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3-digit phone # on bottle

Started by Greg G., April 03, 2009, 03:55:44 AM

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Steve K

Yes, Rosenow Cartage and Express is also listed in 1915 on 3rd Street.  I will have to look up the others tomorrow and PM you with the info.

Steve

AET

Thank you so so much Steve!  You made my day!!!
- Tom

bingster

Quote from: Dan/Panther on April 04, 2009, 12:45:39 AM
Bingster;
Our phone didn't have a dial, does that make a difference as to the lettering ?
D/P

Nope, the phone numbers would have been the same on manual or dial.
= DARRIN =



Dan/Panther

Bingster;
gat anymore great dial faces you can post same size, and format.

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

bingster

Here's a rural plate.  I can't take credit for these... I copped 'em from OPW.
= DARRIN =



benhutcherson

Up at school, we have an old medicine bag which belonged to "Dr. Koffman", probably back in the '20s. No idea how we came to have it-it turned up in an old filing cabinet.

Anyway, Dr. Koffman's telephone number is listed on one of the pill bottles as being "25". It wouldn't surprise me if he had one of the first telephones in Georgetown. The 1920s date was provided by the local AT&T office, based on the listed telephone number.

BDM

BTW, while at the telephone show today, I saw a 3 number dial card. Reminded me of this post.
--Brian--

St Clair Shores, MI

AET

I have a lot of the old Pharmacy paperwork laying around still with the phone number being 19.  Just wish I had found a phone from there from that era, with a dial card!  I'd have been a happy guy!
- Tom

Babybearjs

now, heres something to talk about, since we are talking 3 digits... say your phone prefix is say "377" why cant the phone company program their systems to allow for 4 digit dialing within that prefix only and so on... so if you call a number with the same prefix, all you have to do is dial the last 4 digits to get that other party. BUT, if you call outside that prefix, you have to dial all 7 digits.... would that be quicker???
John

G-Man

Quote from: Babybearjs on August 15, 2013, 11:25:38 PM
now, heres something to talk about, since we are talking 3 digits... say your phone prefix is say "377" why cant the phone company program their systems to allow for 4 digit dialing within that prefix only and so on... so if you call a number with the same prefix, all you have to do is dial the last 4 digits to get that other party. BUT, if you call outside that prefix, you have to dial all 7 digits.... would that be quicker???

Soooo...

If you dial the last three digits (377), what about the other phone numbers in your area that start with a 377 prefix?

poplar1

Quote from: Babybearjs on August 15, 2013, 11:25:38 PM
now, heres something to talk about, since we are talking 3 digits... say your phone prefix is say "377" why cant the phone company program their systems to allow for 4 digit dialing within that prefix only and so on... so if you call a number with the same prefix, all you have to do is dial the last 4 digits to get that other party. BUT, if you call outside that prefix, you have to dial all 7 digits.... would that be quicker???

They can. It's called Centrex, which resembles PBX features but is all Central Office based. 4-digit calls within the centrex group if both the calling line and called line are in the same C.O. Dial 9 + 7D (or +10 D in some areas) for other numbers.

Another way is to order speed call 8 and speed call 30 if you have a real telephone line. You can program up to 38 phone numbers which can be dialed with one or two digits: 2 through 9 and 20-49.

Instructions say to dial # after the code but this is optional so you can also use rotary phones. After the switch sees that you are not going to dial any more digits, it will "time out" and translate your one or two digits dialed to the stored number.

Some key systems also have "system speed dial" whereby you can program a list of phone numbers that can be reached by dialing a number such as 501 through 599.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

G-Man

From my understanding of his question, he wants to be able to dial ONLY the last four digits without using a prefix.

Though there are some exceptions, within a typical 10,000-line exchange, perhaps only a few hundred to perhaps a couple of thousand lines are used for Centrex.

Unfortunately dialing only four digits will access a limited number of Centrex lines in his own group unless a prefix digit is added to access the rest of the lines in his exchange. 

Speed-dialing requires even more numbers in the prefix and typically allows even less access to the rest of the subscribers in his exchange.

poplar1

Quote from: G-Man on August 16, 2013, 07:22:44 AM
From my understanding of his question, he wants to be able to dial ONLY the last four digits without using a prefix.

Though there are some exceptions, within a typical 10,000-line exchange, perhaps only a few hundred to perhaps a couple of thousand lines are used for Centrex.

Unfortunately dialing only four digits will access a limited number of Centrex lines in his own group unless a prefix digit is added to access the rest of the lines in his exchange. 

Speed-dialing requires even more numbers in the prefix and typically allows even less access to the rest of the subscribers in his exchange.


In small towns with CDOs (Step-by-Step Community Dial Offices), it was often possible (though not always advertised) to dial only the last 4 digits, even after all phone numbers were standardized as NPA (Area Code) + 7 numbers (or letters + numbers).

All I'm trying to say is that it's possible to program a digital C.O. switch to respond 4 digits. Not that the phone company would ever do that (since Step-by-Step days), other than if you order Centrex. [I did consider ordering 10 Centrex lines + 2 NARS (Network Access Registers which are like trunks on a PBX), but AT&T couldn't find residential NARS in their database. So I would have been charged for Business NARS.]

I wish someone would figure out a way to install on premises a box that could be programmed to do what Babybearjs is asking for: translate xxxx to 377-xxxx (or NPA-377-xxxx for areas with 10-digit dialing). Other phone numbers could be entered by dialing 9 first, or by "timing out" the box would process the 4-digit call by inserting the 377- NXX.

Even better, the box could add the original Central Office Step-by-Step switch sounds heard after most digits dialed.

I don't understand your comment about speed dialing. The two examples I gave do not require extra numbers in the prefix. Rather, only 1 or 2 digits are dialed for C.O. based speed call, or usually 3 digits on an electronic key system. While it's unlikely that any key system would have a 10,000 speed dial list, so that all 10,000 numbers could be reached rather than just the frequently called ones, still, by using a 9 prefix for other numbers, or using timeout after a delay of 3 seconds, 4-digit dialing of numbers in the home NXX would be possible. The 9 would be "absorbed" by the key system (not sent to the C.O.) and the key system would "insert" the NNX (377-) or the NPA + NXX (313 377-) for local numbers.




"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

G-Man

In each example that you have given so far, extra preceding digits (those are prefixes) are needed whether they be for another exchange, Centrex or speed-dialing access, which is contradictory to the original query.

Digit absorbing selectors allowed 4-digit dialing in SxS offices but that is from an earlier era and also is not applicable to Babybearjs original question.

Implementing four digit dialing on a modern switch would paralyze any number of functions and access to a number of service codes and other services by denying it the flexibility to incapacitate a number of the capabilities that are currently available as well as severely inconveniencing the subscribers.

As far as NARS (more commonly known in the industry as Direct Inward Dialing  [DID]) is concerned, it is available for residential service however dealing with service reps is sometimes like pulling teeth when attempting to acquire services that they are unfamiliar with.

You may want to contact Steph Kerman since he has/had it for his PBX at his California home though I am not sure if he also is utilizing it at his NYC or Florida domicile. As I recall he order a block of DID numbers which were surprisingly inexpensive.

poplar1

#29
Quote from: G-Man on August 16, 2013, 10:19:53 AM
In each example that you have given so far, extra preceding digits (those are prefixes) are needed whether they be for another exchange, Centrex or speed-dialing access, which is contradictory to the original query.

Digit absorbing selectors allowed 4-digit dialing in SxS offices but that is from an earlier era and also is not applicable to Babybearjs original question.

Implementing four digit dialing on a modern switch would paralyze any number of functions and access to a number of service codes and other services by denying it the flexibility to incapacitate a number of the capabilities that are currently available as well as severely inconveniencing the subscribers.

As far as NARS (more commonly known in the industry as Direct Inward Dialing   [DID]) is concerned, it is available for residential service however dealing with service reps is sometimes like pulling teeth when attempting to acquire services that they are unfamiliar with.

You may want to contact Steph Kerman since he has/had it for his PBX at his California home though I am not sure if he also is utilizing it at his NYC or Florida domicile. As I recall he order a block of DID numbers which were surprisingly inexpensive.



NARS are not the same as DID. They are the paths into or out of the Centrex group, or a combination of in/out, just as on a PBX there are outgoing trunks, DID trunks and/or combination (both-way) trunks. Like trunks, the number of NARS needed is calculated based on the Busy Hour requirement for outgoing (9+) and incoming (Directory Number or DID) calls; we used a ratio of about 7 lines per NAR, and a lower ratio for smaller Centrex groups. If more users try to make a 9+ call, or more outside subscribers are trying to reach either a Centrex user or the attendant, then the calls cannot be processed. As on a PBX, outgoing callers on Centrex would hear Overflow or Reorder Tone (120 IPM or "fast busy.")

I still don't understand how dialing 2, 3, ..., 9 or 21, 22, 23,....., 49 is > 7 digits. Also, there is a Centrex option called "Assume 9" whereby you don't have to dial "extra preceding digits" for a call to numbers outside your Centrex group. And there is never an "extra preceding digit" for calling another Centrex extension if you do have the default option requiring you to dial 9 for outside. (Even CDOs sometimes required an extra initial digit to indicate a call to an exchange other than your own or nearby exchanges.)

While of course you can't dial all 10,000 numbers of a given office (C.O.) with Speed Call 8 and Speed Call 30, they are very useful features that can usually be added to your residential C.O. line's feature package at no additional charge. Since 10-digit dialing is mandatory wherever there are area code overlays (thanks to FCC regulations), having a bin of 38 speed dials *is* "convenient" and something I would not give up on my 5ESS line.

Both the DA selectors and Centrex examples were given only to show that, both then and now, the technology allows 4-digit dialing, even if the phone company won't do it. Since most features start with * (or 11 on rotary phones), or can be dialed without the * or 11 using timeout (call forwarding universal is *72, 1172, or 72 and wait for fake dial tone), there would be no "severely inconveniencing the subscribers."

DID numbers are assigned in blocks of multiples of 20. A 100-number block can be had for about $20 a month. (This is in addition to the DID trunk charge.) The Centrex lines themselves, without the NARS, are much cheaper than 1FBs (business lines) or trunks. However, the NARS can be about $40 each. Unlike DID numbers, CNTRX numbers don't always have to be in blocks. Also, they can be assigned with different NNXs in the same C.O. and still allow 4-digit dialing, so long as the 4-digit numbers are not duplicated. (You can have 243-2368 and 212-3126, for example from the Gresham Rd. 1AESS, but not 243-2368 and 212-2368.)

Some Key System vendors order Centrex lines with almost a 1:1 ratio of NARS and lines. The cost ends up about the same as for business lines. However, hunting ("rollover") on incoming calls is tariffed as Call Forward Busy instead of Hunting. While Hunting may cost an additional 50% per line charge, call forward busy cost is negligible or free. If business lines are $50 each, then for 10 incoming lines in hunt, you'd save over $200 a month.

Call Forward Busy and Call Forward Don't Answer are marketed here on residential (non-Centrex) lines as part of a voice mail package. However, they can also be ordered for $1 per month each (or free as part of a feature package). I have both set up to forward to my cell phone.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.