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From: bruner@uicsrd.csrd.uiuc.edu (John Bruner)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Finding out the "Real" Number Behind a 1-800 Number
Message-ID: <2316@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 20 Dec 89 14:21:18 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 585, message 2 of 13


Twice I've had problems similar to those experienced by out-of-country
callers when I wanted to call a special phone number from the wrong
state.

The first time I was calling from California concerning my
soon-to-be-established service in Illinois, and the only number I had
was an 800 number that (naturally) only worked within the state of
Illinois.  Fortunately in that case I had a Champaign-Urbana telephone
book which listed the general office number in area code 312.  (They
couldn't handle my request, but they did give me a different 800
number.)

The second incident occurred when I needed to clear up a billing
problem on my just-disconnected Pacific Bell service.  I was now in
Illinois.  Pac*Bell (at least in the part of the Bay Area where I was
living) had instituted a special 811 prefix for all of its office
numbers.  I guess that the goal was to route calls to the nearest
office.  Naturally, these 811-xxxx numbers didn't work long-distance.
A call to directory assistance yielded the 811 number; however, after
I explained my problem they gave me another number (with a different
prefix but the same xxxx).  (Perhaps the fact that it had something to
do with money for them motivated the provision of this unlisted
information.)


John Bruner	Center for Supercomputing R&D, University of Illinois
	bruner@uicsrd.csrd.uiuc.edu	(217) 244-4476