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From: jah@techsup.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.modems
Subject: Re: Call waiting--call forwarding
Message-ID: <-79730747@techsup>
Date: Mon, 23-Mar-87 12:40:00 EST
Article-I.D.: techsup.-79730747
Posted: Mon Mar 23 12:40:00 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 27-Mar-87 03:19:39 EST
References: <670@crlt.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:crlt.UUCP:670:techsup:-79730747:000:1082
Nf-From: techsup.UUCP!jah    Mar 23 11:40:00 1987


Anyone needing to find a busy signal for test purposes can use the old
"time" number used in most metropolitan areas until about 1980.  Like
a lot of the good old freebies that turned into "feebies", in just about
every case the telcos shut off the (xxx) 853-1212 time number and sold
the rights to a local bank or newspaper.

You can get a busy by simply dialing local or LD the 853-1212 number.
It is excellent for testing autodialers and call accounting units.

The use of the number goes back to the 1930's when time was reached from
any exchange by dialing ULrich (or some such exchange) 853-xxxx.  Later on,
the telcos wanted to use the 853 exchange code for customer services and
had to block out the ability to dial time by just dialing any 4 extension
digits.  So they busied out the old time combinations of 853-1212, 853-2121,
etc.  For a long time a lot of customers with an 853 prefix were getting
calls for time.  One of these exchanges is in West Hollywood, CA and at
the time of the original cutover PacBell (the Pacific Tel and Tel) took a
lot of heat over this.