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From: DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Douglas Scott Reuben)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: What are 700 and 555 Numbers?
Message-ID: <15231@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 6 Dec 90 04:38:00 GMT
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Hi-

re: 555-1212 and what other services "555" goes to other than Directory 
Assistance:

In New England Tel territory, 1-555-6611 (or is it -1611?) gets repair
service.  I've tried "611", which is more standard, and it doesn't
work.

800-555-5000 was the old Bell System "Let's Talk" number, which was
basically an information service set up just before divestiture so
that people wouldn't get "scared" about the breakup, etc. (Although in
retrospect maybe they should have! :) ). Now it seems to go to the
local Bell that is serving you, ie, in New York it goes to NY Tel, and
in CT it goes to SNET, or just dies at their recording, etc. This
seems to change from time to time, or rather, from place to place. I
California (San Jose) I gave it a try last summer, and got the AT&T
Phonecenter Info line, but I tried it a few months later and got
Pac*Bell. Maybe it just cut over in the interim?

Some other Bells have 1-555-xxxx for coin-telephone repair, etc. I
think Pacific Northwest Bell had something like this (now USWEST),
although I can't be sure about this either. A good place to look is on
the instruction card at a Bell payphone, or in the front of the White
Pages.

Note that 1-617-555-6611 will get you NE Tel repair if you dial it
Long Distance. I always thought that 1-Area Code-555-xxxx will ALWAYS
get DA, but I guess not.


Doug

dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu
dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet
(and just plain old "dreuben" to locals...!! :-)   )


[Moderator's Note: 555-anything here cuts to DA. At least I have not
seen any exceptions.  PAT]