All-Number Calling
Encyclopedia
All-number calling is a telephone number
ing system that was introduced in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.
Until the 1950s, local telephone numbers consisted of an exchange
and a 5-digit phone number. A New Yorker's phone number might be CHelsea 4-5034, which another user would dial (once dial service was available—until the 1930s use of panel switch
, phone calls had to be manually connected by a switchboard operator) a two-letter code for the exchange followed by the 5-digit number. When the phone company began running out of memorable telephone exchange names
, it tried to replace it with "all-number calling." This sparked an intense outcry among urban users, who considered all-numeric calling to be dehumanizing.
Opponents created a variety of organizations to oppose all-number calling, including the Anti-Digit Dialing League and the Committee of Ten Million to Oppose All-Number Calling to pressure AT&T to drop the plan.
Telephone number
A telephone number or phone number is a sequence of digits used to call from one telephone line to another in a public switched telephone network. When telephone numbers were invented, they were short — as few as one, two or three digits — and were given orally to a switchboard operator...
ing system that was introduced in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.
Until the 1950s, local telephone numbers consisted of an exchange
Telephone exchange names
During the early years of telephone service, communities that required more than 10,000 telephone numbers, whether dial service was available or not, utilized exchange names to distinguish identical numerics for different customers....
and a 5-digit phone number. A New Yorker's phone number might be CHelsea 4-5034, which another user would dial (once dial service was available—until the 1930s use of panel switch
Panel switch
The panel switching system was an early type of automatic telephone exchange, first put into urban service by the Bell System in the 1920s and removed during the 1970s...
, phone calls had to be manually connected by a switchboard operator) a two-letter code for the exchange followed by the 5-digit number. When the phone company began running out of memorable telephone exchange names
Telephone exchange names
During the early years of telephone service, communities that required more than 10,000 telephone numbers, whether dial service was available or not, utilized exchange names to distinguish identical numerics for different customers....
, it tried to replace it with "all-number calling." This sparked an intense outcry among urban users, who considered all-numeric calling to be dehumanizing.
Opponents created a variety of organizations to oppose all-number calling, including the Anti-Digit Dialing League and the Committee of Ten Million to Oppose All-Number Calling to pressure AT&T to drop the plan.