Edward S Sachs <essachs@ihlpb.att.com> (02/03/90)
This is a true story, it happened to a friend of my wife. This person's home phone, in the Chicago area, was apparently frequently confused with that of a local hospital, and thus received numerous wrong numbers. The friend moved to Boston, but for a period retained the Chicago area apartment (and phone) for use in fairly frequent trips back here. On that phone, they left an answering machine, with a message like: You have reached xxx-xxxx. We are no longer at this number, but you may reach us at 617-xxx-xxxx. I don't recall how many calls for the Chicago area hospital were dialed to Boston (it was more than one). Ed Sachs AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL att!ihlpb!essachs, e.s.sachs@att.com
Mike Koziol <MJK2660@ritvm.bitnet> (02/03/90)
Here at the Rochester Institute of Technology we had a staff member complaining of receiving many annoying phone calls where no one would speak. We placed a "bridge" on the line so the calls would also appear on the ani display at the security office to see where the offending calls were coming from. They appeared to be mostly in the evenings and from numerous dormitory rooms. We finally came up with the answer to the problem after visiting a few rooms and questioning the occupants. All the callers were hearing-impaired and were trying to call a local pizza franchise using their TDD's (Telecommunication Device for the Deaf) and didn't know they should dial 9 first. So as a result they were getting extension 2442 instead of 244-2400. I had the misfortune of working during the Super Bowl and didn't even have to listen to the radio to know when half-time was, the "bridge" just went crazy. I answered a few calls and told the callers how to call correctly and may even have taken an order or two. :)