Dear Vic, My question pertains to call accounting. How can the PABX determine the duration and cost of the call made by the guest so that the hotel can bill the guest correctly ? When a guest makes a call, the PABX needs to know :
1) Whether the call is answered by the callee. 2) Time at which the call was answered. 3) Time at which the guest or callee hungup. With this info and the number dialled, the call billing system can then calculate the cost of the call. The PABX probably needs some form of call answer supervision from the PSTN for 1) and 2). I'd like to know what is available in the USA, please. Thank you for taking your time on answer my question. YhLoke ---------- From: Victor L. Boersma Sent: Wednesday, 15 July 1998 12:54 To: INTERNET:[email protected] Subject: Question about PSTN Call Supervision in the USA > How does a hotel/motel in USA determine when to charge for long distance calls > made by guests ? Could they be using : > > 1) Reverse Battery Answer Supervision or Line polarity reversal > 2) Pulse Metering > > or something else ? > > Can anyone tell me what types of call answer supervision options are available > on loop start lines from local phone companies in the USA ? > Hotels use PABXs (Private Automatic Branch Exchanges) and supervising what hotel guests do is not done by the Telephone Company (unless they provide the PABX). Hence, your question would appear to be How does the PABX supoervise what the guests do, rather than what the PSTN does. The PSTN only knows that the hotel is making long distance calls, not who in the hotel is doing that. There are various supervision schemes in use in North America between PABXs and the PSTN. It all depends on whose PABX from what vintage is in use. Pulse metering is not one of the options used in North America. I need to have a clearer understanding of what exactly you intended to ask. Ciao, Vic
