The problem of area codes

[kphoger]

Expansion to four-digit area codes is already provided for in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP).  All existing area codes would have 9 added in between the first and second digits (notice no current area codes have 9 and the second digit).  That would provide for a 10x expansion to over 6,000 area codes within the NANP.

The issue would remain, of course, that a lot of US-based software only has room for ten digits.

H:   ( [      ] )  [      ] - [          ]

[kalvado]

Expansion to four-digit area codes is already provided for in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP).  All existing area codes would have 9 added in between the first and second digits (notice no current area codes have 9 and the second digit).  That would provide for a 10x expansion to over 6,000 area codes within the NANP.

The issue would remain, of course, that a lot of US-based software only has room for ten digits.

H:   ( [      ] )  [      ] - [          ]

Which makes such software unusable even in Mexico or EU. Of course, not a problem for domestic-only things.
SSN may be another numerical ID with the same set of issues - low capacity of the system and rigid notation. 

[kphoger]

Expansion to four-digit area codes is already provided for in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP).  All existing area codes would have 9 added in between the first and second digits (notice no current area codes have 9 and the second digit).  That would provide for a 10x expansion to over 6,000 area codes within the NANP.

The issue would remain, of course, that a lot of US-based software only has room for ten digits.

H:   ( [      ] )  [      ] - [          ]

Which makes such software unusable even in Mexico or EU. Of course, not a problem for domestic-only things.
SSN may be another numerical ID with the same set of issues - low capacity of the system and rigid notation. 

Bolded portion especially true.  A US company who only does business with customers within a 300-mile radius has no need for software that doesn't assume 123-456-7890 telephone number format.

Incidentally, the computer programs I use at work assume that format.  You just type "5254545656" and it outpurs "525 454-5656".  These are programs provided by the phone company.

[Scott5114]

Incidentally, the computer programs I use at work assume that format.  You just type "5254545656" and it outpurs "525 454-5656".  These are programs provided by the phone company.

What happens if you put in a phone number with other than 10 digits? It may well simply have a if(input.length == 10) { input.insert_space(3); input.insert_dash(7); } block.

[jeffandnicole]

Incidentally, the computer programs I use at work assume that format.  You just type "5254545656" and it outpurs "525 454-5656".  These are programs provided by the phone company.

What happens if you put in a phone number with other than 10 digits? It may well simply have a if(input.length == 10) { input.insert_space(3); input.insert_dash(7); } block.

I commonly see just the first 10 digits shown. Annoying if 1 was used first.

[Road Hog]

My niece lived in Japan briefly and my phone defaulted to the odd international numbering. Once you violate the 10-digit convention, it's Katie bar the door.

[MikeTheActuary]

I commonly see just the first 10 digits shown. Annoying if 1 was used first.

Have I been lucky, then?

When asked for my work phone number, I now give out 12 digits (+44 20 nnnn nnnn).   So far, I haven't had an issue, aside from North American software frequently not attempting to format it (no spaces, parentheses, or dashes).

Of course, frequently I'm merely writing that number onto a piece of paper; I have no idea what happens when (for example) a medical receptionist attempts to enter it into their systems.

[rlb2024]

Incidentally, the computer programs I use at work assume that format.  You just type "5254545656" and it outpurs "525 454-5656".  These are programs provided by the phone company.

What happens if you put in a phone number with other than 10 digits? It may well simply have a if(input.length == 10) { input.insert_space(3); input.insert_dash(7); } block.

I believe anything past the initial 10 numbers gets ignored.  Sometimes you see ads with toll-free numbers that show letters going past 10 characters (something like 1-800-GET-WINDOWS).  Anything after the D is ignored.

Kinda like if you were to try and dial a phone number such as 911-5620 -- once you dial 911 everything else is ignored.  (We found this out the hard way -- when our daughter was 2 she picked up the phone and started punching numbers.  The first three she dialed were, you guessed it -- 911.  A few minutes later the sheriff's department was at our door.) 

[1995hoo]

Incidentally, the computer programs I use at work assume that format.  You just type "5254545656" and it outpurs "525 454-5656".  These are programs provided by the phone company.

What happens if you put in a phone number with other than 10 digits? It may well simply have a if(input.length == 10) { input.insert_space(3); input.insert_dash(7); } block.

I believe anything past the initial 10 numbers gets ignored.  Sometimes you see ads with toll-free numbers that show letters going past 10 characters (something like 1-800-GET-WINDOWS).  Anything after the D is ignored.

Kinda like if you were to try and dial a phone number such as 911-5620 -- once you dial 911 everything else is ignored.  (We found this out the hard way -- when our daughter was 2 she picked up the phone and started punching numbers.  The first three she dialed were, you guessed it -- 911.  A few minutes later the sheriff's department was at our door.) 

This is also why, at least prior to the rise of VOIP and mobile phones, it was important to dial "1" before dialing the area code for a long-distance call. The "1" told the system that the next three digits were an area code. If you didn't dial "1," the call would go to a local exchange with those digits if one existed. In 1999–2000, my work phone number in area code 202 began with the digits 310-, which was also the area code for Los Angeles (it covered a bigger area than it does now, of course). I got several wrong-number calls intended for people in LA when the callers forgot to dial "1" first. I remember one guy even called back and asked what area code he had just called, I guess because he was certain he had called the correct number (when I told him 202 and said Washington, DC, he realized he must have forgotten the "1").

[bing101]

How about this one the Phone Numbers of companies tend to have area codes of  800, 888, 877, 866, 844, 855 mainly because the operations are nationwide.

[1995hoo]

^^^^

I suppose that's indirectly the case, though it might be an oversimplification. 800-, and related "area codes," are for toll-free numbers, meaning the caller doesn't pay long-distance charges to call that number regardless of whether the caller and the recipient are located. A business operating a toll-free number wouldn't necessarily have nationwide operations—regional operations could, in many cases, be enough to justify the expense of setting one up. Most people don't pay long-distance anyway these days, so arguably the toll-free aspect of those numbers has lost its importance—consider how TV commercials always used to say, "Call toll-free 1-800-###-####," but they seldom include the "toll-free" part these days (if the person speaking mentions the phone number at all). Avoiding long-distance charges used to be a much bigger deal.

[kalvado]

^^^^

I suppose that's indirectly the case, though it might be an oversimplification. 800-, and related "area codes," are for toll-free numbers, meaning the caller doesn't pay long-distance charges to call that number regardless of whether the caller and the recipient are located. A business operating a toll-free number wouldn't necessarily have nationwide operations—regional operations could, in many cases, be enough to justify the expense of setting one up. Most people don't pay long-distance anyway these days, so arguably the toll-free aspect of those numbers has lost its importance—consider how TV commercials always used to say, "Call toll-free 1-800-###-####," but they seldom include the "toll-free" part these days (if the person speaking mentions the phone number at all). Avoiding long-distance charges used to be a much bigger deal.

In the dark days before email became the prime method and saving cell minutes went out of fashion...
Desk phones at work didn't have long distance access, except for higher ups. There was a dedicated desk with a long distance phone and sign in sheet. Other things equal, it was simply easier to get things done if company had an 800 number...

[1995hoo]

^^^^

I suppose that's indirectly the case, though it might be an oversimplification. 800-, and related "area codes," are for toll-free numbers, meaning the caller doesn't pay long-distance charges to call that number regardless of whether the caller and the recipient are located. A business operating a toll-free number wouldn't necessarily have nationwide operations—regional operations could, in many cases, be enough to justify the expense of setting one up. Most people don't pay long-distance anyway these days, so arguably the toll-free aspect of those numbers has lost its importance—consider how TV commercials always used to say, "Call toll-free 1-800-###-####," but they seldom include the "toll-free" part these days (if the person speaking mentions the phone number at all). Avoiding long-distance charges used to be a much bigger deal.

In the dark days before email became the prime method and saving cell minutes went out of fashion...
Desk phones at work didn't have long distance access, except for higher ups. There was a dedicated desk with a long distance phone and sign in sheet. Other things equal, it was simply easier to get things done if company had an 800 number...

Then you had people who were, shall we say, less than scrupulous and would use their employers' phones for their personal long-distance calls. My father worked for the US government and said that he knew of people who brought their families into the government office on the weekend to make long-distance calls to relatives. He never did anything of that sort because his particular job was such that he would have gotten into considerable hot water for it.

[tmoore952]

Kinda like if you were to try and dial a phone number such as 911-5620 -- once you dial 911 everything else is ignored.  (We found this out the hard way -- when our daughter was 2 she picked up the phone and started punching numbers.  The first three she dialed were, you guessed it -- 911.  A few minutes later the sheriff's department was at our door.)

Same thing happened with my son when he was about 2 or 3.

In my case, the sheriff's department came to our door with guns drawn. Apparently when our 911 center gets an incoming call followed by a hangup, the assumption is that the phone call was quietly made by someone who is in trouble, to get help. When I answered the door, the deputies asked several times "is everything OK"? (also part of their training, I assumed) Only after we had convinced them what happened did they back down with the questions and the guns.

[mgk920]

^^^^

I suppose that's indirectly the case, though it might be an oversimplification. 800-, and related "area codes," are for toll-free numbers, meaning the caller doesn't pay long-distance charges to call that number regardless of whether the caller and the recipient are located. A business operating a toll-free number wouldn't necessarily have nationwide operations—regional operations could, in many cases, be enough to justify the expense of setting one up. Most people don't pay long-distance anyway these days, so arguably the toll-free aspect of those numbers has lost its importance—consider how TV commercials always used to say, "Call toll-free 1-800-###-####," but they seldom include the "toll-free" part these days (if the person speaking mentions the phone number at all). Avoiding long-distance charges used to be a much bigger deal.

For at least a couple of decades now, outgoing calls from my cell phones to any other numbers in the USA have been considered to be 'local' to me.  I seriously doubt that anyone born after the mid-late 1980s even has any concept of what the differences were between 'local' and 'long distance' calls.

Mike

[tmoore952]

^^^^

I suppose that's indirectly the case, though it might be an oversimplification. 800-, and related "area codes," are for toll-free numbers, meaning the caller doesn't pay long-distance charges to call that number regardless of whether the caller and the recipient are located. A business operating a toll-free number wouldn't necessarily have nationwide operations—regional operations could, in many cases, be enough to justify the expense of setting one up. Most people don't pay long-distance anyway these days, so arguably the toll-free aspect of those numbers has lost its importance—consider how TV commercials always used to say, "Call toll-free 1-800-###-####," but they seldom include the "toll-free" part these days (if the person speaking mentions the phone number at all). Avoiding long-distance charges used to be a much bigger deal.

For at least a couple of decades now, outgoing calls from my cell phones to any other numbers in the USA have been considered to be 'local' to me.  I seriously doubt that anyone born after the mid-late 1980s even has any concept of what the differences were between 'local' and 'long distance' calls.

Mike

In the old days, the call went from local switch to regional switch and back again, and therefore the tracing of the call was clearly known. (the "1" prefix got you to the "long distance" switches)

Now, not so much, with a lot of cell phone signals going through communications satellites.

[1995hoo]

^^^^

I suppose that's indirectly the case, though it might be an oversimplification. 800-, and related "area codes," are for toll-free numbers, meaning the caller doesn't pay long-distance charges to call that number regardless of whether the caller and the recipient are located. A business operating a toll-free number wouldn't necessarily have nationwide operations—regional operations could, in many cases, be enough to justify the expense of setting one up. Most people don't pay long-distance anyway these days, so arguably the toll-free aspect of those numbers has lost its importance—consider how TV commercials always used to say, "Call toll-free 1-800-###-####," but they seldom include the "toll-free" part these days (if the person speaking mentions the phone number at all). Avoiding long-distance charges used to be a much bigger deal.

For at least a couple of decades now, outgoing calls from my cell phones to any other numbers in the USA have been considered to be 'local' to me.  I seriously doubt that anyone born after the mid-late 1980s even has any concept of what the differences were between 'local' and 'long distance' calls.

Probably true, but that doesn't change the validity of the point I was making. There's a reason why we have 800- numbers, and I suppose you could validly consider 888-, 877-, etc. to be a form of an "area code split" in that they added those when they needed more toll-free numbers than the existing 800- "area code" could accommodate.

[tmoore952]

^^^^

I suppose that's indirectly the case, though it might be an oversimplification. 800-, and related "area codes," are for toll-free numbers, meaning the caller doesn't pay long-distance charges to call that number regardless of whether the caller and the recipient are located. A business operating a toll-free number wouldn't necessarily have nationwide operations—regional operations could, in many cases, be enough to justify the expense of setting one up. Most people don't pay long-distance anyway these days, so arguably the toll-free aspect of those numbers has lost its importance—consider how TV commercials always used to say, "Call toll-free 1-800-###-####," but they seldom include the "toll-free" part these days (if the person speaking mentions the phone number at all). Avoiding long-distance charges used to be a much bigger deal.

For at least a couple of decades now, outgoing calls from my cell phones to any other numbers in the USA have been considered to be 'local' to me.  I seriously doubt that anyone born after the mid-late 1980s even has any concept of what the differences were between 'local' and 'long distance' calls.

Probably true, but that doesn't change the validity of the point I was making. There's a reason why we have 800- numbers, and I suppose you could validly consider 888-, 877-, etc. to be a form of an "area code split" in that they added those when they needed more toll-free numbers than the existing 800- "area code" could accommodate.

I was around the industry when the 888,877,866 etc. additions were made to the toll-free network (late '90s).
Wasn't in the actual discussion room, but I heard through the grapevine this change was done very quickly (relative to other such changes) because the available 800 numbers were disappearing fast enough that the need was becoming urgent, if not immediate.

[geek11111]

They could have upgrading the former 800-234-5678 to 800-0234-5678
Or, at LEAST, allow 000 to 199 as the middle three digits (N11 are allowed in toll frees number's middle digits)

[kalvado]

They could have upgrading the former 800-234-5678 to 800-0234-5678
Or, at LEAST, allow 000 to 199 as the middle three digits (N11 are allowed in toll frees number's middle digits)

And what is the advantage of that vs adding 888 and 877 toll free codes?

[geek11111]

You literally only need to memorize 8 digits instead of 10, and makes it easier to be identified as toll free.
Many people are already accustommed to 888 877 866, but 855/44/33/22 looks a hell like a regular area code.

[Big John]

^^ A regular area code may not end in double digits.

[kalvado]

You literally only need to memorize 8 digits instead of 10, and makes it easier to be identified as toll free.
Many people are already accustommed to 888 877 866, but 855/44/33/22 looks a hell like a regular area code.

Memorize 800 number? I really never remembered more than 4 digits of any 800 number. and even that for a few seconds while dialing.

[Scott5114]

In my case, the sheriff's department came to our door with guns drawn. Apparently when our 911 center gets an incoming call followed by a hangup, the assumption is that the phone call was quietly made by someone who is in trouble, to get help. When I answered the door, the deputies asked several times "is everything OK"? (also part of their training, I assumed) Only after we had convinced them what happened did they back down with the questions and the guns.

With the ease of inadvertently triggering the "emergency call" function on cell phones these days, the SOP has changed somewhat. I accidentally did this once when I was high and almost dropped my phone, and somehow as I was fumbling to catch it, it did an emergency call. I quickly hit the hang up button, trying to cancel the call before it rang, but it still went through. Instead, dispatch sent me a text message asking something along the lines of "Is everything OK?". To which I replied "Sorry, accidental dial." They sent back "NO PROBLEM" (caps as in original) and that was that.

[GaryV]

You literally only need to memorize 8 digits instead of 10, and makes it easier to be identified as toll free.
Many people are already accustommed to 888 877 866, but 855/44/33/22 looks a hell like a regular area code.

Memorize 800 number? I really never remembered more than 4 digits of any 800 number. and even that for a few seconds while dialing.

Everyone (of a certain age) Sing: "One eight hundred five two eight, one two three four, Best Western".