🚀 go-pugleaf

dannyb@panix.com (danny burstein) writes:
>
>in the OLD days, all calls to the "555" exchange went to directory
>assistance, and were free.  In the last ten or so years, though, the
> ...
>
>Also, in the VERY old days, just about all coin phones were ogiven numbers
>in the form xxx-9yyy. 
> ...
>  btw, in the BD (before divestiture) days, tehre were various exchanges
>on a standardized nationwide level which were 'reserved' and not assigned
>to customers. The only one I'm aware of which carried through to now is
>the "950", which ONLY gets used for accessing an IXC line (and some -very
> ...

And the number of dedicated exchanges will be dwindling rapidly because
of the increase in use of faxes, cellular phones, etc, which require
several phone numbers per person.  I wonder whether the US will go over
to the Japanese (and English) phone system which has a variable number
of digits.  For example, about 1.5 years ago all phones in Tokyo
changed from 7 digits to 8 digits by affixing a 3:
		906-4596 changed to 3906-4596
while the area code stayed at 03.  AT&T handles the problem by adding
unused area codes (818, 310, etc): I wonder how long that can last?
Maybe instead we'll type out something like an email address?
	    call Ben.Reaves.fax@LosAngeles8.ca.usa

_


Now that I'm writing about phone usage overseas...  Non-AT&T 800 numbers
can be very difficult to access from Japan (and I suppose other places).

If you have an AT&T card you can access the AT&T 800 numbers, but you'll
need a specific MCI card for MCI 800 numbers.  Neither of them are
toll-free.  Sprint is special: their 800 numbers can't be accessed even
if you have their card.

. ====== Ben Reaves ======================== b.reaves@ieee.org =======
. ====== the above is not the official position of my employer =======
-- 
Reply-To: b.reaves@ieee.org
 ====== Ben Reaves ======================== b.reaves@ieee.org =======
 ====== the above is not the official position of my employer =======