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Bill Hofmann (wdh@fresh.com) wrote:
: In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
: you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
: actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
: instance, "1-510-555-1234".

: Do any of the participants in other countries know of similar conventions
: in their or other countries?  Thanks in advance...


In France, if you dial the Paris region (the only region that has a "city 
code"), the next digit MUST be either a 4, 5, or 6.  So:

     33   -   1   -  Xxxxxxxx
    FRANCE  PARIS    Phone Number (8 digits)

If the large X is not a 4, 5, or 6, then the number will not be valid.


-- Kareem A. Hinedi
   Boston University School of Public Health
E-Mail: khinedi@bu.edu

wdh@fresh.com (Bill Hofmann) wrote:

> actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
> instance, "1-510-555-1234".
> Do any of the participants in other countries know of similar conventions
> in their or other countries?  Thanks in advance...

I haven't seen anyone using such scheme in the Northern European
countries. I'm quite sure that there is no such reserved number
body part in Finland.
--
  _ .-.   ���������������������������������������������������������������������
  \`' |   Kimmo Ketolainen University of Turku            home +358 21 237 8227
   |  |   Yo-kyl� 84 A 10  Kimmo.Ketolainen@utu.fi        shoe +358 40 500 2957
   )  \	  FIN-20540 Turku  http://www.utu.fi/finland.html work +358 21 262 1496
  /    |  ���������������������������������������������������������������������
  |   /
  *--~

In article <wdh-1612942150420001@wdh.slip.netcom.com>
           wdh@fresh.com "Bill Hofmann" writes:

 > In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
 > you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
 > actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
 > instance, "1-510-555-1234".
 > 
 > Do any of the participants in other countries know of similar conventions
 > in their or other countries?  Thanks in advance...
 > 
 > -Bill
 > 

ISTR that BT have a service for broadcasters to hand out real
looking but unallocated numbers for use in plays etc. Given that
Oftel now `own' the numbering perhaps they will offer such a
service?

-- 
Marc Cornelius

In article <wdh-1612942150420001@wdh.slip.netcom.com>, wdh@fresh.com (Bill Hofmann) writes:
> In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
> you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
> actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
> instance, "1-510-555-1234".
> 
> Do any of the participants in other countries know of similar conventions
> in their or other countries?  Thanks in advance...

I don't know of conventions in the UK, but British Telecom will
provide such fake numbers on demand to TV & film companies. It
cuts down on their nuisance-call burden.

Steve


-- 
Steve McKinty                   | A turkey is for Christmas, not for life.
Sun Microsystems ICNC           |          (seen on a bumper sticker)
38240 Meylan, France            |
email: smckinty@france.sun.com  |

In article <wdh-1612942150420001@wdh.slip.netcom.com>,
wdh@fresh.com (Bill Hofmann) wrote:

>In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
>you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
>actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
>instance, "1-510-555-1234".
>
>Do any of the participants in other countries know of similar conventions
>in their or other countries?  Thanks in advance...

I don't think there is anything of that sort in France, though I wish there
were: I happen to write books about telecommunications (once in a while),
and I always wonder what I should do when I need a phone number for an
example of how to dial this or that. This is always embarassing.

										Eric


______________________________________________________________________________
Eric Tholome                  | displayed with |               private account
23, avenue du Centre          | 100% recycled  |   tholome@dialup.francenet.fr
78180 Montigny le Bretonneux  |___  pixels! ___|      phone: +33 1 30 48 06 47
                    France        \________/     fax: same number, call first!

Bill Hofmann (wdh@fresh.com) wrote:
: In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
: you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
: actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
: instance, "1-510-555-1234".

: Do any of the participants in other countries know of similar conventions
: in their or other countries?  Thanks in advance...

Well, I don't know the reason for such numbers, but you can do that in
Germany as well.

Just find out an city code (e.g. 07223). Then add "0" as the first digit of
the local number. Then add any digit except "5". And the remaining digits
may be anything you like. Such a number will not work, as there are no local
numbers that start with "0" as the first digit. The only exception are
numbers to the outdated "B" mobile phone network. This dates to the 1970s,
when you had to dial special area codes plus "05" plus the subscriber number
of such a phone.


Juergen
-- 
| Juergen Ziegler * Obervogt-Haefelinstr. 48 * 77815 Buehl (Baden) * Germany |
| Juergen.Ziegler@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de Juergen@jojo.sub.de Fax+497223900646 |

>In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
>you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
>actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
>instance, "1-510-555-1234".

If you're qoting a 10-digit number (ie including area code), you often quote the area code as 555 instead.  eg (555) 123 4567

In theory 555 is not used as either an area code, or as the prefix of
any 7 digit phone number.

However, when I was over in Boston, I was surprized to notice that the
info on the New England Telephone payphones gave the numbers for
various telco services as 555 nnnn.

>Do any of the participants in other countries know of similar conventions
>in their or other countries?  Thanks in advance...

I'm not aware of any such code in the UK.

	-roy
-- 
Roy Badami, Harlequin Ltd, Barrington Hall, Barrington, Cambridge,  U.K.
E-mail: roy@harlequin.co.uk       Tel: 0223 873853      Fax: 0223 872519

``We are digital.  We are analogue.''

In article <wdh-1612942150420001@wdh.slip.netcom.com> wdh@fresh.com writes:

>In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
>you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
>actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
>instance, "1-510-555-1234".
>
>Do any of the participants in other countries know of similar conventions
>in their or other countries?  Thanks in advance...
>
>-Bill
>

Now what about a phone *ring* that, when it occurred on TV or
video, you couldn't confuse with the real thing.  That *would*
be useful.  Something like "Brrr brrr brrr ...  ...  brrr brrr
brrr ...".

Mike.

--

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
< Mike Barnes               Tel: +44 1298 83758  >
< Exodus Computer Systems   Fax: +44 1298 83749  >
< Longnor, Staffs, England  mike@exodus.co.uk    >
 vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
 My other .sig is a Ferrari

In article <D167pJ.C0s@harlequin.co.uk>, roy@harlqn.co.uk (Roy Badami) wrote:

> 
> However, when I was over in Boston, I was surprized to notice that the
> info on the New England Telephone payphones gave the numbers for
> various telco services as 555 nnnn.

Actually NYNEX used to do something of the same here in Rhode Island. Your
local service reps were at a 1-555 number and repair was and still is at
1-555-1611. Since then service reps have been switched to a standard 525
prefix. 

Tony

-- 
== Tony Pelliccio, KD1NR
== Box 1908, Prov, RI 02912 Tel. (401) 863-1880 Fax. (401) 863-2269                            

In article <D167pJ.C0s@harlequin.co.uk>, Roy Badami <roy@harlqn.co.uk> wrote:
>> In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
>> you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
>> actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
>> instance, "1-510-555-1234".
> I'm not aware of any such code in the UK.

What I've noticed is that either a nonsense exchange name or a number
beginning with 1 is used:
    Little Snoring 2345
    Cambridge 123456
Take a look at the adverts for bold and superbold text in the Phone Book
for a good example.

-- 
Clive D.W. Feather     | Santa Cruz Operation    | If you lie to the compiler,
clive@sco.com          | Croxley Centre          | it will get its revenge.
Phone: +44 1923 813541 | Hatters Lane, Watford   |   - Henry Spencer
Fax:   +44 1923 813811 | WD1 8YN, United Kingdom |

Well I'm always surprised how many films etc. don't bother with using
one of these fake numbers. I was watching that old movie "10" on video
once and Dudley Moore asks the hotel operator for some US phone number.
I dialled it myself out of curiosity... got someone called "Randy"'s
answering machine! 

Joe
--
ICL Ltd. Bracknell Berkshire RG12 8SN  UK (+44-1344-473424) 
X.400: S=Harrison/I=J/OU1=bra0112/O=icl/P=icl/A=gold 400/C=GB 
STANDARD DISCLAIMER! This is all my personal opinion, not ICL's.

In article <3cve1h$6lp@news.bu.edu>,
khinedi@bu.edu (Kareem Hinedi) wrote:

>In France, if you dial the Paris region (the only region that has a "city 
>code"), the next digit MUST be either a 4, 5, or 6.  So:
>
>     33   -   1   -  Xxxxxxxx
>    FRANCE  PARIS    Phone Number (8 digits)
>
>If the large X is not a 4, 5, or 6, then the number will not be valid.

Well, France Telecom never said they would not use these numbers. In other
words, this might be ok, but it's not sure (as a matter of fact, I don't
even know whether they have started using these numbers or not). This is
very different from using a number that will never be used, for sure.

										Eric


______________________________________________________________________________
Eric Tholome                  | displayed with |               private account
23, avenue du Centre          | 100% recycled  |   tholome@dialup.francenet.fr
78180 Montigny le Bretonneux  |___  pixels! ___|      phone: +33 1 30 48 06 47
                    France        \________/     fax: same number, call first!

In article <D167pJ.C0s@harlequin.co.uk>, Roy Badami <roy@harlqn.co.uk> wrote:

>>actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
>>instance, "1-510-555-1234".
>
>If you're qoting a 10-digit number (ie including area code), you often quote
>the area code as 555 instead.  eg (555) 123 4567

Old Bell System advertising used to use numbers of the format 
"311 555 xxxx".

>In theory 555 is not used as either an area code, or as the prefix of
>any 7 digit phone number.

555 can now be assigned as an area code after January 1st.  Whether it
will or not remains to be seen.  Maybe it'd be a good NPA for those
"toll-free calls that levy charges." :-)


-- 
Mike King    [mk@tfs.com]	Oakland, CA

Boycott Spam.

roy@harlqn.co.uk (Roy Badami) writes:
>>In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
>>you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
>>actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
>>instance, "1-510-555-1234".

>If you're qoting a 10-digit number (ie including area code), you often quote
>the area code as 555 instead.  eg (555) 123 4567

Actually, from some Bell documents I have dating to the early 70's, the
canonical dead numbers were (310) 555-2368 (,9,70,71, etc...)

310 was, of course, in those days, not a valid NPA.

>In theory 555 is not used as either an area code, or as the prefix of
>any 7 digit phone number.

Actually, it's used as the prefix for DA in all areas, from LD to the area
in question... and most IXC's use it for carrier services (555-4141 is the
carrier ID number)

>However, when I was over in Boston, I was surprized to notice that the
>info on the New England Telephone payphones gave the numbers for
>various telco services as 555 nnnn.

Been a long time since I lived there... _that_ must be new.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth       High Technology Systems Consulting              Ashworth
Designer             Linux: The Choice of a GNU Generation        & Associates
ka1fjx/4         "The difference between theory and practice   +1 813 790 7592
jra@baylink.com   is bigger in practice than in theory" -pds         NIC: jra3

joe@bra01.icl.co.uk (Joe Harrison) writes:
>Well I'm always surprised how many films etc. don't bother with using
>one of these fake numbers. I was watching that old movie "10" on video
>once and Dudley Moore asks the hotel operator for some US phone number.
>I dialled it myself out of curiosity... got someone called "Randy"'s
>answering machine! 

Can anybody here say '867-5309'?  A little lady in St Petersburg, FL,
forced GTEFL to give her a new number about 10 years ago...

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth       High Technology Systems Consulting              Ashworth
Designer             Linux: The Choice of a GNU Generation        & Associates
ka1fjx/4         "The difference between theory and practice   +1 813 790 7592
jra@baylink.com   is bigger in practice than in theory" -pds         NIC: jra3

In article <3e05eh$1ai@xcalibur.IntNet.net> jra@zeus.IntNet.net (Jay Ashworth) writes:
>roy@harlqn.co.uk (Roy Badami) writes:
>>>In the United States and Canada (World Zone 1 to be more precise), when
>>>you want to represent a phone number without the risk of it being an
>>>actual valid phone number, you choose a number of the form "555-xxxx", for
>>>instance, "1-510-555-1234".
>
>>If you're qoting a 10-digit number (ie including area code), you often quote
>>the area code as 555 instead.  eg (555) 123 4567
>
>Actually, from some Bell documents I have dating to the early 70's, the
>canonical dead numbers were (310) 555-2368 (,9,70,71, etc...)
>
>310 was, of course, in those days, not a valid NPA.
 ^^^
  !

Aggh!  NO.  It was NPA 311.  :-)  

Used to be pictured in the 'phone book' on the front of any 
rotary-dial phone set as I remember.

(Still get a reorder after 1 311 in these parts--209/632 anyways)

				-scott@csustan.csustan.edu

Australian phonebook demonstration listings or advertisements use 7 digit
numbers beginning with '1' e.g. 123 4567

-- 
Liron (Ronny) Lightwood liron@zikzak.apana.org.au
		Zikzak public access UNIX, Melbourne, Australia.

scott@csustan.csustan.edu (Scott Falke) writes:
)In article <3e05eh$1ai@xcalibur.IntNet.net>,
)   jra@zeus.IntNet.net (Jay Ashworth) writes [incorrectly] :
)>Actually, from some Bell documents I have dating to the early 70's, the
)>canonical dead numbers were (310) 555-2368 (,9,70,71, etc...)
)>
)>310 was, of course, in those days, not a valid NPA.
) ^^^

)Aggh!  NO.  It was NPA 311.  :-)  

I'm sorry...  I looked... and you're right.

)Used to be pictured in the 'phone book' on the front of any 
)rotary-dial phone set as I remember.

Mine was in an equipment catalog.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth       High Technology Systems Consulting              Ashworth
Designer             Linux: The Choice of a GNU Generation        & Associates
ka1fjx/4         "The difference between theory and practice   +1 813 790 7592
jra@baylink.com   is bigger in practice than in theory" -pds         NIC: jra3