dave%westmark@uunet.uu.net (Dave Levenson) (08/06/90)
The U. S. Department of State has established a hotline for people
seeking information about their friends/relatives in Kuwait. The
number, as published in the New York Times and shown on television, is
(202) 647 0900.
Here at Westmark, Inc., in New Jersey, we have since 1983 used the
number (201) 647 0900. (We still receive calls dialed to that number,
though NJ Bell now calls this area code 908.) Since last Thursday, we
have received approximately a dozen calls per day from people asking
for information about a flight from Baghdad, or whether communication
has been established with one or another town in Kuwait, or some
American company there, or whatever. Some of the callers think they
have reached someone in Kuwait. The calls continue into the night,
according to the answering service.
More than half of the calls, according to our Caller*ID display,
originate here in NJ. These may be being dialed as only seven digits.
(In most of NJ, you can dial the home area code if you want to, and
the call is still processed as a local call.)
We have tried to explain, very carefully for the benefit of these
callers, many of whom barely speak English, or have no idea what 'area
code' means, that they have reached New Jersey, not Kuwait. We have
patiently explained how to call the State Department. A few have
called us back a minute later, and we've had the same conversation
again.
Several people insisted that they had dialed area code 202. None of
these, however, reached us again if they re-dialed after speaking with
us. They insist that the number is right because it was on
television. One man yelled at me that he got the number from AT&T and
I must be mistaken. They don't believe that they could have
mis-dialed, but none have claimed that they meant to dial our number.
I suppose that if hundreds or thousands of people are trying to call
the number in Washington, it is not unusual that a few dozen of them
will mis-dial only the area code, and reach us. The network is
probably doing the best it can with what they dial. Still I wonder if
perhaps a few of these calls were correctly dialed, and are being
mis-routed by some minor piece of the PSDN?
Dave Levenson Voice: 908 647 0900 Fax: 908 647 6857
Westmark, Inc. UUCP: {uunet | rutgers | att}!westmark!dave
Warren, NJ, USA AT&T Mail: !westmark!daveDave_JOHNSTON%01%SRJC@odie.santarosa.edu (08/07/90)
On 6 Aug 90, Dave Levenson <dave%westmark@uunet.uu.net> wrote: >The U. S. Department of State has established a hotline for people >seeking information about their friends/relatives in Kuwait. The >number, as published in the New York Times and shown on television, is >(202) 647 0900. >Here at Westmark, Inc., in New Jersey, we have since 1983 used the >number (201) 647 0900. (We still receive calls dialed to that number, >though NJ Bell now calls this area code 908.) Since last Thursday, we >have received approximately a dozen calls per day from people asking I experienced a similar event some months back when US Forces went to Panama. The US Military, (Army I think) had a casualty information line at (800) 233-5255. This number was available in the media. My employer, Cellisys, Inc. had an 800 number of (800) 233-5525. We were deluged with calls for several days during the height of the event. We were a small company (under 60 employees) and our receptionist was having a hard time handling our calls, plus explaining to the callers that they had reached the wrong number. Our answering service also reported calls into the night from people trying to find out about their loved-ones. At first, we thought that either people were misdialing or somewhere in the media, the wrong number was being given out. Upon contacting AT&T they stated that there were "network overloads" causing the calls to be routed incorrectly. They said there was _nothing_ they could do about it. Sort of boosts your confidence in AT&T, doesn't it? The only good news I can offer Dave is that eventually it will all blow over and things will return to semi-normal. I just wanted him to know that he wasn't the only one who had ever had the problem. Dave Johnston johnston@odie.SantaRosa.EDU Santa Rosa Junior College (707) 527-4853 1501 Mendocino Ave. Opinions? My wife has all Santa Rosa, CA 95401 my opinions for me.
Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.uu.no> (08/08/90)
Dave Levenson relates a story [TELECOM Digest Vol 10, #545] on similar
telephone numbers causing many wrong number calls. I experience the
same problem.
My public number is very close to that of some organization similar in
style to the Red Cross, but Norwegian, only. "Very close", that is,
to people who want to dial these folks. I can't understand how they
can miss.
Their number is 02 33 15 90. Mine is 02 15 33 90. I get approximate-
ly three calls per day for these folks, and for some reason, the
telephone network is magic to the people who call. Of course, they
dialled what they thought was the number of this org, and explaining
to them that they got where the number leads them, but that the number
they have got is wrong. They haven't misdialled, which some of them
point of to me several times, and some of them insist that they have
the right number, even when it fails to hit the target.
The PSDN is clearly not at fault in this case, but the ability of
people to grasp the relationship of phone numbers to people is nil in
certain parts of the population.
My sleep-wake cycle is somewhat chaotic, so it gets very annoying at
times. I have ordered another phone line, unlisted ("secret" to the
Norwegian telco). That is a story in itself:
I call the telco, order an unlisted line, explain that I want a
particular number which is not in use, tell her the switch-district
code for my building, which is supposed to be a secret, and give her
the number of the pairs we have for the other line. She gets all
flustered up and asks me how I knew all of that. I said I got them
from the last person I talked to at her department, which is not
entirely false, and she calmed down. No charge for unlisted, no
charge for "vanity" numbers. Due to lack of available pairs in the
building, it will take all of 10 days to have the line installed. The
central office is an STK System 12, with full DSS1 & SS#7 capabilities
to those who can persuade the telco to give you access to the ISDN
channels in the switch. I haven't tried that, yet.
Another thing, I was told when I called them to order this line, that
I am the largest single-user customer in the entire Oslo telephone
district: I have two lines to my office, one a DDI on an ISDN switch,
the other a normal line, two lines to my computer, same arrangement,
two different pager numbers, one listed, the other with a password,
two lines at home, and one leased line. Yearly telecom budget around
$13,000. I politely asked if they would consider discounts on inter-
national calls to such a "large" customer, but they balked at that!
Geez. But their service is good, and line quality is supreme.
Erik Naggum
[Moderator's Note: In 1974, a major CO here was cut to ESS. My number
was WEbster 9-4600. Sears, Roebuck Central Credit had WAbash 2-4600. I
had two lines; they had a five-position cord board which literally
rocked around the clock; a very heavy traffic location with about 100
incoming trunks. When the ESS went in, some fool of a central office
worker got 922 mixed up with 939, and for *two days* I got flooded
with calls from people complaining about their credit cards, etc ...
All the calls originated from Chicago-Superior, as I recall. Sears
never even missed the calls they were not getting. I went through hell
from it until I got someone in the CO who would listen to me. PT]"J. Deters" <jad@dayton.dhdsc.mn.org> (08/10/90)
For over a year now, I've been getting wrong numbers and messages left on my AUDIX from people wishing to purchase Minnesota Twins tickets. My number is (612) 375-3116, and theirs is (612) 375-1116. (Notice how I don't care if I tell you all what my number is?) They have some goofball advertising agency that keeps using my number instead of theirs. It's interesting to see a television commercial with your own number on the screen. I just asked a guy last week where he saw the number. He told me "on the billboard by the Metrodome." You'd think someone might evenutally notice this. I get all kinds of messages left on my box. Most are short pauses with hangups. Some are friendly, some are background conversations like " ... not sure if it's the right number. Check it again <click>". Some are downright abusive, complete with drunken voices swearing at *me* for not being the Twins. I called the number, and the Twins general offices trying to rectify the situation. They've been zero help. Since I'm rarely at my desk and all I have to do is skip by the messages on my machine, I'm not pursuing the matter any farther. Instead, I periodically change my AUDIX greeting to: "Hi. This is John Deters. At the tone, please leave two reasons why the Oakland A's are better than the Minnesota Twins." (The usual response? "Jose" "Canseco".) Fortunately for me, the Twins are terrible this year, so I am not receiving just a flood. Well, I still have some tickets left behind home plate... J. Deters INTERNET: jad@dayton.DHDSC.MN.ORG UUCP: ...!bungia!dayton!jad
kenny@world.std.com (Kenneth R Crudup) (08/12/90)
When Lotus Development Corp. in Cambridge, MA took over the 617-693- exchange that used to be Martha's Vineyard before MV was part of the move to area code 508, it turned out that my (old) office number (now 617-693-4111) used to be the information number for Martha's Vineyard, so all these people from out of state with outdated directories were now starting to get my desk. I told something like 50 people in 3 weeks that the number had changed to a/c 508 (and the rate decreased some after the voicemail reflected the fact that they were calling a software company.) The funny part was that after my contract expired, I changed the OGM on the voicemail saying that I was no longer with Lotus and left my home telephone number on it, presumably for agencies and emergencies, hoping that most people would realize by then that this wasn't MV info, and noone was going to give out their home number if it was anyway. Ha. So far I've had four calls. This morning (Sat.) I got awakened at eightsomething AM from some woman who was sure that the sleepy, incoherent voice on the other end of the phone actually gave a damn and was going to take her reseveration. I had never heard of Martha's Vineyard before I moved to New England. Must be a hell of a place. I guess I'll have to check it out someday. Kenny Crudup, Unix Systems Consultant nubian!kenny@ima.ima.isc.com 14 John Eliot Sq. #2B, Roxbury, MA 02119-1569 (617) 442 6585
hale@ucsd.edu> (08/16/90)
In article <10568@accuvax.nwu.edu> erik@naggum.uu.no (Erik Naggum) writes: [wrong number discussion omitted] >My sleep-wake cycle is somewhat chaotic, so it gets very annoying at >times. I have ordered another phone line, unlisted ("secret" to the >Norwegian telco). I have a friend who used to have a major problem with wrong numbers. His number was different by 1 in one digit from that of the Camp Pendleton Marine Base brig near San Diego, California. He was awakened about 3AM one day by someone who wanted to know "Do you have Private Jones in the brig?" He quickly improvised the answer "No, we took him out in back and shot him." My friend eventually moved and abandoned the problem. I wonder if the new holder of that phone number is as inventive. Bob Hale ...!ucsd!btree!hale 619-535-3234 ...!btree!hale@ucsd.edu