| | The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. | A telephone number or phone number is a sequence of numbers used to call from one telephone line to another in a telephone network. When telephone numbers were invented, they were short - as few as two or three digits - and were used by people to call a few neighbors. As phone systems have grown and interconnected to encompass the world, telephone numbers have grown longer and more complex, and in addition to telephones they now designate many other devices, such as computers and fax machines. A telephone line (or just line) is a single-user circuit on a telephone communications system. ...
The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the concatenation of the worlds public circuit-switched telephone networks, in much the same way that the Internet is the concatenation of the worlds public IP-based packet-switched networks. ...
For other uses, see Telephone (disambiguation). ...
The number contains the information necessary to identify uniquely the intended endpoint for the telephone call. Each such endpoint must have a unique number within the public switched telephone network. Most countries use fixed length numbers (for normal lines at least) and therefore the number of endpoints determines the necessary length of the telephone number. It is also possible for each subscriber to have a set of shorter numbers for the endpoints most often used. These "shorthand" or "speed calling" numbers are automatically translated to unique telephone numbers before the call can be connected. Some special services have their own short numbers (e.g. 9-1-1, 4-1-1, 9-9-9 and 1-1-2). Many systems also allow calls within a local area to be made without dialing the local area code. Example A phone number in North America will start with three numbers (918) which is the area code, followed by three more (555) and four more after that (1212) This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the network of the worlds public circuit-switched telephone networks, in much the same way that the Internet is the network of the worlds public IP-based packet-switched networks. ...
This article is about the emergency telephone number. ...
This article discusses the telephone directory number 411. ...
999 is the United Kingdoms emergency telephone number along with the EU standard 112. ...
1-1-2 (one-one-two) is the emergency telephone number for GSM and Europe. ...
A telephone numbering plan is a system that allows subscribers to make and receive telephone calls across long distances. ...
Most telephone networks nowadays are interconnected in the international telephone network, where the format of telephone numbers is standardized by ITU-T in the recommendation E.164, which specifies that the entire number should be 15 digits or shorter, and begin with a country prefix. For most countries, this is followed by an area code or city code and the subscriber number, which might consist of the code for a particular telephone switch. ITU-T recommendation E.123 describes how to represent an international telephone number in writing or print, starting with a plus sign ("+") and the country code. When calling an international number from a fixed line phone, the + must be replaced with the international call prefix chosen by the country the call is being made from. Mobile phones generally allow the + to be entered directly. It has been suggested that Office classification be merged into this article or section. ...
The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. ...
E.164 is an ITU-T recommendation which defines the international public telecommunication numbering plan used in the PSTN and some other data networks. ...
This is a list of country calling codes, also known as international direct dialing (IDD) codes, which are needed to access international telephone services. ...
A telephone numbering plan is a system that allows subscribers to make and receive telephone calls across long distances. ...
In the field of telecommunications, a central office houses equipment that is commonly known as simply a switch, which is a piece of equipment that connects phone calls. ...
The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. ...
ITU-T Recommendation E.123, or the Notation for national and international telephone numbers Recommendation E.123 defines a standard way to write telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and web addresses. ...
Each country has both a country calling code used to dial into a country, and an international call prefix or international access code used to dial out of the country. ...
The format and allocation of local phone numbers are controlled by each nation's respective government, either directly or by sponsored organizations (such as NANPA overseen by NeuStar Inc.) See Telephone numbering plan. A telephone numbering plan is a plan for allocating telephone number ranges to countries, regions, areas and exchanges and to non-fixed telephone networks such as mobile phone networks. ...
NANPA can mean: the North American Numbering Plan Administrator [1] the North American Nature Photography Association [2] Nanpa also refers to the Japanese renai games of Dokyusei ...
NeuStar (NYSE: NSR) is a provider of essential clearinghouse services to the global communications and Internet industry. ...
A telephone numbering plan is a plan for allocating telephone number ranges to countries, regions, areas and exchanges and to non-fixed telephone networks such as mobile phone networks. ...
Before a telephone call is connected, the telephone number must be dialed by the calling party or Caller. The called party might have equipment that presents caller ID before the call is answered. This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
A dial is a generally a flat disk, often with numbers or similar markings on it, used for displaying the setting or output of a timepiece, radio or measuring instrument In telephony and telecommunications in connection with a telephone, a dial refers, in older telephones, to a rotating disk with...
The person who (or device that) initiates a telephone call over the public switched telephone network is the calling party. ...
The person who (or device that) answers a telephone is the called party. ...
For the protein involved in the synthesis of major histocompatibility complex II, see CLIP (protein). ...
Business phones
Businesses in the middle 20th century and earlier had a single telephone number for the main telephone switchboard of that business. A switchboard operator would connect the call within the business. If the called party didn't answer, the caller was typically transferred back to the switchboard. With voicemail and more technology, businesses now use Direct Inward Dialing (DID) (Direct Dialling Inwards (DDI) in the UK) lines so that outside callers can call to a specific person in a business. Often, the DID number uses a pattern from the called party's telephone internal extension. For example, within the Acme Corporation, a caller may dial 225 to reach Mr. Smith, but an outside caller may dial 448-9225 to reach Mr. Smith (with the last three digits representing Mr. Smith's extension). Some companies arrange their dial plan to restrict the DDI capability to certain parts of the PABX or Centrex numbering range: Mr Smith on 225 might have it, but Mr Jones on 374 or Mr Brown on 427 would not. If a merger has happened in the past there may even be different exchange codes mapping to different parts of the internal numbering range. DID became an important feature of Centrex. Telephone switchboard, 1974 A switchboard (also called a manual branch exchange) is a device used to manually connect a group of telephones from one to another or to an outside connection. ...
Medium-to-large organisations often employ switchboard operators—specialised staff who answer general phone calls to the organisation and usually maintain internal communication through telephones, semaphones (bleeps) and pagers. ...
Direct Inward Dialing (DID, also called DDI in Europe) is a feature offered by telephone companies for use with their customers PBX systems, whereby the telephone company (telco) allocates a range of numbers all connected to their customers PBX. As calls are presented to the PBX, the number that...
This article is about the fictional Looney Tunes company. ...
Defining the dial plan A dial plan establishes the expected number and pattern of digits for a telephone number. ...
Typical standard phone used with Centrex. ...
Typical standard phone used with Centrex. ...
Some companies have a sufficient need for internal extensions that the whole numbering range following the exchange code () represents company extensions. A real example of this in the UK is the former Post Office's headquarters in Central London: the PABX was made an end node exchange in the London Director area, with the code 432. The automanual board was given the extension number 1234, so in the days before all-figure numbering outside callers reached the switchboard by dialing HEAdquarters 1234. The White House in Washington, DC is another example, having the (202)456 exchange. PBX redirects here. ...
The Director System was introduced to six cities in the UK from 1922 following the introduction of the automatic telephone exchange in the UK in 1912. ...
For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ...
Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...
History In the late 1870s the Bell interests started exploiting their patent with a rental scheme, in which they would rent their instruments to individual users who would contract with other suppliers to connect them, for example from home to office to factory. Western Union and the Bell company both soon realized that a subscription service would be more profitable, with the invention of the telephone switchboard or central office. Such an office was staffed by an operator who connected the calls by personal names. This article describes the former AT&T Corp. ...
Western Union (NYSE: WU) is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. ...
The subscription business model is a business model that has long been used by magazines and record clubs, but the application of this model is spreading. ...
Telephone switchboard, 1974 A switchboard (also called a manual branch exchange) is a device used to manually connect a group of telephones from one to another or to an outside connection. ...
In the field of telecommunications, a central office or telephone exchange houses equipment that is commonly known as simply a switch, which is a piece of equipment that connects phone calls. ...
A telephone operator at work on a private switchboard A telephone operator is either a person who provides assistance to a telephone caller, usually in the placing of operator assisted telephone calls such as calls from a pay phone, collect calls (called reversed-charge calls in the UK), calls which...
The latter part of 1879 and the early part of 1880 saw the first use of telephone numbers at Lowell, Massachusetts. During an epidemic of measles, Dr. Moses Greeley Parker feared that Lowell's four telephone operators might succumb and bring about a paralysis of telephone service. He recommended the use of numbers for calling Lowell's more than 200 subscribers so that substitute operators might be more easily trained in the event of such an emergency. Parker was convinced of the telephone's potential, began buying stock, and by 1883 he was one of the largest individual stockholders in both the American Telephone Company and the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company. Nickname: Motto: Art is the Handmaid of Human Good Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Middlesex Settled 1653 Incorporated 1826 A city 1836 Government - Type Manager-City council - Mayor William F. Martin, Jr. ...
The New England Telephone and Telegraph Company was the first company set up to develop the then-new telephone. ...
Even after the assignment of numbers, operators still connected most calls into the early 20th century; "Hello Central, get me Underwood-342." Connecting through operators or "Central" was usual until mechanical dialing of numbers became more common in the 1920s.
In rural areas with magneto crank telephones connected to party lines, the local phone number consisted of the line number plus the ringing pattern of the subscriber. To dial a number such as "3R122" meant making a request to the operator the third party line (if making a call off your own local one), followed by turning the telephone's crank once, a short pause, then twice and twice again.[citation needed] Also common was a code of long and short rings, so one party's call might be signalled by two longs and anothers' by two longs followed by a short.[1] It was not uncommon to have over a dozen ringing pattern (and subscribers) on one line. Ringdown: In telephony, a method of signaling an operator in which telephone ringing current is sent over the line to operate a lamp or cause the operation of a self-locking relay known as a drop. ...
In older telephone systems, a party line (also multiparty line or Shared Service Line) is an arrangement in which two or more customers are connected directly to the same local loop. ...
In North America, the digits 2–9 of phone numbers were allotted 3 letters of the alphabet apiece. This left room for only 24 letters, so the uncommon letters Q and Z were omitted. In the UK, the letters O and Q were allocated to the digit 0, to reduce caller confusion among similar characters; digit 6 had only M and N, and digit 7 had P, R and S. North American redirects here. ...
Phone numbers were not usually strictly numeric until the 1950s. From the 1920s until then, most urban areas had "exchanges" of two letters, followed by numbers. In the UK, however, exchanges in the major cities with Director installations were represented by three letters followed by four numbers; the letters usually represented the name of the exchange area (e.g. MAYfair, WATerloo), or something memorable about the locality (e.g. POPesgrove — an area where Alexander Pope once lived). This was considered easier to remember, although in London in the later part of this period it required the memorization of 7 characters (roughly the same number of characters as is usual for local calling in 2008). A word would represent the first two digits to be dialed, for example "TWinbrook" for "89" ; "BYwater" for "29". UK numbers had no letters at all except for those in the Director areas, where the first three of the seven digits were assigned letters, and written "ABBey 1234" or "WHItehall 1212", for example. A lack of pronounceable words, and the fact that most telephones world-wide have no letters on anyway, have led to the abandonment of letter usage in directory numbers except for publicity purposes. During the early years of telephone service, communities that required more than 10,000 telephone numbers, whether dial service was available or not, utilized exchange names to distinguish identical numerics for different customers. ...
The Director System was introduced to six cities in the UK from 1922 following the introduction of the automatic telephone exchange in the UK in 1912. ...
The use of numbers starting in 555- (KLondike-5) to represent fictional numbers in U.S. movies, television, and literature originated in this period. The "555" prefix was reserved for telco use and was only consistently used for Directory Assistance (Information), being "555-1212" for the local area. An attempt to dial a 555 number from a movie in the real world will always result in an error message (in the U.S.A., at least). This eliminates the likelihood of nuisance calls. In North America, telephone numbers with the prefix 555 are widely used for fictitious phone numbers in television shows, films and other types of fictional media. ...
Phone numbers were traditionally tied down to a single location; because exchanges were "hard-wired", the first 3 digits of any number were tied to the geographic location of the exchange. Modern exchanges are actually computers which are much more flexible and could be programmed to accept any prefix. Similarly, mobile phones do not have these constraints, being interfaced to the Public Switched network through a gateway which can be programmed however the provider wants it.
Alphanumeric trivia Because the switches were hard-wired together and fairly hard to re-wire (or re-grade), telephone exchange buildings in many larger cities, in North America, were dedicated to circuits that began with the first two or three digits of the standard 7 digit phone numbers. In a holdover from the days of plug-board exchanges, the exchanges were typically named with a name whose first two letters translated to the digits of the exchange's prefix on a common telephone dial. Examples: CAstle (22), TRinity (87), MUtual (68). Certain number combinations were not amenable to this naming process, such as "57," "95" and "97;" it was in part due to this factor that telephone exchange names were eventually abandoned, as more numbers were needed to prevent a given area code from running out of available numbers. During the early years of telephone service, communities that required more than 10,000 telephone numbers, whether dial service was available or not, utilized exchange names to distinguish identical numerics for different customers. ...
A telephone numbering plan is a system that allows subscribers to make and receive telephone calls across long distances. ...
In the past, the first two or three digits would map to a mnemonic exchange name, e.g. 869‒1234 was formerly TOwnsend 9‒1234, and before that (in some localities) might have been TOWnsend 1234 (only the capital letters and numbers being dialed).
In December of 1930, New York City became the first locality in the United States to adopt the two-letter, five-number format; it remained alone in this respect until well after World War II, when other municipalities across the country began to follow suit. From the 1920s through the 1950s, most larger U.S. cities used the Bell System standard format of two letters which began the exchange name followed by four numbers, as in DUnkirk 0799. Prior to the mid-1950s, the number immediately following the name could never be a "0" or "1;" indeed, "0" was never pressed into service at all, except in the immediate Los Angeles area (the "BEnsonhurst 0" exchange mentioned in an episode of the popular TV sitcom The Honeymooners was fictitious). New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...
Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...
Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ...
For the 2005 film, see The Honeymooners (film). ...
In 1955, the Bell System attempted to standardize the process of naming exchanges by issuing a "recommended list" of names to be used for the various number combinations. In 1961, New York Telephone introduced "selected-letter" exchanges, in which the two letters did not mark the start of any particular name (example: FL 6-9970), and by 1965 all newly-connected phone numbers nationwide consisted of numerals only (Wichita Falls, Texas had been the first locality in the United States to implement the latter, having done so in 1958). Pre-existing numbers continued to be displayed the old way in many places well into the 1970s. A Chicago carpet retailer frequently advertised their number NAtional 2-9000 on WGN until the 1990s; not to mention, the number TYler 8-7100 for a Detroit construction company, as well as another Chicago business, a carpet cleaning service, using HUdson 3-2700. Radio Cab Co. in Portland, Oregon, still lists their number as CA7-1212 in several places on their garage. A construction company in Philadelphia, James D. Morrissey, Inc., still lists DA3-8000 as their phone number on most of their dump trucks as of June 2008. The Bell System was a trademark and service mark used by the United States telecommunications company American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) and its affiliated companies to co-brand their extensive circuit-switched telephone network and their affiliations with each other. ...
Wichita Falls is a city in the state of Texas and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. ...
For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). ...
WGN is the callsign of two broadcast stations in Chicago, Illinois, both owned by the Tribune company. ...
Motto: Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus (We Hope For Better Things; It Shall Rise From the Ashes - this motto was adopted after the disastrous 1805 fire that devastated the city) Nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in Wayne County, Michigan Founded Incorporated July 24, 1701 1815 County Wayne County Mayor...
Nickname: Location of Portland in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: , Country State Counties Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas Incorporated February 8, 1851 Government - Type Commission - Mayor Tom Potter[1] - Commissioners Sam Adams Randy Leonard Dan Saltzman Erik Sten - Auditor Gary Blackmer Area - City 145. ...
For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ...
Most of the United Kingdom had no lettered telephone dials until the introduction of Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) in 1958. Prior to that time, only the director areas (Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester) and the non-director areas adjacent to them had lettered dials, and the director exchanges used the three-letter, four-number format. With the introduction of STD, the need for all callers to be able to dial numbers with letters in them led to the much more widespread use of lettered dials. The need for dials with letters was finally abandoned with the conversion to all-figure numbering in 1968. Subscriber trunk dialling (STD) (also known as subscriber toll dialling) is a term for the UK telephone system allowing subscribers to dial trunk calls without operator assistance. ...
The Director System was introduced to six cities in the UK from 1922 following the introduction of the automatic telephone exchange in the UK in 1912. ...
Because the pulses from a rotary dial (as used to operate switches in a Strowger exchange) took time, having a phone number with lots of 8s or 9s or 0s meant it took longer to dial. The phone companies typically assigned such "high" numbers to pay phones because they were rarely dialed to. A German Fe TAp 615, a widespread rotary dial telephone of the 1960s to the 1980s The rotary dial is a device mounted on or in a telephone or switchboard that is designed to send interrupted electrical pulses, known as pulse dialing, corresponding to the number dialed. ...
Almon Brown Strowger (1839 - May 26, 1902) gave his name to the electromechanical telephone exchange technology that his invention and patent inspired. ...
To test the basic functioning of all of the switches in a chain, a special "test" number was reserved that consisted of all 5s (555‒5555) — half-way up and in on each bank. The "555" (or Klondike) exchange was never assigned any real numbers (with limited exceptions such as 555-1212 for directory assistance), which is why today's TV and movie shows use 555-xxxx numbers for their phone numbers (previously, such productions often used numbers that ended in certain four-number combinations that were typically set aside for similar uses — "0079" on the West Coast and "9970" in many other places; examples include the TV series Perry Mason and the 1948 film Sorry, Wrong Number). That way there was no possibility that a fake number from a show would actually reach someone, thus avoiding the scenario which arose in 1982 with Tommy Tutone's hit single "867-5309/Jenny", which led to many customers who actually had that number receiving a plethora of unwanted calls. In fact, many US phone companies either no longer assign this number, or have relegated it to internal testing purposes. In North America, telephone numbers with the prefix 555 are widely used for fictitious phone numbers in television shows, films and other types of fictional media. ...
In telecommunications, directory assistance is a telephone call an individual can make to find out a specific wireline phone number and / or address of a residence or business. ...
Perry Mason is a fictional defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner. ...
Categories: Movie stubs | 1948 films | 1989 films | Best Actress Oscar Nominee (film) ...
Tommy Tutone is a rock band from San Francisco, California, best known for its 1982 hit 867-5309/Jenny, which peaked at #4 on the Billboard pop charts. ...
867-5309/Jenny is a song written by Alex Call and Jim Keller and performed by Tommy Tutone which peaked at Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1982. ...
However, today only numbers beginning with 555‒01xx are reserved for fiction and other 555-numbers can be allocated to "information providers". A side effect of the fictional-number pool being reduced to 100 numbers is that the same ones now often recur in different movies or TV shows. The "958" and "959" exchanges have also been reserved for similar purposes in most localities, and as a result very few individuals or businesses have telephone numbers beginning with those sets of digits either (although this fact is not as well known, so such numbers have not been used in a fictional context).
The number in the Glenn Miller Orchestra's hit "PEnnsylvania 6-5000" was and is the number of the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. If you call the number, now written as (212) 736-5000, you still get the hotel. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
Pennsylvania 6-5000 is said to be the oldest continuing phone number in New York City, New York. ...
The Hotel Pennsylvania is located at 401 7th Avenue in Manhattan. ...
New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...
Numeric trivia One of the most expensive phone numbers in the world is 666-6666 which was sold for USD$2.75 million in Doha, Qatar as part of a charity event in 2006. The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...
For other uses, see Doha (disambiguation). ...
Another is 888-8888, which was sold for USD$270,723 in Chengdu, China. 8 is traditionally considered a lucky number in Chinese culture. The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...
Not to be confused with Chengde. ...
Look up eight in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
In Chinese culture, certain numbers are believed by some to be auspicious (å‰åˆ©) or inauspicious (ä¸åˆ©) based on the Chinese word that the number name sounds similar to. ...
Computer industry pioneer Steve Wozniak, a collector of phone numbers, obtained the phone number 888-8888, but it proved unusable: Children playing with phones would dial it, resulting in more than a hundred wrong numbers a day.[2] Stephen Gary Woz Wozniak (born August 11, 1950 in San José, California) is an American computer engineer and the co-founder of Apple Computer (now Apple Inc. ...
In Quebec, the Journal de Montréal newspaper has been using the 888-8888 phone number for a few years for its classifieds section. There is a word game in French between this number and "vite, vite, vite, vite, vite, vite, vite" for "fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast". ("Vite" (fast) and "Huit" (eight) sound similar.) It is now mandatory to dial the area code first, so the number is now 514-888-8888. This article is about the Canadian province. ...
A telephone numbering plan is a system that allows subscribers to make and receive telephone calls across long distances. ...
In addition, the Ohio newspaper The Columbus Dispatch uses 888-8888 for its classifieds. The Columbus Dispatch is a daily newspaper, based in Columbus, Ohio, that serves the central portion of the state. ...
Intercepted number In the middle 20th century when a call could not be completed, for example because the phone number was not assigned, had been disconnected, or was in trouble, it went to an intercept operator who informed the caller. In the 1970s this service was converted to Automatic Intercept Systems which automatically chooses and presents an appropriate intercept message. Disconnected numbers may be reassigned after the rate of calls to them declines. An intercept message is a telephone recording which replaces generic recordings with customized messages, such as repeating the number of a disconnected line, then reciting the new number. ...
References - ^ [1]"Electricity and Magnetism; Principles of Telephony; Subscribers' Station ..." By International Correspondence Schools,1916, page 20. Retrieved May 27,2008
See also ITU-T Recommendation E.123, or the Notation for national and international telephone numbers Recommendation E.123 defines a standard way to write telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and web addresses. ...
This is a list of country calling codes defined by ITU-T recommendation E.164. ...
A telephone numbering plan is a plan for allocating telephone number ranges to countries, regions, areas and exchanges and to non-fixed telephone networks such as mobile phone networks. ...
Long distance in telecommunications, refers to telephone calls made outside a certain area, usually characterized by an area code outside of a local call area. ...
The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...
External links - ITU-T Recommendation E.123: Notation for national and international telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and Web addresses
- RFC 3966 The
tel: URI for telephone numbers - History of UK dialing codes, with lists of codes and more links
- World Telephone Numbering Guide which can be used to lookup telephone numbering informations
- ITU National Numbering Plans which links to the numbering plans of individual countries.
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