Steve Fitzgerald wrote:

Everybody who rings numbers locally in London can just dial the last 8
digits of the 'full' number, so it should be obvious that the dialling
code is 020 from that.

Somehow, I imagine there are many people in London who don't know that
they can do that.
--
Michael Hoffman

Well done on generating about 30 responses from such a simple remark.

Thanks also for showing that it isn't just me that gets irritated by it.

Mayday University Hospital still sends out appointment letters with an
0181
number appearing on them so I suppose that is even worse than it would be
if
they used 0208.

No doubt they will just change the 0181 to 0208 on the replacement batch
of letters they order, and perpetuate the confusion :s

Well the letters actually also all have the correct 020 number too and are
computer generated so it is more human laziness I suspect. It looks like
they have a standard template for each department to put in its appointments
number and it defaults to the old 0181 version of the switchboard. So it is
not only a useless number but even updated it is the wrong one.

G.

Phil Reynolds typed


On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:10:31 +0100, Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:

True but many numbers give big clues to their geographical location.

I certainly like to know if a call is from 7PAD dington, 8HAR row or
8COL indale

Even though it's not so clear any more, a lot of that is true.

7BER mondsey, for example... though the only number I watch out for there
is sadly not a 7237 but a 7232.

Of course, HENdon became, through all the changes, 8201 - presumably
because they tied it in with COLindale.

The Hendon Exchanges became 202 (Sunnyhill) and 203 IIRC. 201 is a
newcomer, as is 209.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 Steve Fitzgerald wrote:

In message , Graham J
writes
Nope, it's an 020 number.

Well done on generating about 30 responses from such a simple remark.

Thanks also for showing that it isn't just me that gets irritated by it.

Mayday University Hospital still sends out appointment letters with an 0181
number appearing on them so I suppose that is even worse than it would be if
they used 0208.

No doubt they will just change the 0181 to 0208 on the replacement batch
of letters they order, and perpetuate the confusion :s

I really can't understand why this has all become so confusing.

I can. It's because the London numbers changed from 071 and 081 to 0171
and 0181 at the time they introduced area codes starting 01. Had they
gone straight to 020 at that time, much of the confusion would never
have happened.

Everybody who rings numbers locally in London can just dial the last 8
digits of the 'full' number, so it should be obvious that the dialling
code is 020 from that. I suppose with the advent of mobile phones,
people are more and more used to dialling the full number wherever they
are - I know I frequently do.

And that is of course what you have to enter into a Caller ID phone
memory to get it to display the name.
--
Thoss

On Mar 29, 12:12 am, Michael Hoffman wrote:
Steve Fitzgerald wrote:
Everybody who rings numbers locally in London can just dial the last 8
digits of the 'full' number, so it should be obvious that the dialling
code is 020 from that.

Somehow, I imagine there are many people in London who don't know that
they can do that.

The scary thing is that this was such a simple change, and there are
still 59% of the population who don't understand it. Just tax the
stupid people!

In article ,
am (Exchange) wrote:

http://tinyurl.com/2q87fa
Type: 020
London has two codes 0207 and 0208

You're going to get mighty confused when you try to dial an 020 3xxx xxxx
number then!

Just one example of a London 0207 number being St Thomas's
hospital on South side of Westminster bridge opposite House of
Parliament:
http://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/vi...lstthomas.aspx

The number of people in London ignorant of their phone numbering system
never ceases to amaze me. And I work there.

The change was quite simple after all. London went back to one area code
again but with 8 digit local numbers. All the old ones had 7 or 8 added
to the front, depending on whether they were in the old 0171 or 0181
areas previously. Is that so very hard to grasp?

I wonder how much time is wasted by people in London dialling 11 digits
all the time instead of 8?

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
(Richard J.) wrote:

Fig wrote:
On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:40:40 +0100, Richard J.
wrote:

ALL numbers in London have an area code of 020 followed by a
4-digit exchange code...

Beg pardon?
Are you saying that all numbers on the same exchange will start
with the same 4 first numbers?
I guess not, but what do you mean by '4-digit exchange code'?

To take the number in the title of this thread as an example, the
enquiries number for London Transport used to be ABBey 1234, one of
up to 9999 numbers on the ABBey exchange, which became the 222
exchange when all-figure numbers were introduced. That exchange is
now the 7222 exchange, and all numbers on that exchange have the
format 020 7222 xxxx. 7222 is what I called the '4-digit exchange
code', though I note that OFCOM now refer to the area code (020 in
this example) and the 'number' (7222 1234) without any mention of
'exchange'. In London it has always been necessary to dial all 8
(formerly 7) numbers including the exchange code for local calls
within London.

We have an ABBey (7222) number at work but most of our lines are on 7227
and 7340 numbers these days. So a London local "exchange" is a bit
meaningless.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
(thoss) wrote:

I really can't understand why this has all become so confusing.

I can. It's because the London numbers changed from 071 and 081 to
0171 and 0181 at the time they introduced area codes starting 01. Had
they gone straight to 020 at that time, much of the confusion would
never have happened.

They couldn't because it would have caused too much confusion nationally.
There had to be a gap in which 0207 and 0208 (and others) were not valid.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

I can. It's because the London numbers changed from 071 and 081 to 0171
and 0181 at the time they introduced area codes starting 01. Had they
gone straight to 020 at that time, much of the confusion would never
have happened.

I'd shift the problem back even further. Going from 01 to 071 and 081 was
the short sighted move for me. I was at UCL at the time and they went from
having a single telephone number to direct dialling of all extensions at
around that time. So I was underwhelmed at the boasts of a doubling of the
numbering space when just one institution was now using about 10,000 times
the numbers it was. Was there a technical reason why eight digit numbers
couldn't have been introduced back then and saved us all a lot of hassle?

On Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:03:04 +0100, Helen Deborah Vecht wrote:
Of course, HENdon became, through all the changes, 8201 - presumably
because they tied it in with COLindale.

The Hendon Exchanges became 202 (Sunnyhill) and 203 IIRC. 201 is a
newcomer, as is 209.

Ah, yes, HENdon went to 202, and SUNnyhill 203 according to the list at
http://www.rhaworth.myby.co.uk/phreak/tenp_01.htm

8209 of course is new, because in the old days, there was BOWes Park which
became 888.

--
Phil Reynolds
mail: (though I'd prefer followups on group)
Web: http://www.tinsleyviaduct.com/phil/
Waltham 67, Emley Moor 69, Droitwich 79, Windows 95