govern@houxf.UUCP (08/02/83)
N. Klein at houxt recently complained about advertisements that give telephone numbers as 1-NXX-NXX-XXXX instead of just NXX-NXX-XXXX. Well, they're doing it at the request of the phone company - not just NYTel and Pacific, but ATT. There are two reasons for it: - A large part of the country has to use this format, and too many people have been misdialing because of ads that don't remind them to dial "1" first. In areas with enough modern telephone switches that you don't have to dial the "1" to get a toll call, most of the equipment is smart enough to ignore an initial "1", so misdials aren't a problem. - Starting in about 1995, you're ALL going to have to dial 1-NXX-NXX-XXXX for normal long distance calls, even if your home area code doesn't use central office codes with N0X or N1X formats. (Note that X is any digit, and N is 2-9 only.) The reason is that the supply of area codes using the N0/1X format is running out - about 130 have been used, and the N11 codes are reserved for 411, 911, etc. Adding exchange codes that look like area codes affects the area codes that do it, but don't force anyone else to change. However, using area codes that look like the old NNX exchange codes means *everybody* has to change; the only way to tell the difference is by how many digits are dialed. The two main alternatives for this are: - Collect the first 7 digits, then wait to see if the caller dials any more. Everyone hates this; it's only use is for international calls, and even then the # key lets you tell it to stop timing. People still hate it. - Dial "1" first. People who don't have to do this find it annoying, but most people have to dial "1" already. (Just when I'd gotten used to 9-800-311-1111.) The main problem with this method is that it precludes dialing "1 + 7 digits" for a long distance call in your own area code. People who have step-by-step telephone switches (i.e. too primitive to do their own long-distance billing) will have to dial 1-HomeAreaCode-NXX-XXXX. This is a drag, especially for people up in Newfoundland where almost all the equipment is step-by-step, and where they weren't going to run out of NNX codes for about 500 years. (It also costs money for the phone company to change the equipment; there are a lot of places that are putting off the change as long as possible.) The next batch of area codes will look like NN0, with the first two values being 260 and 530. (See "Notes on the Network" for the rest of the list.) Bill Stewart BTL- Holmdel NJ
dee@cca.UUCP (Donald Eastlake) (08/03/83)
I never had any objection to 1-Nxx-xxx-xxxx, it is the real number as far as the world wide dialing scheme goes. What really bugs me is systems like Boston which require 1 before some seven digit numbers and prohibit it before others. Almost all my calls are business calls and if I go to the effort of making a phone call I could care less whether it is "long distance" or not (at least if it is within North America).