AT&T CEO: Force Bundling DSL/Landline Is So Lame > Provisioning

reply to jamez818

Re: Provisioning

Maybe they should give you a temp number just until you get your service established. Something like a 555-1212 number and then disconnect it. Just a thought.

reply to viperlmw
AT&T is not doing it that way. You get a dialtone. It just can't dial out.

ADSL without a circuit ID or sealing current is an invitation to problems down the line

reply to viperlmw

Actually...

That would mean they give a shit about customer service. Years ago when I had SBC, they disconnected my line by accident. You would think they would fix it right away. Nope. Took a couple days before I had dial tone.

Call me cynical but I see self serving reason for the recording.

They probably play the recording to eliminate liability from a party that doesn't know it's only a data line. Otherwise they might try dialing 911 and sue the phone company for not completing the call. It's a lawyer's dream case. Little Mary dies because the baby sitter said she heard a dial tone and kept trying and trying to dial 911 but nothing happened. Unlike the typical hard-to-believe consumer story "I hit the break but the car accelerated through the garage", the lawyer doesn't need to prove anything. It's a data only line and it doesn't dial.

Now he goes to work and says, "With all of their billions in profit, had they spent a few thousand to put a recording on the line, Mary would be with us today." As if rehearsed, Mom sobs even louder as Dad helps her out of the courtroom.

Of course if it really won't complete a 911 call (probably does, right?), if they give a dial tone, they probably should let it complete an emergency call or even allow someone to dial 0 and get an operator.

reply to qworster
Qwest does the same

reply to rradina
You may not realize it but you can dial 911 on any line, with dialtone or not. As long as the wire is still hooked up to the system the 911 rules require that the carrier pass the signal to the 911 call center, the same is true of cell phones, even ones that are disconnected. Dialtone isn't required in the days of digital switches, it's mainly there for historical reasons, that and so the telco can charge you for it.

So these "dry DSL" lines can dial 911?

Not with Qwest. They only connect the cable pair to the Dslam, without making the connection to the switch, so no dt, no high tone, no battery, nothing but dsl. Seems to work well.