Subject: uk.telecom FAQ, Part 1/3 - Questions, and Contacts. Newsgroups: uk.telecom,news.answers From: jrg@blodwen.demon.co.uk (James R Grinter) Date: Sun, 16 Oct 1994 16:22:58 +0000 Archive-name: uk-telecom/part1 Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: Time-stamp: <1994/10/09 17:21:14 james> Version: 2.4 Frequently Asked Questions for uk.telecom Part 1 - Questions and Contacts Compiled/ Posted by James Grinter These articles attempt to summarise answers to some of the more often asked questions in the newsgroup uk.telecom. This first part of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) summarises the questions, and gives places to go for further information. See also below for details of the uk.telecom archive, or the find the regular post to uk.telecom. ---- This post, and all other periodic postings to news.answers are available for anonymous ftp in the periodic posting archive rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/. [18.181.0.24], or via E-mail by sending a message to (send a message with "help" in the body to get more information). This area is mirrored at src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/usenet/news.answers/. This FAQ is also available in a simple hypertext form, but is currently homeless. This should, I hope, be rectified soon. Other FAQs are available on the World Wide Web at http://www.cs.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/top.html. ---- [Compilers Notes are in square brackets (like this)] Comments / Contributions welcomed with open arms either on the newsgroup or via email :-) **More** stuff still to do, let me know if you spot anything I've missed. -- james. Disclaimer: This information has been culled from postings to uk.telecom, mail and occasionally from files of the comp.dcom.telecom archive. I give no guarantees of its accuracy etc.. I also reserve the right to edit postings for length and relevance. **Please**, only use any prices as a guide - if you want up-to-date pricing information contact the relevant people. (many numbers are listed at the bottom of this article) Thanks: My thanks to all those who participate in the uk.telecom newsgroup. **Special** thanks to the original compiler of this FAQ, Christopher Samuel - his name has moved to here so that people don't keep troubling him with regards to this FAQ! ---- Subject: Part 2 - Telephone Service Subject: What is uk.telecom ? Subject: Phone numbers Q: Why do we need another digit in the phone numbers? Q: So who decided, and what were the choices? Q: Who owns this numbering space ? Q: I've heard someone mention about Mercury's 0500 service, what is it ? Q: How can I phone American 1-800 (toll free) numbers from the UK ? Q: How do I dial a number with a mnemonic in it ? {*} Q: What are BT Phonebase/ Electronic Yellow Pages/ TeleDirectory and how do you get access to them? Q: What defines a local call area? Q: When does the National Code Change take place? {*} Q: I want a new line with a particular number, or want to renumber an existing line to a particular number. Q: What sort of number is 0990? Subject: Oftel Q: Who or what are OFTEL? How do I contact them? Q: Do OFTEL set any of BT's charges? Q: How do I get a copy of 'Oftel News'? Subject: Mercury Communications Ltd Q: Can you use your subscription to Mercury in the same way as a Chargecard? I think I read that you are supposed to use it from only one phone. Q: What is the Mercury beep, and can I get rid of it ? Q: What is known about PIN-less Mercury ? Q: What do I get on Mercury's itemised bill using cost centres? Q: Can I tell if Mercury 131/132 service is available in my area? Q: Is it possible to access Mercury 131 from a BT Payphone? Q: How can I dial 9 digit numbers quickly- the system waits a while for the 10th digit? Subject: British Telecommuncations plc (BT) Q: Why is there no 0345 access to PSS Dialplus ? Q: What **are** these Network Services that people keep mentioning? Are they a BT version of teletext or something? Do you have to pay for them? Q: When I use call waiting, and press R to get the dialling tone so that I can get to the new caller, nothing happens i.e. no dialling tone. Q: How do I order BT's full price list ? Q: How do I get a BT 'Midnight line'? Q: Are calls made on Midnight lines **outside** the Midnight-6am free period charged at normal dialled rates? {*} Q: Can I get a fully itemised bill from BT ? Q: How can I get ISDN? {*} Q: What are the costs of ISDN connection and calls? {*} Subject: Caller ID/ Caller Identification (CLI/CLID) Q: Is Caller ID available in the UK ? {*} Q: What PSTN phones support Caller ID? Q: What ISDN phones support Caller ID, decoding and displaying it? Q: I've seen a couple of ads in Exchange & Mart for Caller ID devices... anyone know if these really work ? Subject: Call barring Q: Will BT provide a line with all outgoing calls disabled except to Mercury? Q: Is it possible to bar reverse charge calls on a line that allows incoming calls? Q: What are the newly announced plans for barring 0898 Adult Entertainment premium-rate numbers? Subject: Engaged lines Q: If someone's number is permanently engaged, what can you do? Q: What can BT do about a phone off the hook? Subject: Automatic announcements Q: What are the meanings of the various automatic announcements? Q: What are those 'Doh dah dee' tones? Subject: Chargecards Q: I want to get a BT Chargecard, the problem seemed to be that you need to be a current customer (have a phone) to be able to get one. Is this so? If it is why is it so? Q: Why can't I direct dial with my BT chargecard on Cellnet ? Q: What itemisation do I get with a BT Chargecard? Q: What service do you get with the Mercury Calling Card? Q: What service do you get with BT's Chargecard Subject: Other Telephone services Q: What is AT&T Direct ? Q: What is Flextel? Q: What ways are there of calling the US cheaper than BT or Mercury? Subject: Facsimile/ FAX machines Q: Where can I get a FAX switch from? Q: What is the legal status of messages transmitted via Facsimile? Subject: Radio Pagers Q: What are recommended pager companies in the UK? Subject: Cellular/ Mobile phones Q: I was recently offered a "free" Cellphone with a product I bought. While I accept that it may be a condition of accepting the "free" phone that you also subscribe to their airtime, is it actually _illegal_ not to purchase an agreement with the phone? Q: Will calls from PSTN lines to mobile phones, in other countries, work? What premium will I pay above the normal charges? Q: Will inbound access to UK mobiles work? Q: Where can I get details of Cellnet, Vodaphone, and One2One coverage? Q: Why do analogue cellphones have a 'soft' serial number, enabling alteration? Q: What do Cellnet Callback and Vodaphone Messenger offer? Who do I ring for help? Q: What prompts the Cellnet callback or Vodaphone Messenger systems to call back? Q: Who are the 'People's phone'? Q: How can I check the status of a Mercury One2One phone's divert and call waiting? Q: What facilities are present in GSM and PCN handsets (like Orange and One2One) to counter 'phone thieves? Q: What are the functions possible with Hutchison's Voice messaging service? Subject: Phone Call charges Q: Why are some numbers charged for when they don't exist? Q: What are the costs of running 0345 and 0800 number services? Q: What are the current phone-call costs? {*} Q: What is an 'average' 'phone bill for the US, as a comparison? Q: So how do the Americans price their 'phone calls then? Q: What happens with the cost of calls which last over two or more charge bands? Subject: Other Telecoms info Q: Where can I get an old style BT phone box from ? Q: So tell me some more about these old phone boxes ---- Subject: Part 3 - Technical matters Subject: How do phones work? Q: Okay, so tell me this. How do phones work ? Q: Where can I get technical information about UK telecommunication systems? Subject: BABT Q: Who or what are BABT? How do I contact them? {*} Subject: PSTN Q: How can I simulate the PSTN? Subject: PSDN Q: What is the PSDN? Subject: ISDN Q: What is ISDN? Q: What are the costs of ISDN connection and calls? Q: Say I want to access my University computer from home, using an ISDN connection, in order to get fast terminal access and file transfer. What would I need to connect a PC to a Sun over this ? Subject: Leased lines Q: We ordered a 14.4k leased line, and BT are installing a 64k line with convertor. Why, and surely it costs them the same? Subject: Exchange features Q: Is it possible to set up a three way call, then have one of the other guys introduce another caller.. ad infinitum? Q: How does Caller ID Work? {*} Subject: Telephones Q: Why does my pre-socket phone 'tinkle' in the night ? Q: What is the difference between Timed Break Recall (the Recall button) and flashing the hook? Q: How does the BT Chargecard system work ? {*} Subject: Modems Q: I use Network Services to bar incoming calls, but when the barring is inforce, the dialtone is different, and hence my modem won't autodial. Is there a way round this? Q: Can you use ordinary dial-up modems over a leased line? Q: How can I use my cellular phone with a computer modem? Q: I'm having a problem with my modem. Intermittently it fails to connect. Subject: Faxes Q: How do FAX switchers work? Subject: Answering machines Q: How do I stop my answering machine recording the "Please replace the handset & Try Again" message when someone hangs up without leaving a message ? Subject: Radio Pagers Q: Is it possible to use a computer and modem to send messages to UK pagers? Subject: Cellular/ Mobile phones Q: What are the new digital phone networks capabilities for data communications? [ie. Can I use my One2One phone?] Q: What do One2One PCN aerials look like? Q: How do mobile phones work in tunnels Q: How does the network find the mobile phone? Q: How does the network distinguish between 'switched off' and 'not responding' when giving messages to the caller? Subject: CT2 (Phonepoint, Hutchison Rabbit, etc) Q: How do I unlock a Hutchison Rabbit handset? Q: What are the little switches in a rabbit handset battery compartment for? Subject: Telephone exchanges Q: What types of exchange are there, and which can be digital ? {*} Q: What is the difference between a System X and System Y exchange ? Q: What is the number that will dial my 'phone back to test the ringing? Q: When I called 175 from home there was a message telling me my phone number, then when I hung up I was called back and offered a mysterious menu. Anyone know how to work it? Q: What do the various messages from the 175 tester on System X really mean, eg. "Earth A, Battery B"? Q: Is there a way I can pulse-dial a digital exchange number and then tone dial from there? Subject: International calls Q: How do I get a guaranteed non-satellite circuit to the USA ? Q: Is non-satellite link to the US helpful when using transfer protocols such as XModem? Subject: Phone numbers/ DTMF Q: What are the frequencies for DTMF (Dual-tone multi-frequency) digits? Q: How can I identify a 'phone number from a recording of the DTMF digits? ---- Subject: Where can I get further information from ? ONLINE: There are two other telecoms related newsgroups which I am aware off. They are comp.dcom.telecom and comp.dcom.telecom.tech but be warned, they tend to be dominated by US specific items, and the first one is moderated as a gatewayed digest, so articles MUST be submitted to the moderator for approval. (Submissions: , requests to telecom-request at same address). FTP/ Telnet/ Mail: There is a uk.telecom archive at Imperial College in src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/usenet/uk.telecom/. It contains both an archive of the group in volume92/, volume93/, etc with an index by subject in the file Index, and a small collection of useful files in the 'archive' directory, including some versions of the FAQ and the network services posting. For anonymous FTP, the Usenet newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom has an archive site at lcs.mit.edu [18.26.0.36], with a quite comprehensive suite of files, including some UK specific stuff. This and the uk.telecom archive is fully mirrored at ftp.funet.fi:/pub/doc/telecom/. Telecoms information, including an on-line version of all the National FM (i.e. not Local or AM) transmitters, derived from BBC and other enigineering information, is also available from ftp.pipex.net:/pub/telecom/. A list of UK STD area codes is available from ftp.pipex.net:/pub/areacode/. This is also available for searching on-line - telnet afs1.cc.ic.ac.uk, login as 'areacode'. A list of 0800 and 0500 numbers is available from ftp.pipex.net:/pub/telecom/. and from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/misc/. as 0800num.txt - a list in Freephone number order and 0800cat.txt - a list by Category. Phone card collectors mailing list: subscribe with mail saying 'subscribe phonecard-collectors Your Name' to . Messages **to the list** are sent to . iSDX managers mailing list: Requests for inclusion/deletion should be sent to . Submissions sent to will be reflected to the list members. DIRECT CONTACT: You could try BT, or Mercury direct, if you really want to. [Thanks to Kevin Hopkins for most of these numbers] For BT enquiries the phone numbers are BT Line Any Line Residential General Enquiries 150 0800 800150 Residential Fault Reports 151 0800 800151 Business General Enquiries 152 0800 800152 Business Fault Reports 154 0800 800154 (and billing enquiries) Iain Vallance's office (direct) 071 356 6666 Recorded advice line --- 0800 666700 (basic information and further BT contact points) Welsh language advice line --- 0800 663388 Reporting Malicious calls --- 0800 661441 (to BT's specialist bureaux) General BT enquiries --- 0800 212950 (Personnel, Schools' Liaison, Media etc) There is also the BT news line: --- 0800 500005 For Mercury enquiries the phone numbers are General Enquiries 0500 500 194 Business 0500 700 101 Fault Reports Residential 0500 500 193 Small Businesses 0500 700 103 Large Businesses 0500 424 193 Billing Enquiries 0500 500 196 Business 0500 700 102 Operator Service for Disabled Customers 0500 500 195 Customer Relations 0500 500 197 YourCall Scheme 0500 200 930 Calling Card Info 0500 100 505 For some of the other carriers and services AT&T 071 355 6000 (uk head office) 'Direct' 0800 89 0011 or 0500 89 0011 (preferred) MCI: 0800 89 0222 Sprint: 0800 89 0877 Swiftcall: 071 488 2001 (Visa/ MC required) Mercury One2One 0500 500 121 956/ 0956 956 956 - Talking Guide Book (C&W/ USWest owned company) Hutchison Orange 0800 286 286 0973 100 150 - customer service 0454 624 664 FleXtel 0956 700 700 (sales) Hutchison Pagers 0800 59 00 59 Cable information line 0800 200 750 [No AT&T's and MCI's 0800s weren't meant to be the same! Thanks Richard!] Vodaphone directory enquiries (available from abroad) +44 836 192 192 Mandarin Technology: Another source of information are Mandarin Technology, who have told us that they do try to help anyone needing more telecom-based information, especially in the regulatory fields, and are equally happy to respond to enquiries received by voice, fax or email. Details (pinched from Richard Cox's .signature) Mandarin Technology, P.O. Box 111, Penarth, South Glamorgan, Wales: CF64 3YG Voice: 0956 700111 Fax: 0956 700110 VoiceMail: 0941 151515 Pager 0941 115555 E-mail address: richard@mandarin.com - PGP2.3 public key available on request Wish List: 1) UK versions of comp.dcom.telecom archive files. 2) People emailing me with all those corrections to this info. Thanks section: This FAQ would not have been possible without contributions, help and support from the following people mandarin@cix.compulink.co.uk (Richard Cox), keith@unipalm.co.uk (Keith Mitchell), tjo@its.bt.co.uk (Tim Oldham), gta@uk.ac.st-andrews (Graham Allan), jcs@zoo.bt.co.uk (John C Sager), cudac@warwick.ac.uk (Tim Clark), syngen@dir.ulcc.ac.uk (Syngen Brown), brian@rtf.bt.co.uk (Brian N Butterworth), malcolmr@sun.pcl.ac.uk (Malcolm Ray), steveh@orbital.demon.co.uk (Stephen Hebditch), chris@visionware.co.uk (Chris Davies), ags@uk.co.gec-mrc (Gavin Spittlehouse), rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns), ranald.mcintyre@almac.co.uk (Ranald Mcintyre), mcneill@devon.co.uk (Keith McNeill), mark@mozart.demon.co.uk (Mark Whalley), fisher@minster.york.ac.uk (Tony Fisher), shakib.otaqui@almac.co.uk (Shakib Otaqui), gdk@ipg.ph.kcl.ac.uk (Gary Kendall) roy@harlqn.co.uk (Roy Badami), rogerb@eiffel.demon.co.uk (Roger Browne), pm@nowster.demon.co.uk (Paul Martin), whiskerp@logica.co.uk (Peter Whisker), dplumb@cix.compulink.co.uk (Dave Plumb), smckinty@sun.com (Steve McKinty), kevinh@hasler.ascom.ch (Kevin H), ntitley@axion.bt.co.uk (Nigel Titley), neil@pio.gid.co.uk (Neil Todd), grmd@lrts1.demon.co.uk (Gareth R. M. Davies), zzatsjl@nessie.mcc.ac.uk (Janusz Lukasiak), tjfs@tadtec.co.uk (Tim Steele), mcr@holly.demon.co.uk (Mark Rogers), co94001@black.ox.ac.uk, lsg001@cck.coventry.ac.uk (Graham Wilson), mzmijews@mgzcs.demon.co.uk (George Zmijewski), phil@muppett.bt.co.uk (Phil Houseago), cook@gfms.bt.co.uk (Martin Cook). and all the readers/ posters to uk.telecom, especially those from BT who (unfortunately) come in for a lot of flak because of their employer's sometimes odd actions. Keep posting! [end of uk.telecom FAQ part 1/3]