Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: Erik Naggum Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Plagued by Wrong Number Calls Message-ID: <10568@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 7 Aug 90 20:48:45 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 65 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 549, Message 1 of 8 Dave Levenson relates a story [TELECOM Digest Vol 10, #545] on similar telephone numbers causing many wrong number calls. I experience the same problem. My public number is very close to that of some organization similar in style to the Red Cross, but Norwegian, only. "Very close", that is, to people who want to dial these folks. I can't understand how they can miss. Their number is 02 33 15 90. Mine is 02 15 33 90. I get approximate- ly three calls per day for these folks, and for some reason, the telephone network is magic to the people who call. Of course, they dialled what they thought was the number of this org, and explaining to them that they got where the number leads them, but that the number they have got is wrong. They haven't misdialled, which some of them point of to me several times, and some of them insist that they have the right number, even when it fails to hit the target. The PSDN is clearly not at fault in this case, but the ability of people to grasp the relationship of phone numbers to people is nil in certain parts of the population. My sleep-wake cycle is somewhat chaotic, so it gets very annoying at times. I have ordered another phone line, unlisted ("secret" to the Norwegian telco). That is a story in itself: I call the telco, order an unlisted line, explain that I want a particular number which is not in use, tell her the switch-district code for my building, which is supposed to be a secret, and give her the number of the pairs we have for the other line. She gets all flustered up and asks me how I knew all of that. I said I got them from the last person I talked to at her department, which is not entirely false, and she calmed down. No charge for unlisted, no charge for "vanity" numbers. Due to lack of available pairs in the building, it will take all of 10 days to have the line installed. The central office is an STK System 12, with full DSS1 & SS#7 capabilities to those who can persuade the telco to give you access to the ISDN channels in the switch. I haven't tried that, yet. Another thing, I was told when I called them to order this line, that I am the largest single-user customer in the entire Oslo telephone district: I have two lines to my office, one a DDI on an ISDN switch, the other a normal line, two lines to my computer, same arrangement, two different pager numbers, one listed, the other with a password, two lines at home, and one leased line. Yearly telecom budget around $13,000. I politely asked if they would consider discounts on inter- national calls to such a "large" customer, but they balked at that! Geez. But their service is good, and line quality is supreme. Erik Naggum [Moderator's Note: In 1974, a major CO here was cut to ESS. My number was WEbster 9-4600. Sears, Roebuck Central Credit had WAbash 2-4600. I had two lines; they had a five-position cord board which literally rocked around the clock; a very heavy traffic location with about 100 incoming trunks. When the ESS went in, some fool of a central office worker got 922 mixed up with 939, and for *two days* I got flooded with calls from people complaining about their credit cards, etc ... All the calls originated from Chicago-Superior, as I recall. Sears never even missed the calls they were not getting. I went through hell from it until I got someone in the CO who would listen to me. PT]