"David E. Bernholdt" <bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu> (08/07/90)
I was recently in Cincinatti, Ohio & needed a number from directory assistance. I dialed 411 and the got a recording saying (I think) "your call cannot be completed..." I called the operator & discovered that local directory assistance was 1-555-1212. I had never heard of this before & wonder how common it is? Is 411 being phased out, or is this just a local thing? David Bernholdt bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu Quantum Theory Project bernhold@ufpine.bitnet University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32611 904/392 6365 [Moderator's Note: Here in Chicago, 555-anything gets Directory Assistance, however you do need all seven digits before it will begin to process the call. Neither this or 555-1212 is advertised for Chicago area information calls, with 411 the preferred way of dialing the call. PT]
John Cowan <cowan@marob.masa.com> (08/07/90)
In article <10523@accuvax.nwu.edu>, David E. Bernholdt <bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu> writes: [1-555-1212 required for DA in Cincinnati] The Esteemed Moderator writes: [555-xxxx permitted, but not documented, for DA in Chicago] I write: Prior to the 212/718 split here in New York City, the standard method for getting DA in Manhattan & Bronx was to dial 411; for DA in Brooklyn, Queens & Staten Island (later to become the 718 NPA), 555-1212 was standard. I don't know if this was mandatory or just the recommended procedure. Now the recommended procedure is to dial 411 for DA in one's own NPA, and NPA-555-1212 for the other one, but this is not mandatory, and DA operators will field calls for both NPAs. 555-1212 also works. cowan@marob.masa.com (aka ...!hombre!marob!cowan)
Matt=Carpenter%LAB%CON@nursing.con.ohio-state.edu (08/07/90)
In TELECOM Digest #546 David Bernholdt mentioned his expereince when trying to dial directory assistance (411) within Cincinnati. As he found out, in Cincinnati, DA is 1-555-1212 *not* 411. I grew up in Cincinnati and it has always been 1-555-1212. The explanation for this non-standard number may lie in the fact that Cincinnati is serviced by Cincinnati Bell, Inc. and not any of the RBOC's (Ameritech). Cincinnati Bell was not owned in the majority by AT&T during the breakup, so they were largely unaffected. Cincinnati Bell has probably done things their own way since the beginning and is keeping it that way. Which brings me to this - what about standards? We seem to have standards to specify what equipment I can hook up to the PSTN, but there seems to be little on standards that the phone company should live up to. While reading this Digest, I can see all the differences in dialing instructions and I'm afraid that when I move or travel, I won't know how to use the phone! Matt Carpenter carpenterm@nursing.con.ohio-state.edu
Randal Schwartz <merlyn@iwarp.intel.com> (08/08/90)
In article <10523@accuvax.nwu.edu>, bernhold@qtp (David E. Bernholdt) writes: | I was recently in Cincinatti, Ohio & needed a number from directory | assistance. I dialed 411 and the got a recording saying (I think) | "your call cannot be completed..." I called the operator & discovered | that local directory assistance was 1-555-1212. I had never heard of | this before & wonder how common it is? Is 411 being phased out, or is | this just a local thing? I think I said this about six months ago, but here in the Pacific Northwest, in both GTE and US West (nee Pacific Northwest Bell), we've *never* had 411. It's always been 1-555-1212 for as long as I've been able to operate the phone. OK, in the early days, "113" would get us to directory assistance in PNB-land, but they phased that out a few years ago even. It took travelling out of the area for me to know what everybody had meant by calling "411". This is *far* from being a universal number. Just another phone user, Randal L. Schwartz, Stonehenge Consulting Services (503)777-0095 ========== on contract to Intel's iWarp project, Beaverton, Oregon, USA, Sol III merlyn@iwarp.intel.com ...!any-MX-mailer-like-uunet!iwarp.intel.com!merlyn
"DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN)" <DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu> (08/08/90)
Hmmm ... In Connecticut you MUST dial 1+411 or 1+555-1212 for DA. SNET
(Southern New England Telephone) tells its customers to use 1-411 for
state-wide DA, but both 1-411 and 1-555-1212 work.
I think they make you dial 1+ so that PBX's (and the like) can block
out such calls. What's odd is that SNET required 1+411 dialing long
before they started charging for DA (I guess that was about 2 years
ago), so I wonder why they forced customers to dial 1+411 even before
anyone would want to block calls there.?
BTW, in New York City, the payphones and phone books suggest the
following DA dialing procedure:
411- local calls within the area code (212, 718, or soon 917)
555-1212 - calls within the area code but not local (but almost ALL calls
in each of the area codes are local, except to/from Staten Island
or the Bronx in some limited cases...)
1+Area Code+555-1212 - calls to another area code.
In actuality, you can use any of them, and DA will usually give you
the number, as I have never been told "hang up and dial the CORRECT
number, please", when using 411 instead of Area Code+555-1212, etc.
My favorite place for directory assistance: Greenwich, CT, which is
served by New York Tel. You can get FREE CT DA as well as FREE NY DA
from payphones there...
My worst place(s): Louisiana and Oregon, which have the NERVE to
charge 50 cents for ANY DA call ... and they never have an up-to-date
phone book around! (BTW, I've dialed 0+411 from New Orleans and got
the Southern Bell Calling Card system ... I entered my calling card #,
but was never billed ... Hmmmmm.)
Doug
dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu
dreuben@wesleyan.bitnetBill Huttig <la063249@zach.fit.edu> (08/09/90)
Since most phone companies centralized DA you can call 411 for non-local DA and avoid the charge for 1-555-1212 (Mainly works for BOC's ), since 1-555-1212 call usually goes to the BOC for the A/C and they transfer you to other DA operator for non Bell areas. United Telephone has one DA for all of Florida (I think) so I when I was living in a United area I could call 411 and get DA for other area codes of United.
levin@bbn.com (Joel B. Levin) (08/11/90)
From: "David E. Bernholdt" <bernhold@qtp.ufl.edu> >I was recently in Cincinatti, Ohio & needed a number from directory >assistance. I called the operator & discovered >that local directory assistance was 1-555-1212. I had never heard of >this before & wonder how common it is? . . . >[Moderator's Note: Here in Chicago, 555-anything gets Directory >Assistance, however you do need all seven digits before it will begin >to process the call. Neither this or 555-1212 is advertised for >Chicago area information calls, with 411 the preferred way of dialing >the call. PT] As has been pointed out, this works in a lot of places. Around here, at least in southern New Hampshire, it's mandatory. Directory assistance for anywhere in the state is 1-555-1212. And the -1212 is mandatory, too. Repair service for NET lines is listed as 1-555-1611 for residence and coin phones, 1-555-1515 for business phones (separate numbers are given for the towns with independent telcos, of course). Incidentally, three normal looking 1+ numbers are given for reaching the business office, with the notation that there is no charge for the call. This must be done with special software to remove charges to those particular numbers, since there is nothing special about them (e.g. 1-622-6233). In fact, when I call from work I call collect; if the line is answered by machine it begins with an instruction to long distance operators that all collect calls are accepted. JBL levin@bbn.com ...!bbn!levin (617) 873-3463
"John R. Covert 15-Aug-1990 1021" <covert@covert.enet.dec.com> (08/15/90)
From: Greg Monti Date: 15 August 1990 Subject: Re: 1-555-1212 for Local Directory Assistance? "DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN)" <DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu> writes: > 555-1212 - calls within the area code but not local (but almost ALL calls > in each of the area codes are local, except to/from Staten Island > or the Bronx in some limited cases...) Nope. Everything within New York City is local, whether within an NPA or between them, whether crossing a body of water or not. John Cowan <cowan@marob.masa.com> writes: > Prior to the 212/718 split here in New York City, the standard method > for getting DA in Manhattan & Bronx was to dial 411; for DA in > Brooklyn, Queens & Staten Island (later to become the 718 NPA), > 555-1212 was standard. I don't know if this was mandatory or just the > recommended procedure. I believe the recommended procedure in the New York area is implied rather than spelled out in the directory: For numbers that would appear in the printed directory serving the area where the phone you are calling from is located, i.e., the directory for your home county or borough: 411. For numbers within your area code but outside the area where your home printed directory is distributed: 555-1212. ("1" never used for seven-digit calls.) For anything else: ("1," if rqd locally) + NPA + 555-1212. Greg Monti, Arlington, Virginia; work +1 202 822-2633