# The 555 telephone exchange in movies/TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2000, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-555-telephone-exchange-in-movies-tv/35670 "2000-10-04T19:57:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idaho14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@Idaho14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idaho14)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-555-telephone-exchange-in-movies-tv/35670/1 "2000-10-04T19:57:08Z")
What’s with the continued use of the fictitious “555” exchange in television and movies. For all their attempts at realism, it’s comical to listen to a character identify her phone number as 555-xxxx, or, even funnier, KL5-xxxx (It’s been a long time since exchanges were associated with a word - although I kinda like the sound of KLondike 5-xxxx). So, is this a regulatory issue, or a voluntary decision? And if so, how did Tommy Tutone get away with the classic song “867-5309 (Jenny)”? I anticipate replies suggesting that it is a voluntary decision to avoid lawsuits. It seems to me, however, that if using a phone number that may be a working number is a problem, then naming a character who is physcopathic murderer “John Smith” should also be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-555-telephone-exchange-in-movies-tv/35670/2 "2000-10-04T20:29:43Z")
As I suggested in another thread, TV writers should come up with ficticious _area codes_ rather that use 555 since we are using 10-digit numbers more and more anyway. As for Tommy Tutone, he tells of all the people around the country who had 867-5309 and were enraged at all the crank calls they got. They wanted to get _his_ number and publish it so he’d know what it felt like. ---
**Author:** ![barker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@barker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barker)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-555-telephone-exchange-in-movies-tv/35670/3 "2000-10-04T20:32:49Z")
In the words of Cecil [www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_374a.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_374a.html) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-555-telephone-exchange-in-movies-tv/35670/4 "2000-10-04T22:44:22Z")
We talked about this before. A few people told me that 555 numbers are actual numbers now. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2000, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-555-telephone-exchange-in-movies-tv/35670/5 "2000-10-04T23:11:57Z")
Since Ma Bell has croaked, do any of the Baby Bells (or offshoots thereof) use the 555 prefix? ---
**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:** [October 5, 2000, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-555-telephone-exchange-in-movies-tv/35670/6 "2000-10-05T00:30:03Z")
I knew that 555-numbers exist in the 800 area code (Canada Direct is 800-555-1111 from the USA, for instance) but I’m not sure about the other tollfree area codes (888, 877, 866, and soon 855). But I thought that they were only used in tollfree area codes. However, after digging through the [North American Numbering Plan Administration](http://www.nanpa.com/)’s numbering-resource pages (look for “555-NXX Codes” on the NANPA site), I followed links to the [Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions](http://www.atis.org/atis/clc/inc/incdocs.htm), and found the following Microsoft Word document, 555 NXX Assignment Guidelines. It “specifies guidelines for the assignment of line numbers within the 555 NXX [exchange] code, hereafter referred to as ‘555 numbers’ within [the] guidelines. The intended use for 555 numbers for which these guidelines apply include the provisioning of information services but may include a broad range of existing and future services as well.” and “These guidelines apply only to the assignment of 555 numbers in geographic NPAs [area codes].” So it looks like we can now have “\+555+\” as a valid phone number. But it would belong to some “information provider”; 555-numbers presumably would not be issued to residences. There’s a lot more in the documant about getting “national” versus “local” 555-number assignments: ways to reserve the same four digits after 555 in a number of different area codes. How many companies actually _use_ these numbers, and how they bill for their “information services”, is another question. However, going down through the document, I find Section 4.6: “A block of one hundred (100) 555 line numbers will be reserved as _fictitious non-working numbers_ for use by the entertainment and advertising industries. These specific numbers are 555-01XX, i.e., numbers between and including 555-0100 and 555-0199.” (italics mine) So there you are. Just make sure that your fictitious phone number is between 555-0100 and 555-0199 inclusive, in any area code, and it will never work. 🙂 On the other hand, _area code 555_ is ‘unassignable due to conflict’, at least according to [Area-code Info](http://www.areacode-info.com/) code lists. So maybe you could use it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2000, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-555-telephone-exchange-in-movies-tv/35670/7 "2000-10-05T03:03:23Z")
> [@](#): > > How many companies actually use these numbers, and how they bill for their “information services”, is another question. Try this: dial **1 (XXX) 555 1212**, where XXX is any area code besides the one you are in. I think the concept of “information services”, who provides them and how they charge for them will become clear.