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[cwathen]

Anyone remember the days of local codes that you could use instead of the STD code for nearby areas? For example calling a Wolverhampton number from Birmingham, you could dial the prefix 5, instead of the 01902 you have to dial now.

Yep, the main one I remember was that in Cornwall if you wanted to dial a Truro number you could just prefix it with a 9 rather than having to use the STD dialling code (0872). Indeed, my parent's address book is still litted with numbers like '9/227473' written in it.

Lord, with all those zeroes, be glad we all don't have rotary-dial telephones anymore.

Oh wait, I do. Shit.

So do I, and I wouldn't change her for the world. I've got a classic GPO model 746 dial telephone (the standard phone that was in most UK houses from the late 60's up until the early 80's), in 'hotline red' as my telephony instrument. A beautiful machine to use (there's something satisfying about using a rotary dial), and I don't think you can beat a good old fashioned bell ringer - it can be heard throughout the house and penetrates sound much better than the puny electronic sounders used in modern phones.

And the beauty of these older machines is that they don't wear out because they're built to last (hence they weigh half a ton) and they don't break down because (with the exception of the dial mechanism itself) there's nothing in them to go wrong. Even the most conservative estimates makes my phone 20 years old (it's more likely to be around 30) , but it still works like it came out of the packaging yesterday (I would say 'came out of the box' except that I know for a fact that they simply came in a plastic bag - it wasn't felt necessary to hermetically seal these beasts in cardboard and polystyrene as a modern phone would be).

[Gavin Scott]

Lord, with all those zeroes, be glad we all don't have rotary-dial telephones anymore.

Oh wait, I do. Shit.

But North America doesn't use a prefix on their dialling codes like most of the rest of the world (0 in most cases, 9 in a few like Spain) so it doesn't matter to you!

I thought '1' was the prefix for long-distance in the US?

[Chris]

I thought '1' was the prefix for long-distance in the US?

I wondered if Rob or anyone else could explain to me what all this long distance stuff is about in the US for when you ring people?

I've always been rather confused at it ...

[Larry Scutta]

Yes, when I was in New York last year the phone was covered in instructions on what prefix to use depending on where you were calling. It was so confusing (and it was a good job I didn't use it as they would hav charged me an absolute fortune to call New Jersey)

[Larry Scutta]

I've got a classic GPO model 746 dial telephone (the standard phone that was in most UK houses from the late 60's up until the early 80's), in 'hotline red' as my telephony instrument. A beautiful machine to use (there's something satisfying about using a rotary dial), and I don't think you can beat a good old fashioned bell ringer - it can be heard throughout the house and penetrates sound much better than the puny electronic sounders used in modern phones.

How does it cope with 'Press 1 for this, press 2 for that....' type situations?

[cwathen]

How does it cope with 'Press 1 for this, press 2 for that....' type situations?

Usually, I try to use a different phone for these. But I did pick up a tone generator thingamajig from a car boot sale for £2 - so I can handle these situations when I want to.

But since most of these menu systems ultimately get you through to the same person anyway, and with most of them you will still be connected if you press nothing, I usually just wait.

[nwtv2003]

I've got a classic GPO model 746 dial telephone (the standard phone that was in most UK houses from the late 60's up until the early 80's), in 'hotline red' as my telephony instrument. A beautiful machine to use (there's something satisfying about using a rotary dial), and I don't think you can beat a good old fashioned bell ringer - it can be heard throughout the house and penetrates sound much better than the puny electronic sounders used in modern phones.

How does it cope with 'Press 1 for this, press 2 for that....' type situations?

It doesn't support it, it isn't as mentioned as much these days but they used to say for some numbers that this particular phone line is only suitable for those using a touch tone phone. Luckily I have never had to use one as we've never had one, but if I used one I would probably get the wrong number , though I've seen about those old British Telecom touchtone phones from the 80's that have gone yellow and have the old (T) logo on it.

Though we've had many BT Phones, a classic one from the early 1990's and a more modern one in the late 90's which had a good display for the answerphone and the phone displayed the number you were dialling, quite useful. We currently have a Southwestern Bell phone, it is good and easy to use but it wasn't as good as the old one.

[James Martin]

The British Telecom Tribune phone we got when we moved into the then-new house in 1987 is now in my room sitting next to me - and it still works absoloutely fine 17 years later! Is a Pulse phone but for everyday stuff it's fine.

[MrTomServo]

I thought '1' was the prefix for long-distance in the US?

I wondered if Rob or anyone else could explain to me what all this long distance stuff is about in the US for when you ring people?

I've always been rather confused at it ...

It's quite simple, actually. Every place in the US has a three-digit "area code". If you live in the same area code as the person you're dialling, then it's just a matter of dialling their seven-digit phone number. This is a "local call". (All phone numbers have seven digits.)

(Let me say right now that hotel phones aren't the best way to learn about dialling in the US. Some are very strange, because many hotels treat their phones like an office building with each phone being an "extension", etc. etc. and may have special rules about "dialling out" of the hotel phone system.)

If I live outside their area code (for instance, if I live in 619, and I'm dialling someone in 206), then I dial 1 plus the area code and then the seven digit phone number. (In this example, I could dial 1-206-xxx-xxxx.)This is considered "long-distance", although it's now in name only. In southern California, where I live, the density of area codes is so great (mostly due to the high population density) your next-door neighbour might be in a different area code. The phone company usually will include all the area codes within about a 10-mile radius around your house as your "local calling area" and will charge you the same as a local call for "long-distance" calls to these area codes.

If I live outside the country, and I want to dial the UK, for instance, I dial 011, then your country's code (44), I omit the zero normally on a city code (020 becomes 20, for instance), and then the number.

Some handy US numbers:
0: dials the operator
911: life-and-death emergencies (analagous to 999)
411: "local" directory enquiries (analagous to 118-xxx numbers)
1-xxx-555-1212: directory enquiries for a different area code
611: (in some communities) report civil issues, like potholes, broken water mains, etc.
853-1212: (in most communities) the current time

More random facts: No U.S. phone numbers or area codes begin with 1. The numbers 555-0001 through 555-0999 are not assigned to anyone, and that's why they're used in movies and things. Up until about 10 years ago, the only number allowed as the middle digit in an area code was a one or a zero (x1x or x0x only).

You also could determine your area's importance (circa 1961) by adding up the digits in the code. Zero equals 10. It's because zeroes used to take forever to go around a rotary dial, whilst ones were the quickest. The quickest possible code, 212, went to the busiest place, New York City. Los Angeles got 213. Alaska got 907. You see how it goes.

[dvboy]

Some handy US numbers:
0: dials the operator
911: life-and-death emergencies (analagous to 999)
411: "local" directory enquiries (analagous to 118-xxx numbers)
1-xxx-555-1212: directory enquiries for a different area code
611: (in some communities) report civil issues, like potholes, broken water mains, etc.
853-1212: (in most communities) the current time

We don't have a civil issues number here, but numerous things like Floodline most with long 0845 numbers. 118-xxx directory enquiries numbers are all nationwide, and 123 is the time. 100 is the operator. 1471 does the equivalent of your *69, there are loads of others which tend to vary between companies here.

[Larry Scutta]

The numbers 555-0001 through 555-0999 are not assigned to anyone, and that's why they're used in movies and things.

The equivalent numbers in the UK are on this page:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/licensing_numbe ... /num_drama