ken@ihuxq.UUCP (11/03/83)
We've all noticed, I'm sure, that no phone number is ever mentioned on a tv show that does not begin with "555". I assume this guarantees that the number cannot be one which was issued to any phone co. customer. My question is, what happened (& when) so that all of tv-land started to do this? Ancillary questions: Is that assumption right? Is "555" unique in that regard? Is there any valid suffix for "555" other than "1212"? -- ken perlow ..ihnp4!ihuxq!ken bell labs @ naperville, IL
walsh@ihuxi.UUCP (11/03/83)
In regards to Ken's question "Is there any valid suffix for '555' other
than '1212'?":
When I've called information (555-1212) and accidently misdialed,
I still got information. So I purposely misdialed, eg. 555-3333, and
STILL got information. I think the only requirement is 555-xxxx and
the last four numbers are meaningless.
B. Walshnesacadm@ihu1f.UUCP (11/04/83)
In most cases you will find that only 555-121X will go through. The Telephone Company started screening out the 555-XXXX about 5 years ago so that the TV generated phone numbers would not bother the operators. If 555-3333 went through, it's because the area where that number terminated could not or did not do their screening.
notes@pur-ee.UUCP (11/05/83)
#R:ihuxq:-37200:isrnix:14400004:000:1231 isrnix!akp Nov 4 20:38:00 1983 That's not quite true. I've seen other 555 numbers listed in the beginning of the phone book (for things like service, and other phone company things). Since you say 555-xxxx worked, I would guess that any suffix which isn't specifically assigned would be programmed to give information. I seem to remember hearing that a TV or movie producer-like person could request a number from the phone company which would sound more realistic than "555- 6724." After all, now that everybody's on to the gag, it breaks the spell of realism that TV has to work so hard for, anyway. The point is that the number you request is also guaranteed to be a non-number; possibly some less obvious prefix, or class of prefixes, is reserved for non-numbers. But 555-xxxx is the cheap way out -- you KNOW without trying that it will be bogus. A side note: The prefix "1" means, "this is a toll call -- SOMEBODY is going to pay for it." The prefix "0" means, "I need operator assistance; it's probably a toll call." But did you know that you can dial "0-1-number"? I didn't... Just another example of Ma Bell idiot-proofing her system, by forgiving redundancy on the part of the user... -- Allan Pratt ...decvax!pur-ee!iuvax!isrnix!akp
twt@uicsl.UUCP (11/08/83)
#R:ihuxq:-37200:uicsl:12200023:000:467 uicsl!twt Nov 7 23:32:00 1983 On a related matter. The other day my hubby and I were looking at phones. There was a Cobra phone and I noticed that the number on the box was (312) xxx-xxxx (I don't remember it now), which I remembered as being the number for Dynascan Corp in Chicago (I dated a guy that worked there so I remembered the number once I saw it). Dynascan makes ... Cobra stuff. I thought it was interesting at the time. Anyway, 555-anything is better that 867-5309. Mary
jhillis@ihuxf.UUCP (Jeffrey Hillis) (11/08/83)
There is an AT&T group which is responsible for providing any necessary "non-functioning" 555 numbers. Jeff Hillis ihuxf!jhillis
nesacadm@ihu1f.UUCP (11/09/83)
The ONLY functioning NPA+555-XXXX or 555-XXXX is 555-1212. Everything
else will go to an announcement if all involved offices have done their
translations properly.
555 is a pseudo exchange limited to information. In the old days, you
could dial 555 plus anything and get through. Now since TV shows use
555+ whatever, the telephone company now does translation to insure
that the numbers after 555 are 121X. It doesn't look at the last
digit. So if you dial 555-1219, you will get an information operator.
If the first three digits after 555 are not 121, you should get a
misdialing announcement.
TV shows use numbers like 555-3729 for those people who just have to
dial the number. The aforemention screening technique is to avoid
bothering the operator with "crap" calls generated by a TV show.
--
:-() Bill Adams --> AT&T Communications
ihnp4!ihu1f!nesacadm
(312) 979-6267notes@pur-ee.UUCP (11/21/83)
#R:ihuxq:-37200:isrnix:14400006:000:228
isrnix!akp Nov 20 15:49:00 1983
Possibly it was "1-0-xxx-xxx-xxxx" -- I think it was my note you are
referring to. Certainly, you are right -- 0-1-... is overseas/international.
Sorry.
-- Allan Pratt
...{decvax, ucbvax, tektronix}!ihnp4!iuvax!isrnix!akp