calling local numbers

[wakewatcher]

How come I have to dial my area code for local calls?

[tony]

How come I have to dial my area code for local calls?

MJ is making the call from somewhere outside your local calling area. In other words while you are making a local call, MJ isn't, it's making a long distance call to a number in your city.

[wakewatcher]

Ok but as they say. "It's only software." It should be smart enough to count digits and determine if I've only supplied 7 digits to add my area code. Right?

[murphy]

Philadelphia, PA has had 10 digit dialing for about 15 years. There are overlaid area codes. My home phone and my cell phone have different area codes and there is a third one already allocated for when they exhaust the existing two area codes.

[wakewatcher]

Right but I assume that in Philadelphia that if you dial a number with the same NPA as your phone you can still use 7 digit dialing. Right? I'm in podunk Washington we don't need no stinking 10 digit numbers. (Actually just don't want to have to teach the baby sitter new tricks.)

[murphy]

You assume incorrectly. All calls require 10 digit dialing.

[tony]

Ok but as they say. "It's only software." It should be smart enough to count digits and determine if I've only supplied 7 digits to add my area code. Right?

This would require storing your area code somewhere in MJ's setup. Some phone handsets will do this, wonder if this feature would work when plugged into MJ.

For me, i've just accepted 10 digit dialing so it's no big deal.

[wakewatcher]

Not really its just logic in the network. When you originate a call it has to a bunch of stuff anyway standard telco translation stuff, verification etc. It may be passing off this sort of stuff to somebody else. E.g. passing digits as they come. (Although it was my understanding that MJ had or was building the biggest private telco network out there.) If it buffered up the dialed string before passing it could see that it was only 7 digits and through translations pre-pend the same NPA as its own to complete the 10 digits.