nathan@eddie.mit.edu (Nathan Glasser) (07/14/89)
I am served by New England Telephone in Somerville, MA, which became
ESS and began allowing custom calling features a couple of years ago.
I have had the same phone number since before this change took place.
For the record, AT&T is my primary long distance carrier.
I discovered an interesting feature a couple of nights ago involving
three-way calling and equal access. If, while talking on the phone to
someone, I flick (my word for pressing the switch hook in order to
activate three-way calling) and call 10-666-1-<area code><number>,
after the <area code>, I get a ringing following by an error message
"Your long distance call cannot be completed as dialed..."
Fine, that sounds like maybe an invalid long distance carrier code, you
say. So I hang up on this message by flicking a few more times. However,
it is no longer possible for me to dial any other calls after flicking! If
I flick and begin dialing any phone number, I get the same message given
above after dialing any of 10,1<area code>,0<area code>,<local prefix>, or
00. (I didn't try 0 or 0<local prefix>). This seems to last for the
duration of the original call, or at least for quite a long time. However,
hanging up the phone entirely, disconnecting the original call, solves the
problem.
A feature(?) of the three-way calling in my area is that if I flick,
wait for the dial tone, and then hang up, my phone will begin ringing
until I answer it, at which point I'm back with the original call.
Handy for transferring between phones on the same line in different rooms.
(Is this true of three-way calling in all areas?)
Anyway, I found that if I do the flick-and-hang-up trick, things also
go back to normal.
So is 666 the code for a Satanic long distance carrier, or what?
--
Nathan Glasser
fnord nathan@{mit-eddie.uucp, brokaw.lcs.mit.edu}
ST Quote: "I've never heard a malfunction threaten me before." - Sulu
Question: "Our prices range from $20-$40, and up." What does that mean?
[Moderator's Note: It is worth noting that '666' has never been, and probably
never will be assigned as part of a carrier access code, due to the ignorance
and superstition so prevalent among many Americans. Illinois Bell even has
a hard time getting people to take service on the old Monroe CO, which went
from Monroe to MONroe to MO-6 and finally '666'. Checker and Yellow Taxicab
Radio Dispatching was on there for over sixty years: MON ==> MO 6 ==> 666-3700,
and they finally gave up and moved to a different CO. They say they got a lot
of harassing phone calls from, uh, strange people. PT]bandy@capmkt.com (Andrew Scott Beals) (07/17/89)
>[Moderator's Note: It is worth noting that '666' has never been, and probably >never will be assigned as part of a carrier access code, due to the ignorance >and superstition so prevalent among many Americans. Illinois Bell even has >a hard time getting people to take service on the old Monroe CO, which went >from Monroe to MONroe to MO-6 and finally '666'. Checker and Yellow Taxicab >Radio Dispatching was on there for over sixty years: MON ==> MO 6 ==> 666-3700 >and they finally gave up and moved to a different CO. They say they got a lot >of harassing phone calls from, uh, strange people. PT] The Internal Revenue Service office in Manchester New Hampshire has a '666' prefix. I've also had cashiers change my tab to $6.65 when it's come out to $6.66. [Moderator's Note: Some people regard IRS as the Great Satan. I wonder if this is why IRS got phone service on a 'local exchange' -- ha ha! PT]
manderso@ugly.cs.ubc.ca (Mark Anderson) (07/18/89)
In <telecom-v09i0237m01@vector.dallas.tx.us>, Patrick Townson writes: >[Moderator's Note: It is worth noting that '666' has never been, and probably >never will be assigned as part of a carrier access code, due to the ignorance >and superstition so prevalent among many Americans. Illinois Bell even has >a hard time getting people to take service on the old Monroe CO, which went >from Monroe to MONroe to MO-6 and finally '666'. Checker and Yellow Taxicab >Radio Dispatching was on there for over sixty years: MON ==> MO 6 ==> 666-3700 >and they finally gave up and moved to a different CO. They say they got a lot >of harassing phone calls from, uh, strange people. PT] Interestingly, the 666 prefix does have extensive use here in British Columbia (604) -- by Federal Government offices. Glancing at the 'Blue Pages' government listings in the directory, I noticed that most of the Vancouver numbers listed for Government of Canada offices are 666-XXXX. Just coincidence? :-) --- Mark Anderson <manderso@ugly.cs.ubc.ca> {att!alberta,uw-beaver,uunet}!ubc-cs!{good,bad,ugly}!manderso "Narrow mind would persecute it, die a little to get to it..."
fff@mplex.UUCP (Fred Fierling) (07/19/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0237m01@vector.dallas.tx.us>, nathan@eddie.mit.edu (Nathan Glasser) writes: [ Article deleted. I'm responding to Moderator's note... ] > [Moderator's Note: It is worth noting that '666' has never been, and probably > never will be assigned as part of a carrier access code, due to the ignorance > and superstition so prevalent among many Americans. Illinois Bell even has > a hard time getting people to take service on the old Monroe CO, which went > ... Here in Vancouver we have found a very appropriate use for the devilish 666- prefix. It is used by Revenue Canada (our equivalent of the I.R.S.) and other government "services". -- Fred Fierling Tel: 604 875-1461 Microplex Systems Ltd, 265 East 1st Avenue uunet!mplex!fff Fax: 604 875-9029 Vancouver, BC, V5T 1A7, Canada
roy%phri@uunet.uu.net (Roy Smith) (07/19/89)
> [Moderator's Note: It is worth noting that '666' has never been, and probably > never will be assigned as part of a carrier access code, due to the ignorance > and superstition so prevalent among many Americans. Westwood and Washington Township, NJ are 201-664 and 201-666 (both exchanges in both localities). It never occured to me that I had a satanic phone number (we were 666) when I was growing up. But I guess it does explain a few things :-). -- Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute 455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016 {att,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy -or- roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu "The connector is the network"
kent@husc6.harvard.edu (Kent Borg) (07/25/89)
If I remember correctly, the original poster (who wrote about trying 10666 as a long distance access code) was from Somerville, MA, which *has* a 666 exchange, in fact I had a 666 number for a year. It seemed to act much like any other line. I could make calls, I could receive calls. I got billed. Nothing unusual ever came to my attention. Ever since I moved to a different Somerville exchange, 776, which is no where near as interesting, I have kinda' missed having a 666 number. Yes, this line acts about the same. Sometimes more noise than other times, but my modem can usually handle it. Take it from someone who has tried one, 666 numbers act about like any other. Kent Borg kent@lloyd.uucp or ...!husc6!lloyd!kent P.S. Don't even remember any harrasing calls... [Moderator's Note: Chicago's '666' is a prefix located on the west side of the city in a very poor, ghetto neighborhood. It is a mix of residence and business numbers. PT]