irvin@northstar105.dartmouth.edu (Tim Irvin) (03/29/91)
Here's one that been bugging me for a while.
Why aren't the local telephone numbers for DA standardized? It seems
strange to me that each place I have lived, you have to dial a
different number for Local DA.
In Asheville, NC we dialed the well known 411. The number I grew up
thinking was the number for DA everywhere -- wrong.
In Knoxville, TN it was 1-411. At first I thought the one was
prepended to remind callers that there is a charge now a days, but as
luck would have it this proved wrong, since TN PUC doesn't allow SCB
to charge for Local DA.
And finally in NH the magic number is 1-555-1212, which makes a
certain amount of sense, since in the above two examples 1-555-1212
got you to the same place as the alternate number.
The differences between 1-555-1212 and 1-411 in TN was (1) 1-411
was free for an unlimited number of calls, 1-555-1212 was billable,
(2) 1-411 made you listen to the folowing recorded message before
getting to a live person:
"To help hold down the cost of your telephone service please
check the number in your telephone directory. If you've
already checked and can't find the number, please stay on the
line and an operator will assist you."
Whew ... rather obnoxious after awhile to listen to this each time,
but I guess that's the point -- as long as it is free they will make
us wait. Also, not too amazing I still remember it word-for-word
(well almost at least) after waiting through it as many times as I
did. Actually, it is sort of a ritual now in the area to say it
out-loud as you are waiting -- make for an interesting office
environment.
Anyway, back to the point -- does anyone know why this wasn't made a
standard number long ago (at least during the monopoly days, when such
things were easier to accomplish)? I would think that at least
Asheville, NC and Knoxville, TN would be the same since they are both
BELLSouth locations.
Tim Irvin