410 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
410 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
File: BASIC TELCOM IV
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Read 66 times
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******BIOC Agent 003's course in*******
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* *
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* ========================== *
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* =BASIC TELECOMMUNCIATIONS= *
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* ========================== *
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* PART IV *
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***************************************
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Revised: 15-JUN-84
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PREFACE:
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--------
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Part IV will deal with the various types of operators, office hierarchy, &
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switching equipment.
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OPERATORS:
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----------
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There are many types of operators in The Network and the more common ones
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will be discussed.
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TSPS Operator:
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The TSPS [(Traffic Service Position System) as opposed to This Shitty Phone Service] Operator is probably the bitch (or bastard for the phemale
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liberationists) that most of us are use to having to deal with.
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Here are her responsibilities:
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1) Obtaining billing information for Calling Card or 3rd number calls.
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2) Identifying called customer on person-to-person calls.
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3) Obtaining acceptance of charges on collect calls.
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4) Identifying calling numbers. This only happens when the calling # is not
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automatically recorded by CAMA (Centralized Automatic Message Accounting) &
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forwarded from the local office. This could be caused by equipment failures
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(ANIF - Automatic Number Identification Failure) or if the office is not
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equipped for CAMA (ONI - Operator Number Identification).
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<I once had an equipment failure happen to me & the TSPS operator came on and
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said, "What # are you calling FROM?" Out of curiosity, I gave her the # to my
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CO, she thanked me & then I was connected to a conversion that appeared to be
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between a frameman & his wife. Then it started ringing the party I originally
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wanted to call & everyone phreaked out (excuse the pun). I immediately dropped
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this dual line conference!>
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You shouldn't mess with the TSPS operator since she KNOWS where you are calling
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from. Your number will show up on a 10-digit LED read-out (ANI board) She also
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knows whether or not you are at a fortress fone & she can trace calls quite
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readily. Out of all the operators, she is one of the MOST DANGEROUS.
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INWARD Operator:
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This operator assists your local TSPS ("O") operator in connecting calls. She
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will never question a call as long as the call is within HER SERVICE AREA.
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She can only be reached via other operators or by a Blue Box. From a BB,
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you would dial KP+NPA+121+ST for the INWARD operator that will help you connect
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any calls within that NPA only. (Blue Boxing will be discussed in a future part
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of BASIC TELCOM)
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DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE Operator:
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This is the operator that you are connected to when you dial: 411 or
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NPA-555-1212. She does not readily know where you are calling from. She does
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not have access to unlisted #'s, but she does know if an unlisted # exists for
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a certain listing.
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There is also a directory assistance for deaf people who use Teletypewriters
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If your modem can transfer BAUDOT [(45.5 baud)/ (the Apple Cat can)], then you
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can call him/her up and have an interesting conversation. The # is:
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800-855-1155. They uses the standard Telex abbreviations such as GA for Go
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Ahead. They tend to be nicer & will talk longer than your regular operators.
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Also, they are more vulnerable into being talked out of information through the
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process of "social engineering" as Cheshire Catalyst would put it.
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<Unfortunately, they do not have access to much. I once bullshitted with one
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of these operators and I found out that there are 2 such DA offices that handle
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TTY. One is in Philadelphia and the other is in California. They have
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approximately 7 operators each. Most of the TTY operators think their job is
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boring (based on an official "BIOC poll"). They also feel they are under-paid.
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They actually call up a regular DA # to process your request (Sorry, no fancy
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computers!).>
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Other operators have access to their own DA by dialing KP+NPA+131+ST (MF).
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In the confusion due to the aftermath of the Bell System break-up, it seems
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that it will now cost 50 cents per DA call! Exceptions seem to be Canadian
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DA & the TTY DA (for the time being). Thus you might be able to avoid being
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charged for DA calls by using your computer [running at 45.5 baud!] and their
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800 TOLL-FREE #! If they decide to charge from fortresses also, the method of
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making DA calls from the fortress and purposely asking for an unlisted # so you
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can have the operator credit you home # will no longer work!
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CN/A Operators:
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CN/A operators are operators that do exactly the opposite of what directory
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assistance operators are for. See part II, for more info on CN/A & #'s. In my
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experiences, these operators know more than the DA op's do & they are more
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susceptible to "social engineering." It is possible to bullshit a CN/A operator
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for the NON-PUB DA # (ie, you give them the name & they give you the unlisted
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#). This is due to the fact that they assume your are a phellow company
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employee. Unfortunately, the break-up has resulted in the break-up of a few
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NON-PUB #'s and policy changes in CN/A.
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INTERCEPT Operator:
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The intercept operator is the one that you are connected to when there are not
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enough recordings available to tell you that the # has been disconnected or
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changed. She usually says, "What # you callin'?" with a foreign accent. This
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is the lowest operator lifeform. Even though they don't know where you are
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calling from, it is a waste of your time to try to verbally abuse them since
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they usually understand very little English.
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Incidentally, a few areas do have intelligent intercept operators.
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OTHER Operators:
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And then there are the: Mobile,Ship-to-Shore, Conference, Marine Verify,
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"Leave Word & Call Back," Rout & Rate (KP+800+141+1212+ST - new # as result of
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Bell breakup), & other special operators who have one purpose or another in the
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Network.
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Problems with an Operator? Ask to speak to their supervisor...or better yet,
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the Group Chief (who is the highest ranking official in any office) who is the
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equivalent of the Madame in a whorehouse (if you will excuse the analogy).
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By the way, some CO's that will allow you to dial a 1 or 0 as the 4th digit,
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will also allow you to call special operators & other phun Telco #'s without a
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blue box. This is very rare though! For example, 212-121-1111 will get you a
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NY Inward Operator.
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==================
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=OFFICE HIERARCHY=
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==================
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Every switching office in North America (the NPA system), is assigned an office
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name & class. There are five classes of offices numbered 1 through 5. Your
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CO is most likely a class 5 or end office. All Long-Distance (Toll) calls
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are switched by a toll office which can be a class 4, 3, 2, or 1 office. There
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is also a 4X office called an intermediate point. The 4X office is a digital
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one that can have an unattended exchange attached to it (known as a Remote
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Switching Unit-RSU).
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The following chart will list the Office #, name, & how many of those offices
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existed in North America in 1981.
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Class Name Abb # Existing
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----- ---------------- --- ------------
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1 Regional Center RC 12
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2 Sectional Center SC 67
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3 Primary Center PC 230
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4 Toll Center TC 1,300
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4P Toll Point TP
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4X Intermediate Pt IP
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5 End Office EO 19,000
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R RSU RSU
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When connecting a call from one party to another,the switching equipment
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usually tries to find the shortest route between the Class 5 end office of
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the caller & the Class 5 end office of the called party. If no inter-office
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trunks exist between the 2 parties, it will then move upto the next highest
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office for servicing (Class 4). If the Class 4 office cannot handle the call
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by sending it to another Class 4 or 5 office, it will be sent to the next
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office in the hierarchy (3). The switching equipment first uses the high-usage
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interoffice trunk groups, if they are busy it then goes to the final trunk
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groups on the next highest level. If the call cannot be connected then, you
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will probably get a re-order [120 IPM (Interruptions Per Minute) busy signal]
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signal. At this time, the guys at Network Operations are probably shitting in
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their pants and trying to avoid the dreaded Network Dreadlock (as seen on TV!).
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It is also interesting to note that 9 connections in tandem is called
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ring-around-the rosy and it has never occurred in telephone history. This
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would cause an endless loop connection. [a neat way to really screw-up the
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Network]
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The 10 regional centers in the US & the 2 in Canada are all interconnected.
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They form the foundation of the entire telephone network. Since there are
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only 12 of them, they are listed below:
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Class 1 Regional Office Location NPA
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---------------------------------- ---
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Dallas 4 ESS 214
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Wayne, PA 215
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Denver 4T 303
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Regina No.2 SP1-4W [Canada] 306
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St. Louis 4T 314
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Rockdale, GA 404
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Pittsburgh 4E 412
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Montreal No.1 4AETS [Canada] 504
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Norwich, NY 607
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San Bernardino, CA 714
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Norway, IL 815
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White Plains 4T, NY 914
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The following diagram demonstrates how the various offices may be connected:
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^----------^----------^ Regional
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_!_ _!_ _!_Offices
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~~~~~!1! <----> !1! <----> !1!~~~~~
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--- --- ---
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! Others\/
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-^-------^-------^------^---------^
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_!_ _!_ _!_ _!__ _!_
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!2! !3! !4! !4P! !5!
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--- --- --- -^^- ---
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! ! ! !
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^----^ ! ^----^ !
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_!_ _!_ ! __!_ _!_ !
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!3! !4! ! !4X! !5! ^-----^
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--- -^- ! ---- --- _!__ _!_
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^ ! !4X! !5!
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__!_ ! ---- ---
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!5R! !-------------^
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-^^- /--------!---------\
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_!_ _!__ _!_ _!_
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!R! !4P! !4! !5!
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--- ---- --- ---
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=====================
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=SWITCHING EQUIPMENT=
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=====================
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In the Network, there are 3 major types of switching equipment. They are known
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as: Step, Crossbar, & ESS.
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STEP-BY-STEP (SxS)
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The Step-By-Step, a/k/a the Strowger switch or two-motion switch, was invented
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in 1889 by an undertaker named Almon Strowger. He invented this mechanical
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switching equipment because he felt that the biased operator was routing all
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requests for an 'undertaker' to her husband's business.
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Bell started using this system in 1918 & as of 1978, over 53% of the Bell
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exchanges used this method of switching. This figure is probably substantially
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less now.
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Step-by-Step switching is controlled directly by the dial pulses which move
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a series of switches (called the switch train) in order. When you first pick
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up the fone under SxS, a linefinder acknowledges the request (sooner or later)
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by sending a dial tone. If you then dialed 1234, the equipment would first
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find an idle selector switch. It would then move vertically 1 pulse, it
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would then move horizontally to find a free second selector, it would then
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move 2 vertical pulses, step horizontally to find the next selector, etc. Thus
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the first switch in the train takes no digits, the second switch takes 1 digit,
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the third switch takes 1 digit, & the last switch in the train (called the
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connector) takes the last 2 digits & connects your calls. A normal (10,000
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line) exchange requires 4 digits (0000-9999) to connect a local call & thus it
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takes 4 switches to connect every call (linefinder, 1st & 2nd selectors, & the
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connector) .
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While it was the first, SxS sucks for the following reasons:
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[1] The switches often become jammed thus the calls often become blocked.
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[2] You can't use DTMF (Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency a/k/a Touch-Tone) directly.
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It is possible that the Telco may have installed a conversion kit but then the
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calls will go through just as slow as pulse, anyway!
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[3] They use a lot of electricity & mechanical maintenance. (bad from Telco
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point of view)
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[4] Everything is hardwired.
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They can still hook up pen registers & other shit on the line so it is not
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exactly a phreak haven.
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You can identify SxS offices by:
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(1) Lack of DTMF or pulsing digits after dialing DTMF.
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(2) If you go near the CO, it will sound like a typewriter testing factory.
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(3) Lack of speed calling, call forwarding, & other custom services.
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(4) Fortress fones that want your money first (as opposed to dial tone first
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ones).
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The preceding don't necessarily imply that you have SxS but they surely give
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evidence that it might be. Also, if any of the above characteristics exist,
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it certainly isn't ESS! Also, SxS have pretty much been eradicated from large
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metropolitan areas such as NYC (212).
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CROSSBAR:
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There are 3 major types of Crossbar systems called: No. 1 Crossbar (1XB),
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No. 4 Crossbar (4XB), & No. 5 Crossbar (5XB). 5XB has been the primary end
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office switch of Bell since the 60's and thus it is in wide-use. There is
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also a Crossbar Tandem (XBT) used for toll-switching.
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Crossbar uses a common control switching method. When there is an incoming
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call, a stored program determines its route through the switching matrix.
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In Crossbar, the basic operation principle is that a horizontal & a vertical
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line are energized in a matrix known as the crosspoint matrix. The point where
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these 2 lines meet in the matrix is the connection.
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+===+
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=ESS=
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+===+
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Electronic Switching System (ESS)
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The Phreak's Nightmare Come True
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(or Orwell's Prophecy as 2600 puts it)
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ESS is Bell's move towards the Airstrip One society depicted in Orwell's 1984.
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With ESS, EVERY single digit that you dial is recorded--even if it is a
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mistake. They know who you call, when you call, how long you talked for, &
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probably what you talked about (in some cases). ESS can (and is) also
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programmed to print out #'s of people who make excessive calls to 800 #'s or
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directory assistance. This is called the "800 Exceptional Calling Report."
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ESS could also be programmed to print out logs of who calls certain #'s--like
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a bookie, a known communist, a BBS, etc The thing to remember with ESS is that
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it is a series of programs working together. These programs can be very
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easily changed to do whatever they want it to do. This system makes the job of
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Bell Security, the FBI, NSA, & other organizations that like to invade privacy
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incredibly easy.
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With ESS, tracing is done in microseconds (Eine Augenblick) & the results are
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printed at the console of a Bell Gestapo officer. ESS will also pick up any
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"foreign" tones on the line such as 2600 Hz!
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Bell predicts that the country will become totally ESS by the 1990's.
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You can identify ESS by the following which are usually ESS functions:
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[1] Dialing 911 for help.
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[2] Dial-Tone-First fortresses.
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[3] Custom Calling Services such as: Call Forwarding, Speed Dialing, & Call
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Waiting. (Ask your business office if you can get these.)
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[4] ANI (Automatic Number Identification) on LD calls.
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Phreaking does not come to a complete halt under ESS though--just be very
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careful, though!!!
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Due to the fact that ESS has a computer generated "artificial" ring, you are
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not directly connected to the called parties line until he picks up. Therefore,
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Black Boxes & Infinity Transmitters will not work under ESS!
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NOTE: Another interesting way to find out what type of equipment you are on is
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to raid the trash can of you local CO--this art will discussed in a
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separate article soon. Asking for a tour of your CO for a "school
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report" can also be helpful.
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Coming Soon:
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In the part V, we will start to take a look at telephone electronics.
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Further Reading:
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For more information on the above topics, I suggest the following:
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Notes on the Network, AT&T, 1980.
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Understanding Telephone Electronics,Texas Instruments, 1983.
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And subscriptions to:
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TAP, Room 603, 147 W 42 St, New York,NY 10036. Subscriptions are $10/year.
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Back issues are $0.75. The current issues is #90 (Jan/Feb 1984)
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2600, Box 752, Middle Island, NY 11953. Subscriptions are $10/year. Back
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issues are $1 each. The current issue is #6 (June 1984).
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They are both excellent sources of all sorts of information (primarily
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phreaking/hacking).
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NOTE: For the most part, I have assumed that you have read my previous 3
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courses in the BASIC TELCOM series.
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Excelsior,
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*****BIOC
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*=$=*Agent
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*****003
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Knights of Shadow
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April 13, 1984
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{The Year of Big Brother}
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<<=-FARGO 4A-=>>
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[ RACS III - (914) 942-2638 ]
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[ Sherwood Forest ][ - (914) 359-1517 ]
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PS Sysops of other BBS's are welcome to use this series on their own boards
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providing that you don't change anything.
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PPS Due to the radical changes taking place in the Network due to the break up
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this January, I have been forced to make many revisions of certain parts of
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||
my BASIC TELCOM series. If something does not seem right, please keep the
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current revision date in mind. I have tried to keep this series as current
|
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as possible.
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Call The Works BBS - 1600+ Textfiles! - [914]/238-8195 - 300/1200 - Always Open
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