gould@pilot.njin.net (Brian Jay Gould) (09/18/89)
I know there has been some discussion in the past, but I missed it. Is there an equivalent to 800 service internationally. Specifically, Japan, Hong Kong and Holland. *********************************************** * Brian Jay Gould - Manager, Systems Support * * General Logistics International * * * * internet: gould@pilot.njin.net * * Bitnet: gould@jvncc.csc.org * * UUCP: rutgers!pilot!gould * * phone: (201) 403-1566 * * fax (201) 403-1573 * * * * 103 Eisenhower Pkwy, Roseland, NJ 07068 * *********************************************** [Moderator's Note: Do you mean domestically, within those countries for calling within those countries, or do you mean to call from there to here with the American business footing the bill, etc? Many countries have some form of internal '800 service' including the UK where it is known as '0800'. PT]
rvdp@uunet.uu.net (Ronald vd Pol) (09/21/89)
gould@pilot.njin.net (Brian Jay Gould) writes: >Is there an equivalent to 800 service internationally. Specifically, >Japan, Hong Kong and Holland. ^^^^^ Yes. A Dutch business can buy a special telephone number in some foreign countries (including the USA). This phone number has a special prefix (see below). When anyone in the foreign country wants to phone the Dutch business, he/she phones this special number and the Dutch business will be billed (sometimes the caller pays the LOCAL call tariff, but generally its free). So when a Dutch business wants people from eg UK, USA and Finland to be able to phone them for free, the business must explicitely buy phone numbers in the UK, USA and Finland and all three numbers are different. I think this holds for other countries too (eg USA has this option too). country prefix Belgium 11 Danmark 0430 Germany 0130 Finland 9800 France 1905 Norway 050 UK 0800 USA 1800 Switserland 046 Sweden 020 Ronald van der Pol <rvdp@cs.vu.nl> These are the days of miracle and wonder, this is a long distance call.... From: campbell@redsox.bsw.com (Larry Campbell) Subject: Re: Ancient Equipment Still in Service Date: 21 Sep 89 01:42:05 GMT Reply-To: campbell@redsox.UUCP (Larry Campbell) Organization: The Boston Software Works, Inc. Eight years ago, I spent a few nights in a hotel in Gort, Ireland. Gort was so small that ("How... small... was it?") the telephone number of the hotel was 7. That's not a typo; the number was 7. (OK, they did have a second line, and that number was 27.) One night, I returned to the hotel about 1 AM and found it locked. The town wasn't too small to have an all-night donut shop crowded with policemen; they told me to go to the phone booth down the street and tell the operator to ring up the hotel manager at home. I went to the phone booth and encountered -- a hand-cranked telephone! With no dial! Just like you see in silent movies! I had no idea how to work the thing -- the instructions were completely obliterated by graffiti -- and it took several experiments to discover that FIRST you turn the crank and THEN you pick up the earpiece. (I was doing it backwards.) A few minutes after the operator rang him up for me, the hotel manager drove up, looking a bit rumpled, and let me in. Do I win the prize for Most Ancient Telephone Equipment Actually Observed in Regular Operation This Decade? Larry Campbell The Boston Software Works, Inc. campbell@bsw.com 120 Fulton Street wjh12!redsox!campbell Boston, MA 02146 [Moderator's Note: And you sir, win a lifetime subscription to TELECOM Digest. Lucky you! Thanks for a humorous close to this issue of the Digest. In the Digest second edition for Friday, issued about 1:00 AM CDT, a detailed discussion of telex, TWX, clock service and Western Union in general by Larry Lippman and others. PT]