cantor@delni.DEC.COM.UUCP (06/04/87)
Ref message subj as above dtd Thu, 21 May 87 10:11 EDT from David Harpe, <KAJOHN01@ULKYVX.BITNET>: >Completely by accident, I noticed the other day that if you dial 1-800-XXX-0000 >where XXX is a valid 800 exchange, you get the following message: > "You have reached the ATT long distance network. Thank you for > choosing ATT. This message will not be repeated." I checked a few codes and found a similar message. However, 800-444-0000, in particular, identified itself as the MCI long distance network. An article in Telecom Digest 5:156 mentioned that 800 NXX codes are equal access based and an article in TD 6:3 gave a list of the 800 NXX codes assigned to MCI. Also, I dialed 800-NXX-0000, where the particular NXX I used is the same as the one through which you reach my beeper. I found that it connects to a recorder machine, as though it were a regular telephone number. Using some other NXX codes for some of my colleagues' beeper numbers, I found that they seem to be regular beeper numbers. (No, I didn't actually send the beep, though.) It's likely that the beeper exchange numbers I called are not routed through any long distance carrier, and that New England Telephone allows NXX-0000 to be used as a regular number. Perhaps it is just a convention that both AT&T and MCI follow that 800-NXX-0000 produces the same message as 700-555-4141. Oh yes, it apparently doesn't matter what the default long distance carrier is. One of my lines is assigned to Sprint and the other to MCI. I got the same results using both of these lines. Dave C. (David A. Cantor)