[comp.dcom.telecom] Ringback Numbers in the USA

gerosa@husc6.harvard.edu (Bill Gerosa) (04/14/89)

  Does anybody have a list of the ringback numbers used in the states?
There was some talk about this topic a while ago, but I don't think
anyone posted a list.  I don' even know if the public is allowed to
have access to these numbers.  Any replies would be apprecaited.


Bill


[Moderator's Note: I do not believe there is any standardization in this
at all. Every area, indeed probably every telco within a given area, has
its own 'ringback codes'. They are intended for installation/test purposes,
and the numbers are rarely given out just because someone asks for them.

In Chicago, a/c 312, the codes vary from exchange to exchange, but always
take the form 1-571-xxxx through 1-577-xxxx, where xxxx is the last four
digits of the telephone number being rung-back.  For some prefixes, or
exhanges, it would be 1-571, while others are 1-572, 1-573, 1-574,
etc. The only way I found what works on my home phones (1-573-xxxx) was
by trial and error. If you select one of the above which is not correct
for your exchange, or put in incorrect digits for the last four, it
returns re-order (a rapid busy signal). If you get it correct, it returns dial
tone. You click the hook once, and get a high pitched tone, then hang up. It
will ring back for five minutes, or until you go off hook, whichever
comes first.   PT]