Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!hybrid!scifi!bywater!uunet!bu.edu!telecom-request From: ct@dde.dk (Claus Tondering) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: When to Use / Not Use the 1 Message-ID: Date: 3 Mar 91 00:40:58 GMT Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Organization: Dansk Data Elektronik A/S Lines: 39 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 172, Message 8 of 9 Could somebody in the US please inform me about the rules for when you have to dial an initial 1 in front of American telephone numbers? I used to think that if you were dialing a local (seven-digit) number you shouldn't start with a 1, whereas if you were dialing an area code, an initial 1 was required. However, during a recent visit to Florida while dialing certain seven-digit numbers, I was informed by a talking machine that I should dial an initial 1. This prompts three questions: 1) Why do you need a 1 in front of certain 7-digit numbers, but not in front of others? 2) If the telephone system is smart enough to inform me that I need to dial an initial 1, why is it not smart enough to connect me even if I haven't dialed the 1? 3) Are the rules the same everywhere in the US? Claus Tondering Dansk Data Elektronik A/S, Herlev, Denmark E-mail: ct@dde.dk [Moderator's Note: In summary, no, the rules are not the same everywhere in the USA. In almost every case you need a '1' before a ten-digit number. In the case of seven-digit numbers it varies according to the numbering scheme used by the local telco. The telcos usually begin using '1' in front of seven digits when their supply of prefixes without a one or a zero as the second digit begins to run short. A one or zero in the second digit of a three digit number here usually indicates an area code instead of a local exchange code. Using '1' first allows an extended set of exchange codes. There are other reasons as well. The reason they are 'smart enough' to catch the error but unwilling to correct it is because it is possible you actually knew what you were doing but misdialed, reaching a combination that normally requires '1' first. Rather than second-guessing what you might have meant, they toss it back to you to do over. PAT]