Telephone Numbers in the US

[HeyHomie]

Is 555 the only “fake” telephone exchange, like that can be used in movies and such?

Is 666 a telephone exchange in any US city?

[GorillaMan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_North_American_area_codes

[Terminus_Est]

The OP was asking about telephone exchange numbers, not area codes. North American telephone numbers are formated like so:

(AAA) XXX-NNNN

where AAA is the area code, XXX is the exchange number, and NNNN is the specific telephone number. To dial a number in a different area code, first dial 1 (for long distance), then the area code, then number. However, to dial a number in the same area code you only need to dial XXX-NNNN.

[GorillaMan]

Oh, alright, I’ll let Cecil deal with it: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_374a.html

[CookingWithGas]

All numbers of the form x11 are reserved for special use like emergency. AFAIK there are no other reserved exchanges besides 555 but that doesn’t mean that all of them are used.

@Terminus Est

However, to dial a number in the same area code you only need to dial XXX-NNNN.

A bit of a tangent but in many parts of the country there are overlapping area code areas, so many areas require 10-digit dialing even if it’s within the same area code. This is true, for example, of the DC metro area.

[GorillaMan]

Interesting claim which I found while idly googling this subject…‘555’ corresponds to combinations of J, K and L, and therefore simply never got used as a code, because they would tend to be abbreviations of placenames (and Jklville isn’t a common name!)

I was suspecting this explanation was an extrapolation from the UK, where area codes certainly did originally have a geographic-abbreviation logic, but then I googled it and found that 01555 (formerly 555) is Lanark.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

@GorillaMan

Interesting claim which I found while idly googling this subject…‘555’ corresponds to combinations of J, K and L, and therefore simply never got used as a code, because they would tend to be abbreviations of placenames (and Jklville isn’t a common name!)

No, the original combination were two-letters plus a number. My old number used to be BAker 5, which today would be 225. But there could be BAker 1, BAker 2, etc.

So a 55 combination would be easy, the most famous one being Klondike:

The phone company began encouraging the producers of television shows and movies to use the 555 prefix for fictional telephone numbers. In older television shows from the 1950s or 1960s, “KLondike 5” or “KLamath 5” was used, as at the time the telephone exchanges used letters. The Simpsons used a variation of this in some of their earlier seasons by having the phone number start out with KL5 (for example, Homer’s Mr. Plow business used both KL5-3223 as the home number and KL5-3226 as the business number. Barney’s Plow King phone number was KL5-4796 in the commercial sung by Linda Ronstadt). On American telephone dial pads, K and L are found on the number 5 button.

And with the ever-growing need for new phone numbers, the 555 prefix isn’t even totally fake any more:

In 1994, the North American Numbering Plan Administration began accepting applications for nationwide 555 numbers (outside the fictitious 555-01XX range). This would mean that a consumer from any area code could dial a seven-digit number such as 555-TACO, and the owners of that number could connect the call to the taco vendor nearest to the consumer. Furthermore, a theatrical box office in Pittsburgh uses the phone number 555-1212. However, according to a 2003 New York Times article, the desired functionality requires the cooperation of local phone authorities, and most phone vendors have been reluctant to cooperate, perhaps wary of undermining the lucrative business of selling toll-free telephone numbers. Despite the fact that the service is virtually unavailable so far, most of the available 555 numbers have already been reserved.

The service TellMe uses the number 1-800-555-TELL (8355) to provide news, weather, and other free information. TellMe is also the company that handles calls to 800-555-1212 and provides directory assistance for toll-free telephone numbers.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@GorillaMan

Interesting claim which I found while idly googling this subject…‘555’ corresponds to combinations of J, K and L, and therefore simply never got used as a code, because they would tend to be abbreviations of placenames (and Jklville isn’t a common name!)
.

It wouldn’t have been a problem at all. “Klondike-5 -nnnn” was the old version of that, in the days when people still used alphabetic exchange names. Actually, I heard that used in a Seinfeld episode, which rather surprised me.

[garygnu]

AFAIK, any number starting with 767 will get you the exact time. I’ve hear this may change soon, but it’s less obvious than 555.

[Exapno_Mapcase]

I just tried dialing some 767 numbers and each gave me an “I’m sorry. The fax number you have dialed is not presently in service” error message.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@CookingWithGas

…A bit of a tangent but in many parts of the country there are overlapping area code areas, so many areas require 10-digit dialing even if it’s within the same area code. This is true, for example, of the DC metro area.

Also true in SE Ohio, where all numbers in the 330 area code - even if you’re just calling across the street - must be dialed with the full ten digits. A real pain in the ass.

Such, at times, is “progress.”

[Sunspace]

:: phone geek checking in ::

Canada, the US, and a number of other much smaller territories are all under the North American Numbering Plan. So most phone-number things that apply to the US apply to Canada as well.

I lived in Whitby, Ontario, which had phone numbers in the 668 exchange (+1 AAA 668 XXXX). The town grew. Phone numbers in the 666 exchange were added. My family had a 668 number; my stepbrother just down the road had a 666 number. So we were neighbours of the Beast. Later numbers in the 430 exchange were added; these were all on the east side of town next to Oshawa and its 43x exchanges. Still later the 665 exchange was added.

This was during a period when the town grew from 15,000 to 70,000. The area code (AAA) was split as well; around about 1993 the old 416 area code was restricted to Toronto, and the outlying areas got 905, thus allowing the reuse of all the Toronto phone numbers outside Toronto, and doubling the number of available phone numbers. But all the people in 905-land had to change all their autodialers, stationery, signs, etc. Their old 416 numbers would eventually point to completely-different phones in Toronto.

About 5 years ago, both 416 and 905 were overlaid with two new area codes, 647 and 289 respectively. This meant no-one had to change their phone number; but because two area codes are present in the same area, we now have to dial the area code with the number each time to distinguish the numbers.

I learned in electronics school that, when writing a phone number, the brackets surround an element that is optional. Now that area codes in Toronto and surrounding areas are mandatory, we no longer need the brackets around the area code when writing it. (416) 555-1212 becones 416-555-1212.

[aktep]

@HeyHomie

Is 666 a telephone exchange in any US city?

San Francisco, for one. And not everyone’s happy about it

[Monty]

Sunspace,

Do you mean these guys?

[Duckster]

What would you do for a KLondike 5-2277?

[Tamex]

Yes, “666” is a valid exchange in some area codes. (406 being one I remember off the top of my head–it’s Ft. Smith, Montana.) I used to work for the phone company, and I had access there to a database of area codes and exchanges. It seemed to me, in my unscientific poking around in that database, that “666” was more likely to be found in older area codes–the ones that have a middle number of “1” or “0”. I don’t think most people were as concerned with that particular number in the past. (And, the exchange was probably originally assigned as letters and numbers and less obviously eeeeeevil.) I’d be surprised to see it appear in a newer area code–but as more numbers are used, it will eventually happen.

I’d be very surprised if anyone other than Directory Assistance ever gets the number “555-1212” in any area code! I’m curious about this “theatrical box office” in Pittsburgh. In fact, I’d like a cite (besides Wikipedia). Wouldn’t your phone be ringing off the hook constantly–CONSTANTLY–with people looking for DA? Who would want that? Yes, many people now have national 411…but not everyone does. If I was looking for a phone number in Pittsburgh and reached a theater instead, I’d be pissed.

[Green_Bean]

@garygnu

AFAIK, any number starting with 767 will get you the exact time. I’ve hear this may change soon, but it’s less obvious than 555.

Not true. I grew up with, and my mom still has, a 767 number. (Wow. I just realized she’s had the same phone number for 34 years. Cool.) There were only three exchanges in my hometown, so I spent plenty of time calling 767 numbers. Just regular residential lines.

Of course, people in my hometown are wonderfully friendly and helpful, so if you called one of them at random, I’m sure they’d be happy to tell you what time it is.

[aktep]

@Tamex

I’d be very surprised if anyone other than Directory Assistance ever gets the number “555-1212” in any area code! I’m curious about this “theatrical box office” in Pittsburgh. In fact, I’d like a cite (besides Wikipedia). Wouldn’t your phone be ringing off the hook constantly–CONSTANTLY–with people looking for DA? Who would want that? Yes, many people now have national 411…but not everyone does. If I was looking for a phone number in Pittsburgh and reached a theater instead, I’d be pissed.

I couldn’t substantiate it through any sort of google search, and I was supsicious, too, so I pulled it from the article. If the one-edit-wonder that stuck it in there still believes it’s true, he can add it back with verification.

[Sunspace]

@Monty

Sunspace,

Do you mean these guys?

Yep. Those are the people.

[Ms2001]

@garygnu

AFAIK, any number starting with 767 will get you the exact time. I’ve hear this may change soon, but it’s less obvious than 555.

I think that’s unique to California.