back into the phone switch.
When they put DSL in, your primary line gets moved off the switch MDF
and onto the splitter panel for the DSL, and then a new pair gets run
back to the switch MDF.
The "some other device in fhe field" is the result of the telcos
needing to put DSLAMs out in the field to get them closer to you due
to wire line limitations of DSL signalling. These remote DSLAMs are
all over. Ie. in my suburban area around my home, I have 3 remote
DSLAMs within a short walking distance. You can tell what they are
with the telco environmental boxes, with a power meter on them.
Ie. here's some pictures of them.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark
,15874273
(not the short squat green boxes, those are power transformers for the
power company).
The remote DSLAM serves all the customers that are downstream off the
CO cable that is feeding that area. This could be a small number, or a
huge number. It all depends on how things get fed.
Most likely your voice line pair is lifted or open somewhere after the
DSLAM splitter panel in the remote DSLAM RT serving your area, and VZ
will have to dispatch out to the field to check the RT and find your
voice line.
As to it taking 5 days.. That is something else altogether. Repair
time for service companies have been going down hill for some time now. :(
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 Bill Horne. 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.
The Telecom Digest is moderated by Bill Horne.
This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm-
unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and
published continuously since then. Our archives are available for
your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list
on the internet in any category!
URL information: http://telecom-digest.org
Copyright (C) 2011 TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.
Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.
Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing
your name to the mailing list.
All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the
author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only
and messages should not be considered any official expression by the
organization.
End of The Telecom Digest (5 messages)
Return to Archives ** Older Issues