Re: Voice modem Call ID

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From: Riber (riber_at_removethis.mail.andthis.com)
Date: 09/26/04 

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 17:45:55 +1000

First of all, thank you for being a bit upset about this Michael. Most
people here do not seem to care at all, and I am very pleased that you do!.

Apart from UK and US many other countries do feature a National Telco that
act as a combined supplier and wholesaler, and that is where the Country
specific relation comes in.

> Finally, don't blame this on misunderstood or misleading documentation.

I have read several version of the FSK Caller ID standard from around the
world and I find it shocking how little understanding they have of the
strict rules that apply. The original standard is simple as ABC and due to
Bellcore's very misleading documents a chain of very severe
misunderstandings has spread all around the world. I do not say this
lightly, it is based on heavy duty studies.

> All of these different standards are properly published by various
> companies and standards organizations that create them.

The thing is that the original standard do have very strict rules, but
Bellcore was not able to specify this in their documents. A huge mistake
that have left the world in a mess.

> The problem is twofold. Telephone companies that for whatever reason
> decide to create their own standard instead of using an existing one.
> Modem companies that decide the return on investment isn't great enough
> for them to support multiple standards.

The only Telco that has done this right apart from the US and UK, is Japan.
They at least kept away from the Type 80 Standard and created their own Type
90 message. Europe adopted the US standard and totally messed it up due to
poor documentation. The current European Telecommunications Standards
Institute's definition and set of mandatory rules are completely stuffed up.
I have made them aware of this and hopefully they will upgrade their
documentations within a few months. Bellcore try to apologize for their
mistakes by now selling a $800 document that contain improved
"recommendations".
It may be tempting to say that Telco's "Make their own version" but the fact
is that the Type 80 standard is very strict and limited, and any
modifications to it will only create a crippled system.

> For example, in Canada Stentor decided they should use the US Bellcore
> standard... except they decided to change it slightly. In the Bellcore
> standard you get a 10 digit "Directory Number" and in Canada you get a
> 10 or 11 digit "Dialable Directory Number". There are some modems the
> only accept the Bellcore standards and not the ever-so-slightly modified
> Stentor standard.

This is where the trouble begins. Weak definition of the standard allows for
stuff ups like Canadian Telco's have done. There was a hole in the standard
and they used it. The parameter 03 that the Canadians like to call "Dialable
Directory Number" and the British like to call "Redirected From" is
obviously an "Optional extra parameter" that should not even be there.
If Bellcore did a good job with their documentation the Canadian Telco's
would never have done this.
The gap between the 02 and the 04 parameter is there simply because of the
inherited Disable Call Back features from the original Type 04 (SDMF)
message, and that left a hole for the 03 parameter. The British had a good
idea about the basic standard, so they knew that they had to use it as an
optional Extra, and not as a primary parameter.

All of this mess up around the world could be fixed by Microsoft in a day or
so, but they do not care as I can see. I assume Microsoft do not have the
needed knowledge.

I agree with you that the modem producers do not have much to go on. One
problem is that the inside knowledge is often just in the hands of one
person in the company, and this one person may not be aware of all the
problems around the world, and may not even have deep Tapi and Unimodem
knowledge.

Comparing changing All the Telco's around the world, or Changing all the
modems around the world, or spending one day programming at Microsoft.....
I see this one day at Microsoft much quicker and easier. MS could make
Caller ID globally compatible and functional with most modems.... and it
would take about a day with programming.

Regards
Jack Riber

>
> --
> Michael Dunn (Microsoft MVP) is a TAPI Developer and Tester
> TAPI web page: http://www.rainyjay.com/tapi/tapi.htm
> TAPI discussions belong in the newsgroup, and not in private email.
> "I'm not insane, I'm just choosy about the reality I accept."

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