[telecom] Z on old dials; Intl dial letters?

[telecom] Z on old dials; Intl dial letters?
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[telecom] Z on old dials; Intl dial letters? hancock4 01-28-2008
Posted by on January 28, 2008, 11:24 am
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Was the "Z" that appears on old dials ever used as a _dialable_
letter?

I know certainly special numbers had Zs in them since they had to be
placed via the operator.

But I'm asking if there were exchanges like an AZtec 3 (203)? I think
the use of Z on dials was discontinued before the NPA was drawn up, so
that wouldn't have conflicted.

Also, did the Bell System issue phones that had numbers only in places
where there were no lettered exchanges, such as small towns that had
only 5 or less digits to begin with. There were many places like
that. I think the Independent companies issued such phones, but I've
never seen a WE phone like that. Maybe they simply standardized on
the letter-number layout for all phones.

My Design Line phone rotary dial, made in the 1980s, has letters, but
they are very small relative to the number. Presumably at that point
the company figured most letters were obsolete, not expecting the
1-800-CALLME in the future.


Also...

I've heard that dials in other countries had different lettering than
US dials. Has dial lettering been standardized for world wide
uniformity, meaning foreign dials converted to the US standard? What
about phones in countries where they use their own alphabet, such as
Russia?


Pure Networks
Posted by Sam Spade on January 28, 2008, 11:54 pm
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hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> Was the "Z" that appears on old dials ever used as a _dialable_
> letter?
>
> I know certainly special numbers had Zs in them since they had to be
> placed via the operator.
>
> But I'm asking if there were exchanges like an AZtec 3 (203)? I think
> the use of Z on dials was discontinued before the NPA was drawn up, so
> that wouldn't have conflicted.
>
Los Angeles had ZEnith for a long time after NPA became effective. You
dialed the Operator, of course, and asked for ZEnith 4877 or whatever,
and were given a toll-free connection to the other end.


Posted by on January 31, 2008, 12:58 am
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> Los Angeles had ZEnith for a long time after NPA became effective. You
> dialed the Operator, of course, and asked for ZEnith 4877 or whatever,
> and were given a toll-free connection to the other end.

I mean where the Z was dialed as part of a phone number, not to reach
the operator.


Posted by Robert Bonomi on January 30, 2008, 6:54 pm
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>Was the "Z" that appears on old dials ever used as a _dialable_
>letter?
>
>I know certainly special numbers had Zs in them since they had to be
>placed via the operator.
>
>But I'm asking if there were exchanges like an AZtec 3 (203)? I think
>the use of Z on dials was discontinued before the NPA was drawn up, so
>that wouldn't have conflicted.

The operator answered all calls placed to ZAnzibar, ZUlu, and ZYmurgy exchanges,
as well as the better known ZEnith numbers. <grin>

This leads into potentially dangerous territory -- see the Robert Silverberg
story "MUgwump Four" about strange prefixes.


>Also, did the Bell System issue phones that had numbers only in places
>where there were no lettered exchanges, such as small towns that had
>only 5 or less digits to begin with. There were many places like
>that. I think the Independent companies issued such phones, but I've
>never seen a WE phone like that. Maybe they simply standardized on
>the letter-number layout for all phones.

Right. why make two models of phone, that differed only in the paint scheme.
more parts to manufacture, more parts to stock, more overhead all the way
around. Standardize on a single variant wherever possible. it's -cheaper-.

>I've heard that dials in other countries had different lettering than
>US dials. Has dial lettering been standardized for world wide
>uniformity, meaning foreign dials converted to the US standard?

Nope.


Posted by on January 31, 2008, 12:59 am
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On Jan 30, 6:54 pm, bon...@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) wrote:

> Right. why make two models of phone, that differed only in the paint
scheme.
> more parts to manufacture, more parts to stock, more overhead all the way
> around. Standardize on a single variant wherever possible. it's
-cheaper-.

Even large companies with heavy standardization had variants to save
money and better meet specific operational requirements. For
instance, with keyset phones, they came in six and four button
varieties, and lamps on the buttons were optional. The volume of
equipment was such variants were possible.

There were a variety of specialty models of common telephone models
for various purposes, some well known, some relatively rare.


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other useful resources:
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