Telephone Rant (OT)

I suspect it's not the technology but an intentional decision to disable that feature, perhaps to try to avoid having expansion area codes seem less desirable.

If this correlates to a call being charged for a non-local call its sensible. If it doesn't, it's just silly.

Of course cell phones with typical nationwide plans and number directories mean that actually dialing numbers by hand or paying for a call based on distance are less frequent than they used to be.

Anybody in Southern California does......

JC

On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:55:45 GMT, the infamous "Ivan Vegvary" scrawled the following:

Seven years here, Ivan.

Um, no we don't. For some cell phones, all 11 digits are required, but not for landlines, or land to cell in most cases. At least in my experience. I'm down in Grass Pants, AC 541, not 503. The good news is that they're adding two more ACs soon, luckily -not- in our southern Oregon area. I hate Qwest and miss Pac Bell, though I know Pac Bell is no more. (SBC ate them and AT&FrackingT ate them.) AT&FT "lost" (stole) my business line for a week when I switched back to PacBell a few decades ago and I haven't had anything to do with them since. Grrr...

That's a matter of opinion. ;) There are probably more phones in that area, but it's _much_ smaller on the map.

In all cases that I can remember since I started using the telepnone, dialing the 1 is a necessity when dialing the area code. Local is 7, long distance is 11 digits.

-- Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass; it's about learning how to dance in the rain. --Anon

NE Ohio requires 10-digit for local, +1 for LD or local LD. ("Local LD:" Now there's an expensive oxymoron. :)

I'm in UK. BT has a facility called "ring back"; if you call a number that's busy, ring-back allows you to hang-up and calls you back when the number is free. Sometimes it works as follows: You call the number, its busy, you get a message that says "The number you called is busy, to use ring-back press '5'". So, you press '5' and get another message saying "Sorry, ring-back not available for this number". Duh...

Regards, Gary Wooding (To reply by email, change feet to foot in my address)

Not so in the Mnpls area. I can call anyone in the rather extensive

763 area code (same as mine) by punching only 7 digits. I don't have to punch a 1 before calling a number in the two other metro area codes.

Same here on Vancouver island, in Canada

Steve R.

Similar set-up here in NJ but to be honest, I haven't figured out when a "1" is needed, when it's not, and whether the area code is necessary all the time or not. Here at work, I can dial locally without the area code. At home, a mere 35 minute NJ-commute away on a good day, the area code seems to be needed 100% of the time.

To further complicate issues, our state is tiny and I sit on the border of area codes whether I'm at home or work so I never know if a number I'm dialing is a mile away or 2+ hours drive away...

Think about this... NJ is small (only about 9-10 times the size of Jacksonville, Florida) yet has nine area codes... Two of which I hadn't even heard of until I looked on Google just now to count them. Being an old school, non-malicious phone phreak, I thought I was hip on the tele.

Regards, Joe Agro, Jr. (800) 871-5022

01.908.542.0244 Automatic / Pneumatic Drills: Spindle Drills: Site: V8013-R

It's that way in Mass. The reason was that with the exhaustion of the numbers in say the 617 area code (Boston area), the phone companies had to split the area code into two or three.

There was a lot of resistance from businesses because they feared that they would lose much of the business from nearby places that now had to dial 11 digits versus 7 digits to call the business.

The solution was to make everybody dial 11 digits.

Joe Gwinn

THREE other area codes.

After reading the other replies, I have to chime in about the Oregon situation.

Oregon has some 'overlaid' area codes, where the same geographic area has two (or eventually more) area codes. The old 503 area now is also

971 territory, so phone customers in the same building may have different area codes. That's why you have to dial all 10 digits now - because 'area' no longer means 'geographically proximate'.

The need for this was supposedly due to the proliferation of faxes, cell phones, etc. and the undesirability of requiring half the old 503 area code customers to change their numbers if the area got split up.

Carla Arguing on the internet like running in the special olympics. even if u win, ur still retarded.

That's the story..

Basically the problem is driven by the proliferation of cellular telephony. We have extended the use of a valuable technology to the common man; and as per usual, he is cramming it back up our asses. Traffic deaths caused by cell phones are on the increase, "tweets" delivered via cell phone have the capability to cause pancic, and don't even think about trying to use the telephone during an actual panic such as 9-11.

Bob Swinney

I can get that here in the states with the Qwest company as the landline provider, except they charge $0.75 for the priviledge.

Needless to say, they have never gotten that seventy five cents from me.

Jon

Thanks Carle, your explanation makes sense and gives me comfort. Ivan Vegvary

Don't worry, I doubt the Feds are still looking for you and your blue box. ;)

Wes

LOL. I ws more of a red box kind of guy... But I did get into high volume telephone sound broadcasting.. It's still useful for those pesky telemarketers...