TELECOM Digest     Fri, 27 May 2005 16:39:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 236

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Phone Outage Costs Fort Wayne Store to Lose Business (Lisa Minter)
    Internet Item Allegedly Caused Indonesian Embassy Closing (Lisa Minter)
    Homeland Security Report on Internet: Little We Can Do (Lisa Minter)
    Telecom Update #483 (John Riddell)
    NTT Do/Co/Mo To Sell Nokia Phone (Telecom DailyLead by USTA)
    ARRL Enthused About New Motorola Technology (Jack Decker)
    Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Announces Settlements (Jack Decker)
    Re: Very Early Modems (Jim Haynes)
    Re: First Place, Web Promotion, Unsolicited Calls? (Steve Sobol)
    Re: Vtech Caller ID Not Working (LB@notmine.com)
    Re: Packet8 DTMF Tones Sound "Clipped" (PrinceGunter)
    Re: First Place, Web Promotion, Unsolicited Calls? (NOTvalid@XmasNYC)
    Re: Earlier Mention of WUTCO Clocks (Harry Joseph)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet.  All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and
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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: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Phone Outage Costs Fort Wayne Store to Lose Business
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 00:00:13 -0500


            Phone outage costs Toenges

A Fort Wayne orthopedic shoestore lost telephone service for 2 1/2
days this week, costing the store thousands of dollars in sales,
according to a member of the family that owns the business.

Fred Toenges Shoes & Pedorthics, 2415 Hobson Road, at the corner of
State Boulevard, had its main phone line mistakenly disconnected
Monday, Ross Toenges said. The phone line started working again
Wednesday afternoon.

The problem started after the business asked Vonage to disconnect one
of its secondary phone numbers, Toenges said. That number was
disconnected last week, but the main number also was taken out of
service Monday.

The store's main number is a Verizon telephone line. Verizon
spokeswoman Jane Howard said the company received a request to
disconnect the store's main number on April 23 from U.S. Exchange,
another telephone company.

Spokesmen for Vonage and Choice One Communications, which owns
U.S. Exchange, could not explain how the problem happened Wednesday.

Vonage is temporarily providing the store service on its main
telephone line, but the rest of the store's seven phone lines aren't
working, Toenges said.

Federal regulations protecting consumers who switch telephone
companies prevent Verizon from taking back the phone number
immediately, Howard said.

As a result of the confusion, the store sold 50 fewer pairs of shoes
Monday and Tuesday than it did on the same days a year earlier,
Toenges said. A pair of shoes from the store costs about $85 on
average, he said.


Copyright 2005 Fort Fayne Journal Gazette and wire service sources.
http://www.fortwayne.com


NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The gentleman who passed this item
along to Lisa and the Digest said, in effect, "here is another
example of Vonage screwing up."  I dunno, it seems more like Verizon
screwing up to me. Vonage said to Verizon, or (rather to Choice One
Communications, which owns U.S. Exchange) to disconnect _ONE_ line. 
The end result was Verizon disconnected _ALL_ lines. Then, Verizon
says "as a consumer protection we are not allowed to restore service
on those lines for X period of time", which may normally be correct,
but Verizon certainly would be excused in this instance if they did
not wait X period of time as required by law _under normal conditions_.
But someone has to be blamed, why not Vonage?   PAT]

------------------------------

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Website Tied to U.S. Indonesia Embassy Closing
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 11:29:50 -0500


By Jerry Norton

Website tips on the best ways to attack the United States embassy and
movements by suspected members of violent Islamic groups were factors
in the closure of U.S. diplomatic facilities in Indonesia, experts
said on Friday.

When the closures were announced on Thursday, an embassy statement
referred to terrorist threats without offering details. An embassy
spokesman has declined to elaborate, but the facilities will be closed
until further notice.

A New York Times report attributed the closings to the appearance on a
militant Web Site of a diagram of the embassy, showing the location of
the ambassador's office and other sites, and advising, in the
Indonesian language, on the most effective means to attack the
sprawling low-rise complex.

The Web Site posting "obviously caused the embassy enough concern to
justify them closing," a Western security expert based in Indonesia
told Reuters.

Jakarta police spokesman Tjiptono said the closure "was because we had
received information on the movement of Azahari (bin Husin) and
Noordin M.  Top ... and the movement of their men in the capital."

Police say Azahari and Top, both Malaysians, are among the masterminds
behind a spate of bombings in Indonesia and are key members of Jemaah
Islamiah, a group seen as the regional arm of al Qaeda.

Attacks against Western targets in Indonesia blamed on Jemaah Islamiah
include blasts at Bali nightclubs in October 2002 that killed 202
people, mostly foreigners, and one last September outside the
Australian embassy in Jakarta that killed 10.

National police chief Da'i Bachtiar linked the Jemaah Islamiah
fugitives with the embassy diagram.

"Our investigation on the Azahari group ... prompts an analysis that
there has been communication among this group as a preparation to
conduct another attack. From that analysis, there is information or a
picture that refers to a map of the U.S. embassy in Jakarta. Probably,
this is what the U.S.  authorities thought as a plan to attack the
embassy," he told reporters.

But he also suggested the development could be a diversion.

"This can be a trick. Why attack a target so openly like that and
create concern?"

A second Western security expert suggested the U.S. facility closures,
which included consulates in Bali and Surabaya and an office in Medan,
reflected several factors.

"It looks like there's sort of a whole string of things ... converging
at the same time," said Ken Conboy, country manager at Risk Management
Advisory in Indonesia.

Aside from the Jemaah Islamiah movements and diagram, which he
considered "rather amateurish," he cited the recent Newsweek magazine
article alleging U.S. military abuse of the Koran.

The article, subsequently retracted, "did generate an awful lot of tension.
It got people out in the streets."

A visit to Washington this week by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and reports Indonesians trained in violent tactics by Muslim
militants in the Philippines had returned were other concerns, Conboy
said.

In addition, he added "there's the fact that Jemaah Islamiah averages
about a strike a year, and it's been about eight months since the last
one, so that's more than enough time for them to plan another."

The other Western security expert expressed similar sentiments, saying
it is likely "a matter of when rather than if" another attack will
come.

(With additional reporting by Telly Nathalia)

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Lisa also reports, elsewhere in this
issue that Homeland Security is quite ineffectual -- almost useless --
at dealing with the cyber attack to end all cyber attacks, coming 
soon to an ISP near you.  Read on ... PAT]

------------------------------

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Homeland Security Helpless Where Internet Attacks Concerned  
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 23:54:21 -0500


Homeland Security can't stop online threats - GAO

Department of Homeland Security staffing problems and a lack of authority
are hampering its efforts to protect the country from Internet-based
attacks, according to a congressional report released on Thursday.

The department's National Cyber Security Division has not yet developed a
blueprint for recovering from a large Internet attack, nor has it assessed
the state of online threats and vulnerabilities, the Government
Accountability Office found.

"Until it overcomes the many challenges it faces and completes critical
activities, DHS cannot effectively function as the cyber security focal
point intended by law and national policy," the report said, echoing the
complaints of private-sector security experts.

The division has also had a hard time developing partnerships with the
private businesses that control 85 percent of the Internet's
infrastructure, the GAO said.

The division has, however, overseen a rapid-response team that can quickly
get the word out when new online threats arise, and it has also set up
forums that allow U.S. security officials to share threat information with
law enforcers.

But the GAO found that overall the Homeland Security Department has not
completely addressed any of its 13 key computer-security responsibilities.

The GAO said the department should set milestones to measure its progress,
but noted that the fixes it recommended in an earlier report had not been
adopted.

In a response, the Homeland Security Department said it did not need
to set new milestones as they are already contained in its original
plan, and did not agree that there are any "valid" recommendations
from the previous report that have yet to be addressed.

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 12:08:18 -0700
Subject: Telecom Update #483, May 27, 2005
From: Angus TeleManagement Group <jriddell@angustel.ca>


************************************************************
TELECOM UPDATE 
************************************************************
published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group 
http://www.angustel.ca

Number 483: May 27, 2005

Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous 
financial support from: 
** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com 
** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/
** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca 
** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ 
** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca
** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/
** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca 
** UTC CANADA: www.canada.utc.org/

************************************************************

IN THIS ISSUE: 

** Rogers Combines Cable and Wireless
** Carriers Intro Wi-Fi Hotspot Roaming
** Telesat Launches Two-Way Satellite Broadband
** Cities Challenge Bell 3-1-1 Tariff
** Shaw to Offer Phone Service in Manitoba
** 40,000 Use MTS TV
** Satellite Net Links Nunavut Communities
** Videotron Phones Come to West Island
** ITU Completes VDSL2 Standard
** Call-Net Gets OK for Vote on Rogers Deal
** Telus Offers Managed Wireless Data
** Quebec ISPs Oppose Naked DSL Surcharge
** Canadian Firm Offers VoIP E911
** Aliant Adds Features to Prepaid Wireless
** Terry Mosey Retires
** Statscan Profiles Canadian Call Centres

============================================================

ROGERS COMBINES CABLE AND WIRELESS: Rogers Communications Inc. has
combined its cable and wireless companies into a new Communications
division, to be headed by former Wireless President Nadir
Mohamed. Edward Rogers will continue as President of Rogers Cable, and
Robert Bruce has been promoted from EVP to President of Rogers
Wireless.

** Mohamed, who is considered by some to be a candidate for 
   the CEO position when Ted Rogers retires, has been named 
   to the company's Board of Directors.

CARRIERS INTRO WI-FI HOTSPOT ROAMING: Canada's major cellcos have
launched inter-carrier roaming between 500 (soon to be 1,000) Wi-Fi
hotspots across Canada. Subscribers can be invoiced on their cellphone
bill. Any Wi-Fi provider can join the roaming alliance. (See Telecom
Update #423)

TELESAT LAUNCHES TWO-WAY SATELLITE BROADBAND: Telesat has begun
offering two-way satellite broadband service on the Ka-band using the
Anik F2 satellite. The service, available through various
distributors, provides download speeds up to 2 Mbps and uploads up to
500 Kbps.

CITIES CHALLENGE BELL 3-1-1 TARIFF: CRTC Telecom Order 2005-177 gave
interim approval to Bell's tariff for 3-1-1 service to municipalities
(see Telecom Update #456) and laid out a schedule for further
discussion of the terms and rates.

** In a joint submission, Toronto, Calgary, Halifax, 
   Montreal, Gatineau, and Halton say Bell's charges are so 
   high as to "effectively prevent many municipalities from 
   providing this service." They want Bell to reveal its 
   costs for the service, but Bell says that, as long as its 
   rates cover costs, "there is no required dependency 
   between cost levels and either the rate structure or the 
   rate levels."

www.crtc.gc.ca/8740/eng/2005/b2_6866.htm

SHAW TO OFFER PHONE SERVICE IN MANITOBA: CEO Jim Shaw says Shaw
Communications will offer IP-based local phone service in Winnipeg
within a few weeks.

40,000 USE MTS TV: Manitoba Tel says it now has 40,000 customers for
its digital television distribution service, MTS TV, and will soon add
a Video on Demand option.

SATELLITE NET LINKS NUNAVUT COMMUNITIES: The Nunavut Broadband
Development Corporation this week launched what it calls the "largest,
coolest hotspot" in the world. Qiniq, a satellite-based backbone
network, provides broadband connectivity to the 30,000 people living
in Nunavut's 25 communities, spread over two million square miles,
one-fifth of Canada's land mass.

** This is the first project to receive federal funding under 
   the National Satellite Initiative (see Telecom Update 
   #402). NSI is providing $7.8 million over eight years, and 
   the Broadband for Rural and Northern Development (BRAND) 
   program is providing $3.9 million.

VIDEOTRON PHONES COME TO WEST ISLAND: Videotron's cable telephone
service, introduced earlier this year on Montreal's south shore and
Laval, will be rolled out in 12 communities on West Island, beginning
Monday, May 30. (See Telecom Update #466)

ITU COMPLETES VDSL2 STANDARD: The International Telecommunication
Union says it has finalized technical specifications for VDSL2, a
standard that supports data speeds up to 100 Mbps, both up and
downstream, over standard copper telephone cable.

CALL-NET GETS OK FOR VOTE ON ROGERS DEAL: Call-Net Enterprises has
received an interim court order permitting a special meeting of
shareholders to vote on its proposed acquisition by Rogers
Communications. The meeting will be held June 29. (See Telecom Update
#481)

TELUS OFFERS MANAGED WIRELESS DATA: Telus says its Multi- Network Data
Access Solution allows users to roam across PCS, Mike, Wi-Fi, and
other wireless networks with full security and without dropped
connections, using IBM WebSphere Everyplace technology.

** Another new Telus product, End Point Enforcement, uses 
   Telus's Angel technology to provide anti-virus security 
   for laptops and other workstations before they log on to 
   corporate networks.

QUEBEC ISPs OPPOSE NAKED DSL SURCHARGE: A group of 15 Quebec- based
Internet Service providers objects to Bell imposing a $10/month
surcharge on Sympatico DSL Lite customers who cancel their local phone
service.

** The group says the CRTC should encourage telcos and 
   cablecos to wholesale their services "in a manner and at 
   a rate that allow resellers to remain competitive," and 
   should regulate cablecos in the same way as it regulates 
   telcos.

CANADIAN FIRM OFFERS VoIP E911: Sudbury-based Northern Communications
says it can provide E911 for providers of fixed, nomadic, and foreign
exchange VoIP telephone service that meets or exceeds the CRTC's
recently announced regulations.

www.northern911.com/

ALIANT ADDS FEATURES TO PREPAID WIRELESS: Aliant has moved its prepaid
cellular service to a new platform from Alcatel, which provides an
enhanced set of features and roaming outside of Atlantic
Canada. Aliant now offers prepaid nights/evenings airtime at five
cents/minute.

TERRY MOSEY RETIRES: Bell Executive Vice President Terry Mosey is
retiring, effective May 31. During his 33 years with the company he
held many positions, including serving as president of Bell Ontario
from 2000 to 2003. Among his many accomplishments was the extension of
single-line phone service and Internet access to rural and remote
areas of the province.

STATSCAN PROFILES CANADIAN CALL CENTRES: A Statscan report, released
May 25, reveals that employees in the business support services
sector, most of whom work in call centres, are well-educated, young,
mostly women, and receive considerably less than average wages.

** In 2004, workers in the industry earned an average of 
   $12.45 an hour, about two-thirds of the average in the 
   service sector and the economy as a whole.

www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050525/d050525c.htm

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completeness, or adequacy.  Opinions expressed are based on
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competent professional should be obtained.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 12:23:54 EDT
From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA <usta@dailylead.com>
Subject: NTT DoCoMo to Sell Nokia Phone


Telecom dailyLead from USTA
May 27, 2005
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=21945&l=2017006

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* NTT DoCoMo to sell Nokia phone
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* MobiTV goes across the pond
* Nokia: We're Linux-friendly
* Study: Air travelers prefer limits on cell phone use
* Philly's Wi-Fi network faces hurdles
USTA SPOTLIGHT 
* Hear Telecom Crash Course author Steven Shepard at Telecom Engineering Conference @ SUPERCOMM
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
* Wi-Fi off to races at Indy 500
* CableLabs new standard would boost broadband
VOIP DOWNLOAD
* VoIP in Europe catches regulators' eye
* Skype CEO envisions world of free phone calls
* Italtel makes big strides in VoIP market
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* South Korea's trade regulator fines three telcos
EDITOR'S NOTE
* The dailyLead will not be published on Monday

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=21945&l=2017006

------------------------------

From: Jack Decker <jack-yahoogroups@withheld_on_request>
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 12:22:40 -0400
Subject: ARRL Enthused About New Motorola BPL Technology


For those who have been waiting for your power company to offer
broadband service, this might be the way the power companies SHOULD
implement it.

http://mrtmag.com/news/arrl_motorola_bpl_052605/

ARRL enthused about new Motorola BPL technology

May 26, 2005 11:10 AM
By Donny Jackson

ARRL, the national association for amateur radio, expressed optimism
that a broadband-over-power-line (BPL) system announced this week by
Motorola will not generate harmful interference with amateur-radio
operations.

Dubbed Powerline LV, the solution represents Motorola's first
product in the BPL space. Whereas most BPL systems require the
broadband traffic to travel solely through the electric grid,
Powerline LV uses Motorola's high-speed wireless Canopy system for
backhaul to the electricity pole or pad-mounted transformer, from
which the signal is sent to the house via the electrical wiring, said
Dick Illman, a member the advanced wireless team in Motorola special
markets division of engineering.

This architecture design removes the need for the broadband signal to
travel over the medium-voltage (MV) wires that link substations to
transformers. Radiation from BPL-enabled MV wires is the primary
source of interference for amateur-radio operators, said ARRL
spokesman Allen Pitts.

Low-voltage (LV) wires used to serve homes from electrical poles do
not create as much interference as MV wires, and Motorola has taken
other steps to mitigate interference, including the use of Homeplug
home-networking technology and a device that blocks signals from
entering amateur-radio frequencies, Pitts said.

"We're not ready to endorse it yet, but we are absolutely very
encouraged by it," Pitts said. "Amateur radio operators were
never against any technology; we're against interference. If
there's no interference, we're all for it [BPL]."

Full story at:
http://mrtmag.com/news/arrl_motorola_bpl_052605/

------------------------------

From: Jack Decker <jack-yahoogroups@withheld_on_request>
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 11:43:19 -0400
Subject: Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Announces Settlements


http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-26-2005/0003692052&STORY&EDATE=

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox Announces Settlements With Finance
Companies Over NorVergence Telecommunications Fraud Claims
http://www.michigan.gov/ag

LANSING, Mich., May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney General Mike Cox
announced today that he and the Attorneys General from 19 other states
and the District of Columbia have reached settlements with three
financing companies in connection with a widespread telecommunications
fraud involving NorVergence, Inc., a bankrupt New Jersey-based
telephone equipment and service company.

In the settlements, CIT Group/Equipment Financing, Inc. (CIT), Lyon
Financial Services d/b/a U.S. Bancorp Business Equipment Finance Group
(USB), and Wells Fargo Financial Leasing, Inc. (WFFL) will
collectively refund or not collect more than $24 million in rental
payments from consumers according to the following formula:

    CIT: $8.83 million not collected, 496 contracts affected, 10 states.
    USB: $7.9 million not collected, 366 contracts affected, 18 states.
    WFFL: $7.3 million not collected, 261 contracts affected, 20 states.

"Many Michigan small business owners were victimized by NorVergence's
bogus promises, and then suffered again when financing companies tried
to collect for services that were not being received," said Cox.  "I
am pleased that CIT, USB, and WFFL have agreed to forgive the bulk of
the outstanding balances on their NorVergence contracts.  These
settlements will offer resolution to affected small businesses that
were struggling to meet dead-end obligations, including some that were
sued for payment in courts in Minnesota and Iowa."

CIT, USB, and WFFL are three of approximately 40 financing companies
involved with the financing of telecommunication services through the
rental of data routers that NorVergence called the Matrix box.
NorVergence enticed small business customers to enter into rental
agreements for a Matrix box that purported to provide telecommunications
services by false claims of dramatic savings.  While the rental
agreements were typically for three to five years with payments of
$500 - $2,000 per month, the market price of the Matrix box was no
more than $1,500.  After securing contracts with businesses,
NorVergence sold the rental agreements to different finance companies,
including CIT, USB, and WFFL.

When NorVergence was forced into bankruptcy in June 2004, its
customers were left without service but the finance companies,
including CIT, USB, and WFFL, maintained that customers were still
responsible for the five-year rental agreement payments.  Customers
who did not pay faced being sued or threatened with suits by USB and
WFFL in the states in which they have their corporate headquarters, in
most cases, a distant and inconvenient forum for the NorVergence
customers.

All consumers who signed agreements with NorVergence that were bought
by CIT, USB, or WFFL or signed NorVergence agreements directly with
CIT, USB, or WFFL, will receive a notice in the mail regarding the
opportunity to participate in the settlement.  To accept the
settlement offer, consumers must follow instructions contained in the
notice.  Also, any consumer that previously settled with the three
companies regarding NorVergence service can opt to receive the same or
substantially the same terms of this settlement, if they choose.

During 2003 and 2004, the Consumer Protection Division collected more
than $600 million on behalf of Michigan.  In 2004, the Division
stopped more than $400 million in utility rate increases and responded
to more than 102,000 consumer complaints.

A copy of the settlements with CIT, USB, and WFFL can be viewed at the
Attorney General's Web site: http://www.michigan.gov/ag under the
Consumer Protection link.

SOURCE Michigan Attorney General
Web Site: http://www.michigan.gov/ag 

How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home:
http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html

If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/

------------------------------

Subject: Re: Very Early Modems
Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu
Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni
From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes)
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 01:42:29 GMT


In article <telecom24.232.11@telecom-digest.org>,
<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:

> The Western Union history describes advanced switching and
> communications networks for telegraph traffic, including special
> networks for govt and business.  It looked to be state of the art for
> its day (1960s).  I'm still hazy on how Western Union missed the boat
> on data communication which was after all their specialty.  Some say
> WU had a very limited transmission network and depended on Bell for
> that "final mile" although in cities WU had quite a broad network.
> Or, their Telex wasn't as good as AT&T's TWX.

We could have a very long discussion of why Western Union went under.
The business press would say it was simply a matter that they had
money going out a lot faster than it was coming in, and no prospects
for reversing that situation.  As an engineer I would say they did a
lot of dumb things in the engineering and marketing end of the
business.  And it seems to have been government policy to keep
W.U. with exactly one foot in the grave at all times.


jhhaynes at earthlink dot net

------------------------------

From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: First Place, Web Promotion, Unsolicited Calls?
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 19:57:19 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com


Robert Bonomi wrote:

> If the marketing call came to his _cell_ phone, as he implies, then it is
> a prosecutable violation _whether_or_not_ he is on the federal DNC list.

Under the TCPA, that is only true for sure if the call is autodialed. 
I'm not sure about personally-placed teleslime calls. The only wording 
that is certain in the TCPA is that autodialed calls to recipient-pays 
devices are actionable.

(b)  Restrictions on use of automated telephone equipment

(1) Prohibitions

It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States:

(A) to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or
made with the prior express consent of the called party) using any
automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded
voice;

[snip]

(iii) to any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular 
telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio 
common carrier service, or any service for which the called party is 
charged for the call;

Note the prerecord requirement.

> 47 USC 227 expressly forbids marketing calls to _any_ "telephone
>    number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service,
>    specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common carrier
>    service, or any service for which the called party is charged for
>    the call"

You didn't read that entire section. Start at the point you quoted, go 
up a handful of lines and you'll see the prerecord clause.

I did, however, notice:

(B) to initiate any telephone call to any residential telephone line
using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without
the prior express consent of the called party, unless the call is
initiated for emergency purposes or is exempted by rule or order by
the Commission under paragraph (2)(B);

Which is pretty cool, as it outlaws ANY prerecord for ANY reason. I 
hadn't noticed that before.


JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
     --New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

------------------------------

From: LB@notmine.com
Subject: Re: Vtech Caller ID Not Working
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 08:54:21 -0400
Organization: Optimum Online


Harlan Messinger wrote:

> I have a Vtech 20-2481 2.4 GHz Gigaphone two-line base unit with three
> handsets. Until a few days ago, I had a two-line cord (RJ-45?) running
> into the base unit's Line 1 + Line 2 jack. Last year I got rid of the
> phone number that had been coming in on Line 1, but Line 2 continued
> to work just fine.

> The other day I replaced the phone cord with a one-line cord (RJ-11?)
> running into the Line 2 jack. I pushed a splitter into the wall jack
> and plugged the other end of the cord into the splitter's Line 2
> output.  Everything is fine now *except* that the Caller ID function
> has quit.  The caller is no longer identified, and no record is kept
> in the call history.

> I switched back to the earlier configuration and the Caller ID came
> back. Then I returned to the one-line cord, and Caller ID vanished
> again. The same is true when I plug the cord into the Line 1 jack on
> the base unit instead of the Line 2 jack.

> The reason I switched to a one-line cord is that I want to use the
> Line 1 input for my new VoIP connection. That doesn't have anything to
> do with the problem, though, because it occurs whether or not I have
> the VoIP plugged into the base unit.

> Any ideas on a solution?

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Try the original (working correctly)
> configuration but try disconnecting it at the wall box. You obviously
> do not want to blow up the VOIP adapter box, but yet there seems to be
> something about the way caller-ID gets delivered. On a one line jack,
> usually the two 'middle' pins (pins 3-4 of six pins or pins 2-3 of a
> four pin thing) delivers the 'first' line; the 'outer' pins (usually
> pins 1 and 4 in a four pin plug or pins 2 and 5 of six pins) bring in
> the 'second' line. It may well be that 'line 1' should have been the
> one you kept while 'line 2' was disconnected when you took a line
> out. Or if you can find a 'dummy' modular head (plastic head with pins
> but no wire protruding) try sticking that dummy head in the line one
> space. I know Radio Shack sells the little dummy heads, mostly they
> are for guys who are building their own wiring setups, but you don't
> need the wire, just the little pins to make contact in the
> phone. That's jusy my 'try it next' idea.  PAT]

Tried calling Vtech??

LB

------------------------------

From: PrinceGunter <slippymississippi@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Packet8 DTMF Tones Sound "Clipped"
Date: 27 May 2005 07:53:10 -0700


Correction ... it appears that the customer didn't mention a piece of
the puzzle.  He has two locations, one is served by Vonage and one is
served by Packet8.  When we spoke,  he was on a phone connected to
Packet8 but the number I dialed to reach him was forwarded through  his
Vonage service.  It appears the DTMF munging is being done when he
forwards his Vonage service to any other location.

Is there any way to correct this?  Thanks for all your help!

------------------------------

From: NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info
Subject: Re: First Place, Web Promotion, Unsolicited Calls?
Date: 27 May 2005 08:10:14 -0700


> maybe that someone has a good friend working for GoDaddy, or maybe
> both.   PAT]

I own over fifty domain names thru GoDaddy and it only happened with
one. For the record, GoDaddy will terminate people's account if it can
be proven that they are spammers. They have an interesting streaming
radio talk show every Wednesday evening which comes in nicely on my
dial-up connection.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 20:59:39 -0400
From: Harry Joseph <harry@hja.com>
Subject: Earlier Mention of WUTCO Clocks


Patrick,

Here's my understanding how the WUTCO clocks worked, at least the one 
we had at radio stations in the Southwest in 1966-68.

Our WU clock was big enough to contain an old-fashioned 1.5-volt dry 
cell, the cylindrical kind about 3 inches in diameter by 10-12 inches 
high, with knurled brass nuts on the threaded terminals.

Every so often you'd hear whirr-whirr as the battery wound the spring 
motor or whatever; in the two years I was there I don't remember the 
battery ever being replaced, which makes sense since both its duty 
cycle and load were quite small, a nice bit of early-20th C. design, 
IMHO.

What made it a WU clock was the telegraph pair leading, presumably, 
to the local WU CO. The clock would always lose a few seconds per 
hour, no more than five or ten, and exactly on the hour, every hour, 
a voltage pulse (unknown voltage) would come down that pair and 
activate a solenoid, which would literally pull the second hand to 
the vertical position, with a metallic 'thunk,' to start each hour 
right on the money.

This was a mixed blessing for broadcasters, since the clock was 
<least> accurate just when you needed it to be <most> accurate, just 
before the hour, when every network affiliate rejoined its net after 
the hourly break, which lasted generally from :59:00 to :00:00.

The upshot was that every station I ever saw with a WU clock also had 
an AC-powered (synchronous motor) Telechron clock on the wall next to 
it. The Telechron with its sweep-second hand was used to meet the 
network; the WU clock was useful only after a power outage, the 
possibility of which made it worth the few bucks a month charged by 
WU.

Or at least that's how I remember it.

Harry Joseph
NYC


Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
         --Groucho



[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I had several WUTCO clocks many years
ago before they all got liberated. :( Instead of the two very large
'telephone battery' type things in each clock (1.5 volts time 2 wired
in parallel) I had a single 'battery eliminator' wired in series (then
parallel) to each clock. And it was _not_ true that they 'always lost
a few seconds every hour'. By very careful calculation, I had mine
adjusted to the point of a variance of twenty or thirty seconds per
_month_ usually. That required using a leveling device for both the
backboard they were on (as well as the platform they stood on) and a
_very careful_ tweaking of the pendulum set screw. To explain the
importance of careful adjustment, a variance of merely one second per
minute gives an aggragate variance of one minute per hour, or 24
minutes per day ... totally unacceptable. The pendulum has to be
exactly the right length and totally free-floating except for the
'fingers' where they resist the escapement. I do not know the math 
all that well these days (diseased brains can really fu-- with your
abilities at times) but the idea is the swing the pendulum makes is
an 'arc' (in the larger scheme of things) a 'circle' and the circumfer-
ence, or distance 'around the entire circle' (or circumference) 
is very important. 

How long it would take in theory for the radius of the circle (let's
refer to it as the 'pendelum stick' to make one trip around depends
of course on the length of the radius (or pendelum stick). Ditto for
fractions of a trip around the circle (the arc). From one side of
the arc to the other you want the pendulum to take exactly one-quarter
second to free-fall from its starting point to the center, and three-
quarters second for the finger to in effect 'climb back up' the arc
to the other side, or one-quarter second for the finger to get out
of the way of the escapement and three-quarters second for it to
'resist and push the escapment back into place'. 

So after you have made absolutely certain with a t-square and level 
that everything is level (as best your eyes can see) and you have
made a gross adjustment on the pendulum stick, then you continue your
adjustments by _listening to the beat. You want to hear it go 'tick
... tock ... tick ... tock, _not_ tick-tock, tick-tock ...... tick-tock,
tick-tock ... you want to hear an even (again, as best as your ears
can deal with it) cadence. If the cadence is irregular, then check the
leveling again, both vertical and horizonal. Now you are at the point
the clock _appears_ to the naked eye to be level and it _appears_ to 
the naked ear to have the proper cadence. But naked eyes and ears are
just that; only partially reliable human instruments. In actual
practice, the tick is not a second away from the tock, but only .95 of
a second away. And the wall is not exactly level, it is maybe a
hundredth of an inch 'out of level'. What do you do next?

Well, you are not going to rebuild your house, so we are going to
make compensation via the set screw on the pendulum. Recall, we
earlier gave the pendulum a gross adjustment (which is all some of
them ever had, depending on the installer's interest in the matter)
so now we are going to as needed give the pendulum the required fine
tuning. Using an independent time source, we adjust the hands on the
clock manually (_never_ turn them backward, just forward) so that the
minute hand sets exactly on the minute of the hour and start the
pendulum swinging. Watch the clock for about five minutes, and see, in
five minutes with your naked eye if the minute hand is exactly where
it should now be. If not, tweak the set screw just a tiny bit. (One
complete turn of the set screw usually made a variance in time keeping
of two minutes per day.) If after five minutes you can see a noticable
difference consider another gross adjustment. If you don't see any 
difference, then good ... come back in 10-15 minutes and look again.

Then do you see any difference?  Remember, even if your eyes do not
see any variance from the clock to the other time source, or your ears
do not hear any irregular cadence, there are still wee tiny variances
present. But we did not see any (by this point it is unlikely you will
hear any), so we go away, and come back in one hour. Now see any 
problems?  Check again in three hours, then in twelve hours, and
finally after a full day, tweaking the set screw (which is the length
of the pendulum, which in turn affects how 'fast' or 'slow' the stick
[or radius] of the circumference will be traversed [or some fractional
part thereof] which is the arc. Since gravity is constant, the only
variables will be the geometry involved. Check the clock again in
a week or two against the independent time source. My clocks were
at the point even breathing on the set screw would put them out of
whack, I got to where I never had to touch the set screw eventually. 

Even WUTCO was not that picky, so they allowed for a single gross
adjustment once per hour in the form of the incoming wire from the 
central office which would periodically put a 'load' on the line and
retard the pendulum for the second or so needed if the clock was too
'fast' or push the hand up a little if the clock was too 'slow'. There
were a few other minor variables to consider also, such as humidity in 
the air, pollutants in the air which would stick to the fingers or
the escapement, and regards pollutants, these necessitated a single
**tiny** drop of 'clock oil' (A-1 worked fine, or something from a
jeweler) typically once a year. Just a wee squirt of oil on the works
inside; let that wee squirt do its own thing, working its way through
all the gears by itself, which it will do in the next several hours.
Do not drench the gears in oil, a tiny drop or two tiny drops is
all it needs. 

Of my three working clocks (at one point I had a couple dozen of
various makes and models, but I gave them all to friends except for
the three I held out for my own use), I gave them a very ocassional
'gross adjustment' maybe once a month or so. As long as the WUTCO
clocks were within two minutes (either side of the '12') in accuracy
and they nearly always were (WUTCO expected that much of the
installers in the field), just a little tap on the source of the load
would jerk the minute hand forward or backward as needed to place it
squarely on the '12' without the clock losing a single beat, and it
would just go on as if nothing had happened. My 'load' was in the form
of a nine-volt DC battery taped to the underside of my desk, with a 
doorbell wired to one side of the line in series then run off to the
various clocks. I had an old Apple ][ computer and eventually
'automated' the process by having a modem dial into (what later became
'tick.navobs.mil' but in those days it was) 900-410-TIME or 
202-762-1401 and when the pulse came through the modem, the Apple 
computer heard it, and a program I had sent a pulse through the 
computer's parallel port to the clocks. 

In 1963, when WUTCO discontinued their 'clock service' the old Western
Union headquarters building, 410 South LaSalle Street had dozens of
clocks in that building alone; every office had one, the public
message office on the first floor had one, etc. The day after the 
clock service was discontinued, _every damn clock_ in the WUTCO
headquarters building was gone! All had been replaced with cheezy
looking wall clocks. I thought to myself, some executive(s) at WUTCO
were smart, and I decided I would be smart also. So I went around to
the places I frequented in those days, and tried to 'be helpful and
replace that old WUTCO clock with a new, modern style wall clock'.
Some people listened to/accepted my thinly-veiled BS; other folks
would not. Those who accepted my 'generous offer' to get them a new
modern clock (and don't worry about the old WUTCO clock; I will remove
it and dispose of it) did get a new clock; I took down the old clocks
and took them away. 

At Chicago Symphony, the building manager of Orchestra Hall gave me
two clocks, both in mint condition, although they were fifty years
old. From Chicago Public Library I got a clock from the employee's
lunchroom, and also one from the cafeteria in the old Board of Edu-
cation Building on North LaSalle Street. I was about to raid the
Chicago Temple Building (which had six clocks in various areas of
the building) -- and did get one -- but when I went back the next
day to get one or two more, the building manager had changed his 
mind on the deal. I had gotten the one out of the lobby area the
day before with the manager's blessings; when I went back, I had to
find a ladder to get one out of the organ pipe chambers area; I was
setting about my work when I 'bumped into' the building manager.
He said (as best as I can recall to quote him) "I have to call the
deal off; last night the Board of Trustees had their monthly 
meeting; one of them asked me about the 'clock in the lobby' and
I told them; they gave me hell and said don't do that anymore."
So now it appears others were getting smart as well as just me and
the WUTCO executives. Besides in their second-floor offices, 
Temple Building also had a very elegant grandfather style clock
(with Western Union works in it) in the third floor library. Now
that I think about it, I am sorry I did not get that one first, while
the manager was not on to me, but I recall thinking at the time
I would never have the nerve to ask him to part with that one in 
its elegance. The clock I _did_ get however had a typewritten note
inside the case saying 'put in service (some date) in 1923' and like
all my WUTCO clocks from that era, they were all keeping almost
perfect time seventy years later, despite a few moves in location
and rehangs, and resets later. 

I wish I could find a WUTCO clock now! I understand I would not get
one for the 'price' I paid in 1963 (nothing, except a wall clock
trade).  Someone stole the three I had held onto in 1999. After my
brain aneuyrsm I could not find them around anywhere.  :(     PAT]   

------------------------------


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