A Child Is Calling For Help. Wireless AMBER Alerts Put Wireless Devices To Use

Statistics show that the first three hours after a child's abduction are most critical to recovery efforts. By combining the efforts of the wireless industry with the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children® (NCMEC) and law enforcement agencies, the Wireless AMBER Alerts™ initiative will be a catalyst for the more than 200 million wireless subscribers to aid in the search for and recovery of an abducted child.

AMBER

According to NCMEC, more than 260 children have been recovered since the AMBER Alert program began in 1997. The program-an early warning system to find abducted children-started as a local effort in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area and became a national initiative in 2003. AMBER stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response." The program is a legacy to Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, and was later found murdered.

An estimated 70 percent of Americans have wireless phones, and together they can serve as a national network that assists families and the authorities in searching for abducted children. By signing up to receive Wireless AMBER Alerts, subscribers receive information about local Alerts, as well as updates as the search progresses.

Opting In

Subscribers capable of receiving text messages, and whose wireless carrier participates in the Wireless AMBER Alerts initiative, may opt in to receive Alerts by registering at www.wirelessamberalerts.org or their wireless carrier's Web site. Users can designate up to five ZIP codes from which they'd like to be alerted in the case of an AMBER Alert activation.

Public Service

Advertising Campaign

The Advertising Council, in partnership with NCMEC, The Wireless Foundation and the U.S Department of Justice, launched a multimedia public service advertising (PSA) campaign designed to raise awareness of Wireless AMBER Alerts and encourage all wireless subscribers to aid in the search for abducted children. It is the first nationwide PSA campaign to address this technology and the ads launched on National Missing Children's Day (May 25th).

Wireless subscribers can now sign up to receive free AMBER Alerts via text messages.

3 Things You Need To Know About Voip

You have seen the ads about VOIP and you want in on it if it is what it promises to be. But, before you do so, you realize you need to know a little bit more about it. VOIP is fast becoming the talk of the world, literally! People are seeing the benefits of it in their bank accounts as well as in their service experiences. VOIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol, is a way of communicating via the internet instead of using standard land phone lines.

What You Have To Know

* Not sure how it works? Just as your internet connection can stay on, so can a phone system that is hooked up to it. The phone runs through the web, allowing for you to talk to anyone, anywhere without the need of expensive phone service. A great way to learn more about VOIP is to take a free demo of how it works. You’ll find these throughout the web.

* How does it save money? Another common question people have is how VOIP can save you money. If you are one that spends a lot of money each month on long distance phone calls, call waiting and forwarding services… and all other gadgets available for your standard phone, VOIP can save you money. It can do this because when you call through the internet, distance simply does not matter. Does it cost you anything to email your friend in China? No! And, neither does it cost to use VOIP long distance.

* What do you have to do to get it? First, you’ll need to insure that you have the service available in your area. Next, you’ll need to do some research to find out what the businesses can offer you in terms of service and cost. Then, you’ll need to install software and simple equipment and that’s that. You’ll likely pay a monthly payment as you do now, but it is likely to be much lower.

VOIP is fast growing because it is easy to use, affordable and quite possibly is the way of making phone calls in the years to come.

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Exam Tutorial: Testing ISDN Links Without Pings

To earn your Cisco CCNA and CCNP certifications, you've got to master ISDN - and despite what some people say, there's still a lot of ISDN out there that needs to be supported. And when it comes to troubleshooting ISDN, there's a lot to look at. Is the correct ISDN switchtype configured? Are the dialer map statements correct? What about the dialer-group and dialer-list commands? And that's just the start.

I always say that all troubleshooting starts at Layer 1, the Physical layer of the OSI model. The usual method of troubleshooting ISDN is sending pings across the link, but the connection can be tested without using pings or even before assigning IP addresses to the BRI interfaces!

It's a good idea to place these test calls before configuring the interfaces - that way, you know you've got a valid connection before beginning the configuration (and there's a lot of config to go along with ISDN!)

To place a test call without using pings, use the isdn call interface command.

R1#isdn call interface bri0 8358662

R1#

03:54:43: BR0 DDR: Attempting to dial 8358662

03:54:43: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface BRI0:1, changed state to up

03:54:44: BR0:1 DDR: dialer protocol up

03:54:45: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface BRI0:1, changed state to up

03:54:49: %ISDN-6-CONNECT: Interface BRI0:1 is now connected to 8358662 R2

To tear the test call down correctly, use isdn disconnect interface. IOS Help displays the options with this command.

R1#isdn disconnect interface bri 0 ?

all Disconnect the data call(s) on all b channels

b1 Disconnect the data call on b1 channel

b2 Disconnect the data call on b2 channel

R1#isdn disconnect interface bri 0 all

03:58:36: BR0:1 DDR: disconnecting call

03:58:36: BR0:2 DDR: disconnecting call

03:58:36: %ISDN-6-DISCONNECT: Interface BRI0:1 disconnected from 8358662
R2, call lasted 20 seconds

03:58:36: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface BRI0:1, changed state to down

03:58:36: BR0:1 DDR: disconnecting call

03:58:37: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface BRI0:1, changed state to down

I say "correctly" because the one thing you don't want to do to end an ISDN call, test or otherwise, is just shut the interface. Telcos don't like it, and ISDN lab devices like it even less. Always let the d-channel do its work and tear the call down in an orderly fashion - don't just cut it off by shutting the interface down.