bote@uunet.uu.net (John Boteler) (02/24/90)
>Fr: Greg Monti >Re: Pentagon Prefixes >Well, this is a fine mess that DoD, FTS and/or C&P have created.... >According to the C&P Northern Virginia January 1990 directory, there >is no 602 prefix in area code 202. It's in 703 in the >Alexandria-Arlington Rate Area.... >True Pentagon prefixes like 692 are in 202. But they also cannot be >reached by dialing 202-692-XXXX from Northern Virginia. That could be >an error in programming at my central office... >The reason some phones may have been split off into 602 prefix is that >they are *not* physically located in the Pentagon or on the pieces of >DoD property which are immediatley contiguous to it (Arlington >National Cemetery and the Defense Communication Agency).... The telephone network is complex, to be sure, but not so much so that we mere mortals cannot understand it. I am currently building a project using a home-brew crosspoint switch, and am struggling to find a method for programming the logic map that will control it. My decisions on how the switch responds to input addresses are good for me, but maybe not the next guy who comes along and copies my design. No problem, he simply uses a different map, and implements it by programming his own EPROM. Same applies to the telephone network in concept. The maps which guide your call through the switches are presently programmed to send 202-602-9969 to an intercept, and 703-602-9969 to a working station. They could just as easily be programmed for the reverse, or for both numbers to connect to the same working station. The routing information is nothing more than a database, subject to frequent change in this new-exchange-a-week world we live in. Rule 1. Never trust the CO listings in the front of the C&P phone books; they are notoriously inaccurate. The names listed are the calling zones, not the CO names, and are worthless for pinpointing anyone. Rule 2. Don't worry, be happy about the mappings as they stand--they will change soon enough, causing you more consternation if you care to follow them. Rule 3. The Telephone Company(TM) may be omnipotent (that's POTENT with omni in front) but there is always somebody bigger around--Uncle Sam; if U.S. wants DoD in 202, then, dammit, they get it in 202! John Boteler NCN NudesLine: 703-241-BARE -- VOICE only, Touch-Tone (TM) accessible {zardoz|uunet!tgate|cos!}ka3ovk!media!csense!bote