# Old-style telephone numbers and how to dial them **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043 "2008-07-29T02:55:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/81 "2008-08-04T20:02:45Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] They had one of those set up at the phone company offices around 1974. You’d dial a number and then use TouchTone to dial the number; a timer would tell you how long it took. Regular dialing: 11 seconds TouchTone: 4 seconds So you saved seven seconds a call. My question is what would you do with the time you saved? [/QUOTE] Talk more? 🙂 Actually, the benefit went to the phone company. The switch has to be listening while you dial. You don’t get billed until the connection is made, so the seven second savings is seven seconds they’re not getting any revenue for. It is even more important for all the calls which don’t got through. That’s why getting charged extra for TouchTone was such a ripoff. If you remember, old phones could be switched to either pulse or touchtone. I discovered that though we had pulse service, touchtone still worked. Not surprising, since why force people into a protocol that cost more for the phone company? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/82 "2008-08-05T00:32:54Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] About once a month at my work there’s a call over the PA system: Would whoever dialed 911 please call the switchboard? We should be dialing ‘8’ for an outside line so that 9+1+\ instead of 9+1+\ doesn’t get confused with ‘911’. [/QUOTE] This happened once at a place I used to work. Someone apparently dialed 911 from the fax machine, and the cops showed up unexpectedly. We assumed that they intended to send a fax long distance but didn’t realize that the fax machine was on a direct outside line, so they dialed 9 for an outside line, then 1 for long distance and apparently hit the 1 twice by mistake. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/83 "2008-08-05T01:17:20Z")
[QUOTE=davidm] This happened once at a place I used to work. Someone apparently dialed 911 from the fax machine, and the cops showed up unexpectedly. We assumed that they intended to send a fax long distance but didn’t realize that the fax machine was on a direct outside line, so they dialed 9 for an outside line, then 1 for long distance and apparently hit the 1 twice by mistake. [/QUOTE] The same thing happens where I work from time to time. And since I work for a government agency, the police are required to come out unless someone calls them within a short period of time to tell them that it was a mistake. We are told that when we accidentally dial 911 that we are supposed to stay on the line rather than hang up immediately so that we can tell the 911 operator that we dialed them by mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/84 "2008-08-05T01:52:35Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] I also need to remember that ‘905 and 289 = maybe local’ [/QUOTE] And, as an annoying side-note…in the 905 area, a 905 number might NOT be local. I’m in 905 (Oshawa) and had to call a 905 (Pickering) number, last week, for a job interview…I had to dial it twice, because I don’t often call Pickering and didn’t realize it was long distance, despite being 905. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/85 "2008-08-07T13:42:28Z")
This might be a good place to recount this story. Sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s (I think) someone at NPR mused on-air that since old dial phones are virtually extinct, it’s anachronistic to say that we “dial” a phone number. They asked listeners to propose a new term. Someone suggested “Digitally Initiate Audio Link,” or its acronym. And sure enough, it seems to have caught on. (I particularly like the _double-entendre_ in “digitally,” i.e., numbers or fingers.) ---
**Author:** ![billiscool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ad7895/32.png) [@billiscool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billiscool)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/86 "2008-08-09T04:21:19Z")
[QUOTE=davidm] This happened once at a place I used to work. Someone apparently dialed 911 from the fax machine, and the cops showed up unexpectedly. We assumed that they intended to send a fax long distance but didn’t realize that the fax machine was on a direct outside line, so they dialed 9 for an outside line, then 1 for long distance and apparently hit the 1 twice by mistake. [/QUOTE] When I worked in a Radio Shack we had a customers daughter dial 911 from a live fax machine on the sales floor. There were calls to it but no fax. Eventually the police called the main number and we figuured out what happened. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/87 "2008-08-10T13:57:10Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] This might be a good place to recount this story. Sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s (I think) someone at NPR mused on-air that since old dial phones are virtually extinct, it’s anachronistic to say that we “dial” a phone number. They asked listeners to propose a new term. Someone suggested “Digitally Initiate Audio Link,” or its acronym. And sure enough, it seems to have caught on. (I particularly like the _double-entendre_ in “digitally,” i.e., numbers or fingers.) [/QUOTE] As Joel Achenbach pointed out, unfortunately the perfect word is already taken: “prestidigitation.” ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/88 "2008-08-10T17:36:38Z")
[QUOTE=davidm] This happened once at a place I used to work. Someone apparently dialed 911 from the fax machine, and the cops showed up unexpectedly. We assumed that they intended to send a fax long distance but didn’t realize that the fax machine was on a direct outside line, so they dialed 9 for an outside line, then 1 for long distance and apparently hit the 1 twice by mistake. [/QUOTE] Happened at the hotel I worked at once upon a time. The concierge was sending an international fax, and hit 9 - 911 - 44 - #####, rather than 9 - 011 - 44 - #####. And our fax machine was set up to keep redialing until the fax was completely transmitted. Every 90 seconds. Since we were rated as a high occupancy building, we got police and a ladder truck. Not everyone was amused. ---
**Author:** ![TelcomStudent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f6c823/32.png) [@TelcomStudent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcomStudent)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/89 "2011-04-28T03:02:12Z")
Back then all calls were completed by human operators so when you called “Clondike 1234” the operator would grab a plug attached to a long wire and plug it into a panel to complete the call. Later as electronic switching replaced human operators, they added additional numbers to route the calls to the desired destination. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/90 "2011-04-28T04:18:50Z")
Don’t let your finger slip out mid-dial, or you’ll have to hang up and start over. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/91 "2011-04-28T04:49:07Z")
I had to use a dial telephone a couple of years ago – and I had a lot of trouble. I’d lost that smooth circular motion I used to do without effort. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/92 "2011-04-28T05:01:52Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > I had to use a dial telephone a couple of years ago – and I had a lot of trouble. I’d lost that smooth circular motion I used to do without effort. I have the rotary dialling app for my iPhone, plus a reproduction of a classic handset that connects via Bluetooth. I think my next step is to buy one of [these](http://www.sparkfun.com/products/287). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/93 "2011-04-28T05:11:02Z")
Don’t see any problem here with regard to its zombiesque quality. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/94 "2011-04-28T05:28:44Z")
> [@3acresandatruck](#): > > …I remember one customer who was particularly thrilled when I told her colors were now available at no extra charge. Colors? Do you remember some of the odd colors the Bell System had? She made me describe each color to her over the phone, since we had nowhere a customer could actually \*see \*anything. Then, some of our customers discovered that you could request a single phone in multiple colors and we didn’t charge extra for that… This does explain why my grandmother had so many phones in her house (in every room except the bathroom); all in different colors. Like hot pink, red, blue, orange, green, purple. After she died and my grandfather moved out we found even more old phones in her attack. > [@The King's Speech - Differences between Movie and Reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kings-speech-differences-between-movie-and-reality/579687/28): > > Worth noting that despite the massively changed attitudes to divorce and remarriage in Britain from the 30’s to now, Charles and Camilla did not get married in church - they married in a civil ceremony in Windsor Guildhall. When Princess Anne remarried after her divorce from Mark (“Foggy”) Phillips she did marry in church but it had to be in Scotland at Crathie Church near Balmoral - the (presbyterian) Church of Scotland’s attitude to divorce is different to that of the Church of England. > [@Rich\_Mann](#): > > …Apparently my exchange prefix is also the area code for somewhere in Pennsylvania. If you have the same area code as me and you dial the number for a certain hospital in PA…“Oh, hello, it’s you again. Well it’s me again, too. Still the wrong number. Still have to dial 1 first. No, I can’t connect you to uncle steve’s room…” Ya know, you could played some _really_ cruel practical jokes on people. 😉 Were you ever temped? ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/95 "2011-04-28T08:44:08Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > After she died and my grandfather moved out we found even more old phones in her attack. Zombiesque indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/96 "2011-04-28T13:35:05Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I found a booklet published in 1939 with recipes for using your new GE Refrigerator. It has the phone numbers for some New York GE offices. The ones for New Rochelle and White Plains had THREE letters (NEW & WHI respectively) followed by FOUR numbers. > > Apparently the two letters & five numbers system was not in place everywhere back then. Until some time in the 40s, our phone number was GRAnite 3277 and then became GR2-3277 while GR4 and GR6 exchanges were introduced. AFAIK, this was standard at least in cities. When I moved to NY in 1962, an ad painted on the side of a building on my street gave a 3 letter, 4 digit phone number. Note that PE6-5000 and PEN-5000 were exactly the same. For a while, there were unpronounceable exchanges like TTX, but they eventually changed. Incidentally, there is a reason for the four digit numbers. Originally, all male, had a 100 by 100 plugboard that occupied about 4 feet by 4 feet. If you manned the GRAnite exchange and I picked up my phone, the operator would see the light in the 32nd row and 77th column light up. He would plug his headset into that hole and say “Operator” or some such and I would tell him I wanted to speak to 4567 and he would plug a cord one end into my slot and the other end into the slot at the 45th row and 67th column. But if I wanted to talk to someone in another exchange, he would call the operator at the other exchange and arrange it. Thus each exchange could deal with at most 10,000 phones. All this was before my time as we had dial phones from when I remember, but our number was GRA-3277 (indelibly inscribed in some place in my memory that I would prefer to be able to store the name of someone I met last night in). ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/97 "2011-04-28T14:01:36Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > … Before sometime in the 1960s, when direct long-distance dialing became possible pretty much everywhere, to make a long distance call, you dialled 0 (zero, not letter O) and asked for the long distance operator. … In my community, the long distance operator could be reached directly by dialing “211”. I wonder when that was abandoned. Separately, dial phones were introduced in my home (12 miles outside Boston) circa 1954. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/98 "2011-04-28T14:53:31Z")
i had heard that the decision for 2L-5N numbers was based on what a person could easily remember in short term memory. i thought the pronounceable exchange was always part of that system, all number calling was created when unpronoucable exchanges were needed. this for the USA. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/99 "2011-04-28T14:57:56Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Don’t see any problem here with regard to its zombiesque quality. > > Carry on. that number you want is BRains 7-2473 ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043/100 "2011-04-28T15:11:53Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Such as Allan Sherman’s [Let’s All Call Up AT&T and Protest to the President March.](http://www.elyrics.net/read/a/allan-sherman-lyrics/the-lets-all-call-up-att-and-protest-to-the-president-march-lyrics.htm) your link didnt work. Here’s another [link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYnpfi2vdrI&feature=related) to the same song. one funny part is that the singer dares to suggest that disgruntled phone users take their business to a _different_ phone company. This idea was inconceivable in 1963, and the audience laughs out loud. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-style-telephone-numbers-and-how-to-dial-them/458043.md?page=6)