henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (10/23/84)
Anybody know what the ringback number (you call it, hang up, it calls
you back automatically -- for phone testing) is in Toronto? I want to
test a ring detector, and it's awkward because I have only one phone
handy. I'm on the 967 exchange, which is one of the modern ones, if
that matters.
--
Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henrymilan@utcs.UUCP (Milan Strnad) (10/24/84)
Some time ago when I lived in a certain area of Toronto (Parkdale, to be exact, with a 53- number), the ringback number was 4108<wait for tone>6. Try it and see. milan (..utcs!milan)
jjchew@utcs.UUCP (John Chew) (10/24/84)
In old exchanges, it used to be the case that if you dialled 4109x and
then hung up, the phone would start ringing long rings (length proportional
to x) with short pauses.
Another thing to try is the old high-school "Let's freak out all the people
standing in the subway station next to the phone booths" trick of dialling
57 followed by the last five digits of your number, or 577 followed by the
last four. This makes the phone hang up, at which point you click the
switch-hook, dial a number (traditionally 6), and then hang up again to
start it ringing.
By the way, does anyone know why these work and what they are supposed to be
for? And how about loop numbers...
John J. Chew
(.. utcs!jjchew)tracy@hcrvx1.UUCP (Tracy Tims) (10/25/84)
The ringback number seems to depend on the exchange (or exchange technology)
but it often is 57x-xxxx where x-xxxx is the last five digits of your phone
number. There are generally only 2 ringback circuits per exchange, so you
can tie them up at telephone booths easily.
Tracy Tims {linus,allegra,decvax}!watmath!...
Human Computing Resources Corporation {ihnp4,utzoo}!...
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 416 922-1937 ...hcr!hcrvax!tracypaulb@hcrvax.UUCP (Paul Bonneau) (10/25/84)
[]
Depending on the exchange, they are:
41091 for regular ring.
41098 for long ring.
In some exchanges, these numbers don't work.
Also, if its a tone push button, try
21091, and
21098
--
I'm a man! I'm not a horse! Paul Bonneau
{decvax|utzoo|watmath}!hcr!hcrvaxhenry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (10/29/84)
Thanks to everybody who replied about ringback numbers; I think all the
specific suggestions appeared in followups at one point or another, so
I don't need to post the one or two bits of private mail I got about it.
On the 967- exchange, this is the one that works:
Dial 57x-xxxx, where x-xxxx is last five digits of your number.
You'll get dial tone back immediately.
Depress the hookswitch (that the receiver normally rests on)
for a fraction of a second (not just a quick blip, but
a very short pause with it depressed).
After a couple of seconds, the dial tone gives way to an odd tone.
Hang up.
The phone will ring.
Pick it up; you'll hear the same odd tone.
Hang up, and things are back to normal.
A couple of folks reported problems getting things back to normal! I had
no problem with this, but they indicated that the recipe is to leave the
phone off the hook for a long pause before hanging up.
--
Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry