Area code 700
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Use By Long Distance Carriers
Area code 700 of the North American Numbering Plan is reserved for carrier-specific number assignments to special services or destinations. It was introduced in 1983 in anticipation of the introduction of long distance competition in the US.
The area code was intended for presubscribing telephone numbers to particular interexchange carriers.[1] Numbers in this area code are exclusive to the specific carrier, so the destination of a given number in numbering plan area 700 may be different for each carrier. Almost all of the early 700-offerings have faded into history, due to a combination of confusion, blocking of calls to them by many businesses worried about high-charge phone calls, and many alternative services.[citation needed]
The number 700-555-4141 is provided by all carriers who implement the area code.[citation needed] It plays a recording identifying the carrier handling long distance and international calls. While this does not work with most cellular and VOIP systems this identification may help traditional land line consumers who have been slammed into a new carrier.[2]
The intent was that interexchange carriers could use 700-numbers to implement new services quickly. When a 700-number is dialed, the local exchange carrier processing the call routes it to the presubscribed interexchange carrier, unless the caller has overridden presubscription by dialing 101XXXX before the number. Thus each interexchange carrier has access to all 7.92 million 700-numbers. 700-numbers are different from all other North American Numbering Plan numbers because the destinations are not unique, and, in fact, depend on the network the caller has selected.
In 1992 AT&T introduced a 700-number service branded as AT&T EasyReach 700. It allowed subscribers to forward calls to their 700-number to any domestic phone number. It allowed either the caller or the subscriber to pay for the incoming calls.[3] If the caller was calling from a phone not pre-subscribed to AT&T as its IXC, the caller was required to dial 10-ATT prior to dialing the 700-number. This service has since been discontinued.
Some carriers have made use of the carrier-specific nature of area code 700 to offer telephony-based services to their subscribers, dialable from ordinary telephones. For example, Vonage has provided weather information with (700) WEATHER (700-932-8437).[citation needed]
Use in Voice Over IP
Within North America, Area code 700 has become the de facto area code used in large scale software defined voice networks. In many cases, the area code is used when large organizations wish to connect multiple sites or interconnect multiple companies, agencies, organizations or jurisdictions under a common dial plan. Since Voice Over IP (VoIP) phone calls can be routed over the public phone network or over a private phone network, a common dial plan is needed to ensure that calls are processed properly. In many organizations, end users are instructed to dial "9" prior to dialing phone calls over the public phone network or outside line. As VoIP networks grow, there can be confusion when an end user should dial 9 and the number of digits used for internal dialing. The problem can be exacerbated when an organization has multiple sites and partner voice networks that require specialized VoIP routing to complete the call. To ensure that calls are processed in a uniform manner, larger organizations enforce 10 digit dialing for all calls between sites and offices within North America. Area Code 700 is often used for VoIP routing of enterprise/internal calls. Within North America, the use of area code 700 as a uniform private/common area code is similar to the use of RFC 1918 private IP addressing within the data networking field.
Additionally, some organizations choose to outsource the administration of large voice networks to third parties, including regional telephone carriers. AT&T, and several other organizations offer managed VoIP networks that allow companies to route all phone calls (internal and external) over the carrier network. Many VoIP SDN services use area code 700 to denote VoIP calls requiring software defined network routing.[4]
References
- ^ "Tools - FAQs". NANPA. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
- ^ "When Your Preferred Telephone Company Is Switched Without Your Permission - "Slamming"". Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "The 700 Club - TIME". TIME. 1992-05-11. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
- ^ "AT&T Software Defined Voice Networking Guide" (PDF).
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