Oncore Communications

When I first created this page, there were no other OCI pages to be found on the net so I figured that to pay my homage to them, I'd set up a page. I later found out that there were a few OCI pages which are listed further down in the "links" section. This page will attempt to document our personal experiences with OCI operators. Click here to read letters from other people who've read this page. This page was last updated on November 2nd, 1997

What the Hell is OCI??

OCI stands for Oncore Communications Incorporated and is probably the country's most abused long distance service. Not abused as in stolen from, of course, but abused meaning people call up their operators for the sole purpose of annoying them. For as long as I can remember, whenever there's a conference bridge set up for hackers, people always 3-way in OCI so they can torment the poor operators.

OCI seemingly doesn't know how to use their ANI features or maybe the technician lost all the operating manuals because they seem to have no clue what number you're calling from and have to ask you every time. You do have the option of entering a phone number when you first call (the number you're calling from) but that seems to be a poor security feature since dishonest people can just make one up. OCI has learned that many people in our world are dishonest from time to time.

OCI is owned by a company called Wiltel which some people may be familiar with. They usually handle long distance calls from pay phones and cheap motel rooms and charge outrageous prices for phone calls which they split with the pay phone vendors and motel managers.

Then again, "owned" may not be an appropriate word. Maybe OCI just uses Wiltel Long Distance or something, this is something that is still argued by many people and attempted social engineering of their operators usually gets the response, "I do not have access to that information, sir. *click*" This recently earned them the nickname "Wont-Tell" by my friend, iamone.

OCI is strange. Around February of 1997, OCI's automated voice stopped saying, "OCI" and started saying "Wiltel" instead. Then it went back to OCI for a few weeks. THEN it would change itself every few calls from OCI to Wiltel and now it seems that it depends what part of the United States you call from determines which long distance company you'll get, even though you're always getting the same office with the same operators. For example, in Ohio we always hear "Wiltel" but residents of California will hear, "OCI."

Just a few weeks after this page went up, OCI went through a major upgrade and some of the old OCI "tricks" stopped working as good as they used to. This doesn't change the fact that the operators are still extremely stupid, of course, but there are some changes that will make bugging OCI a little harder now.

Who Are the OCI Operators?

Even though OCI apparently has a high turnover rate, everyone has their favorite OCI operators. Since this is a relatively small company, you end up getting the same operators after calling five or six times. Here is a list of our favorites and why:

Constance - This lady is my favorite supervisor. Whenever I get her I flirt with her alot and ask her out on dates. She says I need to grow up and get a life and quit "hacking" OCI but I just can't help but like her.

Willie - Willie is actually a lady supervisor and I'm not sure if she's still with the company or not. Whenever I used to get Willie, I'd usually just make fun of her name alot which seemed to piss her off.

Kevin - One of the other OCI pages has a WAV of this guy. You'd probably guess from his voice that he likes small furry animals. When you hear him ask if he can help you, you'll probably piss yourself laughing.

How Do I Contact An OCI Operator

It's easy, you just dial OCI's phone number which is 1-800-288-2880. If you look at the letters on your phone, you'll notice that they're number is 1-800-ATT-ATT0 but this is just OCI's way of fooling you into thinking you're going to get low AT&T rates.

After you dial their number, you'll hear a dial tone. At this point you can either dial "0" to get an operator, or dial the "number you're calling from."

Rumor has it that if you don't press anything they will get your real phone number but this doesn't seem to be true in all the areas I've tried it in. But just to be safe, at least type in "0." Used to, you could make up any number you wanted to and you'd get an automated system. Now their system knows you're lying and you end up getting a live operator no matter what.

Famous Operator Quotes

"I do not have access to that information, sir. Now do you need to make a call?" -anytime you ask specific questions about their company, they will repeatedly say this to you.

"Yo mama" -operators use this witty comeback so much, we think it might be a suggested remark in their handbook.

Tricks & Tips

After OCI's recent upgrade, you can no longer trick them into making a collect call to a number which has a collect block on it. Used to, you could make a collect call to a number that was busy, then ask the operator to try a second number for you. The collect call would work on the second number even if the person you're calling had a collect block on their phone. We never figured out who would get charged for this. This might still work in some areas, but it's doubtful.

You can use any LD service to trick people into accepting collect calls, but due to the low IQ's of OCI operators, they are the easiest to accomplish this feat with. It's easy...

Using OCI, have the operator call somebody collect. When the person answers their phone, OCI will begin to tell them that they're getting a collect call. Inturrupt her by imitating the voice of the person who answered the phone and say, "Yes, I'll accept." In most cases, the operator will say thank you and leave. It usually happens so fast that the person you called will have no idea that they're paying for the call.

Disclaimer

At first I thought I should put a disclaimer on this page in case an OCI employee should happen to find it. Then I realized how stupid that was - an OCI employee doesn't know how to use a computer. How silly of me. But in any case, our web space provider, PLA and all who are affiliated with PLA do not encourage anybody to actually call OCI and annoy their operators. This is a bad, bad thing to do and only ends up costing OCI money and makes their employees very unhappy. Furthermore, if you prank OCI, then God will be mad with you and you won't get into heaven because God is actually stupid enough to use OCI for his long distance needs. So watch it. PLA doesn't actually ever prank call OCI. Oh no, I just made all this up, I would never enjoy a good laugh or two at the expense of an OCI/Wiltel employee. That would be just plain wrong. So don't bother OCI, they have enough problems to contend with.