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THE FINE ART OF TELESEARCHING.
BY DRAGYN
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FIRST OFF, I'M SURE WE ALL KNOW WHAT TELESEARCHING IS, IF NOT DON'T
READ THIS ARTICLE. TELESEARCHING CAN BE DONE MANY WAYS, DEPENDING ON
WHAT TYPE OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE THAT YOU HAVE. SOME TELESEARCHING
SHOULD BE DONE BY HAND, WHILE, THE MAJORITY OF IT CAN BE DONE BY
COMPUTER. NOW YOU MIGHT SAY, 'WHY DO IT BY HAND?'. WELL TO ANSWER
THIS QUESTION WE MUST FIRST TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THE NIFTY THINGS
THAT THE PHONE COMPANY HAS HIDDEN IN IT'S VAST MULTITUDE OF CABLES AND
SWITCHES. IN ALMOST EVERY EXCHANGE, THERE ARE TEST NUMBERS. WHAT THESE
NUMBERS ARE FOR, YOU GOT ME. BUT SOME ARE INTERESTING AT THAT. UP
UNTIL RECENTLY, YOU COULD CALL ONE OF THE LOCAL TEST NUMBERS AND CHAT
WITH OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAD CALLED THE SAME NUMBER. BUT, MA BELL,
DIDN'T LIKE US USING HER LINES TO CHAT FREELY WHEN WE COULD PAY HER TO
DO THE CONFERENCES FOR US. (THERE ARE OTHER REASONS THAT THEY TURNED
THEM OFF ALSO.) BUT NOW WHEN YOU CALL THE NUMBERS, NO ONE ELSE COULD
GET THROUGH, (I.E. BUSY SIGNAL) ON A FEW OF THE NUMBERS YOU CAN CALL
AND IF YOU LISTEN REAL CLOSELY, YOU CAN SOMETIMES HEAR PEOPLE CHATTING
AWAY, AND MF TONES ZAPPING ALL AROUND. (NOW, I WONDER WHAT ONE COULD
HEAR IF THEY HOOKED AN AMPLIFIER UP TO THEIR PHONE...) MOST OF THESE
NUMBERS CAN BE FOUND IN ANY EXCHANGE ENDING WITH THESE FOUR NUMBERS:
4010/4011/4012/4098/. BUT REMEMBER THEY AREN'T ALWAYS THERE! NEEDLESS
TO SAY, THERE ARE MANY NEAT LITTLE NUMBERS THAT CANNOT BE FOUND BY A
COMPUTER TELESEARCHER. ANOTHER TYPE OF STRANGE NUMBERS THAT YOU FIND
ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE STRANGE TONES ON THE OTHER END. LIKE THE ONES
THAT SOUND LIKE SIRENS OR JUST A STEADY BLAST. AGAIN, I WOULD LIKE TO
KNOW WHAT PURPOSE THESE NUMBERS SERVE AS WELL AS YOU. I HAVE A FEW
IDEAS, BUT THEY AREN'T WORTH YOUR TIME. THE BEST PART OR AN EXCHANGE
TO SEARCH BY HAND IS FROM 9800-9999. IN THIS RANGE, YOU WILL GENERALLY
FIND SPECIAL OPERATORS AND STUFF AS SUCH. BUT REMEMBER, MOST PAY
PHONES' LAST DIGIT CAN BE ANYWHERE FROM 9000-9999. SO, IF SOMEONE
ANSWERS RATHER STRANGELY, IT'S PROBABLY A PAY PHONE.
NOW, BACK TO COMPUTER TELESEARCHING. HAVING YOUR COMPUTER DO ALL OF
THE DIALING IS A GREAT HELP, YOU CAN GO TO SLEEP, AND WAKE UP WITH A
NICE LIST OF NUMBERS TO CHECK OUT IN HE MORNING. HOWEVER, TO MAKE THIS
LIST MORE ACCURATE, ONE SHOULD BE AWARE OF A FEW THINGS. FIRST:
TELESEARCHING GENERALLY WORKS BEST IF YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PHONE LINE
THAT DOESN'T GET A LOT OF CALLS. THE MORE CALLS THAT YOUR PHONE
RECEIVES, THE LESS ACCURATE YOUR LIST COULD BE. AND IF YOU ASK WHY,
HERE'S WHY. WHEN YOUR COMPUTER FINISHES DIALING A NUMBER, IT HAS TO
HANG UP THE PHONE, AND IN DOING SO, THE LINE BECOMES FREE TO LET CALLS
IN. IF SOMEONE CALLS YOU AT THIS POINT, YOUR COMPUTER (IF IT'S DIALER
ISN'T VERY SMART) WILL START DIALING AT THEM, AND YOU WILL LOSE
NUMBERS THAT COULD BE COMPUTERS. BUT DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF MODEM
THAT YOU OWN, THIS CAN BE OVERCOME. MODEMS LIKE THAT APPLE-CAT AND THE
DC HAYES CAN DETECT TO SEE IF THERE IS THE DIAL TONE, AND IF NOT, THEY
CAN HANG UP, AND PICK THE PHONE UP A FEW SECONDS LATER TO SEE IF IT
GOT A TONE AGAIN. (ENUF OF THIS)
I HAVE FOUND THAT THE BEST TIME TO WAIT FOR A CARRIER IS ABOUT 18
SECONDS DEPENDING ON HOW LONG IT TAKES YOUR EXCHANGE TO CONNECT TO THE
OTHER. SOME EXCHANGES ARE VERY SLOW AND YOU HAVE TO COMPENSATE FOR
THIS IN YOUR DIALER. THE 18 SECONDS ALLOWS THE PHONE TO RING 3 TIMES.
(MOST COMPUTERS WILL ANSWER AFTER 1-2 RINGS, SO THE THIRD IS A SAFETY
ONE, UNLESS YOU KNOW OF A COMPUTER THAT USUALLY ANSWERS AFTER MORE
THAN THAT, THE 18 SECONDS IS SATISFACTORY.
NOW, WHERE TO LOOK YOU MIGHT ASK. WELL, ONE THING TO DO IS (IF YOU
HAVE A PARTICULAR COMPANY IN MIND) LOOK UP IT'S PHONE NUMBER IN THE
PHONE BOOK AND SCAN THAT EXCHANGE. WHAT I HAVE FOUND AS REAL HANDY, IS
THE NUMBER/LOCATION LIST IN THE FRONT OF THE PHONE BOOK. GOOD PLACES
TO SEARCH ARE DOWNTOWN AREAS WHERE THERE IS A LOT OF BUSINESSES. I
DON'T RECOMMEND SCANNING RESIDENTIAL AREAS UNLESS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR
SOMETHING.
SOME PEOPLE MIGHT SAY THAT TELESEARCHING IS AGAINST THE LAW. WELL, FOR
ONE THING, HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN A PHONE CALL FROM SOME COMPUTER THAT
WANTED TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS? WELL, ALL THESE COMPUTERS DO ALL DAY
LONG IS DIAL NUMBERS. ESSENTIALLY, THEY ARE DOING TELESEARCHING,
HOWEVER FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN COMPUTERS. IF SOMEONE GIVES YOU
TROUBLE, TELL THEM TO PHOCK OFF, SINCE YOU AREN'T VIOLATING ANYONES'
RIGHTS BY CALLING THEM. THEY PAID FOR THAT PHONE AND YOU HAVE AS MUCH
RIGHT TO CALL THEM AS ANY JERK IN THE WORLD. AND I NEVER HEARD OF A
LAW THAT SAID YOU COULDN'T CALL ANYONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
EITHER.
NOW, WHAT DO YOU DO THAT YOU HAVE 69 ZILLION PHONE NUMBERS? WELL,
DEPENDING ON HOW INTERESTED YOU ARE, YOU COULD CALL EVERY ONE TO SEE
IF THERE IS ACTUALLY A COMPUTER THERE. BUT MOST OF US AREN'T THAT
DEDICATED IF YOU HAVE A WHOLE MESS OF NUMBERS. NOW COMES THE PART OF
IDENTIFYING THE NUMBERS. YOU WILL PROBABLY FIND A LOT OF NUMBERS THAT
DO NOTHING WHEN YOU CALL THEM. THIS COULD BE DUE TO A LOT OF
REASONS. ONE COULD BE THAT THEY HAVE EXCELLENT SECURITY (BOO). OR,
YOU AREN'T IN THE RIGHT BAUD RATE (I.E. 1200/300/110/ ETC. [ AND SOME
EVEN RUN ON A DIFFERENT ASCII SET.]). AND THERE ARE THE 'TELEX' TYPE
COMPUTERS THAT ARE SET UP TO RECEIVE DATA ONLY. THESE CARRIERS CAN
USUALLY BE IDENTIFIED BY TYPING CTRL-E (HERE-IS MSG). BUT REMEMBER,
THESE SYSTEMS RECORD EVERYTHING THAT YOU TYPE!
I COULD CONTINUE THIS ARTICLE FURTHER, BUT SOMETHINGS ARE BEST LEFT
UNKNOWN.
THE DRAGYN