Abbreviated dialing

An operator takes a call at the Jackson, Tennessee 9-1-1 Dispatch Center.

Abbreviated dialing (This is not ADN File of GSM, This is ECC file of GSM) is the use of a very short telephone number to reach public services. The purpose of such numbers is to be universal, short, and easy to remember. Typically they are two or three digits.

Carriers refer to the shortened number sequences as Abbreviated Dialing Codes or ADC's. Unlike SMS shortcodes, they are not automatically synchronized across carriers (with the exception of the governmental use examples below). ADC's are provisioned separately for mobile networks versus landline networks (so a dialing code might work on a mobile phone, but not on a landline phone).

Examples

The most commonly known examples are emergency telephone numbers such as 9-9-9, 1-1-2 and 9-1-1. Other services may also be available through abbreviated dialing numbers, such as the other of the eight N11 codes of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) besides 9-1-1. State highway departments in recent years have used abbreviated dialing codes to allow drivers to obtain information about road conditions or to reach the state highway patrol. Examples are *55 in Missouri and Oklahoma, or *FHP which connects to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Similar concepts

For text messaging, the technical equivalent is a short code; however these are rented by their private users rather than being universal and for public services.

Vertical service codes may also be considered as abbreviated dialing, though these prefix the special touch-tone characters * and # (or often 11 for pulse dialing) instead of using only numerals. Most are used to access calling features rather than a called party, and some are specific to each telephone company. Some are used only locally or regionally (such as *FHP (*347) to reach the Florida Highway Patrol); other codes as short as one numeral (like *1) are used to report breaking news or traffic to the newsrooms of local news radio or TV stations.

See also

References

    External links

    Look up 911 in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.


    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.