
                 How to use the Cancel Call-Waiting Feature
                 ------------------------------------------

                            John Desmond K0TG
                            Northwestern Bell
                       VIA The Digital Newsletter
                            ***612/291-0567***

  Tired of your computer calls being  interupted  by  the  call  waiting
feature on your home phone?  If so read on.

  In July of this year, Northwestern  Bell  instaled  a  feature  called
"Cancel Call Waiting" in many of it's 1A  Electronic  Switching  Systems
(ESS) in the Metro area.  If you have call waiting you  can  defeat  the
feature two different ways.  First, when originating  a  call  dial  *70
first, then you will hear 2 quick bursts of  dial  tone  then  a  steady
dial tone then you can make your call and the call waiting feature  will
be defeated for the duration of your call.  When you  hang  up  it  will
automatically restore call waiting for the next call. The second way  is
that if you have conference calling you can shut off call waiting  while
you are on the phone during a conversation by flashing  the  switch-hook
to get the second dial tone and then dial the *70 code.  You  will  hear
the two beeps of dial tone and then be dropped back  to  the  party  you
were talking to.  For those of you that do not have  touch-tone  service
you can dial 1170 in place of the *70 code.  It  operates  the  same  as
the *70 code.  Set-up your auto-dial modems to dial the *70 code  before
you call any computer system.

  Even though you need to be served  by  an  ESS  office  to  get  these
features, this feature is not available in all ESS  offices.    This  is
determined by the type of processor your particular exchange  has.    At
this writing the feature only works in a  #1A  type  ESS  office.    The
other ESS offices are mostly known as #1  ESS's.    Just  for  a  little
background information, the 1A  type  exchanges  can  be  found  in  the
larger (busier) exchanges.  The 1A has  more  capacity  and  more  other
features than the #1 ESS.  But don't lose all hope, some #1 ESS  offices
can be and will be converted to 1A's in the future as more  capacity  is
needed in that area.  It may be possible to incorporate this feature  in
the #1's in the future also.

  I have seen some lists of exchanges  on  different  computer  bulletin
boards that had exchanges that did not exist or cannot  even  offer  the
call waiting feature.  Hopefully this list will set the record straight.

  Another way to defeat call waiting  is  to  use  the  call  forwarding
feature if you have it on your line.  When your calls are forwarded  the
phone will not "BEEP" when a call comes in.  With  the  call  forwarding
feature activated your phone will still work on outgoing calls, all  the
incomming calls will go to the forwarded number.


