levin@bbn.com (Joel B. Levin) (03/03/91)
The Moderator Notes: > I think the Bell companies called it "Enterprise" and GTE and many > independent telcos preferred "Zenith". But the database was the same. I'd like to know what the difference between "Enterprise" and "Zenith" might have been, but this isn't it. I distinctly remember a number of "Zenith" entries in the little phone book in Logan, Utah (both in the "number, please" era and after the advent of dialling and DDD). And Mountain Bell, part of AT&T, was definitely the phone company. JBL nets: levin@bbn.com | BBN Communications or: ...!bbn!levin | M/S 20/7A POTS: +1 617 873 3463 | 150 Cambridge Park Drive FAX: +1 617 873 8202 | Cambridge, MA 02140 [Moderator's Note: There was no difference between them. All the operators from whatever telco -- Bell, GTE or independent -- called the same database (AT&T's Rate and Route Bureau) to get the translation number for any Enterprise/Zenith code not common enough to be in the operator's reference flip-chart at hand. When you ordered an Enterprise/Zenith number, the same thing happened then that happens now when you order an 800 number: Someone at the telco originating the order had to send word to Rate and Route (then) to update their records. When a new 800 prefix opens up the other telcos have to be told how to handle thee call and where to send it, etc. I think there were a few places that had an actual ENterprise exchange; to avoid confusion with it those telcos probably used Zenith instead. Maybe Mountain Bell fell in this category. I've never known what the rule was on the name used for the automatic reverse-charge service. Canada seemed to have lots of "Zenith" and little or no "Enterprise". A file in the Telecom Archives gives more detail on this obsolete service. PAT]