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An intercept message is a telephone recording informing the caller that the call cannot be completed, for any of a number of reasons ranging from local congestion, to disconnection of the destination phone, number dial errors or network trouble along the route.
Before automation, calls to a disconnected or non-working number would be diverted to an intercept operator. The operator would ask what number the subscriber was attempting to call, determine the reason for the intercept and relay the information to the calling party. [1]
The first automatic intercept systems used rotating magnetic drums containing multiple recorded phrases, with a computer or mechanical control system playing phrases in the proper sequence. Initially, the caller was given the option to remain on the line for a live operator after the announcement was completed; this has since been removed.
These messages are generally performed by female voices, although male voices are used as well.
Jane Barbe, Pat Fleet, and Joyce Gordon are well known for being the voices behind many intercept messages originating in the United States.
Many of these recordings end with the phrase "This is a recording" to let the callers know that they have not reached a live operator.
The precise wording of intercept messages is left to the discretion of each local telephone company, except that most such messages nowadays start with one of several special information tones, standardized by Telcordia when it was still called Bellcore.
In the 1970s, for example, New York Telephone used the following:
I'm sorry; the number you have reached is not in service, or temporarily disconnected. The number you have reached is not in service at this time. This is a recording.
Bell of Pennsylvania used the following:
I'm sorry, the number you have reached is not in service. Please check the number in your directory and dial again ... the number you have reached is not in service ... if you remain on the line, an operator will answer ... thank you, this is a recording.
In rural areas, the name of the town from which the exchange service is furnished was often included in the message; this was especially true if the telephone company providing the service was not part of the Bell System.
By the 1980s, a standardized generic message was adopted, and is in use in a vast majority of localities in America today. It reads as follows:
We're sorry; you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again.
The option also exists to replace the generic message with a customized message, as applicable, such as in cases where a subscriber's telephone number has changed, usually due to relocation. This service is known in America as Number Referral Service, and in Britain as Ceased Number Intercept. An example of a Number Referral Service intercept message is:
The number you have reached [NUMBER] has been changed the new number is [NEW NUMBER] please make a note of the change.
When a customer moves and cancels their telephone service, an intercept message is often used even if no new number has replaced the old one.
The number you have reached, old number, has been disconnected. No further information is available about old number.
A similar intercept occurs if a number has recently been unlisted; no new number is provided:
The number you have reached, old number, has been changed to a non-published number. [2]
In the past, the call would be forwarded to an intercept operator after usually two readings of the message; today, however, this procedure is not observed, and on some systems a fast busy signal follows the second reading of the message instead. (A busy or an Off-Hook may be used depending on the provider.)
A different intercept message is used when the caller has dialed a number the first three digits of which have not yet been assigned within that area code. This message, too, formerly varied by locality; the following was used in New York City in the 1960s:
If you are calling a number outside New York City, please dial the area code and the local number. If you are dialing a New York City number, please check the number and dial again. This is a recording. If you need assistance, please call your operator.
The standard version of this message in use today is the following. This is used when the three-digit exchange does not exist in that area code.
We're sorry; we are unable to complete your call as dialed. Please check the number and dial again, or call your operator to help you.
Most of these messages often include the phrase "Your call cannot be completed as dialed." Sometimes a message would say to first dial a 1 or a 0 (the toll prefix for a trunk call) plus the area code of the called number. A message may also be played when 0 or 1 followed by an area code is prepended unnecessarily on landline phone calls to local destinations. As of 2021, area code dialing is required in multi area code areas even for local calls, making the "not necessary to dial a 1 or 0" message no longer relevant for some areas.
As the owner of a toll-free telephone number must pay to receive all long-distance calls (including misdialed calls), a toll-free subscriber may request that the responsible organization for a toll-free number (often but not always the inbound long-distance carrier) configure the number to only be reachable from specific area codes, from within one province or state or from specified cities. (The original Bell System InWATS used wide multiple-state or province "bands" as calling areas; modern systems route more finely.)
"We're sorry, you have dialed a number which cannot be reached from your calling area." [3]
In Canada, this message is translated: "Le numéro que vous avez composé n'est pas disponible de votre région". The announcement is repeated, then followed by a numeric identifier.
AT&T has an intercept message that is heard due to network congestion: "All circuits are busy now, please try your call again [TANDEM]". The number and digits at the end identify the network edge or Tandem switch the caller's local exchange company routed the call to. There is also a network message heard when an attempt to route a call to a nodal or ISDN T1 on the terminating end fails due to no call set-up signal from the PBX being received by the far-end Tandem or edge switch "Your call did not go through, [TANDEM]". The tandem IDs are formatted like this: [3 digit number]T for main tandems [AREA-CODE}-[NUMBER]L for edge tandems.
Optus has an intercept message which is heard by Optus customers when the network is congested or when a technical fault prevents customers from making phone calls: "Unfortunately due to temporary service difficulties, we are unable to connect your call at this time. Please try again later". After the message is played, the call will disconnect.
If a phone receiver is left off-hook, some phone systems may use an intercept message to inform callers to hang up their phone receivers. The most common message reads as follows:
If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again. If you need help, hang up and then dial your operator.
A formerly-used variation of this message was as follows:
"This is a recording. Please hang up. There appears to be a receiver off the hook. Please check your main telephone and extensions, then try your call again. Thank you."
The message may be repeated, then followed by a loud, rasping off-hook tone intended to remain audible even if the handset is on the desktop instead of at the subscriber's ear. This tone is louder than the standard busy/fast busy signal.
In Australia, a user is often given the following message signifying that a call could not be connected. It is voiced by Anna Hruby, who is known as "The Telstra Lady" for her distinctive and memorable voice. This only applies to the Telstra Network; however, Optus and other networks have similar messages, each voiced by a different individual.
The message is usually then followed by a series of letters and numbers signifying the local access switch associated with the caller's exchange or the receiving party's exchange.
In almost any case, a telephone switch may be programmed to return a slow or fast busy signal instead of an intercept message. Intercept messages also often end with a coded identifier signifying which switch the message is being played by; this can be useful for diagnosing network problems.
An emergency telephone number is a number that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. The emergency number differs from country to country; it is typically a three-digit number so that it can be easily remembered and dialed quickly. Some countries have a different emergency number for each of the different emergency services; these often differ only by the last digit.
Caller identification is a telephone service, available in analog and digital telephone systems, including voice over IP (VoIP), that transmits a caller's telephone number to the called party's telephone equipment when the call is being set up. The caller ID service may include the transmission of a name associated with the calling telephone number, in a service called Calling Name Presentation (CNAM). The service was first defined in 1993 in International Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) Recommendation Q.731.3.
A blue box is an electronic device that produces tones used to generate the in-band signaling tones formerly used within the North American long-distance telephone network to send line status and called number information over voice circuits. During that period, charges associated with long-distance calling were commonplace and could be significant, depending on the time, duration and destination of the call. A blue box device allowed for circumventing these charges by enabling an illicit user, referred to as a "phreaker," to place long-distance calls, without using the network's user facilities, that would be billed to another number or dismissed entirely by the telecom company's billing system as an incomplete call. A number of similar "color boxes" were also created to control other aspects of the phone network.
A telephone call or telephone conversation, also known as a phone call or voice call, is a connection over a telephone network between the called party and the calling party. Telephone calls started in the late 19th century, initially relying on analog systems. As technology advanced, the majority of telephone calls moved from traditional landlines to cellular networks and mobile phones. Telephone calls have also become common over the internet, using Voice over IP (VoIP) technology. They are typically used for real-time conversation between two or more parties, especially when the parties cannot meet in person.
Call waiting is a telephone service where a subscriber can accept a second incoming telephone call by placing an in-progress call on hold—and may also switch between calls. With some providers it can be combined with additional features such as conferencing, call forwarding, and caller ID. Call waiting is intended to alleviate the need to have more than one telephone line or number for voice communications.
Call forwarding, or call diversion, is a telephony feature of all telephone switching systems which redirects a telephone call to another destination, which may be, for example, a mobile or another telephone number where the desired called party is available. Call forwarding was invented by Ernest J. Bonanno.
A vertical service code (VSC) is a sequence of digits and the signals star and pound/hash dialed on a telephone keypad or rotary dial to access certain telephone service features. Some vertical service codes require dialing of a telephone number after the code sequence. On a touch tone telephone, the codes are usually initiated with the star key, resulting in the commonly used name star codes. On rotary dial telephones, the star is replaced by dialing 11.
In telecommunications, directory assistance or directory inquiries is a phone service used to find out a specific telephone number and/or address of a residence, business, or government entity.
111 is the emergency telephone number in New Zealand. It was first implemented in Masterton and Carterton on 29 September 1958, and was progressively rolled out nationwide with the last exchanges converting in 1988.
Phone fraud, or more generally communications fraud, is the use of telecommunications products or services with the intention of illegally acquiring money from, or failing to pay, a telecommunication company or its customers.
Last-call return, automatic recall, or camp-on, is a telecommunication feature offered by telephony service providers to subscribers to provide the subscriber with the telephone number, and sometimes the time, of the last caller. The service may also offer the facility to place a call to the calling party.
The Australian telephone numbering plan governs the allocation of telephone numbers in Australia. It has changed many times, the most recent major reorganisation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority taking place between 1994 and 1998.
In telephony, an automated attendant allows callers to be automatically transferred to an extension without the intervention of an operator/receptionist. Many AAs will also offer a simple menu system. An auto attendant may also allow a caller to reach a live operator by dialing a number, usually "0". Typically the auto attendant is included in a business's phone system such as a PBX, but some services allow businesses to use an AA without such a system. Modern AA services can route calls to mobile phones, VoIP virtual phones, other AAs/IVRs, or other locations using traditional land-line phones or voice message machines.
GSM services are a standard collection of applications and features available over the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) to mobile phone subscribers all over the world. The GSM standards are defined by the 3GPP collaboration and implemented in hardware and software by equipment manufacturers and mobile phone operators. The common standard makes it possible to use the same phones with different companies' services, or even roam into different countries. GSM is the world's predominant mobile phone standard.
In telecommunications, a long-distance call (U.S.) or trunk call is a telephone call made to a location outside a defined local calling area. Long-distance calls are typically charged a higher billing rate than local calls. The term is not necessarily synonymous with placing calls to another telephone area code.
Numbers on the Irish telephone numbering plan are regulated and assigned to operators by ComReg.
000 Emergency, also known as Triple Zero or Triple 0, and sometimes stylised Triple Zero (000), is the primary national emergency telephone number in Australia and Australian External Territories. The Emergency Call Service is operated by Telstra, and overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and is intended only for use in life-threatening or time-critical emergencies.
The New Zealand telephone numbering plan describes the allocation of telephone numbers in New Zealand and the Pitcairn Islands.
A telephone number is a sequence of digits assigned to a landline telephone subscriber station connected to a telephone line or to a wireless electronic telephony device, such as a radio telephone or a mobile telephone, or to other devices for data transmission via the public switched telephone network (PSTN), or other public and private networks. Modern smart phones have added a built-in layer of abstraction whereby individuals or businesses are saved into a contacts application and the numbers no longer have to be written down or memorized.
The Panel Machine Switching System is a type of automatic telephone exchange for urban service that was used in the Bell System in the United States for seven decades. The first semi-mechanical types of this design were installed in 1915 in Newark, New Jersey, and the last were retired in the same city in 1983.
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