zellich@stl-07sima.army.mil (Rich Zellich) (10/10/89)
There was an odd letter in the letters-to-the-editor in the St. Louis Post- Dispatch last weekend: A writer from Australia was asking *anyone* locally to help some poor woman who was worried about her water being cut off by the utility company. It seems that he answered the phone and the caller was some woman who was worried about her water being cut off because of a billing problem; he told her she must have a wrong number, she read off his number, he asked where she was calling from, she hesitated and then said "St. Louis" and hung up. Worried that she might actually have her water cut off, he wrote the letter to the St. Louis newspaper in an attempt to help. The Post-Dispatch people did just enough checking to find that the number in question was an East-side (Illinois, that is; East side of the Mississippi to us St. Louisians) number in area code 618. Apparently the woman should have dialed 1-618-xxx-yyyy and instead somehow dialed 011-61-8-xxx-yyyy to reach a valid number in Australia. Sometimes you *can* get an overseas number without a lot of hassle!
cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) (10/13/89)
61 is the Australia country code, and 8 is the city code for Adelaide. In taking some notes from a recent New York Times Magazine, I had to catch myself confusing 61_2 (city code is that of Sydney) with area 612 in Minnesota, where I have been to this year.
goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) (10/17/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0445m10@vector.dallas.tx.us> cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) writes: >61 is the Australia country code, and 8 is the city code for >Adelaide. In taking some notes from a recent New York Times >Magazine, I had to catch myself confusing 61_2 (city code is >that of Sydney) with area 612 in Minnesota, where I have been >to this year. This seems to be not-uncommon practice for Australian firms. I've seen some ads for various other Australian companies where the same thing was done: the country code and city code are run together and displayed inside parentheses. For example, (617) xxx xxxx. This is *extremely* misleading for North American readers, who are used to North American numbers in exactly the same format, but where the 3-digits-inside-parens refers to the area code. (In particular, the above example parses out to a number in the Boston vicinity.) Readers will naturally assume that the number in the ad (which being placed in a US magazine was obviously intended for a US audience) refers to a US office of the company. Of course, such companies are getting exactly what they deserve: less business because potential customers can't reach them. This will continue until they list their numbers according to internationally accepted standards: +61 7 xxx xxxx, for example. Bob Goudreau +1 919 248 6231 Data General Corporation ...!mcnc!rti!xyzzy!goudreau 62 Alexander Drive goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA