On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:55:31 +0000, Charles Ellson
wrote:

The two places are in different charging groups aren't they ? Issuing
different STD codes to places which are in different charging groups
but the same numbering scheme is nothing new; it makes things slightly
less confusing than IIRC the arrangement in 0191-land where calling
from the surrounding area to an adjacent 0191- exchange is a local
call but calling to the far side is a national call.

Does that distinction even exist any more?

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 11:41:47 UTC, (Neil
Williams) wrote:

On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:55:31 +0000, Charles Ellson
wrote:

The two places are in different charging groups aren't they ? Issuing
different STD codes to places which are in different charging groups
but the same numbering scheme is nothing new; it makes things slightly
less confusing than IIRC the arrangement in 0191-land where calling
from the surrounding area to an adjacent 0191- exchange is a local
call but calling to the far side is a national call.

Does that distinction even exist any more?

Yes, on several tariffs.

--
Bob Eager
begin 123 a new life...take up Extreme Ironing!

Tom Anderson wrote:
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007, Mortimer wrote:

Likewise my
grandpa's number had a 2 added at the time of Phoneday when the code
for Leeds changed, he always answered it as "Leeds 2 [pause] 123
456".

Sounds like a football score! Although where you'd find a team called
12345, i don't know.

Somewhere between Forfar and Fife.

Upon the miasma of midnight, a darkling spirit identified as Richard J.
gently breathed:
Pyromancer wrote:
Upon the miasma of midnight, a darkling spirit identified as Adrian
gently breathed:

Would that it were that simple. The implication is that one can
dial 222 1234 within a notional STD code of "0207" AND expect to be
connected. I have heard that there are a handful of exchanges
within London were that does work. However the standard is now
eight digit local numbers within London. Dialing eight digits
within STD code "020" will always work.

Why do people want to only dial part of the number? Why not just
dial the whole thing and be sure it will work from anywhere in the
UK, including mobiles?

If I'm in London using a landline phone, why would I want to dial 11
digits when 8 would do?

Because pressing 3 buttons isn't exactly difficult, and it saves the
bother of having to work out each time you phone whether you can use the
shortened version or not? I suppose different people do it different
ways, I just find it easier to always dial full numbers, that way it
always just works.
--
- DJ Pyromancer, Black Sheep, Leeds. http://www.sheepish.net

Broadband, Dialup, Domains = http://www.wytches.net = The UK's Pagan ISP!
http://www.inkubus-sukkubus.co.uk http://www.revival.stormshadow.com

Upon the miasma of midnight, a darkling spirit identified as Richard J.
gently breathed:
G wrote:
On Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:21:06 +0000, James Farrar
wrote:

One of the mobile companies -- Vodafone, I think -- that displays
the area the mobile is in on some handsets' screens displays 0207
/ 0208, too.

I put that down to the silly numbering conventions:

Large cities (e.g. Birmingham) = 4 digits (0121)
Provincial towns = 5 digits (e.g. 01772)
'02' numbers (e.g. London, NI, Cardiff) = 3 digits
Mobiles = 5 digits

Yes, most people seem to group the first five digits of a mobile number
(07xxx) together, but I'm not aware of any written convention that says
you should. Personally I quote mine as 0787 xxx xxxx because it easier
to remember that way.

I find mobile numbers easiest to think of as 07xxx xxx xxx, 5-3-3 seems
to be easier to remember.

I've noticed dodgy companies trying to look like where they are based is
bigger than it is by moving the spaces in their numbers about, writing
town numbers as though they were city xxxx xxx xxxx ones, or trying to
disguise "national rate" 0870 by doing 0870x xxx xxx, etc.

NP: Yngwie J Malmsteen - Motherless Child.
--
- DJ Pyromancer, Black Sheep, Leeds. http://www.sheepish.net

Broadband, Dialup, Domains = http://www.wytches.net = The UK's Pagan ISP!
http://www.inkubus-sukkubus.co.uk http://www.revival.stormshadow.com

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:59:57 +0000, Pyromancer wrote

If I'm in London using a landline phone, why would I want to dial 11
digits when 8 would do?

Because pressing 3 buttons isn't exactly difficult, and it saves the
bother of having to work out each time you phone whether you can use the
shortened version or not? I suppose different people do it different
ways, I just find it easier to always dial full numbers, that way it
always just works.

To be honest, most numbers I dial are now programmed into the phone before I
dial them. It's comparatively rare that I dial a number from scratch. That
being the case, I always just dial the full number. It seems easier and less
susceptible to error

"Stimpy" wrote in message
. co.uk
: : On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:59:57 +0000, Pyromancer wrote
: : :
: : : : If I'm in London using a landline phone, why would
: : : : I want to dial 11 digits when 8 would do?
: : :
: : : Because pressing 3 buttons isn't exactly difficult,
: : : and it saves the bother of having to work out each
: : : time you phone whether you can use the shortened
: : : version or not? I suppose different people do it
: : : different ways, I just find it easier to always dial
: : : full numbers, that way it always just works.
: :
: : To be honest, most numbers I dial are now programmed
: : into the phone before I dial them. It's comparatively
: : rare that I dial a number from scratch. That being the
: : case, I always just dial the full number. It seems
: : easier and less susceptible to error

Most numbers I dial other than from memory are done from work, where we
have Featurenet. This gives us access to any company phone using the last
4 digits of the PSTN direct dial number, so for 0121-25x yyyy I just have
to dial yyyy. To dial a number on the PSTN is a simple case of prefixing
with a 9.

Ivor

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 11:39:32 GMT, (Neil
Williams) wrote:

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 01:31:16 +0000, James Farrar
wrote:

Going Live! used 081 811 8181 from the 071/081 split (previously it
had used 01 811 8055, inherited from Saturday Superstore (and, I
believe, from Multi-Coloured Swap Shop before it, although that was
before my time). 081 811 8181 then passed to L&K, becoming 0181 811
8181 on PhONE Day.

Very fortunate for the BBC that the new London code that applied to
them was 0(1)81...


Indeed.

I assume it's 09something expensive these days...

0845, I think.

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:05:22 +0000, Pyromancer
wrote:

I've noticed dodgy companies trying to look like where they are based is
bigger than it is by moving the spaces in their numbers about, writing
town numbers as though they were city xxxx xxx xxxx ones, or trying to
disguise "national rate" 0870 by doing 0870x xxx xxx, etc.

Atlantic 252 used to do something worse than that way back when London
was still 01 and the international code was 010.

Their DJs always read the number as "01 0353 463 66 77".

"James Farrar" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 14:05:22 +0000, Pyromancer
wrote:

I've noticed dodgy companies trying to look like where they are based is
bigger than it is by moving the spaces in their numbers about, writing
town numbers as though they were city xxxx xxx xxxx ones, or trying to
disguise "national rate" 0870 by doing 0870x xxx xxx, etc.

This was because they ran out and had to prepend. BT instigated this silly
way of representing them, perhaps beacuse if you had paid ££££ for 0870 444
444 you would be a bit miffed when it became 0870 744 4444.


Atlantic 252 used to do something worse than that way back when London
was still 01 and the international code was 010.

Their DJs always read the number as "01 0353 463 66 77".

That's only Ireland - probably cheaper than 0870 on most tariffs.