drz@po.cwru.edu (David R. Zinkin) (02/11/91)
I frequently see requests in the TELECOM Digest for "CNA" numbers for specific areas. What does "CNA" mean, and what are these numbers for? For that matter, if they serve a useful purpose, does anyone know the CNA numbers for Rochester, NY (area code 716 -- my home) and Cleveland, OH (area code 216 -- my school)? Thanks (again!), David Zinkin (drz@po.cwru.edu) -- Rochester General Hospital Radiology (Consultant) and Case Western Reserve Univ. (Psychology/Chemistry) [Moderator's Note: CNA = 'Customer Name and Address' Bureau. It is the departmetn or division within each telco which keeps track of what name and address go with what phone number. It should not be confused with the 'Non-Pub' bureau, which may or may not be part of the CNA but is in charge of keeping non-published numbers under lock and key and available on a 'need to know' basis to authorized telco employees. CNA is not usually a publicly available service. It is usually intended only for use internally by telco employees, but there are exceptions such as Chicago (Bell of Illinois and Centel) where 312-796-9600 is a public facility with a 50 cent (I think) charge for the use of the cross-reference directory. Some other telcos offer this as well. Our correspondent Randy Borow from here in the Chicago area has passed along a couple of CNA phone numbers for public use -- maybe he can provide the ones for your area also -- provided they are intended for the public! No confidential internal numbers please. PAT]