SHULL@WHARTON-10.ARPA (Christopher Shull) (01/15/86)
In Tuesday, January 14th TELECOM Digest (Volume 5, Issue 86), John Covert identified the 10XXX numbers for MCI, GTE, and AT&T. Do these services require subscription? Are there other 10XXX numbers that do not require subscription? At the U of Penn we have a Bell of PA CENTREX, and through it we reportedly receive the "benefit" of least cost routing for long distance calls. However, because the phone bills to departments are generated within the University, we cannot tell how a particular call was routed. When calling Washington D.C. (from Philadelphia), I frequently get disconnected. I have been told that this is because I am routed via MCI. (MCI believes there is a market for lower quality telephone service.) I had asked if there was some way to specify an AT&T line in order to get better quality, our telecommunications office, naturally, said no. I would like to dial 9-10288-1-202-XXX-XXXX to get my call routed to AT&T lines. (Substitute the 10XXX of your choice.) This technique seems to work, in that I get the right party. Question is, am I really getting past the pesky automatic least-cost router? I have not yet been able to determine whether the line quality or reliability is any better. Thanks in advance! -Chris Christopher Shull Shull@Wharton.ARPA Decision Sciences Department The Wharton School (215) 898-5930 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6366