Phone Systems Tutorial by The Jolly Roger
To start off, we will discuss the dialing procedures for domestic
as well as international dialing. We will also take a look at the
telephone numbering plan.
North American Numbering Plan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In North America, the telephone numbering plan is as follows:
A) a 3 digit Numbering Plan Area (NPA) code , ie, area code
B) a 7 digit telephone # consisting of a 3 digit Central Office
(CO) code plus a 4 digit station #
These 10 digits are called the network address or destination
code. It is in the format of:
Area Code Telephone #
--------- -----------
N*X NXX-XXXX
Where: N = a digit from 2 to 9
* = the digit 0 or 1
X = a digit from 0 to 9
Area Codes
~~~~~~~~~~
Check your telephone book or the seperate listing of area codes
found on many bbs's. Here are the special area codes (SAC's):
510 - TWX (USA)
610 - TWX (Canada)
700 - New Service
710 - TWX (USA)
800 - WATS
810 - TWX (USA)
900 - DIAL-IT Services
910 - TWX (USA)
The other area codes never cross state lines, therefore each state
must have at least one exclusive NPA code. When a community is
split by a state line, the CO #'s are often interchangeable (ie,
you can dial the same number from two different area codes).
TWX (Telex II) consists of 5 teletype-writer area codes. They are
owned by Western Union. These SAC's may only be reached via other
TWX machines. These run at 110 baud (last I checked! They are most
likely faster now!). Besides the TWX #'s, these machines are
routed to normal telephone #'s. TWX machines always respond with
an answerback. For example, WU's FYI TWX # is (910) 279-5956. The
answerback for this service is "WU FYI MAWA".
If you don't want to but a TWX machine, you can still send TWX
messages using Easylink [800/325-4112]. However you are gonna have
to hack your way onto this one!
700:
700 is currently used by AT&T as a call forwarding service. It is
targeted towards salesmen on the run. To understand how this
works, I'll explain it with an example. Let's say Joe Q. Salespig
works for AT&T security and he is on the run chasing a phreak
around the country who royally screwed up an important COSMOS
system. Let's say that Joe's 700 # is (700) 382-5968. Everytime
Joe goes to a new hotel (or most likely SLEAZY MOTEL), he dials a
special 700 #, enters a code, and the number where he is staying.
Now, if his boss received some important info, all he would do is
dial (700) 382-5968 and it would ring wherever Joe last progammed
it to. Neat, huh?
800:
This SAC is one of my favourites since it allows for toll free
calls. INWARD WATS (INWATS), or Inward Wide Area
Telecommunications Service is the 800 #'s that we are all familiar
with. 800 #'s are set up in service areas or bands. There are 6 of
these. Band 6 is the largest and you can call a band 6 # from
anywhere in the US except the state where the call is terminated
(that is why most companies have one 800 number for the countery
and then another one for their state.) Band 5 includes the 48
contiguous states. All the way down to band 1 which includes only
the states contiguous to that one. Therefore, less people can
reach a band 1 INWATS # than a band 6 #.
Intrastate INWATS #'s (ie, you can call it from only 1 state)
always have a 2 as the last digit in the exchange (ie, 800-NX2-
XXXX). The NXX on 800 #'s represent the area where the business is
located. For example, a # beginning with 800-431 would terminate
at a NY CO.
800 #'s always end up in a hunt series in a CO. This means that it
tries the first # allocated to the company for their 800 lines; if
this is busy, it will try the next #, etc. You must have a minimum
of 2 lines for each 800 #. For example, Travelnet uses a hunt
series. If you dial (800) 521-8400, it will first try the #
associated with 8400; if it is busy it will go to the next
available port, etc. INWATS customers are billed by the number of
hours of calls made to their #.
OUTWATS (OUTWARD WATS): OUTWATS are for making outgoing calls
only. Largecompanies use OUTWATS since they receive bulk-rate
discounts. Since OUTWATS numbers cannot have incoming calls, they
are in the format of:
(800) *XXX-XXXX
Where * is the digit 0 or 1 (or it may even be designated by a
letter) which cannot be dialed unless you box the call. The *XX
identifies the type of service and the areas that the company can
call.
Remember:
INWATS + OUTWATS = WATS EXTENDER
900:
This DIAL-IT SAC is a nationwide dial-it service. It is use for
taking television polls and other stuff. The first minute
currently costs an outrageous 50-85 cents and each additional
minute costs 35-85 cents. Hell takes in a lot of revenue this way!
Dial (900) 555-1212 to find out what is currently on this service.
CO CODES
~~~~~~~~
These identify the switching office where the call is to be
routed. The following CO codes are reserved nationwide:
555 - directory assistance
844 - time. These are now in!
936 - weather the 976 exchange
950 - future services
958 - plant test
959 - plant test
970 - plant test (temporary)
976 - DIAL-IT services
Also, the 3 digit ANI & ringback #'s are regarded as plant test
and are thus reserved. These numbers vary from area to area.
You cannot dial a 0 or 1 as the first digit of the exchange code
(unless using a blue box!). This is due to the fact that these
exchanges (000-199) contains all sorts of interesting shit such as
conference #'s, operators, test #'s, etc.
950:
Here are the services that are currently used by the 950 exchange:
1000 - SPC
1022 - MCI Execunet
1033 - US Telephone
1044 - Allnet
1066 - Lexitel
1088 - SBS Skyline
These SCC's (Specialized Common Carriers) are free from fortress
phones! Also, the 950 exchange will probably be phased out with
the introduction of Equal Access
Plant Tests:
These include ANI, Ringback, and other various tests.
976:
Dial 976-1000 to see what is currently on the service. Also, many
bbs's have listings of these numbers.
N11 codes:
----------
Bell is trying to phase out some of these, but they still exist in
most areas.
011 - international dialing prefix
211 - coin refund operator
411 - directory assistance
611 - repair service
811 - business office
911 - EMERGENCY
International Dialing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With International Dialing, the world has been divided into 9
numbering zones. To make an international call, you must first
dial: International Prefix + Country code + National #
In North America, the international dialing prefix is 011 for
station-to-station calls. If you can dial International #'s
directly in your area then you have International Direct Distance
Dialing (IDDD).
The country code, which varies from 1 to 3 digits, always has the
world numbering zone as the first digit. For example, the country
code for the United Kingdom is 44, thus it is in world numbering
zone 4. Some boards may contain a complete listing of other
country codes, but here I give you a few:
1 - North America (US, Canada, etc.)
20 - Egypt
258 - Mozambique
34 - Spain
49 - Germany
52 - Mexico (southern portion)
7 - USSR
81 - Japan
98 - Iran (call & hassle those bastards!)
If you call from an area other than North America, the format is
generally the same. For example, let's say that you wanted to call
the White House from Switzerland to tell the prez that his
numbered bank account is overdrawn (it happens, you know! ha ha).
First you would dial 00 (the SWISS international dialing refix),
then 1 (the US country code), followed by 202-456-1414 (the
national # for the White House. Just ask for Georgy and give him
the bad news!)
Also, country code 87 is reserved for Maritime mobile service, ie,
calling ships:
871 - Marisat (Atlantic)
871 - Marisat (Pacific)
872 - Marisat (Indian)
International Switching:
------------------------
In North America there are currently 7 no. 4 ESS's that perform
the duty of ISC (Inter-nation Switching Centers). All
international calls dialed from numbering zone 1 will be routed
through one of these "gateway cities". They are:
182 - White Plains, NY
183 - New York, NY
184 - Pittsburgh, PA
185 - Orlando, Fl
186 - Oakland, CA
187 - Denver, CO
188 - New York, NY
The 18X series are operator routing codes for overseas access (to
be furthur discussed with blue boxes). All international calls use
a signaling service called CCITT.It is an international standard
for signaling.
Ok.. there you go for now! If you wanna read more about this, read
part two which is the next file #36 in the Jolly Roger's cookbook!
-Jolly Roger-