Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: mike@post.att.com (Michael Scott Baldwin) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: 215 Area Code Loses "1" per Newspaper 'Reporter' Message-ID: <15576@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 21 Dec 90 22:35:54 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 97 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 896, Message 7 of 7 This discussion is rather amusing because it shows how ingrained the two different meanings of "1" are. I happen to be at an advantage because I grew up in Maryland (1 == long distance) and live in New Jersey (1 == 10 digits), both of which are going through area code splits (201/908, 301/410) and changing from NNX to NXX. I've had intimate contact with all possible permutations, I think! Here's the deal: Ten years ago, this was the situation: Maryland New Jersey Local nnx-xxxx nnx-xxxx Long, same npa 1-nnx-xxxx nnx-xxxx Long, another npa 1-npa-nxx-xxxx npa-nxx-xxxx In NJ you never dialed "1" and in MD you dialed it for *all* long distance calls, in or out of your area code. As in other areas "1 == toll" became very ingrained in Maryland. NOTE: you simply had to know which exchanges in MD (area 301) were local and which were long, because you could *not* dial them the other way. For instance, 721 and 490 are long distance, but 721 and 224 are not. If I dialed "490-xxxx" from 721, I got a recording ("dial 1"). If I dialed "1-224-xxxx" from 721, I also got a recording ("don't dial 1"). If presented with a number (301) 892-3423, you would typically dial "1" if you didn't recognize the exchange ("must be far away" you thought). If that was wrong, well, you tried again without the "1". There were not that many exchanges in the local area, even though it was quite large, so it wasn't a big deal. However, I can imagine lots of simple folk getting confused by this. MAJOR ANOMALY: Maryland (301), DC (202) and Virginia (703) are all very close, and they had overlapping local calling areas. and yes, you guessed it, to dial a local (202) exchange from (301), you JUST DIALED 7 DIGITS! No 1, no area code. And to further hose things up, that same exchange might be used elsewhere in (301)! You see, if 301-335 were really far away from DC, then I would have to dial "1-335-xxxx" to get it. So "335-xxxx" could be reused, but only near DC, to mean "202-335-xxxx". So if I were 301-255-xxxx (near DC) and needed to dial 301-335-xxxx, if I just dialed 335-xxxx, I might accidentally get DC (but it was free!). Also, if I needed to dial 202-342-xxxx, I COULD NOT dial 1-202-342-xxxx, because it was local! I had to dial just 342-xxxx. Bleah! Now, when the time came to use NXX exchanges, New Jersey had a simple job: simply force "1" for long distance calls. It didn't mean anything particular, so nobody cared. This caused some unfortunate confusion. A friend of mine visited from Maryland and asked if they had to dial "1" to call (201) 234-1234 (whatever it was). Well, since it was in area code 201, of course you don't. So my friend called and talked for a while. *I* knew it was a long distance call (quite far away), so when he hung up I mentioned this -- he was shocked. He equated "dial 1" with "toll call" so he thought he was talking for free. Oops for me. Here's NJ now: New Jersey same npa 1-npa-nxx-xxxx or nxx-xxxx another npa 1-npa-nxx-xxxx Note how it is pleasant that I can *always* dial 1-npa in front of any number. This is nice for autodialing modems that you have to carry around with you. In Maryland the situation, unfortunately, has gotten even more hosed. still clinging to the "1 == toll" philosophy, but needing more exchanges, this is the "compromise": Maryland Local, same npa nxx-xxxx Local, another npa npa-nxx-xxxx Long, any npa 1-npa-nxx-xxxx So now you dial "1-301-335-xxxx" to dial your own area code, a '1' 202-335-xxxx" to get the local DC number. How extremely gross. Now people in Maryland are so confused they (and even I) can't dial anyone anymore. I had friends try to call my Baltimore number from Gambrills. It is long distance, but they didn't dial 1-301. They got some recording that didn't tell them to dial 1-301, so they gave up. And I was in Virginia (703) trying to call DC. Well, the hotel phone said "8" for long distance and "9" for local. 8-1-201-nxx-xxxx worked for New Jersey, but 8-1-202-966-xxxx failed for DC (remember I'm in NPA 703). I try 9-966-xxxx: it fails. Finally, 9-202-966-xxxx works. I was about to puke. Note that this new "scheme" actually opens up lots of exchanges. I presume they'll start using NXX exchanges where NXX != 301/410/703/202 because the only conflict is in local calling, and there are only four NPA's in the area. Of course, your poor autodialing modems are seriously out of luck. You move it a few miles and you might need to totally reprogram it. (Those hand-held DTMF-ers are also hosed, of course. Oh well, I thought there were cute!) By the way, I'm strongly in favor of New Jersey's scheme and it's time for "1 == toll call" to die a timely death. I hope this long message was amusing (maybe horrifying) to some of you. michael.scott.baldwin@att.com (bell laboratories)