Content Delivery Networking pg. 3

Inside SBC Privacy Manager ...... pg. 2 Data with David ...... pg. 3 Wi-Fi Update ...... pg. 4 GigaMAN Enhancements Launching This Quarter ...... pg. 4 SBC Aids Wildfire Fight ...... pg. 4 UPDATE DSL Data News ...... pg. 5 Selling Below Tariff with Custom Contracts ...... pg. 6 Solutions for Success SBC Dish Network to Debut...... pg. 7 Webwatch ...... pg. 7 Consultant/Vendor Sales Group Watch Out for Social Engineering ...... pg. 8 November 2003 Spam – Friend or Foe? ...... pg. 10 Cingular Wireless News Section ...... pg. 11 SBC LD Introduces First Middle East Calling Plan ...... pg. 11 SBC California Unveils New Unlimited Calling Offer ...... pg. 11 The Importance of HIPAA...... pg. 12 Robin MacGillivray, BCS President, SBC West Be Wary of Identity Theft ...... pg. 13 MPLS: A Business Perspective Technology Overview ...... pg. 14 Thrilled To Be Back! SBC Executive News...... pg. 15 Top Communication Scams ...... pg. 16 The Best is Yet To Come... SBC Urges Customers to Maintain Corded Phone Line ...... pg. 17 I’m thrilled to be back at SBC West as President SBC Online Move Center ...... pg. 18 FCC & Number Portability ...... pg. 18 of Business Communications Services. I’ve met Sterling Earns World-Class Customer Support Certification . . . . . pg. 19 several of you in my previous jobs and know 1-800-CONFERENCE Travel Alternatives ...... pg. 20 how important it is for us to work closely with Telecom Consultants to help maximize the Vice President’s Corner efficiency and success of many businesses. Kari Aguinaldo Here are just a few of the ways we’re continually striving to exceed CVSG Vice President your expectations in this very challenging year: We’ve improved our market coverage this year by hiring over Timing Is Everything 460 new sales professionals. In 1963, San Francisco Giants Pitcher Gaylord We’re exceeding service targets in every channel. Perry said, “They’ll put a man on the Moon before I ever hit a home run.” On July 20, We’re offering you and your clients more integrated video, wireless, wireline and broadband services than ever before. 1969, a few hours after Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the Moon, Gaylord Perry We’re expanding as a national company both inside and outside hit his first home run! Timing is everything. And so it is with our traditional 13-state area. telecommunications. It’s no coincidence that as SBC We’re the nation’s leading DSL provider, with over 3 million lines Communications gets permission to offer Long Distance service in service. in a state, consumers benefit with more choices and better Our Long Distance offerings at incredible prices are very popular value. The Los Angeles Times recently published an article with customers. showing that since we got in Long Distance, “SBC companies and competitors have blitzed Californians with ads touting ever By year’s end, we’ll have more than 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots more elaborate packages that mix traditional local phone service nationwide and we’re continuing to develop the most powerful, with such lures as fast Internet connections, unlimited long advanced network for next-generation services. distance and wireless phones… Consumers have responded by I’m confident the best is yet to come – for you, for your customers – snapping up the so-called bundles, getting discounts on DSL or for all of us. other products if they buy local phone time, or …cutting costs by Our Consultant Liaison Managers are here to assist you. Please picking and choosing among ever-expanding service menus.” call them on 1-800-552-5299 or see their contact information on SBC Long Distance (where available) provides significant savings the back cover of this UPDATE. Thanks for your continued vote of to customers who subscribe to packages of services that confidence in SBC! combine local phone service, calling features and long distance. Robin continued on pg. 2 Robin MacGillivray received a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the Ron Fischer, SBC University of Southern California. She also earned a master’s degree in telecommunication management from the Annenberg School of Exciting News on SBC LD, Communication at USC. Robin, who completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University, has been with the company 24 years, Promotions & Service Offerings holding leadership positions in Engineering, Operations, Customer I couldn’t start this column without thanking all Service, Human Resources, Systems, Finance, Marketing and Sales. of you for your involvement in SBC’s great SBC CVSG Resources For You success in 2003 – the launch of Long Distance in California. Through August, SBC had well over 1. Website: sbc.com/cvsg 4. Breaking News on CVSG Listserver 1 million Business Access Lines with SBC Long Distance in 2. Bell Advantage (Password-Restricted) 5. SBC News Broadcasts place and have garnered over 20% Market Share in the areas 3. CVSG Hotline – 1.800.552.5299 we serve – all this in a mere 8 months. (Call your Liaison Manager to get a Password to Bell Advantage or subscribe to Listserver or UPDATE and to attend Broadcasts in person or via the Internet.) continued on pg. 2 Continued from page 1 Continued from page 1 EXCITING NEWS ON SBC LD VICE PRESIDENT’S CORNER To ensure this great momentum continues, SBC Telecom is able to provide a Customers can choose from a variety of SBC will extend a number of our current number of full service offerings around long distance plans, including buckets of promotions and programs through Dec. the country in 30 areas outside SBC ter- minutes and reduced per-minute rates. In 31, 2003. These programs include: ritory. These services include: this issue of UPDATE, you can read about Small Business Reduced Rate Promotion Local Business Access Lines and our latest products, services and promo- (rates from $.032 to $.036 per minute) features tions as well as how to be alert for Social Engineering, Spam, Identity Theft and the Small Business Connections Credit Primary Rate ISDN Services (PRI) Top Communications Scams our cus- Promotion (combines LD with Access Integrated Access Service (DS1 with tomers have reported. There’s a lot more Lines back to SBC) Local, Internet, LD, and Data services) great news for you, including our new 6 Months of Credits equal to the Month- Dedicated Internet Access (128K and SBC Yahoo! Business Portal, Wi-Fi, ly Minimum Commitment of the Small greater) Content Delivery Networking, DSL, Multi- Business Plan selected (1 year term) Protocol Label Switching, and much more. Full range of Data and VPN services 9 Months of Credits equal to the Month- We’re also delighted to have two new ly Minimum Commitment of the Small Long Distance calling plans for all size columnists in our evolution of UPDATE: customers. Business Plan selected (2 year term) Robin MacGillivray, President of Business Long Distance Private Line Super Saver Our mutual customers have voted with their Communication Services – SBC West Promotion: communications decisions. They have and Carlos Alas from the SBC Contracts shown that SBC offers true value for their Management Group. We have a whole $950 DS1 in California or Nevada communications dollar. We are the #1 bunch of timely articles from our team- (1 location must be in SBC territory) rated communications company as rated by mates designed to help you hit a home City Pair Pricing – special rates for users in Fortune Magazine – not just once, run for your business as well as your DS1/DS3 between selected cities but 6 years in a row. Our products continue clients’. We look forward to setting you around the country to be the market leader in all markets we up with the right pitch. Call us on Rock My Relay Frame Relay Promotion: serve. Our Long Distance, DSL, and data 1.800.552.5299 or see the back cover for Provides 17% – 25% discounts on SBC services lead the tremendous growth. SBC Liaison Manager email addresses and PremierSERVSM Frame Relay services wants to continue to earn your business by phone numbers. providing tremendous value, leading edge (Intralata and Interlata). Some Body Cares (SBC), We do. We’re products, unmatched reliability, outstanding here for you! These programs were so well received by service, and cost effective solutions. our mutual customers, SBC decided to add We want to be the only communication 415.542.4516 some additional plans to add to the fun. [email protected] Below are a number of additional plans provider you need to recommend to our Kari that became available in the Sept/Oct mutual customers. Again, Thank You for P.S. For those of you who noticed a name timeframes: your contribution to our success. change, I hit a home run and recently got married to Richard Aguinaldo. And there was Ron Fischer, Director of Channel Delivery for SBC Business International SUPER Saver pro- another name change on our team as Bree West, has been in the telecommunications got hitched. motion: This promotion waives the $4.95 industry for nearly 25 years. monthly recurring charge for 6 months on the International package that guaran- November 2003 November tees the lowest rates available on calling “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.” plans for Small Businesses. – Winston Churchill Unlimited Long Distance plans have been increased from a maximum of 5 lines to now up to 10 lines (6 – 10 line segment added). This program offers unlimited SBC Privacy Manager® pick and choose the calls they wish to direct dial domestic LD calling for $20 The Caller ID of this Decade take, giving them greater control over per month per line. The program requires As the battle against unwelcome and incoming calls. selected local business line packages annoying calls continues to heat up across SBC research has shown that Privacy and restriction apply. the nation, consumers are turning to Do Manager stops or intercepts an average of A special set of programs and promo- Not Call Lists and other solutions to help 50 or more unidentified calls each month tions have been developed for larger filter and eliminate nuisance calls. One or close to 600 calls each year per house- businesses requiring Dedicated Voice such tool that more than 2.3 million con- hold--for a potential total of some 1.2 Access service (DS1 access to the Long sumers are using to regain control of their billion filtered or eliminated calls per year Distance POP). Your account teams will phones is an increasingly popular SBC among all SBC customers who currently be able to describe and develop these service called Privacy Manager®. subscribe to the service. programs for your customers. While the national Do Not Call List Caller ID lets subscribers see who’s calling requires registration and a three-month before they pick up the phone. Privacy As we’ve reviewed before, SBC has become waiting period, upon installation, SBC Manager is like a security guard that allows a national provider of communications ser- Privacy Manager works instantly to block only calls with number identification vices. Recent events highlight this growth: unwanted callers from one’s home. through and intercepts the rest. Please Michigan received approval to offer Long Additionally, unlike the Do Not Call contact your Liaison Manager for further Distance service beginning Sept. 26 Registry, the service allows consumers to information on this exciting product. 2 There appears to be some consensus in Support and Monitoring service levels Data with David the benefits derived using CDN solutions (Basic, Essential and Complete) Content Delivery that include: Total Solution – SBC DataComm can Networking Faster download time, higher perform- provide both carrier and vendor coordina- ance and availability thereby enhancing tion, in addition to support and monitoring Content Delivery Network- the end-users experience and translating capabilities for all of the customer’s CPE. ing (CDN) is becoming a into greater productivity. SM frequently heard topic in Increased use of audio and video appli- SBC PremierSERV CDN CPE Options the corporate networking cations that were previously much less Content Switching world and depending cost-effective to implement. Cisco CSS11500 Series Content Services upon who you ask you may receive several Improved network performance by offload- Switch (CSS) enables content services such different definitions. The concept behind ing origin servers from serving frequently as content-aware load balancing of cache and CDN is taking content or applications and requested content. server farms, e-commerce, overflow services, distributing them to remote servers in a Reduce server infrastructure and band- enhanced security and high availability. network in order to avoid home-running all width required to deliver content Cisco Content Switching Module (CSM) is data requests to a centralized data center Increased availability of popular content a Cisco Catalyst 6500 line card that and adding network delays because of through a distributed architecture. balances client traffic to farms of servers, limited bandwidth and/or increased usage. firewalls, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Timely delivery of information to users is SBC PremierSERVSM Content Delivery Networking devices, or virtual private network (VPN) the key theme behind CDN. Computer- The SBC companies are now offering a termination devices. The Cisco CSM World reported in their December 10, CDN solution consisting of Cisco’s Content provides a high-performance, cost-effective 2001 issue that CDN technology provides Networking product line CPE sold with SBC load balancing solution for enterprise and several benefits: DataComm’s Support and Network Internet service provider (ISP) networks. Local caching of data reduces the Management services to meet our cus- Content Edge Delivery number of application servers and the tomers requirements for content delivery. Cisco Content Engine 7300 series is a network bandwidth that companies need The SBC PremierSERVSM CDN is designed content services platform for large to install and manage. to optimize any size network to dynamically Service Provider networks that offers Users in remote offices can get faster enable faster response times to online premium host services, caching capabili- access to cached content without tying requests and decrease network bandwidth ties that reduce WAN bandwidth and up WAN performance. congestion, while ensuring a high level of optimize Web site performance and Application availability can be increased content availability and security. provides on-demand content delivery and by better balancing user demand for We offer some unique advantages including: streaming media services. The CE 7300 data, and recovery time when systems Support infrastructure – Our SBC series include the 7305 and 7325. crash can be lowered. DataComm engineers are available 24- Cisco Content Engine 500 series is a IT Pro magazine stated large enterprises hours a day, every day, to provide a content services platform for Enterprise are moving toward providing CDN infra- single point of contact for monitoring, and Service Provider networks that func-

structure to reduce bandwidth costs and fault detection and customer notification. tions as an edge node device in an UPDATE constraints encountered when corporate Guaranteed Service Levels – High-end Enterprise Content Delivery Network information, such as training videos, corpo- bundles include SLA’s that lead to (ECDN) system and is responsible for rate news feeds, or even HR forms are enhanced customer confidence. delivery of distributed content to the end- accessed from multiple remote sites. Flexibility – Customers have many user. It offers caching, ECDN services, Placing content servers at some, or all, options, including the ability to match the and Content Filtering capabilities and remote locations means data needs to go appropriate Cisco Content Networking provides on demand content-delivery and only once to each site. CPE products with SBC DataComm’s Continued on the next page

SBC PremierSERVSM SBC PremierSERVSM Data CPE Support Services Network Management Basic Phone support only Monitors the customer’s network 24/7/365 and alerts customers of any problems, notifying customer by their preferred method (phone, email, or pager) when an alarm is detected Essential In addition to phone support, adds parts replacement: In addition to services included under the Basic level of Network Management, a) Essential 8X5 adds: Next Business Day response Isolation and resolution of network faults b) Essential 8X5 Plus 24-hour technical assistance Same-day, 4-hour response during business hours Open and view trouble tickets via web only Weekly router configuration backups c) Essential 24X7 Software support Same-day, 4-hour response all day and night Coordination with other carriers and vendors on customer’s behalf Complete Adds on-site maintenance and troubleshooting to any In addition to services included under the Essential level of Network of the 3 above Essential options Management, adds: Web-based TREND performance reports Monthly performance summary of managed devices that indicates the current health of the customer’s network, including hot spots and capacity notations Service Level Agreements, when purchased with at least 20 devices

3 Continued from page 3 Wi-Fi Update Paul Bedell, SBC CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORKING It has been awhile since SBC Communica- streaming media services. The CE 500 GigaMAN Launches tions announced the launch of our series include the 510 and 565. FreedomLinkSM product and our entry into Enhancements This Cisco Content Engine Network Modules the Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) arena. So add content engine functionality to the Quarter what’s new since the announcement? Cisco 2600, 3600 and 3700 series routers. What are SBC’s plans? Here’s the latest In the Fourth Quarter 2003, SBC is launching GigaMAN SBC PremierSERVSM CDN Support & (as of presstime): FreedomLink’s first hot enhancements where Network Management spot was turned up at a Cingular Wireless store in San Antonio on September 16th, multiple new features and options are being In addition to the Cisco CPE options above, according to Mina Emery, SBC Market made available with the GigaMAN product. customers will choose one level of SBC Development Director for Wi-Fi. “SBC’s A new vendor platform has been selected PremierSERVSM Data CPE Support Service general strategy with the FreedomLink to support the GigaMAN product: Nortel’s and one level of SBC PremierSERVSM product is to create a full-fledged broad- OPTera 5000 series platform. A list of the Network Management Service. band experience,” Emery said. “Our focus planned GigaMAN enhancements are as SBC PremierSERVSM CDN Bolt- is on three specific ‘points of contact’ or follows: On Options venues: Wi-Fi access at home; at work In-band alarming and on the road. The strategy is to build Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing Customers also have the ability to choose hot spots in environments that serve (CWDM) capability, to allow for a these optional bolt-on services: those types of venues.” decreased equipment footprint at the Premier Technical Support “To underscore the at home focus, we’re customer demarcation point Inbound phone support calls routed to currently shipping more than 2000 Three types of route diversity will be Premier Engineering Group wireless gateways PER DAY to DSL cus- offered via tariff: local channel (loop), Quarterly, on-day on-site visits tomers in support of our Home Networking alternate wire center and inter-wire Bi-monthly evaluation conference calls product,” said Alyssa Williams, SBC Home center diversity Detailed Engineering reports Networking Product Manager. Optional (single mode) handoffs at the Technology exchange sessions At work, SBC is negotiating with major cor- customer demarcation point Diagnostic lab simulations for troubleshooting porations to install wireless LANs Distance extension, allowing for GigaMAN Point-to-point link for immediate response (WLANs). Currently, this involves around circuits to run ~ 180+ miles end-to-end Carrier Coordination 1500 corporate WLAN customers with (actual distance depends on number of Installation approximately 3000 corporate locations. splice points in the circuit path and age Staging On the road, SBC is working with major of optical fiber) Project Management airports and hotels to create an Introduction of a 2-Year term payment Summary omnipresent hot spot environment. In plan (TPP) SBC PremierSERVSM CDN will enable cus- airports, the company has plans to deploy Improved Outage Credits tomers to increase their use of rich media hot spots at gate level areas in major Fiber path and equipment protection in in web and internal applications (CRM, web airports across SBC’s 13-state footprint. Fourth Quarter, 2003. This will allow casting, training), leading to greater SBC also is working with the major hotel GigaMAN to appear SONET-like in its network efficiencies, lower network costs chains to provide Wi-Fi access at hotels, in function, offering diverse fiber paths end- and improved network productivity. It’s meeting rooms and lobby areas. to-end and 50 millisecond protection November 2003 November designed to optimize any size network to SBC’s focus with its FreedomLink rollout is switching in the event of a fiber cut or dynamically enable faster response times to provide our customers with a ubiquitous equipment module failure at either end. to online requests and decrease network wireless experience. Our ultimate customer Central office-based GigaMAN-to-MON bandwidth congestion, while ensuring a service objective is to provide anywhere, Ring interconnection in First Quarter, 2004 high level of content availability and anyplace wireless access – anytime! Power protection option, also to be security. Another benefit of this service is - Paul Bedell offered in First Quarter, 2004. that it allows enterprise customers to Stay Tuned: Paul will explore these enhance- deploy accelerated, web-based, content-rich SBC Aids Wildfire Fight ments in our next edition of UPDATE. E-business solutions including streaming During recent wildfires in the remote media and knowledge sharing. Paul Bedell, SBC Associate Director of GigaMAN, Coyote Canyon area of California’s can be reached at [email protected]. He is an The SBC Team can provide a value-added, Northern San Diego County, SBC leaped author and teaches at DePaul University. data management solution through consul- into action enabling far-flung crews of fire- tative design with the customer on the fighters to better communicate. SBC techs integration of CDN into their existing installed two state-of-the-art portable network architecture. CPE is fully staged, microwave telecom systems, providing tested, project managed and monitored voice and data connectivity for the firefight- 24X7 providing the client with detection, ing command center set up by the notification and resolution. California Department of Forestry. Using For more information, please contact your microwave technology, the portable units Liaison Manager at 1-800-552-5299. provided 44 phone lines and DSL broad- Tom David band service to the command center, Liaison Manager helping to carry critical information into [email protected] and away from the fire’s front line.

4 Cassandra Jessie-Johnson, SBC Unlike other DSL (or Dial) products, SBC Children can send permission slips to DSL Data News Yahoo! products are the only ones that parents requesting access to unautho- include a unique set of services for small rized Web sites and parents can We Did It! businesses at no additional cost. The new manage settings, view usage reports The enhanced SBC Yahoo! SBC Yahoo! Business Edition also has an and act upon requests for exceptions Business Portal is now upgraded fun and friendly Consumer experi- from any Web-connected computer. available. It is tailored for ence in addition to the new business Safety Status Bar. Integrated into the business customers and services and features. Safety and privacy SBC Yahoo! browser for quick access, includes customized services, applications are some of the leading concerns of this useful tool gives members status and capabilities, many optimized for broad- Internet users today, and as a result, SBC indications on blocked pop-ups and band, which will help your customers improve Yahoo! DSL offers powerful new enhance- parental control settings. productivity and become more competitive. ments to make the online experience even Convenient Transition and Installation Highlights of the SBC Yahoo! DSL more secure. Major new features include: The new enhancements and business Business Edition: Pop Up Ad Blocking. Integrated into the features are available immediately to new Personalized SBC Yahoo! DSL homepage new SBC Yahoo! browser, this valuable SBC Yahoo! DSL and Dial members. Customized SBC Yahoo! DSL browser new feature enables members to adjust Additionally, current members may immedi- SBC Yahoo! Mail account with 25MB of settings to control the quantity and type ately update to the new experience or wait storage, POP access and email forwarding of pop-ups they receive, or block them until later this year when it will be auto- Ten additional SBC Yahoo! Mail accounts completely. matically updated for all members. with 10MB of storage each More Complete Anti-virus Protection. Additional New & Improved and “Make DSL SBC Yahoo! Messenger with high quality Going beyond just e-mail virus protec- work for your Business” email messaging web cam capability tion, users can choose to receive free has been sent to business customers to SBC Yahoo! Photos and Briefcase with anti-virus protection for their entire communicate the enhanced value and 110MB of online storage computer. encourage members to migrate to the new Firewall software to help shield your Business Edition. computer from unauthorized access Expanded Parental Controls. Building on Three consumer reports one of the most extensive parental Current SBC Yahoo! customers will receive controls offerings available, SBC Yahoo! emails encouraging them to upgrade. Unlimited nationwide dial-up internet access Parental Controls now include settings Upgrading to the new portal is required, for kids, teens, mature teens and full however the software download (browser) Choice of two premium services access, and are customizable for each is optional. By the end of year, SBC plans sub account. The controls extend to upgrade all members who have not SBC Yahoo! DSL Premium Services beyond Web browsing to also include e- enhanced their service. All of these DSL subscribers can choose one free mail, instant messaging and chat. members will automatically receive the service from each category below: enhanced portal and will have the option UPDATE Category A – choose 1 Category B – choose 1 to download the browser software. Email Marketing Trial* Anti-Virus Software (protects entire PC Minimum System Requirements for Basic Premium Business News and Information from harmful viruses) Download SBC Yahoo! Games All-Star package SBC Yahoo! Mail Extra Storage (50 MB Windows or Mac with Internet Explorer 5.0 for master) SBC Yahoo! Photos and Briefcase and above storage – 150MB extra SBC Yahoo! Photos and Briefcase Storage – 500MB extra 256 Color adapter with 800 x 600 resolution Online Bill Pay An option for software download is cur- SBC Yahoo! Finance Research Reports rently available for existing customers: http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/dsl/mem/update.html Encyclopedia Britannica If customers would like to take a tour of the *Additionally, if your customers are looking for more business, they can choose our Email Marketing Trial program at no additional cost. Customers will be able to manage permission-based email lists, use email design SBC Yahoo! product, you can refer them to templates, measure real-time results. http://www.sbc.com/sbcyahoo_dsljump/0,,,00.html continued on pg. 9 Rates at-a-glance for SBC Yahoo! DSL Internet service with enhanced upstream speeds (non-promotional) Product Name Speed (downstream x upstream) Loop Length Rack Rate Yahoo! DSL Basic Package Up to 384Kbps x 128 – 256Kbps 16K ft $39.95/mo Yahoo! DSL Basic – S Package Up to 384Kbps x 128 – 256Kbps 16K ft $54.95/mo Yahoo! DSL Standard Plus Package 384Kbps – 1536Kbps x 128 – 256Kbps 12K ft $49.95/mo Yahoo! DSL Standard Plus – S Package 384Kbps – 1536Kbps x 128 – 256Kbps 12K ft $64.95/mo Yahoo! DSL Deluxe Package 768Kbps – 1536Kbps x 256 – 384 Kbps 9K ft $59.95/mo Yahoo! DSL Deluxe – S Package 768Kbps – 1536Kbps x 256 – 384 Kbps 9K ft $79.95/mo Yahoo! DSL Symmetric 384 – S Pkg 384 – 416 Kbps x 384 – 416Kbps 12.5K ft $119.95/mo Yahoo! DSL Expert Plus Package 1.5Mbps – 6016Kbps x 384 – 608Kbps 7.5K ft $139.95/mo Yahoo! DSL Expert Plus – S Package 1.5Mbps – 6016Kbps x 384 – 608Kbps 7.5K ft $159.95/mo

5 Carlos Alas, Jr., SBC known as 96A Contracts, are sanctioned by ICB Contracts are designed to be flexible. In the California Public Utilities Commission addition to the Minimum Annual Selling Below Tariff (CPUC). The 96A Contract permits SBC Commitment, which can usually be set in California to enter into these discount type of the 90% range for Minimum Revenue and with Custom arrangements with customers. The term 96A Total Billed Revenue Contracts, ICB Contracts arose out of the CPUC General Order Contracts can also have flexible terms and decision number (GO 96A), which gives SBC conditions. Examples of these in SBC West At SBC, the Contracts California the authorization to enter into such would be the alternate technology clause Management Group agreements. These agreements must be and downsizing clause, both of which can provides sales support filed with the CPUC and are subject to the be included in the terms. (Note – alter tech throughout the SBC terri- Commission’s approval and issuance of an & downsizing are specific to CA region only) tory as well as for SBC Telecom outside the Effective Date. 13-state territory. The organization is 4. How do you qualify a customer for an ICB contracts are usually comprised of two charged with Contract Development, ICB Contract? Contract Management and Contract Life documents: the Master Agreement and at The usual criteria for developing an ICB Cycle Management. Contracts are an least one Addendum. The Master Contract for a customer is the customer’s important part of the SBC Sales organiza- Agreement states the general terms and willingness to contractually commit their tion’s portfolio of services and are available conditions under which SBC may contract telecommunications services to a specified for qualified business customers. There are with customers, and the Addenda provide term and volume in exchange for discount many types of contracts that support the specific customer information with regards pricing. A typical contract term would be various products and services available to to pricing, quantities, length of term, and three years. There may also be a minimum the business customer, i.e. Dedicated the product mix involved. revenue requirement in certain SBC regions. Internet Access, Data Com, Internet Data 2. What types of ICB Contracts are there? In California, for example, the customer Center, and 1-800-Conference among There are some basic types of ICB must also meet the minimum criteria of others. In addition, each region has its own Contracts: Minimum Quantity, Minimum $30,000.00 in annualized revenue in order nuances with regards to their own regula- Revenue and Total Billed Revenue con- to qualify. The typical ICB Contract customer tory environment and, therefore, their own tracts. Each one of these contract types is in a growth mode and adding new type of contracts offerings. The most well- fits particular customers best depending services, moving locations, looking to lock known type of contract is the Individual on their situation and the product mix in discounts on existing services, or Case Based (ICB) contract, also known as involved in the contract. The Minimum bringing services back to the SBC network. the 96A Custom Contract in California. Annual Commitment (MAC) will be based The benefits of entering into an ICB Custom The 96A Custom Contract is especially on the type of contract that applies to the Contract for a customer range from dis- well-known because it has been available customer’s unique situation. counted pricing over the term and ramp up for a long time and can be quite compre- Minimum Quantity Contracts – typically periods for new installations to amortization hensive when applied across a suite of used when there is no variable product of Non-Recurring Charges NRCs) for new products and services. Other than one such as HICAP or GigaMAN only. services, if applicable. These types of items time promotional offers for single product Minimum Revenue Contracts – typically can all be negotiated. offerings, ICB Contracts are the only way used when there is a variable product for a business customer to be guaranteed involved such as Usage, i.e. HICAP, 5. How is a customer qualified? How is the below tariff pricing for a group of telecom- Primary Rate ISDN and Usage. contract created and how long will it take? munications products and services. Total Billed Revenue Contracts – typically The following outline suggests possible

November 2003 November Understanding how these contracts come used when there are an assortment of steps to follow in putting an ICB Contract together can give you the competitive edge products involved as well as products not together for a customer. in the marketplace. ICB Contracts can be eligible for discount, but which can be devised for new services, existing Assess the customer’s network needs counted as contributing to the Minimum for Access and Usage and determine the services, or a combination of the two. Annual Commitment, i.e. HICAP, Primary customers desired term length. The answers to some of the following ques- Rate ISDN, Usage plus contributory tions should give you a good idea of what products (FCC Tariffed Products or 1MBs). Submit an ICB Pricing Request through the Account Team with stated objectives, an ICB Contract entails. Using California as i.e. amortization of NRCs for new an example, we’ll answer a few questions 3. How do you know which type of ICB services, ramp up periods, etc. about ICB Contracts. Keep in mind that Contract best fits a customer and how each of the SBC regions will have their own flexible are ICB Contracts? Present pricing to customer for approval applicable regulatory guidelines. The Customer’s product mix and business (Have them verify quantities and prices) objectives will usually help determine the type Gather required information, i.e. Custom- 1. What exactly is an ICB Custom Contract of contract that best suits their needs. For er’s legal name, state of incorporation, etc. or 96A Contract and where does the term example, a customer wishing to only commit 96A come from? to contracting for their Centrex Service will Request contract from Contract An ICB Custom Contract is sometimes based have a Minimum Quantity Contract. In Development Team on discounted pricing that is considered on a contrast, a customer contracting for Centrex Negotiate terms and conditions case-by-case basis and offered to a customer Service and Usage as well as contributory Secure customer signature of executable products will have a Total Billed Revenue in exchange for a specified term and volume documents commitment for otherwise tariffed telecom- Contract. Ultimately the type of contract is munications services. In California, for determined by the Customer, the Account Estimate approximately one month for example, ICB Custom Contracts, otherwise Team, ICB Pricing and the Contract Developer. this process barring any unusual situation

6 Once the contract is signed by both 10. How is the billing under contract verified? SBC DISH Network To Debut parties the Regulatory time clock starts After a full billing cycle there is a bill review SBC Communications & EchoStar Communi- ticking with regards to filing the contract to ensure that the contract is billing properly. cations Corporation have announced a with the CPUC and receiving an Effective first-of-its-kind partnership that will give SBC Date. (See question 7) Sample List of Products and Services companies the ability to aggressively market Eligible For Discounts 6. What if a customer wants to negotiate co-branded SBC DISH Network multichannel (Sample List may vary by Region) terms and conditions? television service as a fully integrated part Negotiating terms and conditions is part of HICAP of their bundled services in early 2004. the contract process. At SBC, the Contract Primary Rate ISDN (PRI) The partnership will provide SBC Commu- Developer will negotiate any requests for SuperTrunk nications with an exclusive telecom changes to terms and conditions directly DS3 partnership for single-family residences with the customer. If necessary, the SONET Ring and Access Service throughout the SBC 13-state traditional Contract Developer will also facilitate any GigaMAN®Service service area, where it provides service to discussion between the customer and DS3X3 Service more than 56 million access lines. The SBC’s Legal Department. OC3c Service co-branded SBC DISH Network satellite OC3 Broadband Circuit Service television service will offer SBC cus- 7. How is a contract filed with the California Message Telecommunications Service: tomers access to hundreds of popular, Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)? Zones 1,2,3, Local Toll, Calling Cards, all-digital television channels, including There are different ways to file ICB Contracts Custom 8 Service movies, sports, news, music, international with the CPUC. A filing can either be Express Centrex Service and high-definition TV programming. SBC or Customer Specific. The type of filing will companies will market the TV service in usually be dictated by the Customer’s Sample Products Not Eligible for Discounts bundles that may include local telephony, specific product mix and needs. For (but may be contributory) long distance (where available), wireless example, an Express filing is based on State (Sample List may vary by Region) and DSL Internet Service. Wide Average Price Floors and takes 14 1MB (Measured Business Lines) This new agreement furthers the SBC calendar days to be reviewed by the CPUC Basic Rate ISDN next-generation bundling strategy, allowing and receive an Effective Date. The Express FCC Tariffed Products the company to offer the full spectrum of filing is the most popular method because television, wireline, wireless and broad- The world of contracts is constantly of its simplicity and shorter approval time band services. Key elements of this evolving along with business, technology frame. By contrast, a Customer Specific partnership, include: and customer needs. Some newer types of filing is based on Individual Pricing and A Unified Customer Experience: SBC contracts are Master Service Agreements takes 40 calendar days to be reviewed and companies will manage customer relation- and Master Discount Agreements, which receive and Effective Date by the CPUC. ships for SBC DISH Network service. may span all of SBC’s territories. These are Once a contract is approved, the CPUC Customers will seamlessly place their complex contracts that will be covered in issues an Advice Letter and Effective Date. order, arrange for installation and activate future articles. Keeping in mind that con- their service with a single phone call. 8. What happens once a customer signs tracts in different parts of SBC’s territories the contract? Single Bill: SBC DISH Network customers will have different regulatory guidelines. UPDATE will be billed for their television services The customer will always sign two original The best way to proceed should you have on a single SBC bill with other SBC voice contracts, a Customer Copy and a SBC any additional questions about Custom Copy. These two original contracts must be and data services. Contracts is to contact your Consultant returned to SBC for counter-signature. Bundling Flexibility: The partnership Liaison Manager listed in the back of this Once countersigned by SBC the contracts gives SBC companies significant flexibil- publication or by calling 1.800.552.5299. are filed with the CPUC within approxi- ity in bundling the co-branded service, Your Consultant Liaison Manager will have mately one week. Once filed with the providing customers more options and access to the internal SBC resources nec- CPUC, Express filings receive an Effective greater value. essary to answer your questions. Date from the CPUC within 14 calendar “Consumers have waited a long time for days, whereas, Customer Specific filings Carlos R. Alas, Jr. is an Associate Director in true one-stop shopping with single-source Contract Development for SBC California. He has receive an Effective Date within 40 customer care and billing for TV, wireline, been with SBC for nine years and has previously calendar days from the filing date. held positions as Account Manager and Executive wireless and Internet service and now it’s 9. How does the contract get implemented? Briefing Center Manager in San Francisco. He finally here,” said Ed Whitacre Jr., SBC Implementation of the contract is part of holds an MBA in International Management. Chairman and CEO. the contract process at SBC. An implemen- “Winners expect to win in advance.” In a separate transaction, SBC also has tation package is developed for each – Dennis Connor agreed to make a $500 million investment contract and the Implementation Manager in EchoStar in the form of convertible debt. coordinates a meeting of the Sales Support Manager and Billing Representative once the CPUC issues an Effective Date. In this Webwatch www.securityfocus.com – Good stories, lots of meeting the Implementation Manager In this issue of UPDATE, we feature several IT type security issues. reviews contract pricing as well as terms Security Websites. UPDATE Columnist www.nipc.gov – This security site is and conditions in order to ensure compli- Nancy Grover, Regional Manager – SBC managed by the FBI and contains a lot of ance and that the orders are processed Corporate Information Security, said these Homeland Security information. accordingly. Products and services are re- four websites offer different types of www.pchell.com – Good resource for PC users. rated at contract prices based on the security information that may be helpful to www.information-security.org/news.htm – Security Effective Date of the contract. UPDATE readers: news stories from around the World.

7 Jerry Hinek, SBC know your password in order to trouble- exploit this split second of judgment. They shoot a problem. Even a real system are prepared for you; you are not expecting Watch Out For administrator shouldn’t ask for your them. Social engineers often seem to be password. Many fast talkers have gotten the nicest people you would ever want to Social Engineering passwords just that easily. know. Of course you want to help them out. The social engineer pretends to be some If the social engineer calls you again, you Introduction legitimate or authorized party, and baffles, may suddenly have a friendly working rela- The news media pay confuses or intimidates the victim or taps tionship with the bad guy . After several calls attention when computer the victims desire to be helpful. you no longer have to ask for trust. The two viruses spring up several parties speak to each other on a first name times a year. The virus/worm infections in CitiCorp Checking Account E-mail basis, and may even chat about families or August made the news for almost a week Just before all the viruses hit the Internet the vacations. A social engineer draws on as they disrupted computer networks and in August, I got an E-mail at home that that relationship whenever she needs. sent people crazy E-mail messages. appeared to be from CitiCorp. There was a It’s difficult to know when friendliness is A little less attention is given every time legitimate appearing E-mail letterhead and faked. This is a very effective if people can Microsoft®announces a newly discovered background. It looked very professional pull it off. Most friendly people seem to be software vulnerability that some hacker or and authentic. The graphics and logos genuine, and we don’t want to cut them off virus writer may exploit. aroused no suspicion. I should know. I’m because of the few bad apples. This article is about an information in the business of information security. Urgency security threat that receives almost no The message said that CitiCorp needed Urgency is a great tool for manipulating media attention: the art of manipulating some information urgently so that my some people, especially if it’s combined with you into revealing information that you checking account would not be canceled. timing. If the phone rings 5 minutes before want to safeguard or into doing something Although I do have a CitiCorp credit card, I you want to leave for home on a Friday after- that will help someone you wouldn’t don’t have a CitiCorp checking account. I noon, you’re already hoping it’s a short call. normally help. thought that the message might be refer- If the caller claims to need help in an emer- Social Engineering is people deceiving ring to the checks that credit card issuers gency, you face a conflict. You want to go other people in order to gain information occasionally send out to card holders, but home. The temptation is to cut corners and or to get something done. I didn’t want or need the checks, and I do whatever you have to do to get the didn’t reply. I forgot about the whole thing. person off the phone. The caller knows that. Social Engineering Demo at a Hacker A week later someone at work sent me an Another time to be wary of this is on a Conference E-mail asking if I had heard that CitiCorp weekend or late at night when you would Every year in Las Vegas, hackers, informa- was calling the E-mail circulating around the have to call your boss or colleague at tion security professionals and law Internet a fraudulent attempt to get personal home to get advice or approval. enforcement gather together at a conference financial information, probably to enable It’s a good idea to be suspicious of any last called DEFCON. The hackers started this Identity Theft. I hadn’t even suspected that. minute urgency, especially if it’s unexpected. conference; the others come to learn and to The next day I saw the same information The social engineer will resist any attempts observe. One traditional session every year reported in a news article. This was the to slow the process down, but that’s what is a social engineering demonstration. week that all the viruses and worms hit. you have to do. Do something unexpected A hacker panel tells the audience a secret The E-mail deception didn’t get ten percent or ask for more information before you can of the media attention that the viruses got, November 2003 November known about some business. It might just make a decision to assist. Think about be a non-published phone number to a but which is more worrying to you, having a whether the request would even be appro- modem on a mainframe computer or the computer virus that current anti-virus priate during normal business hours. Is CEO’s FedEx account number. software can defeat quickly or having some there any way you can verify the urgency or thief get your checking account number A panel member calls that business trying identify the caller? You may have to act and creating personal and financial havoc to get someone to reveal that same against your own desire to head home. It’s that can take months to clean up? secret. Everyone in the conference room a tough call when someone is pressuring hears the call over the speakers. The you on the phone. How Social Engineers Work business will be a large business, with the Intimidation person answering the call more likely to be We’ve all been lied to at one time or There are many forms of intimidation, a lower level employee. Normally the another. We’ve all been fooled by some can be pretty subtle. A social demonstration takes 5 to 10 minutes and someone. I was fooled by the CitiCorp engineer claims to call on behalf of a VIP succeeds in the first or second attempt. message, even if I didn’t become a victim. You can’t always know that you’re being who needs some information or some database change ASAP . Perhaps it’s for A Typical Process conned, but you can try to maintain a little bit of doubt when someone wants some- some regulatory requirement or for an A social engineer uses guile, social skills thing from you. Here are some of the ways important customer. The intimidation is and whatever information he already social engineers get what they want. implied, not actually stated. The VIP may knows to persuade you that he has a legit- get angry or complain to your boss. That imate right or need to get information or to Friendliness creates pressure on you to comply. get you to do what he wants. If people are nice to us we’re more likely to let our guards down. At work we often have If you hesitate or don’t take the bait, the One common example has someone to talk to strangers. We have to make fast social engineer may tell you that the VIP has calling you claiming to be a system admin- decisions about people. Social engineers already threatened anyone who screws this istrator on your network who needs to up. Just ratchet up the anxiety a bit more. 8 If you still don’t comply the social engineer pretend to be the second party’s boss. Little Final Words may become self-righteously angry with bits of information can lead to bigger and It would be great if there were some you. I won’t take the fall for this alone. bigger scores. Sometimes the aggregate is software to protect you from social engi- The social engineer may go as far as she enough and they never need the big score. neering, but the skills involved are low can to tilt the decision in her favor. Just as tech, old fashioned, social skills. Countering Social Engineering with the person using urgency as a lever, Think critically you have to slow the process down and By its nature it’s difficult to counteract social Ask questions of the caller find ways to check out the story. Tell the engineering. It’s sneaky and deceptive. It’s Keep in mind that urgency and timing caller that you need to check with the VIP manipulative. You don’t see it coming. The are strong tools in manipulation or the VIP’s assistant, or your own boss. If social engineer may have a lot of practice the VIP really needed something urgently and may already know what weaknesses to Insist on more time before you can comply you would more likely hear it from your exploit. Having a suspicious nature may not Read the few news items you find boss or from some intermediary who you be enough to protect yourself, but being too Pay attention to the little mistakes the know. VIP’s tend to talk to other VIP’s and eager to be helpful to be liked puts you at a caller makes send the message down stream that way. disadvantage. Still there are some things Don’t feel you always have to fix Expertise that can help you. someone else’s problem Jerry Hinek is a Senior Business Security Manager Social engineers often know a whole lot Policies and Procedures for SBC Services. He earned an MBA in Information about you and your business before they get In any security plan, policy always comes Management and is a Certified Information Systems communicate with you. If they don’t know a up as a starting point. The one policy that Security Professional. lot, they may know just enough to persuade may be most effective with social engineer- you. Some call several people looking for an ing is giving yourself and your employees “We must always change, renew, rejuve- accumulation of innocent information such the right to say “No” to people. With all the as the phone number to the mail room or urgency and subtle intimidation, everyone nate ourselves; otherwise we harden.” – the name of the supervisor. Using each bit needs to know that it’s OK not to comply or Johann von Goethe of information they are able to get more to ask for more time. If you find that you or innocent information from the next person your employees make bad decisions and they call. After a while they are able to use say no at the wrong time, you can always Continued from page 4 all that innocent information to seem like an try to learn from your mistakes. DSL DATA NEWS employee or client and to pry free some sen- Security will always be somewhere between sitive or confidential information. risk and reward. As will the right thing to do. The More Your Customers Buy, the More They Save… One scenario had a person calling an exec- If a caller asks you for something, ask for utive’s secretary, pretending to be the mail a call-back number. A lot of social engi- Our best prices just got even better! Now room clerk, claiming that a Fed Ex package neers do not want to give a number, or your customers can enjoy an enhanced was missing the VP’s account number and they won’t give you a legitimate number. broadband experience with SBC Yahoo! DSL just asking for the FedEx account number. They may have claimed to be calling from for as low as $26.95 when they purchase our bundles and commit to a 12-month Then the social engineer called another another department in your company or UPDATE VP’s secretary. He claimed to be an from a client company or a certain term. It’s true, the more they buy, the more employee at a remote location and to need location, but the return number has the they save! When customers purchase our an important business document. He gave wrong area code or prefix. bundles that include voice packages, SBC the secretary the other VP’s FedEx number Yahoo! DSL, SBC Yahoo! Dial, Shared Web and asked to have it shipped that day. Documenting procedures and routines Hosting, Online Office, Dedicated Internet, gives everyone a sense of how things are Other social engineers research your Cingular and SBC Long Distance, they can supposed to happen. Certainly the social appreciate additional discounts. Keep business and learn whatever they can. engineer may try to exploit that, but he When they start talking to you, anything looking for direct mail drops and listening may be easier to identify if he does not do for radio ads. they already know can make them seem what he is supposed to do. The social legitimate. Don’t overlook the small engineer will try to fast talk around proper SBC Yahoo! DSL Stands & Delivers! mistakes the person may make. Ask procedure, but that involves more conver- yourself whether a legitimate caller would sation and more opportunity to detect SBC is leading the nation in providing DSL have made that mistake. Would the mail deceit. The fast talk will have to be consis- high-speed Internet Service. We have over room normally call you? Would the mail tent with the initial lie. 3 million DSL subscribers with service room normally have the account number in available to more than 32 million customer a file or on a database? Training and Awareness locations. To date we have nearly 1,990 Small Favors There isn’t much training in counteracting Remote Terminals (RTs) with over 11,770 social engineering. There are stories and Distribution Areas (DAs) ready for service, The social engineer may ask for something articles that you can read and pass in ASI West and SBC California and that seems inconsequential. Maybe they ask around. Hopefully this article will be one of Nevada. For more information, to qualify for your name and e-mail address so they them. The more you understand the your customers for SBC Yahoo! DSL can send you something to review. Then problem and the more you keep the Internet Service, as well as to order the they call someone else in a different depart- problem in the back of your head, the more service for your clients, contact the Unique ment and pretend to be you. (A tiny bit of likely you are to keep a bit suspicious. Services Center South Consultant Queue identity theft) They ask that person to fax at 1-866-234-4DSL (4375). over an employee phone list or an organiza- Keep the risks in mind. What seems like a Cassandra Jessie-Johnson is Associate Director, Business tion chart. Then they call a third party and small favor or small piece of information could be a part of a lot bigger picture. Processes Team, SBC Sales Operations-Central

9 How did these people get my email address? spam uses up network bandwidth. Because Nancy Grover, SBC It is often impossible to determine how a the Internet is public, there is very little that can be done to prevent spam, just as Spam – Friend or Foe spammer acquires a user’s email address. It could be the result of an activity the it is impossible to prevent junk mail from user was engaged in, or possibly the user being delivered to our homes. However, What is Spam? gave his/her email address to the wrong some online services have begun institut- Spam is most often person. But mostly, the user is simply ing policies to prevent spamming at the defined as unsolicited targeted randomly. Some of the methods insistence of their subscribers. email. However, if a long-lost high school used for gathering email addresses are: sweetheart discovers your email address Avoiding Spam Email addresses harvested from public web sites – and sends you a message, this would When an address is posted onto a public Unfortunately, there is no way to get rid of hardly be considered spam, even though it web site, it can potentially be viewed by spam completely, but there are things that was unsolicited. Real spam, therefore, is millions of users. Spam lists are developed can be done to control it. generally characterized as email advertising using address-harvesting programs that Use your delete key – The best way to deal for a product sent to a mailing list or news- surf thousands of web sites, collecting any with spam is just to ignore it. If an unso- group. Many email marketers even go so email addresses encountered. The more licited email arrives in your email box, just far as to require that unsolicited messages popular a web site is, the greater the likeli- hit the delete key. be fraudulent, deceptive or objectionable hood that an address-harvesting program before it can be considered spam. Protect your address – Avoid putting your will be used to scour it. email address on a pubic web site. Here’s one school of thought as to the Email addresses harvested from USENET postings – origin of the term, spam: some claim the Diversify – Use multiple email addresses, When a user includes his or her email term comes from the Monty Python song, using one exclusively for filling out web address in the heading of a USENET Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, forms or posting to newsgroups, and message, that address can be harvested spam, spam, lovely spam, wonderful another as your primary email. and used to send spam. spam… Like the song, spam is an endless Read carefully – When given the opportunity, repetition of useless text. Email address harvested from chat rooms – opt-out at every chance, letting companies Spammers can harvest email addresses in know you don’t want them sharing your email Who are the Spammers? real-time by joining a chat rooms and address. If you don’t want to receive email scanning the room for all users present. Millions receive dozens of unsolicited com- from a web site, don’t give them your email This is a very quick and easy way to mercial emails every day. Some users see address unless they offer you the option of harvest known-good user accounts. spam as a minor irritant, while others are declining to receive additional email from so inundated with spam they feel forced to Email addresses harvested through attacks – them. Pay particular attention to options dis- change their email addresses. A brute force attack on a mail server can cussing how your address will be used. result in a tremendous amount of spam, The email that fills your inbox on a daily Complain – If you suspect that a web site even if an address hasn’t been shared basis is most likely the result of a group of has violated its privacy policy, you can anywhere. Alert network administrators can 150 spammers who are capable of generat- report it to the Federal Trade Commission. sometimes block theses attacks, but a sig- ing hundreds of millions of emails each day. nificant amount of spam can still result. Never respond to a Spam email – For the This relatively small group is responsible for Spammers also use dictionary attacks, in spammer, one hit among thousands of more than 95% of all unwanted email. With which the attacker sends email to all the mailings is enough to justify the practice. a setup of just four computers and a high words in the dictionary, or attacks in which Instead, if you want the advertised November 2003 November speed Internet line, a spammer can send email is sent to common surnames and first product, go directly to the site offering the out 10 million emails a day. It’s cheap to initials (such as [email protected] or product, and check it out there. send out all that email, and only a return of [email protected] ). For individual Internet Use a filter – Many ISP’s and free email one quarter of 1% is required for the users, there is little that can be done to services now provide spam filtering. Filters spammer to make money. That small return avoid spam resulting from these attacks. are not perfect, but they can cut down on on investment makes the spammer happy, the amount of spam a user receives. the vendor happy, and hopefully, satisfies The cost of Spam the purchaser as well. It’s just the other Never respond with the word remove – This is just 99.75% of the user base that is unhappy. Armed with lists of email addresses, spam- a trick and announces to the sender that a mers send billions of email messages daily, human is at your email address. If you reply, As users become more and more fed-up not only inconveniencing millions of users, your address is placed on more lists and with the quantity of spam in their inboxes, but also imposing huge costs on ISP’s. you receive more spam. In addition, don’t be ISP’s and the government have begun to Spam not only clogs up inboxes, it also ties fooled by phrases such as to be removed crack down on spammers. To continue to up valuable computer space, and puts com- from this list, click here. get their messages out, spammers are panies at risk for computer viruses. Spam is resorting to working with virus writers and the electronic equivalent of telemarketing, Poetic Justice hackers. Trojan Horses are being placed constantly interrupting workers, and taking on home and university computers around Self-described Spam King, Alan Ralsky their focus away from business. the Internet, making them unwitting accom- recently got a taste of his own medicine, plices to the spam campaigns. It is Each year spam costs each individual user and it was all the result of a well-organized estimated that 6 to 7 billion spam mes- between $30 – $50 and companies $730 campaign by the anti-spam community. sages are now launched through hacked in lost productivity. The average worker Alan Ralsky didn’t find it funny. computers daily, making it very difficult to spends 15 hours a year clearing unwanted Ralsky, one of the most prolific spammers, trace back to the spammer. email. In addition to wasting people’s time, was sued by Verizon for $37 million in

10 2001 because they claim Ralsky twice Cingular Wireless News Section all Cingular Wireless retail locations for just brought their email system to a crawl due $39.99. For Cingular and its parent compa- to the unprecedented amount of spam he Exciting New Device For Wireless-Wireline nies, this is part of a larger initiative to was sending to their company. Integration create a new category of products that In an interview last year, Ralsky bragged Cingular Wireless and its parent companies – simplify the calling process and change how about his new palatial home, calling it the SBC Communications & Bell South – people communicate. recently introduced FastForwardTM – one of house that spam built. His new home More Info Available to Wireless Customers contains a control center (20 computers the wireless industry’s first devices to marry SBC’s Wireless Directory Assistance Centers and a T1) which many believe is the single the convenience of wireless service with the are not only providing phone numbers but largest spam operation in the world. value of a wireline phone. The patented FastForward device – which works exclusively details on airports, movie listings & reviews, After the interview, 300 anti-spammers with Cingular Wireless service – was avail- stock quotes, driving directions, sports went into action, gleefully posting Ralsky’s able Oct. 1. This unique device – designed scores, weather and much more. A new DA home address on the Internet and encour- as a cradle to hold a wireless phone – center opened this year in Lombard, IL., aging all anti-spammers to sign him up for simply plugs into an electrical outlet. When joining centers in Connecticut and Ohio, with every catalog and advertising campaign the Cingular Wireless phone is cradled, calls another launching in San Antonio. All are they could find. Since then, Ralsky has to the wireless phone are forwarded to a managed by SBC Operator Services or SBC been inundated with thousands upon thou- designated landline phone, while the SNET Operator Services. sands of ads, catalogs, and brochures wireless phone’s battery is automatically delivered to him everyday by the U.S. Network Construction recharged. Cingular customers with a Postal Service. Cingular is spending more than $2.6 billion FastForward device can get unlimited to deploy GSM technology across its “These people are out of their minds,” incoming wireless calls (minutes) forwarded network. This technology will mean clearer Ralsky said, “They’re harassing me.” He also to their landline phone in the local calling calls, faster data speeds and access to complained that he now has to sort through area – without the minutes counting against handsets with cameras and data capabili- tons of mail just to get to his real mail. their monthly wireless calling plan for just ties. Cingular continues to build out its $2.99 per month plus the cost of the Several tons of snail mail spam every day network and work with other carriers to sig- device. The service is free to SBC residen- might just annoy him as much as his spam nificantly expand GSM coverage across the tial local phone company customers who annoys me, wrote one of the anti-spammers. country. Cingular has signed a contract with receive a single bill for Cingular wireless and Ralsky is indeed annoyed, as is probably NextWave Communications to buy $1.4 landline services and BellSouth customers his mail carrier. Ralsky says he’s asked billion in additional spectrum – almost all of who sign up for a combined bill and two his attorney to sue the anti-spammers. it in existing markets so we can provide other features. The new FastForward device new and better products and service. Nancy Grover, Regional Manager – SBC can be purchased as a stand-alone item at Corporate Information Security, is responsible for the company’s critical systems, including the core network and the Network Operating Centers. She is a Certified Information Systems SBC Long Distance Introduces ited direct-dialed calls to Canada in con-

Security Professional. First Middle East Calling Plan junction with the SBC Long Distance UPDATE unlimited domestic calling plan, National As an upward trend on calls to the Middle Connections. Unlike competitor plans, SBC “Constant kindness can accomplish East continues, SBC Long Distance has Long Distance international plans do not much. As the sun makes ice melt, announced a new plan to meet this need. impose time and day restrictions. kindness causes misunderstanding, Middle East 60, available for $19.95 per “By introducing new plans and expanding month, allows consumers to call the region existing packages in international calling, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” for as little as 33 cents per minute when we provide our customers with more – Albert Schweitzer all 60 minutes in the plan are used and choice and better values for international just 32 cents per minute for calls over 60 long distance,” said Michael Grasso, exec- minutes. This new international “block of utive director of consumer marketing at time” plan covers direct-dialed calls from SBC Long Distance. SBC California Unveils New Unlimited the U.S. to countries including Oman, SBC Long Distance recommends that con- Calling Offer Syria, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, sumers consider their calling frequency SBC California announced a new unlimited Lebanon, Palestinian Authority, Saudi and the countries covered when evaluating calling plan that gives Golden State con- Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Iran, international plans. Consumers who place sumers the freedom to ring anywhere in Qatar and Yemen. frequent international calls to Israel and the domestic United States, without The introduction of Middle East 60 contin- Palestine may also realize savings with worrying about time limits.The new calling ues to bolster the company’s international International SaverPlus, which allows bundle gives customers unlimited SBC calling portfolio. SBC Long Distance greatly discounted per minute rates for a local and long distance service and custom recently lowered its rates to more than 200 low monthly fee. calling features with prices starting at countries and announced its best-ever To subscribe to any of SBC Long $41.95 a month – all on one monthly bill. rates to Mexico, including Mexico 500 for Distance’s international calling plans, con- Subscribers can take advantage of an addi- $44.95 a month, with a per minute rate as sumers also must sign up for a domestic tional savings on the SBC Long Distance low as 9 cents when all minutes are used, interstate SBC Long Distance plan. For International SaverPlus®II plan, giving and just 9 cents per minute for calls over more information about SBC Long callers great low rates around the globe 500 minutes. Additionally, new calling Distance calling plans, consumers can and an even more streamlined phone bill. plans such as Canada Plus provides unlim- visit www.sbc.com or call 1-877-PICK-SBC.

11 process claims and other transactions elec- Transaction Sets Jagdish Kohli, Ph.D. tronically. The law also requires the adoption The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) of security and privacy standards in order to The Importance of X12 has developed nine (9) electronic for- protect personal health information. HHS matting standards for the exchange of all HIPAA has issued the following major regulations: types of health care business information. (Note: As we were going to Electronic health care transactions (final The transactions sets are as follows: rule issued); press, HIPAA guidelines required Health care or equivalent encounter information compliance to Standardized Health information privacy (final rule Health Care Claim (837) Electronic Transactions & Code issued); Sets by Oct. 16, 2003, with exceptions. Dr. Kohli Enrollment and disenrollment in a health plan Unique identifier for employers (final rule takes a look at the significance of HIPAA, which Benefit Enrollment and Maintenance (834) issued); impacts thousands of businesses.) Eligibility for a health plan Security requirements (final rule issued); The Health Insurance Portability and Health Care Eligibility/Benefit Inquiry (270) Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), signed Unique identifier for providers (proposed Health Care Eligibility/Benefit Information (271) rule issued; final rule in development); by President Clinton on July 21, 1996, has Claim Payment the following general objectives: Unique identifier for health plans Health Care Claim Payment/Advice (835) (proposed rule in development); and Guarantee health insurance coverage of Health Claim Status Enforcement procedures (proposed rule employees Health Care Claim Status Request (276) in development). Protect the health information of individ- Health Care Claim Status Notification (277) uals against access without consent or As required by HIPAA, HHS has adopted Referral certification and authorization authorization standards for the following administrative Health Care Service Review Information (278) Introduce and implement administrative and financial health care transactions: Payroll Deducted/other group premiums (820) simplifications in order to augment effec- 1.Health claims and equivalent encounter Code Sets tiveness and efficiency of the health information. care system in the United States 2.Enrollment and non-enrollment in a HIPAA requires the standardization of the Reduce health care fraud and abuse. health plan. reporting of medical procedures with 3.Eligibility for a health plan. industry established and maintained codes. In this article we discuss the following These are the codes used by the health 4.Health care payment and remittance aspects of HIPAA: care providers to identify what procedures, advice. Overview services and diagnoses pertain to that Electronic Transactions Standards 5.Health plan premium payments. encounter. This will eliminate the use of HIPAA Implementation 6.Health claim status. government and commercial proprietary Privacy Standards 7.Referral certification and authorization. medical codes sets. The codes sets that HIPAA Success 8.Coordination of benefits. have been approved for use by HIPAA are: National standards for electronic health care International Classification of Diseases, 9th Overview transactions will encourage electronic com- Edition, Clinical Modification Today, health plans, hospitals, pharmacies, merce in the health care industry and CD-9CM doctors and other health care entities use a ultimately simplify the processes involved. By Common Procedural Terminology, 4th Edition wide array of systems to process and track promoting the greater use of electronic trans- CPT-4 health care bills and other information. actions and the elimination of inefficient paper forms, these standards are expected Health Care Finance Administration Common November 2003 November Hospitals and doctor’s offices treat patients to provide a net savings to the health care Procedural Coding System with many different types of health insurance HCPCS and must spend time and money ensuring industry of $29.9 billion over 10 years. that each claim contains the format, codes National Drug Codes and other details required by each insurer. Electronic Transaction Standards NDC Similarly, health plans spend time and money In August 2000, HHS issued final elec- Current Dental Terminology to ensure their systems can handle transac- tronic transaction standards to streamline CDT tions from various health care providers and the processing of health care claims, clearinghouses. In our complex health care reduce the volume of paperwork and HIPAA Implementation system, about 400 different formats exist provide better service for providers, The Electronic Transactions Standard applies today for health care claims. insurers and patients. HHS adopted modifi- to all of the types of business that are per- To improve the efficiency and effectiveness cations to some of those standards in final formed daily to provide proper healthcare. of the health care system, the Health regulations published on Feb.20, 2003. These include: Overall, the new standards establish Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Health claims, claim status, plan eligibility, standard data content, codes and formats (HIPAA) of 1996 included a series of admin- enrollment and disenrollment, payments for submitting electronic claims and other istrative simplification provisions that for care and premiums, coordination of administrative health care transactions. For required the Department of Health and benefits and other related transactions. Human Services (HHS) to adopt national example, about 400 different formats exist All health providers, clearinghouses and standards for electronic health care transac- today for health care claims. All health care providers will be able to use the electronic plans that will transmit health related tions. By ensuring consistency throughout information electronically. the industry, these national standards will format to bill for their services, and all Clearinghouse transmissions to providers make it easier for health plans, doctors, hos- health plans will be required to accept and health plans, this also includes trans- pitals and other health care providers to these standard electronic claims, referral authorizations and other transactions. missions to and from other clearinghouses. 12 Health care transactions include transmis- include the patient’s legal medical record Sterling Information Broker – sions which use all types of media including and billing records, and may include An Emerging Technological Solution Internet, dial-up lines and private networks. other records such as research records. Avoid cardiac arrest. Communication is Every health care company faces unprece- Control the release of their medical the lifeblood of your healthcare dented pressures from within and information (with certain limitations) externally to comply with the newest HIPAA through authorization. business, and the Sterling Information Broker is the heart of your e-commerce regulations. With an ever increasing cost Request restrictions on certain uses or system. The Sterling Information Broker of health care, the deployment of state-of- disclosure of their medical information. Service is extensively utilized throughout the-art technology can help companies to Request a list naming all outside parties the pharmaceutical industry by manufac- save money and gain competitive advan- with whom their medical information has turers, wholesalers and retail tage. The following is an example of how been shared and describing why the pharmacies for efficient supply chain companies are developing technological information was shared. This is known solutions for the heath care industry: as an accounting of disclosures. management for many transactions including purchase orders, invoices, Request that health-care providers com- Privacy Standards charge-backs, and others. With Sterling Security and privacy standards can promote municate with them in a certain way or at a certain location (such as a P.O. Box). Information Broker’s newest capabilities higher quality care by assuring consumers of EDI over the Internet and the Bridge that their personal health information will HIPAA Success service, you can extend your trading com- be protected from inappropriate uses and HHS is continuing to develop other proposed munity quickly and easily with electronic disclosures. standards, including a national health plan communication to any size of company, In December 2000, HHS issued a final rule to identifier and additional electronic transac- in most any format they may be using. protect the confidentiality of medical records tion standards. In addition, HHS is develop- As it pumps data through our electronic and other personal health information. The ing regulations related to enforcement of the trading network, Sterling Information rule limits the use and release of individually adopted standards. The success of a family Broker guarantees circulation and identifiable health information; gives patients of complex HIPAA regulations will depend on delivery of your business transactions the right to access their medical records; a number of factors such as: around the clock – while supporting restricts most disclosure of health informa- tion to the minimum needed for the intended To follow the spirit and letter of HIPAA legacy protocols and data formats. A regulations by all involved purpose; and establishes safeguards and secure, highly reliable service, Sterling restrictions regarding disclosure of records for To provide appropriate level of training for Information Broker provides you with a certain public responsibilities, such as public all participants in the health care delivery range of Internet capabilities, including health, research and law enforcement. To bring the weight of the enforcement the newest transport options such as Improper uses or disclosures under the rule law to minimize fraudulent activities EDI-to-XML translation services. And it’s are subject to criminal and civil sanctions To deploy technological solutions integrated with diverse on-ramps, prescribed in HIPAA. towards e-commerce in medicine. gateways, and exchanges. Patients’ rights – Under HIPAA, patients Jagdish Kohli is an independent Healthcare and Sterling Information Broker is part of a have the right to: Information Technology consultant. He can be suite of e-commerce products offered by UPDATE Obtain a copy of their medical records, reached at [email protected]. Sterling Commerce. and correct or add to them. These

Be Wary Of Identity Theft, a common type of identity theft, because phone. SBC never asks for a complete SBC Warns Customers criminals know that credit card companies Social Security number to identify or and banks often demand a utility account to confirm account information. Avoid e- SBC has warned consumers to be wary of prove identification and residency. mailing personal or financial information, phone calls or e-mails asking for personal SBC is committed to helping customers avoid and only use secure Web sites. Save or information -- it could be an identify theft fraud and identity theft, and works directly shred credit card receipts and utility bills, scam. Recent reports indicate that some with customers who have fallen victim to such as they often contain account information. offenders are using the national Do Not practices to help resolve their claims. Carefully read all communications from Call list as an excuse to gather personal utility and credit companies. Ensure that information from unsuspecting people. Tips for Safeguarding Your Personal you understand communications from these Information SBC has reports of attempted identify theft companies. Confirm reported changes to by people claiming to be our service repre- Here are some tips to help you protect your addresses and services listed for your sentatives. They call to confirm participation personal information and credit status: accounts. If your statement is late by more in the National “Do Not Call” List and ask Be cautious. Ask questions. Fraudulent than a week, call your billing company or for personal information - birthdate, Social callers may claim to represent a legitimate bank to confirm the billing address, Security Number, mother’s maiden name. company. If you are told, via e-mail, that balances, and services on your account. SBC does not call customers for this information. your account will be shut off with little or Know your information. Check your credit Identity theft, or illegally assuming someone no notice, be wary. If you are concerned reports once a year from all three of the else’s identity, is one of the fastest-spreading for any reason, contact a service represen- major credit reporting agencies. By under- forms of fraud. Offenders steal credit card, tative at the number in your monthly bill or standing your credit report and confirming social security and other personal informa- in your phone directory. the information contained, you will be better tion, often to establish a new line of credit. Protect your identity. Be careful about dis- prepared to identify possible fraud early. Unauthorized opening of a phone account is closing personal information over the 13 Mark Fei The world of networking has evolved, and ence choppiness, interruptions, and other continues to evolve, from many different unpleasant effects. MPLS: A Business ways of meeting various application require- An obvious question at this point could be, Perspective Techno- ments. The many manufacturers of why not simply use Frame Relay or ATM networking gear often worked to try to instead of IP? The answer is that Frame logy Overview promote their own closed and proprietary Relay and ATM do not provide an end-to- approaches. In the last dozen years or so end addressing and routing capability. Q: What is MPLS? we have seen a huge shift away from that Basically, Frame Relay and ATM exist at as approach to one in which almost all serious a) A protocol that guaran- part of the wide area network (usually market players now work in pursuit of solu- tees QoS across IP networks carrier networks) where their particular tions that conform to open and agreed- benefits and capabilities can be exploited b) A switching technique that offers brand upon standards. Gone (or nearly gone) are and put to best use. Unfortunately, this new benefits not found in technologies Internet Protocol Exchange (IPX), User doesn’t extend all the way to the ends of such as Frame Relay and ATM Datagram Protocol (UDP), and Systems the network, e.g., to the laptop in front of c) A common method for enterprise cus- Network Architecture (SNA) path control, to me, or the video conference unit in front of tomers to better manage their IP intranets name but a few. All the companies that you, or the rows and rows of servers invested heavily in bringing those protocols sitting in a data center somewhere. But, d) A technique for increasing the packet to market (Novell, Apple, and IBM) are now forwarding rate of routers what protocol does exist in all those fully in support of IP as the single platform places? IP. For many years now, the layer 2 If you selected any of these answers then for true networking interoperability. And, as protocols such as Frame Relay and ATM, please keep reading for this column will help I said before, this is not only for data, but as well as LAN protocols like Ethernet, to dispel those, and some other, common for practically every conceivable communi- have worked in concert with the layer 3 misconceptions about what MPLS is and cations application. To that list of protocol – IP – to provide a complete net- does. MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) historically computing-centric companies we working solution. can provide a myriad of benefits to network could certainly add Lucent, Nortel, Cisco, So, now let’s ask another question: does it operators, and therefore ultimately to Juniper, and on and on – and they would all continue to be necessary to have layer 2 network customers, but the main benefits line up together in support of IP. protocols and layer 3 protocols or could are not those listed in our quiz answers. The problem is that IP is not ideally suited we, perhaps, consolidate into a single layer – by itself – to meet every conceivable that provided all of the benefits previously Background communications need. I don’t want to take provided at 2 (or even more) layers? Before delving into any further technical time with a lengthy discussion of IP’s pros Enter MPLS. MPLS can provide many of detail, let’s quickly consider three impor- and cons, but we should note that IP’s the benefits that we have always associ- tant facts. First and perhaps most obvious basic nature is to provide very flexible, ated with a connection-oriented technology, is the following: dynamic routing of packets from a source machine to a destination machine. It but in an IP environment. We are still a IP is the network protocol of choice for accomplishes this admirably by being con- long way from eliminating Frame Relay or every data application and increasingly for nectionless, that is, there are no ATM but MPLS plays a key role on the other media applications such as voice, pre-defined paths between that source, or migration path to the future. image, and video as well. It is here with a sender, and the destination, or receiver. It vengeance, it is here to stay, and no other is this very lack of pre-determined paths MPLS Overview network protocol threatens to unseat it in that enables IP-based networks and the MPLS is not new but rather is the new

November 2003 November the foreseeable future. Internet in general, to withstand change Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) stan- Next: and even damage to nodes and links and dards based incarnation of something that MPLS adds some very worthwhile capabili- yet still dynamically deliver traffic where began back in the mid-1990s as several ties to the IP world but does not, in and of it’s supposed to go. proprietary schemes. Included among itself, give networks any capabilities that There are other technologies that have MPLS’ ancestors would be Ipsilon’s IP cannot already be achieved through some been developed over the years that don’t switching, Cisco’s tag switching, and other, existing, mechanisms. share IP’s flexibility or ubiquity but that do similar efforts from other manufacturers. provide certain levels of service that IP typ- In those earlier days one of the chief And finally: ically has not. Great examples of these objectives was to provide an IP packet for- No one will invest in any new technology would be Frame Relay and ATM. Again, warding mechanism that could occur at unless it provides solid business benefits. without going into unnecessary detail here, substantially higher speeds. Investing in technology because it is what these two technologies both share a char- If we were to go back and look at the spec- the engineers want isn’t enough; the acteristic which can enable them to deliver ifications for pure IP (layer 3) routers at accountants have to like it as well. traffic from an origin to a destination with that time we would have found maximum In some of the crazier days gone by some predictable performance, especially as packet forwarding speeds in the several people lost sight of that last point but in relates to timing and delay. These benefits hundred thousand per second range. That our current economic climes (and I would are of less importance in a pure data would have contrasted with ATM cell venture to say for a long time to come) application (think business transactions) switching speeds, for example, of several we’re not going to see any more deploy- but are of great interest when we would million per second. ments of technology for technology’s sake. like to deliver applications like voice or How is it that an ATM switch could forward video. These applications require consis- cells at such dramatically higher rates Let’s put these facts together and use them tency when it comes to delay in order for as a context for our discussion of MPLS. than an IP router? There are several the telephony or video users not to experi- reasons but the most significant was that 14 an ATM switch, being part of a connection- MPLS Benefits customers’ growing demands for data oriented system, only had to deal with Traffic Engineering services, Internet access and, increasingly, path setup decisions once, when the voice and video transport as well. The data virtual path/ virtual circuit was estab- An MPLS enabled network permits traffic transport needs of customers today lished. From that point on cells were engineering which is the placement of traffic include both traditional wide area services simply forwarded – very fast – along that where the network resources are that can as well as newer native LAN services. pre-determined path. IP routers, by meet the traffic’s needs. Through a series of Meanwhile, many of these network [ii] contrast, being the essential components additional supporting protocols a variety of providers have also made substantial of a connection-less system, had to make LSPs can exist that are designed to provide investments in other wide area technolo- individual routing decisions for each and differing service to different types of traffic. gies such as Frame Relay and ATM. [i] every packet that passed through them. The network operator benefits by having MPLS provides the foundation for carriers to MPLS can be viewed as providing a con- greater control over the resource usage build very high speed (optically based), very nection-oriented structure on top of the within their network and at the same time flexible IP core networks that can meet all connection-less IP network – let’s take a the end users benefit by being able to of these needs in a consolidated fashion. look at how it works. receive the different qualities of service that There are significant advantages in terms of their different applications require. True QoS It’s important to distinguish between an network deployment and management which requires more than just MPLS, but this ultimately result in superior services to the MPLS domain and the entire IP network. In a provides a foundation for that capability. typical scenario, the IP network will extend customer at a lower cost to the operator. from end user devices (both clients and Note that traffic engineering is, in some For further information check out the MPLS servers) all the way to the far end devices. sense, the opposite of network engineering: Resource Center (http://www.mplsrc.com) Included in this complete end to end configu- in traffic engineering the traffic is placed where the resources are; in network engi- [i] While it is true that increased packet forward- ration are both customer networks and ing speed was an early motivator for the carrier networks. The MPLS domain will, in neering the network resources are placed development of MPLS and its proprietary prede- most instances, exist just as part of the where the traffic is. cessors, this is no longer a factor. Advances in carrier’s network. Think of the MPLS domain Virtual Private Networks ASIC and other chip technologies enable today’s IP routers to function at wire speeds. as being inside the carrier’s cloud, but not Because traffic is forwarded by MPLS label, part of the customers’ networks. rather than by IP address, the traffic belong- [ii] Label Distribution Protocols and routing proto- cols are required in order to setup and maintain At the edges of the MPLS domain there ing to one path is effectively segregated all the tables necessary for the proper operation are special routers called Label Edge from traffic on other paths. Even though the of an MPLS domain. Their complete operation is Routers or LERs. These LERs form the traffic may not be encrypted, there is a level beyond the scope of this article. boundary between the MPLS domain and of protection built-in, similar to that Mark Fei, founder of Fei Communications Group, the rest of the network outside the achieved with layer 2 networks like Frame LLC., has been training CEOs and other leaders domain. Normal IP routing occurs outside Relay and ATM. Again, MPLS by itself does in the Telecom World for nearly 20 years. He the domain – it is within the domain that not create an immediate VPN capability, but provides his observations and insights as a interesting things occur. it forms an excellent foundation for one. regular UPDATE columnist. He can be reached at www.fei-comm-group.com

Simplifying somewhat, the LERs place a Multiple Service Delivery and Migration UPDATE label at the front of each incoming packet Opinions expressed by columnists in UPDATE are So far in this article we have focused on not necessarily those of the SBC companies. which will cause the packets to flow the notion of using MPLS to encapsulate across particular paths that have been IP packets directly for forwarding across defined. Which path gets selected is a the domain. In fact, MPLS has no specific SBC Executive News function of a variety of possible criteria requirement that the incoming traffic be Bill Huber has been named President – including incoming port number, destina- native IP packets (thus the Multi-Protocol, Network Services for SBC West. tion address, type of service field from or MP, part of MPLS.) Given this protocol- the IP header, and others. The point to Mike Hamilton has been named President – agnostic nature, the MPLS domain can be Global Markets (West), SBC Operations. note here is that there may be several dif- used to carry almost any kind of traffic. ferent paths available from any given Frank Jules has been named President – origin to any destination. The various A carrier’s cloud may, in fact, be an Global Markets (East), SBC Operations. MPLS/IP core but the edge interfaces to paths may differ in terms of the levels of Bill Lane has been named Vice President – service they will provide; some paths may this cloud could be Frame Relay or Ethernet. So, for example, a customer Advanced Enterprise Solutions (AES, SBC be optimal for minimizing delay, whereas Operations). other paths may be optimal for maximizing could have native Ethernet interfaces to throughput. In this way, MPLS will cause their carrier’s network which, using MPLS, Steve Welch has been named the new traffic that has different quality of service would carry Ethernet frames. To this Senior Executive Vice President – Sales (QoS) requirements to take whichever customer the network appears to be a & Customer experience, SBC Operations. path will best meet those needs. This is native-LAN transport network. Zeke Robertson has been named very different from plain IP routing in This allows the carrier to provision a single Executive Vice President – Standardiza- which, typically, the shortest path is core network and yet still carry whatever tion, SBC Operations. chosen regardless of performance. type of traffic its customers are presenting. Cathy Coughlin has been named President – At the destination end of this path (known Business Communications Services, SBC as the Label Switched Path or LSP) the Summary Midwest. special label is removed and the packets Network providers have for several years George Contopoulos has been named continue on to their destination via normal recognized the need to build and develop Senior Vice President – SBC Dish Network. routing mechanisms. IP-based networks in order to meet their

15 Top Communication Scams know that credit card companies and Ask questions first. When receiving a call banks will often demand documentation of with an offer to switch your phone service The federal government estimates that: a utility account to prove identification and to a new provider, be sure to ask ques- Americans lose $40 billion each year to residency. Many times, identity thieves tions that will help to identify the company, telemarketing fraud according to the gain access to this type of information and what services it will provide you, espe- Federal Trade Commission*, among from discarded credit card and utility bills cially during service outages, including: other government organizations. or personal cheeks. What products/services does your There are thousands of fraudulent tele- 809 Area Code Callback Scam: This ongoing company offer? marketing operations calling American scam encourages unsuspecting victims to Do you have a Web site with information consumers everyday. respond to pages or voice mail messages about your company? In an effort to educate consumers, SBC from the 809 area code in the Caribbean. What is a contact number for a service Communications has released its list of the Consumers are generally unaware that the representative? most commonly reported cases of telecom- resulting long distance charges are similar What is the price of the service? munications scams and threats by SBC to those for calls to 1-900 numbers. customers, as well as tips to prevent being Who will handle customer installation Internet Scams: Customers may uninten- harmed by deceptive and illegal schemes. and/or repairs during outages? tionally incur international long-distance charges by clicking on pop-up ads, e-mails What service(s) am I changing? Confirm. Most Frequent Consumer-Reported Scams or downloading entertainment content Will I be charged a fee for switching or Threats through an interactive session. While the services? Deceptive Sales Practices: In a year of origin of the charges is unclear, it appears What is your name and ID number? turmoil within the communications industry, that users are redirected to an interna- Will an independent third-party verify my some telecommunications providers turned tional number, whether or not they are order? to deceptive marketing schemes to aware that an international call was placed Carefully read your telephone bill. Make improve their bottom lines. Customers through their modem. sure you only receive charges from your have thousands of calls from deceptive E-mail Viruses: Internet users were hit hard provider of choice. Ensure you thoroughly telemarketers across the 13-state region, this year with a handful of Internet worms, understand charges listed on your phone claiming, among other things, that: most notably Klez and Bugbear, both bill and have chosen to do business with SBC (or one of its former regional responsible for rapidly spreading through the listed provider billing for those brands) was going out of business or the Internet, emailing themselves to other charges. If your local service is changed, merging with a new company, requiring computers, disabling firewalls and antivirus you will receive a final bill from the former customers to switch providers. software, setting up “backdoors” for future provider and a notice concerning your Telemarketers wrongly claiming to be rep- attacks and recording users’ keystrokes. service disconnection. resentatives or agents of SBC, misleading Worms can potentially expose bank account Be suspicious of alleged changes in your customers to make changes in providers. information, credit card numbers, user service. Some customers have reported names, passwords and computer files. Con consumers to agree to something receiving calls or mailings from companies not adequately explained or understood. alleging that they bill or provide services Consumer Tips to Help Prevent Being on behalf of SBC, a tactic presumably Slamming: The unauthorized switching of Harmed by Scams used to slam customers. A fact sheet phone service providers, slamming often Be cautious. Fraudulent callers may mis- detailing specific false claims anti sales results from deceptive sales practices. represent themselves as a technician of pitches customers recently have reported November 2003 November Typical slamming tactics by telecommuni- SBC or representative of another phone to SBC is available. cations marketers include: company. If you are in doubt, ask for the Return calls to familiar numbers. As a Gaining signatures for prize drawings or caller’s name, number and supervisor general rule, return pages and voicemail other legitimate-sounding reasons and/or call your local SBC business office; messages only from familiar or recogniza- without making it clear that the signa- the number is on your monthly bill or in ble area codes. You may call your directory ture will be used to switch the your phone directory. assistance or long-distance operator to customer’s telephone service; Protect Your Identity. Be careful about dis- check on the area code location (there may be a charge for this call). Sending checks to customers without closing personal information over the adequate explanation that when the check phone. Credit card numbers and social Consumers and businesses should contest is cashed, the customer’s local and/or security numbers can be used by thieves to any charges imposed by the company who long-distance provider will be switched. “steal” your identity. Save or shred your slammed them. The Federal Communi- credit card receipts and utility bills, as they cations Commission and most slates have Identity Theft: One of the most rapidly often also contain your account information. rules which penalize the unauthorized spreading frauds, this involves illegally carrier and protect customers who are using someone else’s identity for such Protect your personal computer. Consider victims of slamming, provided the customer purposes as establishing new lines of using virus removal tools. It’s a good idea to files a slamming complaint. Consumers can credit or obtaining services. This is usually install virus protection software or update file a slamming complaint by contacting the done by illegally acquiring a person’s credit existing software’s virus definitions. Within company they authorized to carry their local card or social security number, or other SBC this is handled by IT/Security. or long distance service, their state public sensitive personal information. Experts on Additionally, use caution with unexpected e- utilities commission or the FCC. this criminal activity agree that the unau- mail attachments; change passwords every 90 days and back up important computer *Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/ thorized opening of a phone account is a conline/pubs/tmarkg/ditch.htm), Facts for Consumers, common type of identity theft – criminals files on an external storage device. “Ditch the Pitch: Hanging Up on Telephone Hucksters”

16 SBC Urges Consumers To In the event of a temporary loss of com- Charge your cellular phone. Phone service Maintain Corded Phone Line mercial power, the company’s network can be interrupted during severe weather automatically switches to a battery back-up due to downed or damaged phone lines For Security And Safety In The system located within its central offices, If and underground cable cuts. Because Event Of A Power Outage commercial power to the central office is they are wireless, cellular phones can not immediately restored, an emergency serve as alternative means of communi- In the aftermath of the nation’s worst black- back-up generator will be engaged. Power is cation. So, keep them charged up. out that impacted millions of consumers in then transferred seamless between the the Northeast and upper Midwest the senior battery back-up system and the emergency vice president of SBC Network Services generator, which is designed to run continu- ADSB Telecommunications Reaches urged consumers to maintain at least one ously until power is restored. Agreement With Belgian State on carded landline telephone in their homes “Our customers depend upon our network, Belgacom IPO and businesses to ensure reliable voice and especially during crises,’ Wiskocil added. data communications during a disaster. ADSB Telecommunications B.V. (SBC “That’s why we have engineered redun- Communications directly owns 35 “The nation’s telecommunications networks dancy for power and connectivity into our percent) announced that it has entered held up well during the recent blackout, and networks across our 13-state territory.” into an agreement with the Belgian State impacted consumers who relied upon While Wiskocil said electronic cordless and Belgacom S.A. to proceed with the corded, wire line phones maintained vital phones offer many benefits to consumers, preparations for a potential Initial Public voice connections with their loved ones,” they require electricity to operate. And, Offering (“IPO”) of Belgacom S.A., the said Angie Wiskocil, senior vice president – after a couple of hours of use, many cell leading provider of telecommunications network services. “Those who depended phones also require electricity to recharge services in Belgium. upon cordless phones requiring electricity their batteries. could not make or receive calls.” ADSB owns 50 percent less one share of “Considering how inexpensive corded Belgacom and is a consortium of SBC Wiskocil stressed the importance of main- phones are and the number of wall jacks Communications, TDC A/S (33 percent taining at least one corded phone for use most people have in their homes today, it ownership), Singapore Telecommuni- anytime electricity is lost due to a storm, just makes sense to maintain a simple cations (27 percent) and a group of or other causes. corded phone in a bedroom, den or Belgian financial investors (5 percent). Additionally, as many affected by the black- kitchen,” she said. in a catastrophic event, Also, SBC owns 41.6 percent of TDC. out discovered, the telecommunications it is extremely reassuring to be able to call As a part of the agreement, ADSB will network also would continue to support DSL family or friends to let them know you’re or Internet dial-up for battery-powered com- have the exclusive right from Jan. 1, 2004 OK. It’s even more rewarding to answer a until July 31, 2005, subject to certain res- puters, another vital communications link in cal from your children to hear them say the event of a disaster. trictions, to sell shares in an initial public they’re safe and sound. equity offering of Belgacom. As a condi- tion to the IPO and related transactions Reliable, Redundant Network Designed to Customers must also prepare to stay connected Provide Uninterrupted Service and subject to enabling legislation, Wiskocil said SBC also has prepared a Belgacom will transfer to the Belgian

“Unlike wireless and cordless telephones, UPDATE series of practical consumer tips On its State the significant liabilities related to standard corded phones are connected Web site at SBC Vital Connections in the its statutory pension plan, proceeds from directly through a wall jack to our highly event of an emergency. the sale of pension assets and cash suffi- reliable network and are not dependent cient to fully fund the obligations. This upon the external electrical power grid to The company offers several emergency transfer is valued at 5.0 billion and is operate,” she said. We have designed our preparedness strategies and alternatives expected to occur prior to Dec. 31, 2003. telecommunications infrastructure and so customers can continue to make and The transfer, along with certain other power organization to minimize the effect receive calls during blackouts: transactions contemplated as part of the of a commercial power outage so that cus- Make sure at least one telephone is IPO, are expected to result in a one-time tomers can continue to receive phone available that does not require an electri- charge to the equity income of ADSB of service during a loss of commercially cal outlet. Cordless phones, while between 275 million and 375 million, provided power.” convenient, don’t work in power outages. Customers should always have a determined on a U.S. GAAP basis. SBC’s Investment in its Power Systems standard, non-electrically powered tele- Additionally, the agreement calls for Annually, the company invests hundreds of phone on hand to quickly plug into a Belgacom to offer to buy back from ADSB millions of dollars upgrading its network and telephone jack during a power outage. before year end 2003 approximately 6 power systems. By investing significantly in Don’t count or answering machines during percent of the Belgacom shares ADSB its power infrastructure, the company is an outage. Answering machines depend holds (representing approximately 3 per- able to incorporate several levels of redun- on electricity and w not operate during a cent of the Belgacom shares outstanding). dancy through battery and generator loss of power. (SBC voice mail customers This does not constitute an offer of securi- back-up systems to help customers receive can continue to receive messages and ties for sale in the United States, Belgium service during power outages. leave messages for other users.) or elsewhere. Any securities offered will Under normal circumstances, the SBC Know who to call. Make a prioritized list of not be and have not been registered network receives power from local electric essential family, friends and neighbors under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and utilities to run the company’s sophisticated whom you may need to call. Also, be sure may not be offered or sold in the United computers and network equipment that to have easy access to emergency phone States or to U.S. persons absent registra- provide telecommunications service to cus- numbers such as local hospitals, personal tion or an applicable exemption from the tomers across its 13-state region. doctors and Insurance agents. registration requirements.

17 SBC Online Move Center To sumers can quickly get online to book home-buyers kick off the mortgage pre- Take The Stress Out Of Moving electricity or gas services, set up local, qualification process and offers a long distance and wireless phone services, Mortgage 101 primer and printable New Interactive Web Site Provides Advice, as well as Internet service in their new Mortgage Glossary to guide novice buyers Resources To Guide Consumers Through homes – all at their convenience, 24 hours through the financial process of securing The Moving Process; a day, seven days a week.” a loan. Articles and advice about auto, SBC companies have launched a new inter- More than 40 million wired Americans – one- homeowners and life insurance provide active online resource, the SBC Move third of all Internet users – went online last additional resources for movers. Center, to simplify the moving experience for year to search for houses or apartments, Moving In: Compile price quotes from consumers and provide a seamless ordering according to Pew Internet & American Life moving companies, truck rentals and process for new phone connections. Project. The SBC Move Center will help storage facilities and book services online. Consumers can save time by Through a partnership with Monster- guide consumers through every stage of a ordering or transferring utilities such as moving.com, the SBC Move Center move with free online resources, including: gas and electric, telephone, dial-up or DSL (www.sbc.com/move) is packed with Your New City and Home: Organize “To- Internet online at one’s convenience. resources to assist consumers with the Do’s” before, during and after a move with Register at the Address Changer site and routine and often time-consuming tasks the site’s interactive Mover Planner. The have automatic change of address notifi- associated with a move - everything from Real Estate Agent Matcher identifies the cations sent to the post office, credit card finding a real estate agent and getting best realtor for one’s needs and offers a companies and other billing companies. mortgage quotes, to booking a moving van cash reward when a home is purchased or and setting up phone service and other sold (average check $550). Comparison After the Move: Visit the site’s Home utilities in a new home - all with a visit to a tools help movers create a profile report, Service Center to get estimates and book single Web site location. Through the site, complete with statistics on a city’s popula- service visits for appliance repair and movers can also send electronic notifica- tion, cost of living and neighborhood crime carpet cleaning, as well as maid and pest tions to friends and family with new statistics. The site’s salary calculator control services. Save time and money contact information. enables consumers to research how their with articles and advice on home improve- salary measures up in a new city. ment and repair. Update family and friends A recent SBC poll found that 24 percent of with new address information by sending Americans worry most about handling all Mortgage and Insurance: Find free mortgage quotes from hundreds of electronic, personalized virtual postcards the small details involved in a move. “The from the Free Movers’ Greeting Card site. SBC Move Center is a great solution for lenders and evaluate insurance provider For additional information about the SBC Move those who feel both overwhelmed and options to shop for the best deals. Consumers can research more than 120 Center, visit www.sbc.com/move or contact your strapped for time when planning a move,” liaison manager. said Ty Robertson, director, SBC E-Channel. loan programs and calculate mortgage “With a few clicks of a mouse, busy con- payments with the site’s payment calcula- tor tool. The site helps potential

FCC Issues Guidance old carrier. Thus, while wireless carriers Commission did not propose to adopt the On Wireless-To-Wireless may include and enforce credit require- industry standard as a mandatory rule, it ments, early termination fees, and similar found no evidence that the standard was Local Number Portability contractual provisions in their customer technically infeasible, and stated that it agreements, carriers may not refuse to port would reexamine the issue if it received

November 2003 November On October 7, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an Order numbers upon receipt of a valid request numerous consumer complaints about the offering guidance to the industry on the from the customer’s new carrier. length of the wireless porting process. implementation of wireless local number Second, the FCC held that wireless-to-wire- Who We Are portability (WLNP). WLNP enables a consu- less porting does not require the wireless mer to change wireless service providers carrier receiving the number to be directly SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) within a given location and keep the same interconnected with the wireless carrier that is one of the World’s leading data, voice phone number. Wireless carriers are gives up the number or to have numbering and Internet Services Providers. Through required to make WLNP available to con- resources in the rate center associated its World-Class Networks, SBC companies sumers in the top 100 Metropolitan with the ported number. Although wireless provide a full range of voice, data, net- Statistical Areas (MSAs) starting November carriers may voluntarily negotiate intercon- working and e-business services, as well 24, 2003. Order solely addresses issues nection agreements with one another, such as directory advertising and publishing. A related to the implementation of wireless-to- agreements are not required for wireless-to- Fortune 30 company, SBC is America’s wireless porting; the FCC plans to address wireless porting. In cases where wireless leading provider of high-speed DSL pending issues related to wireline-to- carriers cannot reach an agreement on the Internet Access services and one of the wireless number portability at a later date. terms and conditions of porting, they must nation’s leading Internet Service Providers. SBC companies currently serve The Order addresses and clarifies the fol- port numbers upon receipt of a valid 57 million access lines nationwide. Also, lowing WLNP implementation issues: request, with no conditions. SBC companies own 60% of America’s Third, the FCC encouraged wireless carriers First, the FCC held that wireless customers second-largest wireless company – to complete simple ports within the industry- who port their numbers should have the Cingular Wireless, which serves over 22 established porting interval of two and a half same flexibility to switch carriers that non- million wireless customers. Internationally, hours from the time the customer requests porting customers have currently, even if SBC companies have telecommunications service from the new carrier. Although the they have not settled their account with the investments in 22 countries.

18 Sterling Commerce Earns achieved the sought-after SCP certification, SBC Laboratories Inc. World-Class Customer including Best Software, Lawson Software, McKesson, Rockwell Automation, Lockheed For SBC companies to maintain their Support Certification Martin, Nokia, PeopleSoft, and Xerox among leadership position, they must continually Sterling Commerce has announced that its others. Currently, more than 200 technology pursue technology research and develop- customer support organization has achieved support organizations around the world par- ment. That’s the driving force behind SBC the Support Center Practices (SCP) certifica- ticipate in the SCP program. Laboratories, the research and develop- ment division of SBC Communications. tion for the delivery of world-class customer Founded in 1988, SBC Labs provides support. Sterling Commerce received the About Support Center Practices (SCP) technology consulting and expertise to certification after an extensive audit of its Certification the SBC Communications family of com- three support centers located in Dublin, The Support Center Practices (SCP) panies, exploring new ways to turn Ohio, Ann Arbor, Mich. and Dallas. Certification program was developed to leading-edge technologies into real-life The Sterling Commerce support centers address service quality issues that affect solutions for businesses and consumers. the rapidly growing technology support handle global product and services SBC’s business units rely on SBC industry. The SSPA and forty of its member requests 24 hours a day. SCP certification Laboratories to provide creative technol- companies created the program along with quantifies the effectiveness of technology ogy solutions that are necessary to gain Service Strategies Corporation. These com- support operations based upon a stringent a competitive advantage in the market- panies contributed their insight and set of performance standards that repre- place. With labs in two of the country’s sent best practices in the industry. perspective into defining the key elements leading high-tech centers – Austin, required for delivering World Class support. “We participated in the rigorous require- Texas, and Pleasanton, Calif. – SBC The SSPA represents over 22,000 service ments necessary to achieve SCP Laboratories collaborates with other executives in over 2,500 support centers certification as a way to validate that our technology industry leaders and premier worldwide. SSPA gives service and support support centers provide consistent, excep- universities and assists with internal professionals opportunities to share ideas, tional support, and because it provides a and customer field trials. discuss developing trends and network with benchmark to strive for even higher levels SBC Laboratories focuses its research their peers. For more information about of performance,” said Sam Starr, president and development efforts on the following SSPA, visit http://www.theSSPA.com. and CEO, Sterling Commerce. key areas: Service Strategies Corporation is responsi- SCP certification is an internationally recog- ble for administering the SCP Certification Broadband Internet. Studying new tech- nologies that support Internet nized standard developed by the Service and program and conducting on-site certification transport and delivery systems and Support Professionals Association (SSPA) audits. For more information about SCP widespread data connectivity to help and a consortium of leading technology com- Certification, contact Service Strategies businesses and consumers communi- panies, together with Service Strategies Corporation at 858.674.4864, e-mail cate smarter and faster. Corporation. The program quantifies the [email protected] or visit Network Services. Transforming telecom- effectiveness of support, establishes a foun- http://www.scpcertification.com/. munications network services to

dation to build on existing quality processes, UPDATE increase user convenience, productivity and provides a clear focus on measurable About Sterling Commerce and effectiveness, as well as research- results. SCP Certification requires compre- Sterling Commerce, a wholly owned sub- ing new convergence network hensive on-site audits to confirm that sidiary of SBC Communications Inc., is architectures and products and companies meet the requirements of more one of the world’s largest providers of services. than 100 business elements defined in the business integration solutions. For Global Enterprise Information Technology. program. Certified organizations must 5000 companies and their customers, Researching new products and demonstrate their continued commitment to suppliers and partners, Sterling Commerce services for network management, high performance standards through annual software and services help maximize operational support systems, customer re-certification audits. business performance and improve care, information infrastructure “By passing the rigorous requirements nec- business metrics through integration of security, and information technology to essary to achieve SCP certification, Sterling applications, external partner systems and support businesses as they enter new Commerce has made it clear they are com- people. With more than 25 years of experi- markets, develop new products and mitted to delivering world-class support to ence serving more than 30,000 customers services and improve operations. their customers,” said Steve Brand, SCP in a vast range of industries, Sterling Wireless Systems. Developing technol- Auditor. “During the SCP certification audit, Commerce is a recognized pioneer in elec- ogy to improve and expand SBC’s Sterling Commerce demonstrated a clear tronic commerce through its longstanding cellular, PCS and other wireless com- commitment to customer satisfaction and expertise in EDI. Today, as customers munications services. continuous improvement.” explore new ways to improve business per- “We continue to make significant invest- formance via the Internet, Sterling Commerce continues to innovate its ments in our support technology, training “If you build relationships on trust, you and our people, because we believe excel- software and services to further the global lent customer support is a cornerstone for adoption of e-commerce while offering its can trust the relationships you build.” – customer satisfaction,” Starr said. customers strategic solutions that leverage existing technology. For more Dorothy Madden Sterling Commerce joins the ranks of information, visit www.sterlingcommerce.com. leading technology companies that have

19 1-800-CONFERENCE Suite of Conferencing [i] Study conducted by Runzheimer Finding Success with SBC SMART Yellow and Collaboration Services Offer Outstanding International and the Association of Pages & SMARTpages.com Travel Alternatives & Savings For Businesses Corporate Travel Executives, July 2003. SBC SMART Yellow Pages published more All SBC 1-800-CONFERENCE services are than 880 directory titles in 14 states and Business Travel is increasingly time-con- offer one of the most-used online Internet provided under an arrangement between suming and costly, with the average yellow pages, SMARTpages.com. Our direc- SBC Long Distance and Conference Plus, traveler now spending an estimated $500 tories reach over 37 million households, Inc. (CPI), and interLATA services, when a day or more. serve about 1 million customers and are applicable, are provided by certificated That’s why over half of business travel used more than 3.8 billion times a year. carriers through Conference Plus, Inc. managers surveyed say their companies SMARTpages.com receives more than 145 InterLATA and other services provided by million annual visits and growing! rely on travel alternatives – tools such as certificated carriers will be listed sepa- teleconferencing (81 percent), video con- Ninety out of every 100 SBC SMART Yellow rately on your bill. SBC, the SBC logo, Pages users make a purchase, according to ferencing (70 percent), and web 1-800-CONFERENCE®and Conference- conferencing (58 percent).[i] company officials. On the Internet, 70 out of NOW®are registered trademarks of SBC every 100 SMARTpages.com users contact These business tools from the SBC family of Knowledge Ventures, L.P. All other trade- or visit a business. companies can help you accomplish more marks belong to their respective owners. It’s a Fact! work in less time at a fraction of the cost. Toni Warbyla, Associate Director, 1-800-CONFERENCE Industry studies suggest for every $1 Audio Conferencing offers every invested in Yellow Pages, $14 in sales enhanced capability you need, including Service During The Power Outage revenue and $4 in profit is generated. broadcast/listen only, digital tape replay, As a major Power Outage hit dozens of Yellow Pages influence more buyers and electronic polling. US cities and parts of Canada in August, than any other medium and expands the reach of other media. Video Conferencing enables you to SBC’s Communications Network served Yellow Pages users spend 25% more connect single or multiple locations in a customers without an interruption across than the average consumer, and in single video conference, with crisp the 13 states. Some SBC telephone switching offices affected by power some cases, it’s even more. images, clear sound, and easy set-up. outages in Connecticut, parts of Michigan Yellow Pages usage is as strong as ever: At least 57% of adults refer to the ConferenceNOW®, SBC on-demand Audio and Northern Ohio, operated on backup Yellow Pages every week. and Web Conferencing Service, lets par- power. SBC’s sophisticated network moni- ticipants view slides, text, spreadsheets, toring centers closely examine our SBC SMART Yellow Pages are 100% recy- web pages, and snapshots of open systems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, clable and contain an average of 40% windows on your PC while participating 365 days a year. For over 125 years, SBC post-consumer waste. in an Audio Conference. has been helping customers communi- SBC SMART Yellow Pages offices: So before you schedule your next business cate in times of crisis and we are fully WEST: 1-800-848-8000 trip, check out www.1800conference.com or prepared to provide the highest levels of SOUTHWEST: 1-800-792-2665 MIDWEST: 1-800-346-4377 call 1-800-CONFERENCE®(1-800-266-3373). Network Security for all of our customers. SNET: 1-800-922-0008

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Kari Aguinaldo Tom David Bree Nimitsilpa

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Liaison Manager Editor/Communications/Seminars/Conferences Data Administrator 626.576.3045 714.284.2370 e-mail: [email protected] Fax: 626.576.5081 Fax: 714.563.1736 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] 500 E. Main Street, Room 540, Alhambra 91801 200 Center Street Promenade, Room 100, Anaheim 92805 Helps Consultants and Vendors in the following area codes: Thank You for reading 213, 310, 323, 562, 626, 661, 805, 818 Graphic Design Jessica Becker/Sergey Chichkin UPDATE Creative Graphics & Advertising 312.727.1559 e-mail: [email protected]