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PICK YOUR TOLL-CALL FIRM
You can pick your toll-call firm despite your primary carrier. It's
one of the best-kept secrets in the telephone business. None of the many
long-distance companies advertises it. And operators at Pacific Bell and
AT&T won't even admit that it exists, although it is a distinct
advantage to the consumer to know about it.
The secret:
If you have already signed up with a long-distance company, you also
can make your long-distance through ANY other long-distance carrier.
Throughout California, you can roam around among 22 long-
distance companies at will casually using any of them that serve your
area, without regard to the company you selected as your primary
long-distance carrier.
"Its the best of all worlds," said a phone industry executive. "I
picked my primary carrier on a basis of quality and reliability, and
now I pick and choose among the others according to my needs, such as
an occasional hour-long call to my son at college over another
company's lines that offer cheaper afternoon rates."
Said an officer of a major long-distance firm: "If I'm calling home
on Christmas or Mother's Day and I get a busy signal, I immediately
switch to another company's line to get through." "Competition is here,
and its working, in an instant," the officer said.
An official at another company said he makes all his personal
over-seas calls on a competing carrier's lines because his own
company doesn't serve many over-seas countries. "And my own
company also charges a premium for calling of the really small towns
that I call quite often, so I use still another carrier
periodically."
Such calls, known in telecommunications jargon as "Ten Triple XXX
dialing" are automatically billed by Pacific Bell at whatever rates are
established by the long-distance company used by the caller. No bill
comes from the company used. Example:
Under the rules governing the breakup of the Bell System, a
customer has signed up with AT&T to handle all long-distance
calling. When the receiver is lifted, calls automatically are
handled by AT&T.
But, if the caller wants to use MCI, it can be reached by
dialing five digits and then dialing the call. MCI's five-digit code
is 10222.
Each company has a different code, all beginning with 10 and
followed by three numbers. Because of this its known as "Ten Triple
XXX," or simply "the company code."
Use 10444 for Allnet; 10288 for AT&T or 10777 for Sprint, etc. (See
accompanying chart.)
Constant users of Ten Triple XXX quickly learn that 10 are the digits
that make it work and automatically dial 10, leaving to memory only
the last three digits. Two companies have made it relatively easy:
AT&T is 10 ATT and Sprint is 10 SPR.
But the system doesn't work unless the customer's phone has been
converted to the new equal-access system, which gives all phone users
equal access to all long-distance companies. When equal access
arrives in an exchange area, Pacific Bell rewires its telephone
switching gear so that long-distance calls are handled by whatever
long-distance company has been selected by the customer. But along
with this new company-selection option, comes the added bonus of being
able to use them all with Ten Triple XXX dialing.
Ten Triple XXX codes.
Company Code
Allnet ................................. 10444
American Network/Savenet ............... 10311
American PTT ........................... 10278
American Telephone Exchange ............ 10050
Amptelco Systems ....................... 10267
AT&T ................................... 10288
Com Systems ............................ 10266
Comex/Chinamerica ...................... 10788
CP National ............................ 10276
Escondido Telephone Co. ................ 10441
Express Tel. ........................... 10700
GTE Sprint ............................. 10777
ITT .................................... 10488
MCI .................................... 10222
Republic Telecom ....................... 10001
SBS .................................... 10888
Standard Information Services .......... 10747
TDX Systems ............................ 10223
Telesphere Network ..................... 10555
TMC Long Distance ...................... 10007
U.S. Telecom ........................... 10333
Western Union .......................... 10220
By Charles W. Ross Staff Writer for:
The San Diego Evening Tribune