

In the international telephone network, the format of telephone numbers is standardized by ITU-T recommendation E.164. For each large metro area, all of these lines will share the same prefix (such as 404-741- xxxx in Atlanta and 305-550- xxxx in Miami), the last digits typically corresponding to the station's frequency, callsign, or moniker. Special telephone numbers are used for high-capacity numbers with several telephone circuits, typically a request line to a radio station where dozens or even hundreds of callers may be trying to call in at once, such as for a contest. If the numbering plan area does not use an overlay plan with multiple area codes, or if the provider allows it for other technical reasons, seven-digit dialing may be permissible for calls within the area. For example, a telephone number in North America consists of a three-digit area code, a three-digit central office code, and four digits for the line number.
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The dialing procedures ( dialing plan) in some areas permit dialing numbers in the local calling area without using an area code or city code prefix. Irrespective of the type of numbering plan, "shorthand" or "speed calling" numbers are automatically translated to unique telephone numbers before the call can be connected. In Europe, the development of open numbering plans was more prevalent, in which a telephone number comprised a varying count of digits.

A prominent system of this type is the North American Numbering Plan. Many countries use fixed-length numbers in a so-called closed numbering plan. The number contains the information necessary to identify the intended endpoint for a telephone call. With landlines, modems and pagers falling out of use in favor of all-digital always-connected broadband Internet and mobile phones, telephone numbers are now often used by data-only cellular devices, such as some tablet computers, digital televisions, video game controllers, and mobile hotspots, on which it is not even possible to make or accept a call. In addition to telephones, they have been used to access other devices, such as computer modems, pagers, and fax machines. As telephone systems have grown and interconnected to encompass worldwide communication, telephone numbers have become longer.

When telephone numbers were first used they were very short, from one to three digits, and were communicated orally to a switchboard operator when initiating a call. ( November 2015) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Telephone numbers are often dialed in conjunction with other signaling code sequences, such as vertical service codes, to invoke special telephone service features. Over the course of telephone history, telephone numbers had various lengths and formats and even included most letters of the alphabet in leading positions when telephone exchange names were in common use until the 1960s. Telephone numbers were first used in 1879 in Lowell, Massachusetts, when they replaced the request for subscriber names by callers connecting to the switchboard operator. Telephone numbers are assigned within the framework of a national or regional telephone numbering plan to subscribers by telephone service operators, which may be commercial entities, state-controlled administrations, or other telecommunication industry associations. The exchange completes the call either to another locally connected subscriber or via the PSTN to the called party. Telephone numbers are entered or dialed by a calling party on the originating telephone set, which transmits the sequence of digits in the process of signaling to a telephone exchange. For the Dominic Fike song, see Dominic Fike.Ī Swiss rotary telephone dial from the 1970s, showing the telephone's number (94 29 68) along with those of various local emergency services Telephone numbers for sale in Hong Kong.Ī telephone number is a sequence of digits assigned to a landline telephone subscriber station connected to a telephone line or to a wireless electronic telephony device, such as a radio telephone or a mobile telephone, or to other devices for data transmission via the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or other public and private networks.Ī telephone number serves as an address for switching telephone calls using a system of destination code routing. For the Bobby V song, see Fly on the Wall (Bobby V album).
