Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!netsys!vector!nobody
From: covert%covert.DEC@decwrl.dec.com (John R. Covert)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: RE: European variable length numbers
Message-ID: <telecom-v08i0152m04@vector.UUCP>
Date: 4 Oct 88 18:52:00 GMT
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>While in Frankfurt last week I noted that phone numbers varied in
>length from 4 to 10 digits, maybe more. The longer ones seemed
>to be DID into PBXs.
>How does the CO know when it has all the digits?  Does it time
>out, or do prefixes carry implicit lengths?

Neither.  The exchange begins processing the call after some short number
of digits (as few as one or as many as four, depending on the exchange type
and local dialing plan) and continues to send digits to the distant exchange
until you stop dialing, the call is answered, or some significantly large
maximum is reached.

This allows the operator at at PBX to be, for example, 9591-0, and for there
to be four digit extensions such as 9591-2323.

Europeans think we are weird for insisting on a fixed length numbering plan.

/john