Telephone number pedantry

[baratron]

Pet hate: people who write London phone numbers as "0207" or "0208" plus 7 digits. It's incorrect. The code for London is 020. The number is 8whatever. If you are in London and pick up the phone, and dial the seven digit number after "0208", you won't get through. If, instead, you dial the eight digit number beginning with "8", you will.

What has inspired this rant? Several things, including listening to my answer phone messages, and trolls on one of my irc channels (making it completely impossible to have a conversation there, and all of the ops are idle). Plus the garage at the back of ours just spent out on a huge shiny new sign, that sits just off the edge of our property and swings in the breeze - and it has the phone number listed as "0208" + 7 digits. GAH.

Comments

Re: a windmill replies

[aca.livejournal.com]

It wasn't BT it was Oftel/Ofcom the telecoms regulator - ie teh government - who did this. Whilst it was something of an upheavle I still think it preferable to the US approach of splitting cities into 2 area codes.

Plus variable length area codes and local numbers mean you can provide an urban area with 6m or so phone numbers without doubling up area codes. Which is a good thing, I reckons.

Re: a windmill replies

[redbird]

Variable length codes have their value, certainly--it was the double switch for London that I think overloaded people: 01 to 071/081 to 020 and eight-digit local numbers.