Can you still Dial 0 and reach an operator?

[bellsystem]

I'm curious to know how many people can still reach a dial 0 operator. I'm very frustrated that even a lot of landline companies apparently don't let you dial 0 now. In my opinion, a landline isn't a landline if you can't dial 0, just like it isn't a landline if you can't use your classic rotary phone...

Is anybody here still doing person-to-person or collect calls? Asking for the time or information? And has anybody dialed 0 in an Emergency this millennium? I want to try that out sometime when I have a real emergency to see if it will still work...

[LarryInMichigan]

I believe that I can still reach a human operator by dialing '0' with my phone service (TalkAmerica Services), but there is something like a $3.50 charge per call, so I don't often try it for fun.  I did once receive a bill for such a call when I somehow reached an operator when trying to dial an international call with '011'.

Larry

[Dan F]

Dialed 0 and got automated recording giving date and time and a menu to go to customer service, or "higher rate" operator assistance

ALL IN ENGLISH

[AL_as_needed]

Dialed 0 and got ....

Welcome to verizion, sorry but we cannot complete your call as dialed.....

Oh well.

[Jim Stettler]

I got a recording (in English only, typically Spanish is an option in Colorado).
911 for emergency,
411 for info,
a number to help you dial
and collect calling instructions.

There was no option to talk to someone.
Jim S.

[Victor Laszlo]

Vonage: got a recording that said the number is invalid.

[Alex G. Bell]

Dialed 0 and got automated recording giving date and time and a menu to go to customer service, or "higher rate" operator assistance

ALL IN ENGLISH

Using what service provider?

[Fabius]

Dialed 0 and got ....

Welcome to verizion, sorry but we cannot complete your call as dialed.....

Oh well.

On a Verizon land line or Verizon wireless?

[AL_as_needed]

On a Verizon land line or Verizon wireless?

Wireless... I use an Xlink to simulate POTS. Now if i dial 411 I get a an operator/human for directory assistance, but there is a charge (2$ i think) per use.

[Phonesrfun]

Why would anyone need an "operator" these days any way?  What would an operator do or what service would they provide, other than be a human voice to complain to for lousy service?

[ThePillenwerfer]

Good question, Bill, and one I've been pondering.

In Britain you can still dial 100 (it hasn't been 0 for at least fifty years) to get an Operator from a British Telecom line but I'm not sure about other companies.  The International Operator is 155.

General enquiries are 150 and it's 151 to report a fault.

[AL_as_needed]

Why would anyone need an "operator" these days any way?  What would an operator do or what service would they provide, other than be a human voice to complain to for lousy service?

If that were the case, their lines would be ringing non stop. 

411 is actually a fairly helpful service, but I bet it's days are numbered with internet capable smart phones. In my experience the operator can basically look up con tact info, addresses, or businesses to help you get in touch with people or services. While I have not used it lately, it was a great help at providing info and connecting me to various suppliers (building materials etc) when I was in an unfamiliar area.

[twocvbloke]

I haven't used the facility in a long time (probably mid-90s), but here in the UK, as mentioned dialling 100 gets to an operator, and you can ask them to reverse the charges to the number you want to call if you're in a pickle and have no money for a payphone and your mobile (not that we kids had them in the mid-90s!!) was dead or out of credit, so, a handy thing to know about at least, so long as you can actually find a working payphone that hasn't got human slime gobbed all over it...

[MaximRecoil]

I'm on a landline in Central Maine. Several months ago the name of the phone company became Consolidated Communications. Before that it was Fairpoint Communications. Before that it was Verizon. Before that it was Nynex. And of course, before that it was the Bell System.

When I dial zero, it rings once and then I get a recorded list of options, including the option to hold for an operator. You can listen to it in the attached MP3 file (unzip it first). Notice that they are still referring to themselves as "Fairpoint Communications", and also, for the "emergency police, fire, or ambulance service" option, she says to "press or dial nine now". For all other options she just says "press". I wonder if that means that the "nine" option can be input with a rotary dial. If that's the case, that means their automated directory system has the capability of "understanding" pulse dialing, so why not allow it for all of the options? I tried dialing "seven" on my rotary phone for the "to hear these choices again" option, but it was ignored. I'm not going to try the "nine" option for obvious reasons.

I miss the days when you could dial zero and an actual operator would immediately answer. And the operators back then weren't like the ones today, i.e., they could help you with almost anything. A main operator today can't do much of anything aside from transferring you to another department after you tell her what you need help with.

I used to call the operator when I was a kid to ask for the correct time. I remember the first time I called and the operator literally wouldn't give me the time of day; it was in the mid 1990s. They changed their policy so that you had to call information (1-555-1212) to get the time, which became a toll call at some point in the mid 1980s.

I don't know exactly when it happened that you got a recording instead of a person when dialing zero here, but it certainly wasn't immediately after the breakup of the Bell System, nor was it when everything was upgraded to touch tone service in the early 1990s, which included new functions like call waiting, caller ID, *67, *69, etc. I believe it was the early or mid 2000s.

[dc4code]

I get an operator on my Spectrum  line