# How to check which telephone number the R15-500 is calling to make it's calls?



## newswatcher (Nov 21, 2004)

Did a search and couldn't find any threads on this...there is nothing in the "Info & Settings" menu that tells you what number it is calling:nono2:


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

newswatcher said:


> Did a search and couldn't find any threads on this...there is nothing in the "Info & Settings" menu that tells you what number it is calling:nono2:


You don't. It dials some undisclosed toll free and/or local number.


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## newswatcher (Nov 21, 2004)

Thanks, appreciate the response...


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## personman (Apr 24, 2007)

You can't check it through the R15's menus; you could put some device between the R15 and the telephone line to find out what the number is. 

I'm not sure why you would want it though.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

And, through your DiercTv.com account, you can opt out of reporting your viewing habits.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

If anyone is really that nosy (like me) the R15 seems to dial 3 different numbers.

866-709-2073 is the monthly "big brother" number which not only my R15's but my older legacy boxes have dialed for years to report in. If a PPV show is purchased, the day this number is dialed is the day that the purchase is posted on the next billing statement.

800-713-9276 seems to be the "what are you watching or what are you doing" number. It is dialed after you schedule a bunch of shows to record or make a lot of changes to the box....an hour or two after you finish changing things.

866-685-8469 only seems to be dialed when running CE (Cutting Edge/beta) software. It dials this a LOT when a CE release is loaded. I surmise the nosy software engineers what to see how their latest creation is performing.


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## personman (Apr 24, 2007)

What did you use to find out this information? Just curious.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

ThomasM said:


> If anyone is really that nosy (like me) the R15 seems to dial 3 different numbers.
> 
> 866-709-2073 is the monthly "big brother" number which not only my R15's but my older legacy boxes have dialed for years to report in. If a PPV show is purchased, the day this number is dialed is the day that the purchase is posted on the next billing statement.
> 
> ...


Why those sneaky little D* devils!!.!Devil_lol


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

personman said:


> What did you use to find out this information? Just curious.


A clever little device called a 2-way caller ID box. It yields all kinds of fun numbers, like the one installers call to activate your DirecTV receivers & service without talking to anyone...


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## newswatcher (Nov 21, 2004)

ThomasM said:


> A clever little device called a 2-way caller ID box. It yields all kinds of fun numbers, like the one installers call to activate your DirecTV receivers & service without talking to anyone...


Best place to get one? Do you have to have "Caller ID" from your phone company? Can you get Caller ID from this box for incoming calls? Thanks. Never heard of this...


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

A quick google search on "outgoing caller ID" produced this link. I have no knowledge of the actual product.

http://spyville.com/phone-number-manager.html

Basically, all you need is something that can decode DTMF tones (touch tone phone tones), and log what it captures.

Carl


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## brian188 (Oct 13, 2007)

1-800-531-5602
1-866-709-2073
1-800-713-9276

are the numbers my HR20 and R-15 dial.

I have VoIP so every incoming and outgoing call is logged. I just went in to my call logs saw the 800#, then blocked it from being dialed. The next day looked again to find the new 800# number. Did this for a week, to find the HR20 and R-15 could no longer dial out (therefore there are no more #'s in its phone book). I then removed the blocks.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Interesting. I may have to get me one of those boxes. There was a time when you could just look on your phone bill and see even toll-free numbers. Now who looks?


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## Mark20 (Dec 25, 2006)

ThomasM said:


> 866-685-8469 only seems to be dialed when running CE (Cutting Edge/beta) software. It dials this a LOT when a CE release is loaded. I surmise the nosy software engineers what to see how their latest creation is performing.


This can be a gold mine of software execution info to a programmer or a complete waste of effort to review. Comes down to are you lucky enough to get useful data right around a major hiccup and you know what the hiccup was. Too many times I've been given data and "It crashed, find out what happened." But no more details or observations.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

brian188 said:


> 1-800-531-5602
> 1-866-709-2073
> 1-800-713-9276
> 
> ...


Two of your three numbers are the ones I have captured. However, I don't think the numbers you have listed do the same thing. I do not have any numbers blocked, yet my R15's dial the 3 numbers I listed all the time. Years ago, my legacy receivers used to dial that 5602 number.

It sure would be cool if some super-techie could figure out what kind of data was being exchanged during all these phone calls!!

I KNOW one "new" reason for all these calls is not PPV, sports subscriptions, or verification of a receiver's location. It's WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING information. Want a real-time look at what the system is capturing from receivers calling in at this very moment? Press the "active" button and note that cool new menu entry "What's Hot". You'll get a big surprise if you've never seen this before. (It used to be hidden on the "news mix" channel)

Now, where do you think they are getting that information from?? Hmmm?


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## brian188 (Oct 13, 2007)

ThomasM said:


> Two of your three numbers are the ones I have captured. However, I don't think the numbers you have listed do the same thing. I do not have any numbers blocked, yet my R15's dial the 3 numbers I listed all the time. Years ago, my legacy receivers used to dial that 5602 number.
> 
> It sure would be cool if some super-techie could figure out what kind of data was being exchanged during all these phone calls!!


That would be a "Super"-techie indeed. :wizardhat



ThomsM said:


> I KNOW one "new" reason for all these calls is not PPV, sports subscriptions, or verification of a receiver's location. It's WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING information. Want a real-time look at what the system is capturing from receivers calling in at this very moment? Press the "active" button and note that cool new menu entry "What's Hot". You'll get a big surprise if you've never seen this before. (It used to be hidden on the "news mix" channel)
> 
> Now, where do you think they are getting that information from?? Hmmm?


Not sure if its through the phone or not, most likely. But it could be through the satellite too, I'd imagine they are two way. You can "opt" out of the data collection on Directv.com if you'd like, FYI.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

brian188 said:


> That would be a "Super"-techie indeed. :wizardhat
> 
> Not sure if its through the phone or not, most likely. But it could be through the satellite too, I'd imagine they are two way.


The satellite is one-way only. There is absolutely no way DirecTV could gather any usage figures via satellite.

Carl


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

carl6 said:


> The satellite is one-way only. There is absolutely no way DirecTV could gather any usage figures via satellite.
> 
> Carl


+1

My guess is that with over 14 MILLION subscribers (not receivers), there are a goodly number of units doing an "ET call home" routine every single minute of the day. DirecTV must have MASSIVE incoming telephone facilities/modems to accomodate all these incoming calls. And as such, they can provide "real time" display of what folks are watching. Of course, it just happens to be the viewers whose receivers are calling in right at the moment of the display.

Still, pretty cool although I'm afraid my viewing habits are not for public display. There are three settings for each user's account:

1. Collect viewing data anonymously which means do not collect any personally-identifiable data. (I.E. they use your data but don't associate it with your acct.)

2. Collect data along with your account info letting DirecTV know exactly what you watch which may be helpful in offers and promotions.

3. Collect NOTHING from a subscriber's receivers as far as viewing data (the way my account is presently configured)

To check on YOUR configuration, log into DirecTV.COM and select your account and "profile choices" or something like that. There is a special area for specifying what you wish to contribute. (NOTE: #1 is the default)

If your account is set up to be PRIVATE and share NO VIEWING DATA, you will get a special line item on your invoice/statement indicating this.


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## w7com (Nov 5, 2007)

ThomasM said:


> A clever little device called a 2-way caller ID box. It yields all kinds of fun numbers, like the one installers call to activate your DirecTV receivers & service without talking to anyone...


You mean IVR? 1-800-556-6074


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## CJTE (Sep 18, 2007)

The CSR's can do callbacks to update your PPV status.
Call 'em on your cell phone and ask them to request a call back, then check your logs to see what number it dialed back was and that'll most-likely be your PPV number.
Also, try a sys test and see what number it dials out.


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