macy@cwjcc.ins.cwru.edu (03/22/90)
In article <5200@accuvax.nwu.edu> X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 175, Message 8 of 9 >Jody Kravitz wrote in TELECOM Digest, Volume 10, Issue 169: >| Jimmy Carter did a "call in show" one Saturday morning when he was in >| the white house. The number was a 900 number. I had never heard of a >| 900 number before. I was curious then (and am now) if this was done >| for "billing the caller", network congestion control, or caller-id. >| Anyone care to comment ? OK, OK, here's the story... AT&T designated 900 as a "special services" area code in the mid-70's All classes of CO's were to route the call the the nearest toll center which then ticketed the call and sent it on the the Class 2's which would then translate and forward the call. In this case the 900 lines were used as choke exchanges thru the Class 2 and 3 offices (the end offices were not too smart back then). The offical use was a test of "mass calling" and resulted in a redesign of the 900 concept, both technically and marketing-wise. The 700 and 600 area code designation came about as a result of this. It should be noted that the local operating companies' management were less than thrilled with this experiment, they thought it to be disruptive. Macy M. Hallock, Jr. macy@NCoast.ORG uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy F M Systems, Inc. {uunet!backbone}!cwjcc.cwru.edu!ncoast!fmsystm!macy 150 Highland Drive Voice: +1 216 723-3000 Ext 251 Fax: +1 216 723-3223 Medina, Ohio 44256 USA Cleveland:273-3000 Akron:239-4994 (Dial 251 at tone) (Please note that our system name is "fmsystm" with no "e", .NOT. "fmsystem") [Moderator's Note: What is the '600 area code designation'? What is it for? PT]