Telephone numbers

[1995hoo]

I know I have mentioned this somewhere before. When I was a kid, the DC area had seven-digit dialing across area codes within the local calling area. For my mom at home in Virginia to call my dad at his office in DC did not require her to dial "202" first. The way this was accomplished was by not duplicating exchanges across area codes–for example, if you had a 633-#### number in DC, nobody in 703 or 301 would have a 633-#### number (or at least, nobody in the local calling area–not sure about long-distance locations like Baltimore or Roanoke). That eventually went away because they were running short on numbers and they decided using the area code was a stopgap way to get more phone numbers.

Eventually, of course, first Virginia and then Maryland succumbed to overlay area codes and ten-digit dialing. The District only succumbed in 2021, when 771 was overlain on 202. Up until then, DC had seven-digit dialing for calls within the 202 area code. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that DC was one of the last major cities to have seven-digit dialing.

[kalvado]

There are 2 layers here, I would say. First is physical call routing, second in memorizing/dialing. These are well separated in modern internet (few of us would care that www.aaroads.com is actually resolved to 74.208.236.26), but PEnnsylvania 6-5000 is as far as it went in phone dialing. Well, again - most cell phones don't expose you to numbers when a known recipient is called/calling.
But I still assume that if I dial your +44 number from upstate NY, initial connection would go through London; and I wonder if systems are smart enough not to route entire call through UK anyway. Fiber capacity of modern internet is such that all the calls are just a drop in overall traffic, so people may not care enough. It may introduce noticeable delays, though...

I'm pretty sure that incoming calls to that line if made from outside the VOIP provider's service would transit some switch in Belfast.

Every VOIP line I've used has had noticeable latency, in my experience, and calls coming in from that line do have a little more.  However, I haven't received any calls from North America on that line -- it's mostly an interesting set of wrong numbers, and a decreasing number of calls from coworkers in the UK and Ireland (at work, most voice calls have shifted to Teams).  And while the latency is noticeable....it's not so bad as to really interfere with communication.   You just get used to it.

Wouldn't there be a similar phenomenon with cell phones traveling abroad?

I really may try to find two people with California here in NY to see if there is any difference,
Delays for calls  within the area code is pretty noticeable anyway. Once in a while, I get a call from someone literally around the corner in a hallway, and the delay is... Well, round-trip of fiberoptics signal from NY to CA is about 100 milliseconds... Judging by the delay, those local calls may very well be routed through an outsourced switch in China as well.

[kalvado]

New format:
AAA-LL LL LL LL


No distinction between central office code and line number.

NA-NANA-NAA-NA would sound better.
https://youtu.be/u1kZ9zYr7kk?t=65

[1995hoo]

New format:
AAA-LL LL LL LL


No distinction between central office code and line number.

NA-NANA-NAA-NA would sound better.
https://youtu.be/u1kZ9zYr7kk?t=65

Or NA-NA-NANA-NA-NA-NANA. That way you could end calls by saying "Hey, hey, hey, goodbye."

[kphoger]

I just do the whole shebang with 1 and area code on the rare occasion I have to manually dial phone numbers anymore. It's too hard to keep track of what is and isn't allowed to be seven-digit dialed.

When dialing from a cell phone, that's all well and good, and that's how I've started storing phone numbers in my cell phone:  +1 (AAA) NNN-NNNN.  It became frustrating trying to dial back to the US while roaming in Mexico, with half my numbers stored that way and half just stored without the +1 part.  This way, my phone recognizes it as a call to the US and I don't have to memorize the number in order to manually enter it with the 00-1 prefixes for Mexican international dialing.

But it doesn't necessarily work when dialing from a landline.  For example, as I mentioned, calling Newton from Wichita requires dialing 1-316 first. But if I dial a local Wichita number from my desk phone by dialing 1-316 first, then the phone system gives me a message that it's not necessary to dial the area code, and it makes me try again.  So if a customer moves from Wichita to Newton, I have no idea if the contact number on their account is a Newton number or just a cell phone that they brought with them from Wichita during the move.  Irritating.

... Or at least that's the way it used to be.  I just tried dialing my own Wichita cell phone number from my desk phone by using 1-316, and it rang through just fine.  Maybe it's because it's a VoIP phone, or maybe things have changed since I was last in the business of calling customers on a daily basis.

[Poiponen13]

It would also be good that larger cities have shorter area codes than smaller cities.

[kphoger]

Largest cities in US should also have 2-digit are codes and 4-digit central office codes.

It would also be good that larger cities have shorter area codes than smaller cities.

echo

[Poiponen13]

More countries, such as Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, French Caribbean and Greenland should join NANP.

[kphoger]

More countries, such as Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, French Caribbean and Greenland should join NANP.

A few decades ago, there were special area codes used for dialing certain parts of Mexico directly from the USA:  706, 903, and 905.  They were not real Mexican area codes, but were actually local US dialing codes instituted as a matter of convenience when the volume of US→Mexico calls requiring operator assistance began to get out of hand.  They allowed a caller dialing from an area of the USA that otherwise required operator assistance for international calls to use those area codes instead:  they corresponded to actual Mexican area codes +52 (5) and +52 (6).  For example, dialing 1-905- was really just a trick for dialing 011-52-5- for callers whose area phone network couldn't handle the latter.

[kalvado]

More countries, such as Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, French Caribbean and Greenland should join NANP.

We should make EU to join first.

[skluth]

New format:
AAA-LL LL LL LL


No distinction between central office code and line number.

NA-NANA-NAA-NA would sound better.
https://youtu.be/u1kZ9zYr7kk?t=65

Or NA-NA-NANA-NA-NA-NANA. That way you could end calls by saying "Hey, hey, hey, goodbye."

Or MA NA MA NA. Then everyone could go "DOO DOO DOODOO DOO."

[bandit957]

Here's something that is sure to bring back foul memories:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Bell_System_hires_1969_logo_blue.svg/1024px-Bell_System_hires_1969_logo_blue.svg.png

[bandit957]

Also, I remember that maps of North American area codes used to show all of Mexico with one area code. But later, these maps didn't include Mexico, and you had to dial an international dialing code if you wanted to call Mexico.

[kphoger]

Also, I remember that maps of North American area codes used to show all of Mexico with one area code. But later, these maps didn't include Mexico, and you had to dial an international dialing code if you wanted to call Mexico.

I just explained that, four posts before yours.

The rest of the world had to dial +52 plus the actual Mexican area code.  What looked like an area code on maps back then was actually just a sort of carrier access code for use in the USA in order to more easily facilitate an international call to Mexico by bypassing the need for operator assistance.

Below is an area code map from 1979-1980.  "Area code" 903 is shown as "N. W. Mexico".  In reality, dialing 1 (903) 87-65-43-21 was translated into +52 (6) 87-65-43-21.

A few decades ago, there were special area codes used for dialing certain parts of Mexico directly from the USA:  706, 903, and 905.  They were not real Mexican area codes, but were actually local US dialing codes instituted as a matter of convenience when the volume of US→Mexico calls requiring operator assistance began to get out of hand.  They allowed a caller dialing from an area of the USA that otherwise required operator assistance for international calls to use those area codes instead:  they corresponded to actual Mexican area codes +52 (5) and +52 (6).  For example, dialing 1-905- was really just a trick for dialing 011-52-5- for callers whose area phone network couldn't handle the latter.

[Road Hog]

Seven-digit local dialing is probably still available in area codes that don't have an overlay. When my area had an overlay in the early 2000s, that's when 10-digit dialing became required, even for a phone down the hallway. Fortunately, we have contact lists on our phones where we don't even have to dial anymore.

[bandit957]

Seven-digit local dialing is probably still available in area codes that don't have an overlay.

I think ours is 10 digits. That's probably because it's an area that is split by an area code.

[Road Hog]

Arkansas' 870 area code is getting an overlay in 2024 – 327. I'm surprised by this because 870 is the code for the big area that's mostly rural and not growing. It's the area that isn't Central Arkansas (501) or NWA (479). This area isn't far removed from party lines.

[kphoger]

Seven-digit local dialing is probably still available in area codes that don't have an overlay.

Probably?  I've said multiple times that I have seven-digit local dialing where I live.

[frankenroad]

Seven-digit local dialing is probably still available in area codes that don't have an overlay.

Probably?  I've said multiple times that I have seven-digit local dialing where I live.

With the recent introduction of the national 988 suicide prevention hotline the number of area codes still allowing 7 digit dialing was reduced considerably.  However, according to the NANPA website, the following US & Canadian area codes still permit 7-digit dialing:

207   306   401   517   623   734   901
216   307   413   559   636   763   904
225   308   423   563   641   765   913
228   313   432   573   651   772   931
229   316   434   580   661   807   936
231   318   435   585   684   828   956
239   320   479   586   701   831   979
252   325   502   602   709   863   985
260   334   506   606   712   864   
269   386   507   612   727   870   

[KeithE4Phx]

With the recent introduction of the national 988 suicide prevention hotline the number of area codes still allowing 7 digit dialing was reduced considerably.  However, according to the NANPA website, the following US & Canadian area codes still permit 7-digit dialing:

207   306   401   517   623   734   901
216   307   413   559   636   763   904
225   308   423   563   641   765   913
228   313   432   573   651   772   931
229   316   434   580   661   807   936
231   318   435   585   684   828   956
239   320   479   586   701   831   979
252   325   502   602   709   863   985
260   334   506   606   712   864   
269   386   507   612   727   870

Area codes 602 (most of Phoenix AZ) and 623 (Phoenix western suburbs) require 10 digit dialing, and have for many years.  I believe all of Arizona (those two, plus 480, 520, and 928) requires 10 digit dialing.

[1995hoo]

This thread is prompting me to remember how when I first went off to college in Charlottesville, the phone company there had it set up such that long-distance calls within the same area code required you to dial 1 plus the seven-digit number, no area code (and it didn't go through if you dialed the area code). They had to change that when digits other than "0"  and "1"  were allowed as the second digit in area codes.

[KeithE4Phx]

This thread is prompting me to remember how when I first went off to college in Charlottesville, the phone company there had it set up such that long-distance calls within the same area code required you to dial 1 plus the seven-digit number, no area code (and it didn't go through if you dialed the area code). They had to change that when digits other than "0"  and "1"  were allowed as the second digit in area codes.

That was common in most of the country, prior to the breakup of Ma Bell.

As an example, back in those days, the metro Phoenix area was divided into separate zones:  Central Phoenix, North Phoenix, Glendale, Tempe/Mesa, Scottsdale, Chandler, and Avondale/Goodyear.  Only your own zone and adjacent zones were considered local calls; the others were long distance. Only Central Phoenix could dial all of them as local calls.

Unfortunately, parts of Phoenix were in the Scottsdale and Glendale zones.  I lived inside the Phoenix city limits in the mid '70s, but we had a Scottsdale phone number.  If I wanted to call a buddy who lived on the northwest side of the city, who had a Glendale number, it was a long distance call.  That ended after the breakup, and all of the metro was combined into one rate center in the 1980s.

[bandit957]

This thread is prompting me to remember how when I first went off to college in Charlottesville, the phone company there had it set up such that long-distance calls within the same area code required you to dial 1 plus the seven-digit number, no area code (and it didn't go through if you dialed the area code). They had to change that when digits other than "0"  and "1"  were allowed as the second digit in area codes.

That was common in most of the country, prior to the breakup of Ma Bell.

As an example, back in those days, the metro Phoenix area was divided into separate zones:  Central Phoenix, North Phoenix, Glendale, Tempe/Mesa, Scottsdale, Chandler, and Avondale/Goodyear.  Only your own zone and adjacent zones were considered local calls; the others were long distance. Only Central Phoenix could dial all of them as local calls.

Unfortunately, parts of Phoenix were in the Scottsdale and Glendale zones.  I lived inside the Phoenix city limits in the mid '70s, but we had a Scottsdale phone number.  If I wanted to call a buddy who lived on the northwest side of the city, who had a Glendale number, it was a long distance call.  That ended after the breakup, and all of the metro was combined into one rate center in the 1980s.

I remember Cincinnati was particularly bad.

[brad2971]

This thread is prompting me to remember how when I first went off to college in Charlottesville, the phone company there had it set up such that long-distance calls within the same area code required you to dial 1 plus the seven-digit number, no area code (and it didn't go through if you dialed the area code). They had to change that when digits other than "0"  and "1"  were allowed as the second digit in area codes.

That was common in most of the country, prior to the breakup of Ma Bell.

As an example, back in those days, the metro Phoenix area was divided into separate zones:  Central Phoenix, North Phoenix, Glendale, Tempe/Mesa, Scottsdale, Chandler, and Avondale/Goodyear.  Only your own zone and adjacent zones were considered local calls; the others were long distance. Only Central Phoenix could dial all of them as local calls.

Unfortunately, parts of Phoenix were in the Scottsdale and Glendale zones.  I lived inside the Phoenix city limits in the mid '70s, but we had a Scottsdale phone number.  If I wanted to call a buddy who lived on the northwest side of the city, who had a Glendale number, it was a long distance call.  That ended after the breakup, and all of the metro was combined into one rate center in the 1980s.

A similar thing happened with metro Denver prior to the 1990s. The local calling area ended up being a huge area in distance from Longmont to Castle Rock. And that local calling area received additions by the time the 720 area code was overlaid onto the 303 area code. Specifically, towns such as Strasburg and Bennett that were served by telcos other than USWest/Qwest/CenturyLink were added. And now that the 983 area code is about to come on line, ironically at the 25 year timeline predicted when 720 was added...

[kkt]

Here's something that is sure to bring back foul memories:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Bell_System_hires_1969_logo_blue.svg/1024px-Bell_System_hires_1969_logo_blue.svg.png

Why foul?  I liked the blue Bell logo a lot better than the Deathstar.