Area code 700

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 United States.

The area code was intended for assignment by interexchange carriers to implement new services rapidly.[1] The destinations of numbers in this numbering plan area (NPA) are exclusive to each carrier. A local exchange carrier routes calls to 700-numbers to the presubscribed interexchange carrier, unless the caller overrides presubscription by prefixing the destination telephone number with a carrier identification ( 101XXXX).

Almost all of the early 700-offerings have ceased, because of a combination of confusion, blocking of calls to them by many businesses, and many alternative services. The number 700-555-4141 was intended for service provider identification by all carriers who implemented the area code.

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 telephone number. It allowed either the caller or the subscriber to pay for the incoming calls.[2] If the caller was calling from a telephone not presubscribed to AT&T as its interexchange carrier, the caller was required to dial 10-ATT prior to dialing the 700-number.

Some carriers have made use of the carrier-specific nature of area code 700 to offer telephony-based services, reachable from ordinary telephones. For example, Vonage has provided weather information with (700) WEATHER (700-932-8437).

Within North America, area code 700 has become the de facto area code in software-defined voice networks. In many cases, the area code is used when large organizations interconnect multiple sites or agencies, organizations, or jurisdictions under a common dial plan. It provides a common area code when integrating voice-over-IP (VoIP) networks.

AT&T, and other providers offer managed VoIP services that route all customers' 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.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tools - FAQs". NANPA. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  2. ↑ "The 700 Club - TIME". TIME. 1992-05-11. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  3. ↑ "AT&T Software Defined Voice Networking Guide" (PDF).
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