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Floyd Kling 

(5/2/08)

 

 

Interesting, but little known information related to the operation of your telephone and PC

 

 

 

What is my telephone number?

Automatic Number Announcement Circuit (ANAC) is a special telephone number that is used by phone company technicians to determine the phone number of a particular line.  The problem with ANAC numbers, they may be area code dependent. i.e. the same ANAC number does not work for all area codes.

Here are some 800 numbers from the MCI automated help desk.  They are used to verify the number your calling from before your connected to their help desk.  After you hear a number (the number you are dialing from), simply hang up.  Note that this works, even if your number is blocked from CallerID (*67).  The benefit of these numbers, is these are universal and should work from any area code within the USA. 

  • 1-800-444-0800
  • 1-800-444-2222
  • 1-800-444-3333
  • 1-800-444-4444
  • 1-800-444-5555

Read this for more information: 

http://www.answers.com/topic/automatic-number-announcement-circuit


 

Your Telephone "Star" codes..

These are features you may have on your phone, cell phone and even VoIP.

Anonymous Call Rejection    *77 ... *87

Incoming calls with Caller ID blocked receive a message telling them this line does not accept calls from callers who block their number. (- Free if you have CID.)  (Probably does not work of you are using VoIP)
  • To turn on: *77
  • To turn off: *87

Call Trace     *57

This command records your last received call at Verizon's Unlawful Call Center. This can be used as evidence in court. (Per successful usage charge -- currently $1.00-check with your provider.)
  • To record your last call received use: *57

Per Call CID Blocking    *67

This command blocks the sending of the (your) calling phones name and phone number (CID Info) on the answering phone. Must be entered on each call. (Free - Should work if you are using VoIP)
  • To enable CID blocking for this call: *67 (+ number being dialed)

Deactivate Per Line Blocking   *82

If you have line call blocking enabled on your phone number by the phone company, *82 prior to the number your calling will deactivate the block and allow your name and number to appear on the answering phone (if they have CID). This must be entered each time you place a call. (Free.)
  • To deactivate your call blocking for one call: *82 (+ number being dialed)

Also see "The Great 1010-xyz Confusion" Below


 

The Great 1010-zyx Confusion

The '1010' number you may be asked to dial before a telephone number is a "PIC" Code.  "PIC" is an acronym for "Primary IntraLata Carrier". 

We all have been inundated by the Television and Radio advertising about these wild 1010-xyz-xxx-yyyy numbers.  These advertisers happily tell you that by dialing their magic 1010-xyz number before the number you wish to dial, you will save oodles of money.  The 1010-xyz number is a PIC CODE.

Unbeknownst to you, whenever you dial a long distance telephone number, a PIC number (1010-xyz) is automatically attached to your dialed number by your Telco (Telephone Company). This PIC code is needed to tell your telephone company which long distance carrier to route your call through ... and you are billed accordingly. 

You can override your default PIC number for each call:

You do not need to dial 1010-xyz on every call to route to a long distance company because your default PIC is pre-programmed to automatically attach itself to each out going calls.  However, if you enter a different PIC code before the number you dial, the default PIC is over ridden <for that call only> and the call will be routed by that new carrier - and you are billed accordingly.

You can save money on your calls by PICKING your PIC on each of your calls:

A study of PIC codes will show you how to save money on interstate and intrastate calls.  It would take a bit of time, but if you study your calling pattern, i.e. the time of day and the locations you call, you could enter the PIC number for that particular instance that gives the best rate.

This is especially true on International calls where the charges change dramatically from country to country layered by time of day.

You must also be careful for some PIC number will charge you a one time monthly fee for using that number ... even one time. <use of their PIC is an implied agreement>.  What I mean is a one time charge ... every month you use that PIC.. even once. That may be OK depending on your calling pattern however. 

Confusing? Yes, and this works to the benefit of those who get you to use their PIC.  If you seldom use your phone, it would probably not be worth your time.  But, if your phone bill is in the $100's or $500's or more, I strongly suggest you look into this.

 If you are a small business and use a small PBX, you should look into an LCR - i.e. Least Cost Router.

 

Who is my Long Distance (LD) Carrier?

Use this number to check who your assigned Long Distance Carrier is for that phone line/number.  Remember if you use the 1010 (see below) in the dialed number your assigned LD Carrier is overridden for that call only.

  • 1-700-555-4141   (This is a Free! number)

You will hear an automated message like "Thank you for using AT&T<or whoever>. 

Who is my Local Carrier for Local Calls?

For intra-LATA carrier (Local Carrier) information, you can dial 1-<your area code>+555-4141 -or- 1-<your area code>+700-4141 (either should work) and you will get an automated message with your local carriers' name.

What can I do if I find my PIC has changed?

If you find your Calls are being charged by a carrier you were not aware of, you can ask that your PIC be frozen... call your local carrier, and request a PIC FREEZE... that means that you must confirm any changes to your billing information.

Did you know

  • There are over 1,000 PIC numbers out there? 

  • The popular 1010 numbers you see on television are mostly owned by the same company... MCI?

Remember to PICK your PIC's carefully..


 

Remotely Pick Up Emails (when you are not at your own PC)

Here is a very cool way to read, send, receive, forward or delete your Emails directly from your email server, when you are not at your own PC.  You only need Internet access.

IMPORTANT - MAKE SURE YOUR HOME/OFFICE PC IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY PICKING UP YOUR EMAILS BECAUSE THAT WILL REMOVE THEM FROM THE EMAIL SERVER.  THIS METHOD DIRECTLY ACCESSES YOUR EMAIL SERVER. - Either turn off your email program or turn off the PC that picks up your emails.

Here's the process:
You simply get on the Internet via any PC and go to www.mail2web.com and read the screens.

You will be asked your regular Email address and regular Email password. (Your password is not saved or displayed on the PC you are using).

 Example:
    Email Address:  anyname@companyname.com
          Password: ******

You will also have the option to selectively read/respond/generate your Emails without having them removed from your email server. Then, when you get back to your own PC, the Email will still be on the sever for pickup.

Remember... be sure you have turned off your home/office Email program or the PC or your Emails will have been removed from the server by your automated Email program and would make this method useless.


 

Stop those annoying Telemarketing calls.

An easy way to have your phone number removed from the annoying telemarketers phone lists.

Go to: www.donotcall.gov

This is a Federal Government controlled "National Do Not Call Registry" that telemarketers are required to respect. 

Visit to the site, it is self explanatory.  You may add as many telephone numbers as you want. Your phone number(s) stay on for 5 years. Cell Phone and VoIP numbers are OK.  The telemarketers are required to stop calls within 31 days from your registration.


 

Need a phone line simulator?

A simulator is very handy when testing modems.  It allows one box to represent TWO analog phone  lines and allows consistent and proper control when testing your modems.  They can be complex or just simply a basic phone line simulator... no need to be too complicated. 

Go to: http://www.vikingelectronics.com/products/search_cat_results.php?mycategory=11

There are many simulators out there and most will fill your needs.  Viking is only one mfgr.  They make two...

  • DLE-200B (Simple)
  • DLE-300 (More complex)

The choice is yours.

 

 

How to revive a HiJacked Browser (Jan '11)

I am documenting my experience with a <nasty> Hijacked Browser attack. If you have such a problem this worth a quick read because this saved my bacon.  The programs recommended below are the 'free' versions.

---begin--

This was a nasty virus/worm that would not allow scanning of my pc with Window XP - SP2.  It prohibited visiting to most virus repair sites, blocked me from Microsoft Security Essentials (FREE) http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/, blocked defrag and many other helpful tools were disabled or redirected.. it was miserable... I had been working on this for several day's, nothing would help because of the way it took over the PC.  I finally found how to repair it.

Here's how it did it.
---
With a healthy PC with a CD burner, I went this Avira site and downloaded their program to make a current 'rescue cd'

  http://www.avira.com/en/support-download-avira-antivir-rescue-system

 Burn a rescue cd on your "healthy" desktop - Put the CD in you infected PC and boot from the CD.   This is very easy and all automatic ... follow the instructions. The program is made on a Linux kernal (not MS).  Since you have a MS virus, it skirts many viral issues.  If for some reason, it cannot make the CD, it offers you the .iso to download where you can make the CD from your own CD maker program (that's what I did) 

Every download of rescue cd is with that day's latest Anti-Virus <daily> updates.  This is important because you will have burned 'current updates'.

I booted my infected pc with that CD, then it scanned (took 3 hrs.) and cleared out the corruption that was stealing the browser. The infected PC then ran properly (finally).

I then ran Malwarebytes  mbam-setup.exe and cleaned more crap out.

http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-...&tag=button

Malwarebytes was not well known at this time, but I found it surprisingly helpful.  If you have other AV programs, prolly a good idea to run scans with them also, because no single program gets them all.

... Life is good now.  I recommend both these programs. I used the FREE versions of both.

Try it, you'll like it.  I hope this helps you

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

IMHO, you can probably use MS Security Essentials as your only AV program, and scan with MBAM sometimes.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One last tidbit... never... Never... EVER download, open or run a program you are not 100% sure of the credibility of the source.

 

Skip over that voice mail message.

Tired of waiting through your friends long-winded greeting to get to the 'beep'?
Depending on your friends carrier, when the voice message begins just press the following and you will go right to the beep to leave your message.  If you don't know their carrier, first try the #, if that doesn't do it, hit *, then try 1.  (There is a 'burp' here, sometimes when you're in their voice message and you hit # or *, you might transfer into their secure voicemail management system and you'll be asked for a password.  If that happens, hang up and redial and press a different button.)

AT&T: press        # (pound sign)
T-Mobile: press   # (pound sign)
Verizon: press    *  (star)
Sprint:
press      1

 


 

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End
 

 

 

 

Copyright © 1997-2011 Floyd Kling 
- All Rights Reserved -