levin@bbn.com (Joel B. Levin) (03/13/90)
>Date: Thu, 08 Mar 90 18:41:17 +0000 >From: Kevin Hopkins <pkh%computer-science.nottingham.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk> >In v10i114 John Pettitt <jpp@specialix.co.uk> reported: >-> The new London area codes that come into full use on May 1st >-> work now! >-> Calling 081 941 2564 (my office) works just fine. If I dial 071 941 >-> 2564 I get "Please re-dial omitting the 071, this is test announcment >-> three". >I tried this from outside London (Nottingham - 0602), unlike John, and >it also works. If you get the correct code the call completes put if >you get the wrong one a recorded message is played saying: >"Sorry, you have used the wrong code. Please redial replacing 071 with >081. British Telecom have not charged for this call." The 071/081 are >obviously reversed for the other new area code. I was sitting at home reading this last night, and I thought it might be amusing to get a British Telecom recording. If worse came to worst I might be charged a buck or two for reaching a recording, but it would be worth it for a few minutes' entertainment. (If I actually rang a number by accident it would be Mr. Pettitt's office number, which should cause no one any great inconvenience at 2:45 am.) I thought I would try all three carriers available to me (that I know of)*. I started with my default, Sprint, using the invalid 071 "city code" (as they are termed by American telcos). I received a recording (American accent) from Sprint ("58-93"), who could not complete my international call as dialled. I thought, "Aha, Sprint does not know about these new city codes." However, when I tried MCI, the recording informed me that I did not have to dial "0" after the country code ("2EN"). Oops, I had been dialling 011-44-071- when I should have been dialling 011-44-71- (and I should have known better). I went back to Sprint and tried the number correctly. This time I was informed "60-93 You have entered an invalid country or city code." MCI informed me "Your international call cannot be completed as dialled ... 2EN." The first time I tried AT&T (I tried each carrier at least twice) I got the message, following three tones, that my international call could not be completed as dialled and suggesting that if I continued to have trouble I should contact the AT&T operator. I had not yet heard a British accent. Now it gets strange. When I repeated the above test, with 10288- 011-44-71-etc., I got a something new. Three loud and harmonic laden tones followed by this message: "Due to the earthquake in the area you are calling, your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try your call later." These tones and words were repeat once. After a pause three similar but not identical tones at a more normal volume were followed by "Your call cannot be completed at this time to the country you are calling. Please try your call again later." spoken very slowly and distinctly. I hung up after hearing this message the second time. I got the same sequence of recordings the next three times I dialled, and one more time fifteen minutes later**. Needless to say, CBS did not interrupt with a bulletin and the 11:00 news did not report a recent earthquake anywhere. I repeated all the above numbers using the soon-to-be-valid city code of 081 (without "0"). The results were the same as for 071, except that I did not get the earthquake message from AT&T. Finally, just for the heck of it, I dialled via Sprint using 011-44-1- and shortly heard a ringing tone (I disconnected immediately). >BT must have informed large institutions/companies of the change, and >especially their telephone people, as the new codes work from behind >the PBX here at work. The new codes were blocked a couple of months ago >when I last tried. I guess these three international carriers are not in such a hurry as the various PBXs, or BT has not got around to telling them. /JBL *For completists I should state that I placed all these calls from New Hampshire in 603-880. **I tried again two hours later (midnight local time) and at 7:30 this morning. Still an earthquake somewhere, apparently. Now I'm in Cambridge I'll try again when I get to a pay phone (my PBX here won't accept 10288 unfortunately, and the default carrier turns out not to be AT&T). levin@bbn.com | "There were sweetheart roses on Yancey Wilmerding's ...!bbn!levin | bureau that morning. Wide-eyed and distraught, she (617)873-3463 | stood with all her faculties rooted to the floor."
jimmy@icjapan.info.com (Jim Gottlieb) (03/17/90)
In article <5138@accuvax.nwu.edu> levin@bbn.com (Joel B. Levin) writes: >However, when I tried MCI, the recording >informed me that I did not have to dial "0" after the country code If they know exactly what you have dialed wrong, why don't they just put the call through?