Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wugate!wuarchive!swbatl!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: lars@salt.acc.com (Lars J Poulsen) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Dial 1-(NPA)-CONFUSE Message-ID: Date: 28 Jul 89 17:00:00 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: Lars J Poulsen Organization: Advanced Computer Communications, Santa Barbara, California Lines: 47 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 263, message 5 of 8 In a message in comp.lang.postscript, Jan Michael Rynning (in Stockholm) writes: >> >Call 1-88-83-FONTS to get a copy of the "Font and Function" catalog >> >for more details.... >> Hmmm... I only have digits on my telephone dial. How do the letters > ^^^^^^ >> map to digits? In article portal!cup.portal.com!jxh@apple.com writes: >Surprise! The world is not the same as the USA! Personally, I find >alphabetic phone numbers vexing to dial, even when the DTMF pad is labelled >so nicely, my index finger can't read. The mapping of letetrs to digits differs in various countries. While it was originally introduced to aid in the transition from exchange names to all-digit dialling, it took on new life with the introduction of vanity 800-numbers. For the record of overseas readers, the US mapping is: 1 ABC -> 2 DEF -> 3 GHI -> 4 JKL -> 5 MNO -> 6 PRS -> 7 TUV -> 8 WXY -> 9 star = * "oper"=0 hash = # (some phones have QZ on the 0 key) I cannot remember the Danish mapping, except that "C" was on the "1"; a remnant from when the original Copenhangen exchange became "CEntral". What may be even more surprising to insular Americans is that the allocation of dial pulses to digits is not universal. There are a total of 4 different mappings (counterclockwise from 3-o'clock): (a) 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 (Used in UK, I think) (b) 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-0 (Used in Denmark) (c) 0-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (d) 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-0 Obviously, this created a lot of technical problems for international connectivity until the better standardized DTMF signaling became universal. And to my embarrassment, I can't even remember which way the US rotary dial is laid out. It's been so long since I last saw one. / Lars Poulsen (800) 222-7308 or (805) 963-9431 ext 358 ACC Customer Service Affiliation stated for identification only My employer probably would not agree if he knew what I said !!