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Re: (ASCEND) Unmetered ISDN VOICE calls

> At 06:57 PM 7/10/97 -0700, Lee Jones wrote:
>>>>I have a GTE Residential ISDN line in California.  My understanding is that
>>>>voice calls are unmeterred and do not carry a per minute charge for local
>>>>calls.
>>
>>That's the way it's supposed to work.  And sometimes it does.
>>
>>>>So on the Pipeline 50 I set the Data Svc=Voice.  I can verify on the Max
>>>>4000 CDR screen that the call is indeed coming in as a VOICE call.
>>>>
>>>>Yet the call is still showing up with a per minute charge on the GTE bill.
>>>>
>>>>Can anyone shed some light on this, and if there is anything that can be
>>>>done about it?
>>
>>> Likely your line is setup as a business line rather than residential. Call
>>> GTE and report that you are being billed for local voice calls. It is local
>>> (~15 miles) isn't it?
>>
>>This is all GTE land with local calls.
>>
>>We have a number of employees with residential ISDN service dialing
>>into the office.  All the people have residential service with CSV
>>(circuit switched voice) only -- NO data service.  The lines here at
>>the office are all set for CSV.  We should not be able to accept an
>>ISDN call of type data.
>>
>>All the Ascend units are set for Data Svc = Voice.
>>
>>Those people who are served by an AT&T 5ESS switch work as expected.
>>It's flat rate with no per-minute usage charges.
>>
>>One person who is served the a Northern Telecomm DMS100 has been
>>getting usage billing.  I've been discussing the issue with GTE for
>>the last 8 months.  They haven't been able to fix it.  Apparently,
>>the DMS100 sees the calls and decides (by call duration) that they
>>"must" be data calls and bills for per-minute usage.  Since the
>>call type is voice, I think this is a bug (not a feature).
>>
>>The matter is still pending.  I'm open to any suggestions too.

> Lee, did you ever get a resolution to this matter?

Maybe.  The latest bill received for this line finally
does not include usage charges.  I'll wait and see if
the problem stays fixed.  It only took from October 1996
to July-August 1997 to (hopefully) resolve the issue.

We kept getting credits for the incorrect usage billing
each month.  I know my account rep _real well_ now. :-)


> My customer has tried calling GTE.  When they finally spoke with someone,
> GTE's response was that they have "smart" equipment that can sense if a
> voice initiated call is a actually a data call placed as a voice call.  I'm
> not sure what a good response to this is.

I've heard that.  I don't believe it.  I've also heard (a
much more plausible story) that GTE has [ahem] "features"
in their billing software that makes it "creative".

Originally, this ISDN residential line was data+voice.  We
switched it to voice-only.  We also switched all our office
lines to voice-only.  When I had discussions with the GTE
technical people, I kept pointing out that nothing but
voice ISDN calls were permitted.

If the lines are configured as voice-only, I'd ask GTE how
they could possibly bill for data-service when you can only
place voice-service calls on that line.

> Does anyone know what the actual tariff states

I haven't had to go that far.  I expect it's available via
the California Public Utilities Commission.

						Lee Jones
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