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TELECOM Digest     Sat, 17 Sep 2005 19:50:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 424

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Florida Cops, Others Misused Our Data, Choicepoint Claims (B. Sullivan)
    Should Your Business Switch to VOIP? (Peter Alexander)
    Massachusetts Teen Convicted For Hacking Telcos and ISPs (News Wire)
    Cellular and VoIP Carriers Working on E-911 (Paul Korzeniowski)
    Alternatives to LEC Voicemail (ed.gehringer@gmail.com)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet.  All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson 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 the recipients of the
email.

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

Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without explicit written consent.  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; other stuff of interest.  

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

From: Bob Sullivan <sullivan@msnbc.com>
Subject: Florida Cops, Others Misused Our Data, Choicepoint Claims
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:26:23 -0500


By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent MSNBC


A Miami-Dade police officer allegedly peeked at thousands of private
consumer records in what database giant ChoicePoint described as
illegal use of its information. The company also announced three other
incidents of improper access, two involving private investigators.

The incidents were discovered in February, said ChoicePoint marketing
director James Lee, when the company was investigating a systematic
electronic break-in by a crime ring that managed to steal some 145,000
records from the firm's massive database. The Alpharetta, Ga.-based
firm maintains records on nearly every adult in the United States.

ChoicePoint is sending out notice of the privacy breach to all those
affected and offering a year of free credit monitoring. The letters
state that Social Security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, and
other personal information might have been accessed by rogue employees
at legitimate agencies, the firm said. The company waited until now to
notify consumers at the request of the various law enforcement
agencies conducting their own investigations, Lee said.

In the biggest single incident, 4,689 people's records may have been
improperly accessed by an officer of the Miami-Dade Police Department
in Florida. Department spokeswoman Detective Mary Walters said the
officer had been suspended and an investigation was ongoing. She
declined to identify the officer and said no charges had been filed.

The three other incidents announced Friday were:

  .. Two California-based private investigators, Kenneth Beck and Robert
Starr, allegedly used ChoicePoint's data to hunt for possible identity
theft victims, Lee said.

  .. A Texas-based firm named RPM was found to have improperly accessed
data.

  .. An employee of an "accredited insurance" company that ChoicePoint
would not name, citing contracts with the firm, was also alleged to have
improperly accessed records.

In total, the three incidents resulted in 547 warning notices being sent
to victims, Lee said.

ChoicePoint also announced Friday it will send out an additional 4,667
notices to newly-discovered victims of the high-profile data theft
revealed in February. Those consumers will also get a year of free
credit monitoring.

In the wake of that incident, ChoicePoint began taking a closer look
at how its databases were being accessed.

"We identified some unusual search patterns," Lee said. "We have the
ability for certain law enforcement customers to track the usage and
report when there are anomalies."

The firm passed the information on the U.S. Secret Service and other
law enforcement agencies, which are conducting their own investigations.

'Access without accountability'

Privacy rights advocate Chris Hoofnagle of the Electronic Privacy
Information Center said the revelations highlight a serious problem
with the use of electronic investigation tools such as ChoicePoint's
database: Law enforcement officials might abuse such systems to
conduct personal searches.

"One concern is the problem of law enforcement having access without
accountability," he said. Hoofnagle said he warned of this problem
four years ago in a law journal article titled "Big Brother's Little
Helper."

"This clearly raises the question of whether or not anyone is
overseeing law enforcement users of ChoicePoint," he said. "Can
police officers just root through the files and take whatever they
wish with no accountability; no need for warrants, etc?"

But Hoofnagle did praise the ability of Choicepoint auditors to
uncover these incidents.

"That's a good thing, that ChoicePoint found these errant users of the
system and that the public has received notice of them," he said.

Lee said ChoicePoint does all it can to make sure its service is used
legitimately, but he said the firm's clients also need to guard
internally against misuse.

"We are using our technology to the degree that we can ensure searches
are proper, but with any customer there has to be internal controls,"
he said.

Congress is currently debating legislation that would make customer
notifications when private data is leaked mandatory nationwide,
imitating a state law that protects California residents.

However, currently it's not clear which firm would have the
responsibility to send the notifications: ChoicePoint, which owns the
data, or the companies with the rogue employees that allegedly stole
the data. While ChoicePoint was not necessarily legally obliged to
send the notifications, the company chose to do so "to avoid
arm-wrestling" with the other firms, Lee said.

So far this year, nearly 50 million consumers' data has been reported
lost, stolen, or exposed to hackers. ChoicePoint's data theft, first
reported Feb. 14 on MSNBC.com, began a string of reported incidents
that has highlighted the fragility of systems used to protect consumer
data.

Copyright 2005 MSNBC Interactive
Copyright 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9370909/page/2/

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.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
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believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S.  Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
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For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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

From: Peter Alexander <msnbc@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Should Your Business Switch to VOIP?
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:26:50 -0500


by Peter Alexander, Entreprenuer.com

Voice over internet protocol technology cuts telecommunications costs
and improves productivity. But is it right for your business?

You're at an internet cafe; and get an important business call -- on
your laptop. You're on the road and receive an urgent voice mail -- in
your e-mail inbox. Your business has a phone number with a Florida
area code -- even though your office is in California.

Welcome to the world of voice over internet protocol (VoIP). With VoIP
service, your phone calls travel over the internet as data, just as
e-mail does. This type of service can dramatically lower your
telecommunications costs while increasing your productivity. It also
provides useful features and capabilities that conventional phone
technology can't offer.

Though VoIP is quickly gaining popularity, some small businesses are
still on the sidelines, concerned that VoIP audio quality is
substandard, that the technology is difficult or costly to implement,
or that their phone service will be interrupted if their electricity
goes out.

The truth is, VoIP's benefits far outweigh any potential drawbacks.
Here's what you need to know about VoIP to decide if it's right for your
business -- plus tips for making the most out of VoIP service.

1. Since its inception, the quality of VoIP service has come a long
way.  Early VoIP products required both parties in a conversation to
be at a computer. Not only was this extremely limiting, but the sound
quality was often poor. Today's VoIP service has evolved and allows
you to make and receive calls using standard phones or, even better,
feature-rich IP phones. Sound quality has vastly improved, too--in
fact, many businesses today have abandoned traditional phone systems
in favor of VoIP. Many of these businesses have the ability to
leverage their own data network to carry phone calls originating and
terminating within their office with additional savings and benefits.

2. Using VoIP can significantly reduce your telecommunications costs.
Operating costs for VoIP service providers are significantly lower
than for traditional phone companies, which must contend with the
existing, expensive-to-maintain phone infrastructure and costly
industry regulations. With lower expenses, VoIP providers can charge
much less than their competitors.

And with VoIP, businesses no longer have to maintain separate networks
for phones and data -- another significant money saver. Also, the
costs associated with employee moves, adds and changes -- which can
cost $100 or more per occurrence -- are virtually eliminated. All you
have to do is move your IP phone (or traditional phone with a VoIP
adapter) to a different broadband network jack and plug it in. Many 
times, your VoIP adapter can be connected through a 'switchboard'
arrangement, making it even more flexible.

3. VoIP service makes your phone system highly flexible. VoIP systems
allow you to do things that are simply not possible with traditional
phone technology. For example, you can:

a .. Take your phone system with you. As long as you have access to a
broadband connection, you can use your VoIP system anywhere, such as in
a hotel room or at a friend's home. Customers and employees can stay in
touch just by calling your regular business phone number -- they don't
need to call your cell phone, which means you can save precious cell
phone minutes.

a.. Talk on your laptop. Many VoIP systems include telephony software
that enables you to send and receive calls using a headphone/microphone
unit connected to your computer. Now you won't miss an urgent call from
a client, even when you're hanging out with your laptop at an internet
cafe.

a.. Get voice mail and faxes with your e-mail. Many VoIP services
allow you to have voice mail and faxes automatically forwarded to your
regular e-mail inbox. You get all your messages in one place, and your
voice mail and faxes can be easily archived or forwarded to
others. Users can also get their e-mails "read" to voice mail.

a.. Get virtual phone numbers. Your phone number can have any
available area code, not just the one assigned to your region, that
telco says you are stuck with. For example, a business based in
California could have a phone number with a Florida area code --
particularly advantageous if your business has (or wants) customers in
Florida.

a.. Increase productivity. Many VoIP phone numbers can be configured
to simultaneously ring on multiple devices -- such as your cell and
landline phones -- before going to voice mail, thus eliminating
time-consuming "phone tag." In a recent survey conducted by Sage
Research, the increased productivity enabled by internet telephony
added up to 3.9 hours per week, per employee.

With all the benefits VoIP has to offer, if you're now considering a
switch to VoIP service, these tips will help you overcome any
potential hurdles and make the most of a VoIP system:

a.. When in doubt, hire an expert. An off-the-shelf VoIP system for a
business with a few employees is fairly straightforward to implement.
But larger VoIP systems may work best if installed and configured by
experts. Ask your network equipment vendor about VoIP services
tailored for small businesses.

a.. Test it out. Rather than switch everyone at once, test a VoIP
service first with just a few users. Once you're satisfied with the
service, then you can roll it out to other employees. (You might want
to keep your traditional phone system up and running during the
transition as a backup.)

a.. Use call forwarding. If the power goes out, your computer network
may go down -- taking your VoIP service with it (unless you have a
generator or other alternative power source). For backup, configure
your VoIP service to automatically forward unanswered calls to a cell
or landline number.

a.. Secure your network. VoIP's growing popularity is attracting the
attention of hackers, and users are concerned that hackers may
digitally intercept VoIP calls or bring down a company's VoIP system
using denial-of-service attacks. The solution? Make sure your network
security is thorough and up to date. For more information, see my
earlier article, "Is Your Business Safe from Internet Security
Threats?."  One thing's for sure: VoIP technology is continually
evolving, with compelling new benefits being developed for small
businesses. For example, some new wireless PDA/phone combination
devices allow you to use your VoIP service whenever you're near a
Wi-Fi network and use your cell phone service when you're not. Among
the advantages: a dramatic increase in mobility and a sharp decrease
in your cell phone charges.

For larger small businesses, having a single IP network for both voice
and data can provide other advantages, too. For example, an IP network
can also support real-time, high-quality, affordable
videoconferencing, call center applications and more.

No matter the size of your business, VoIP is a surprisingly flexible,
affordable technology that offers the same, sophisticated
communication tools your enterprise-size competitors have.

Copyright 2005 Entrepreneur.com, Inc.
copyright 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9368492/

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.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without
profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S.  Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance, MSNBC Interactive.

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I have always been quite pleased with
my Vonage VoIP service, and for maximum flexibility, I have it
connected as a 'trunk line' on my internal PBX here at my home/office.
I am able to make outgoing calls via VoIP from any extension or
recieve incoming VoIP calls at any extension. Using VoIP has made a
_huge_ savings on my already inexpensive phone costs. (I use a local
carrier, Prairie Stream rather than the more expensive and less useful
SBC.)And you know what? I have had no SBC in this house now for over
a year and don't miss it at all; they keep sending me letters every 
week or two to please re-consider and take them back, of course.  PAT]

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

From: News Wire <newswire@telecom-digest.org>
Subject: Massachusetts Teen Convicted for Hacking Internet and Telcos
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:33:05 -0500


A Massachusetts juvenile pled guilty in federal court and was
sentenced Thursday in connection with a series of hacking incidents
into Internet and telephone service providers; the theft of an
individual's personal information and the posting of it on the
Internet; and making bomb threats to high schools in Florida and
Massachusetts; all of which took place over a 15-month period. Victims
of the juvenile's conduct have suffered a total of approximately $1
million in damages, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's
Office.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan for the District of
Massachusetts; United States Attorney H. E. Bud Cummins, III for the
Eastern District of Arkansas; United States Attorney R. Alexander
Acosta for the Southern District of Florida; Steven D. Ricciardi,
Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service in New England;
Kenneth W. Kaiser, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in New England; William Sims, Special Agent in Charge of
the Secret Service in Miami, Florida; and William C. Temple, Special
Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Little Rock,
Arkansas, announced today that in a sealed court proceeding a
Massachusetts teenager pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Rya
W. Zobel to an Information charging him with nine counts of juvenile
delinquency.

By statute, federal juvenile proceedings and the identity of juvenile
defendants are under seal. The Court has authorized limited disclosure
in this case at the request of the government and defendant.

Judge Zobel also imposed a sentence today of 11 months' detention in a
juvenile facility, to be followed by two years' of supervised
release. During his periods of detention and supervised release, the
juvenile is also barred from possessing or using any computer, cell
phone or other electronic equipment capable of accessing the Internet.
Following his two years' supervised release (parole) he will be
allowed to _apply for computer priviledges from the judge_. 

Had the juvenile been an adult, the underlying charges would have been
charged as three counts of making bomb threats against a person or
property, three counts of causing damage to a protected computer
system, two counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity
theft, and one count of obtaining information from a protected
computer in furtherance of a criminal act.

"Computer hacking is not fun and games," stated U.S. Attorney
Sullivan. "Hackers cause real harm to real victims as graphically
illustrated in this case." "Would-be hackers, even juveniles when
appropriate, should be put on notice that such criminal activity
will not be tolerated and that stiff punishments await them if they
are caught. It is a very serious business these days." 

As a result of this bomb threat, the school was closed for
two days, while a bomb squad, a canine team, the Fire Department and
Emergency Medical Services were called in.

In August, 2004, the juvenile logged into the Internet computer system
of a major Internet Service Provider ("ISP") using a program he had
installed on an employee's computer. This program allowed the juvenile
to use the employee's computer remotely to access other computers on
the internal network of the ISP and gain access to portions of the
ISP's operational information.

In January, 2005, the juvenile gained access to the internal computer
system of a major telephone service provider that allowed him to look
up account information of the telephone service provider's
customers. He used this computer system to discover key information
about an individual who had an account with the telephone company. He
then accessed the information stored on this individual's mobile
telephone, and posted the information on the Internet.

During this same time period, the juvenile used his access to the
telephone company's computer system to set-up numerous telephone
accounts for himself and his friends, without having to pay for the
service.

Also in January, 2005, an associate of the juvenile set-up accounts
for the juvenile at a company which stores identity information
concerning millions of individuals allowing the juvenile to look at
the identity information for numerous individuals, some of which he
used for the purpose of looking up the account information for the
victim whose personal information he posted on the Internet.

In the spring of 2005, the juvenile, using a portable wireless
Internet access device, arranged with one or more associates to place
a bomb threat to a school in Massachusetts and local emergency
services, requiring the response of several emergency response units
to the school on two occasions and the school's evacuation on one.

In June, 2005, the juvenile called a second major telephone
service provider because a phone that a friend had fraudulently
activated had been shut off. In a recorded telephone call, the juvenile
threatened the telephone service provider that if the provider did not
provide him access to its computer system, he would cause its Web
service to collapse through a denial of service attack -- an attack
designed to ensure that a Website is so flooded with request for
information that legitimate users cannot access the Website. The
telephone service provider refused to provide the requested access.
Approximately ten minutes after the threat was made, the juvenile and
others initiated a denial of service attack that succeeded in shutting
down a significant portion of the telephone service provider's Web
operations. Shortly thereafter, he was placed under arrest. 

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

From: Paul Korzeniowski 
Subject: Internet, Cell Phone Carriers Piecing Together e-911 System
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:35:51 -0500


by Paul Korzeniowski

A major shift is under way in the telecom industry.

People increasingly use cell phones rather than landlines. And
businesses and consumers are cutting their telecom costs by installing
voice over Internet protocol links.

As a result, calls are moving from the public switched telephone
network, or PSTN, to next-generation communications, such as wireless
networks and the Internet.

While these newer technologies offer many benefits to users and
carriers, they have a limitation: They often don't work well with
emergency 911 services.

"Unfortunately, users may not know a network does not support 911
services until they make those calls," said Bob Egan, president of the
consulting firm Mobile Competency.

Problem In Crisis

In March, a family in Houston tried to call police during a break-in
and found their service provider couldn't connect 911 calls.

Spurred by such events, the telecom industry is developing a new
emergency-calling system, dubbed e911. This service works with new
technology and could give additional data to emergency responders.

The system could give callers' location information and support video
transmissions. That means callers could transmit video of a house
fire.  Responders would be better prepared to offer help.

For all its promise, the e911 system still faces plenty of hurdles.

The challenges stem from how emergency calls are transmitted. Here's
how the system works: Calls start off in the user's device, which can
be a wireless or wireline phone, a computer or a personal digital
assistant.  They're sent to a call routing system, such as a private
branch exchange, or PBX, switchboard or a voice communications server.

Next, the call is handed off to a telecom service provider who
delivers it to one of 6,000 911 emergency call centers throughout the
U.S. These centers are known as public safety answering points, or
PSAPs.

Emergency operators then work with local responders, such as fire and
police departments, to ensure that the caller gets help.

Not 'Location' Designed

The old 911 system works smoothly because the network end points are
fixed. The public network carries the caller information -- caller ID
data, such as name and address -- along with the call throughout the
transmission. That's not as easy with the new telecom networks.

Unlike the public network, Internet protocol and wireless networks
were not designed to identify callers' locations. Instead, they locate
the switch or server that's controlling the call.

"Problems in pinpointing where a call is coming from can arise as
users move from one wireless PBX or (local area network) access point
to another," said Matthias Machowinski, an analyst at Infonetics
Research.

Theoretically, an ambulance could be routed to a company data center
while a 911 caller actually is a mile away in the branch office.

In 2000, the government stepped in to address such problems. The Federal
Communications Commission began by focusing on enhancing wireless
networks so they could support e911 services.

It's a critical issue, since U.S. wireless users already place 50
million 911 calls each year. Those calls account for 30% of total 911
calls.

The FCC embarked on a five-year plan that is scheduled to be completed
in December. Once finished, emergency personnel should be able to
identify wireless users' locations within 1,000 feet.

The cellular industry has been working on different ways to meet this
goal. The most popular technique aligns cellular and global positioning
system technology.

GPS systems transmit information from remote devices to satellites
revolving around the Earth. During the past few years, cell phone
makers have included GPS capability in their products.

Qualcomm Unit Involved

Wireless service providers, meanwhile, have signed agreements with
firms like Cell-Loc Location Technologies and SnapTrack, a unit of
Qualcomm.  They provide GPS tracking services.

That means that when 911 is dialed from a cell phone, the caller's
number can be matched to a GPS location. That data can go to a public
safety answering point and on to emergency service providers.

While helpful, this solution is not foolproof.

"GPS systems only work within certain ranges," said Mobile Competency's
Egan. "If a user is inside a building, the system may not be able to see
him."

Another concern: Cellular carriers already have missed a few of the
FCC deadlines.

They were originally supposed to complete the e911 work by the end of
2004, but they were granted an extension. "I wouldn't be surprised if
there were more deployment delays at the end of this year," said Neil
Strother, an industry analyst with In-Stat/MDR.

And only recently -- in May -- did the FCC turn its attention to voice
over Internet protocol, or VoIP.

In the long term, the federal agency wants VoIP service providers to
offer similar capabilities as the public network -- including emergency
services. 

The FCC is requiring VoIP providers to warn customers about the lack of
911 capabilities.

The Telecommunications Industry Association, an ad hoc standards-making
group, has been trying to make it possible for wireless and VoIP
networks to transmit location data in a uniform way.

The association's Link Layer Discovery Protocol-Media Endpoint Discovery
standard, which is in draft form, is designed to make it easier to share
information within the VoIP network. The standard is expected to be
added to various products during the next year or two.

So while a great deal of progress has been made in filling 911 holes,
more work needs to be done.

"Equipment vendors and service providers understand the need to
improve their emergency services," Egan said. "But time, money and
effort will need to be expended in order to deliver those
enhancements."

Copyright 2005 Investor's Business Daily

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.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without
profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the
understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I
believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material
as provided for in section 107 of the U.S.  Copyright Law. If you wish
to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner, in this instance, Investors Business Daily. 

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: A couple times I have wondered what 
will the E-911 advocates do when we eventually reach the point that 
the older-style and more cumbersome landline phone system is event-
ually abandoned (over the next few years, I suspect; the telcos are
losing one or two million subscribers each year, it seems.) PAT]

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

From: ed.gehringer@gmail.com
Subject: Alternatives to LEC Voicemail
Date: 16 Sep 2005 20:14:09 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


My LEC has hiked their rates again for voicemail, bringing the total
to $10.50/mo. + tax.  I'm fed up with paying 50% more for this service
than I did a few years ago.  So I want to investigate alternatives.

If I sign up with a third-party voicemail provider, it looks like I'll
still need to buy call-forwarding don't answer ring control,
call-forwarding busy line, and message-waiting stutter dialtone from
my LEC.  Is this correct?  If so, it will be very hard to realize any
savings.

Or, I could use software like AnswerMyPhone or EZVoice.  If I do so, I
will need a voice modem in my computer.  Am I correct in assuming that
most modems that come with PCs are not voice modems?

With a software solution like that, is there any way that voicemail
can be left while I am on the phone?  That is, would call-forwarding
busy line work with AnswerMyPhone, EZVoice, or equivalent?  Actually,
I don't see how it could, because if the call was forwarded, it would
have to be forwarded to some other phone number, wouldn't it?  The
only other number I have is a cellphone, which is not going to be
connected to a PC modem.

And finally, I've paged through dozens of Google links without finding
any semi-technical popular articles on alternatives to voicemail.
Does anyone know of a good article on the topic that I could read?

Thanks!

Ed


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way I handle this problem is by
having telco forward on busy/no answer to my cell phone, which I
will always have with me if I am away from home. After three rings
(but sometimes the caller only hears two rings or maybe four rings)
then the call is yanked away from my landline phone and sent to my 
cellular phone, where it is given another five or six rings, and 
then at that point it goes to the cellphone voicemail which is free
as part of my cellphone package. If my landline phone (actually, my
little home-style PBX) is busy when a call comes in (via call-
waiting) then it is automatically given to the cell phone. And given
my physical handicaps, it is not always easy for me to get up and
find where I left my (wireless landline) phone, so I confess at
times to just deliberatly waiting until the call is pushed over to
my cell phone which I happen to have in my pocket, etc.   PAT]

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


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career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management
(MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35
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The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College
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Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at
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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #424
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