555 (telephone number) - wikipedia

7/29/2019 555 (Telephone Number) - Wikipedia

1/3

12/ 12 555 ( t elephonenumber) - Wikipedia, thef ree encyclopedia

1/3wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number )

555 (telephone number)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Telephone numbers with the prefix 555 are widely used for fictitious telephone numbers in North American

television shows, films, video games, and other media, although real numbers do exist in this range.

Not all numbers that begin with 555 are fictionalfor example, 555-1212 is one of the standard numbers for

directory assistance throughout the United States and Canada. In fact, only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are

now specifically reserved for fictional use - except for the 800 area code where only 800-555-0199 is reserved

- and the other numbers have been released for actual assignment.

Area code 555 in the North American Numbering Plan is reserved for Directory Assistance applications.

Contents

1 Fictional usage

2 Real uses of 555 numbers

3 See also

4 References

5 Further reading

6 External links

Fictional usage

The phone companies began encouraging the producers of television shows and movies to use the 555 prefix for

fictional telephone numbers, roughly during the 1960s. One of the earliest uses of a 555 number can be seen in

Panic in Year Zero! (1962), with 555-2106. In older television shows from the 1950s or 1960s, "KLondike 5"

or "KLamath 5" was used, as at the time the telephone exchanges used letters and numbers in phone numbers.

More recent works set in this period typically use this convention as well.

The number "2368" is a carryover from "EXchange 2368", which was common in old telephone

advertisements.[1] This represents "Exchange Central", with 2368 being the numeric version of "CENTral" in

alphabetic dialing.

Before "555" or "KLondike-5" gained broad usage, and before touchtonephones became standard,

scriptwriters would sometimes invent fake exchanges starting with words like "QUincy" or "ZEbra", as the letters

"Q" and "Z" were not used on the old dial phones.

Real uses of 555 numbers

Throughout North America, 1-XXX-555-1212 will connect to directory assistance for the specified XXX area

code, 1-800-555-1212 will connect to directory assistance for all 1-800 numbers and 1-800-555-1111 will

connect to a Bell Canada operator.

Also, in some areas of cellphone reception, 1-800-555-1234, a commonly used fictional number, is Nations'

Tel in the Pacific Northwest and may reach a number that claims to be in use by the IRS.[citation needed] It is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Numbering_Plan#Alphabetic_mnemonic_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_in_Year_Zero!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#See_alsohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Numbering_Planhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_telephone_numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Numbering_Plan#Alphabetic_mnemonic_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_in_Year_Zero!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#Further_readinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#See_alsohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#Real_uses_of_555_numbershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#Fictional_usagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Numbering_Planhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555-1212http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_gamehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Televisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_telephone_numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_number


2/3



now used by 'NCH Software of USA', a software development company.

In 1994, the North American Numbering Plan Administration began accepting applications for nationwide 555

numbers (outside the fictitious 555-01XX range). This would mean that a consumer from any area code could

dial a seven-digit number such as 555-TAXI, and the owners of that number could connect the call to a local

car service. However, according to a 2003New York Times article, the desired functionality requires the

cooperation of local phone authorities, and most phone companies have been reluctant to cooperate. [2] Despite

the fact that the service is virtually unavailable so far, most of the available 555 numbers have already beenreserved.[3]

In addition, 555 use is only restricted in North America. Neglecting this fact resulted in a lawsuit in the late

1980s: in his daily The Far Side panel, cartoonist Gary Larson included a graffiti of a 555 number by which

prank calls could be made to Satan. When the panel was printed in Australia (where 555 was at the time a

standard exchange), the owner of the 555 number became the subject of much harassment, and sued Larson

and his syndicate for defamation. The suit was unsuccessful.[4]

555 numbers are mentioned in the 1993 action film The Last Action Hero, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The character of Danny Madigan (played by Austin O'Brien) tries to convince Schwarzenegger's character thathe is inside a movie by pointing out that 555 numbers give at most 9,999 possible telephone numbers (although

there are technically 10,000 possible phone numbers, 0000-9999, 1212 is reserved for directory assistance),

clearly not enough for all phone users in Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger's character replies that area codes would

solve that problem and O'Brien's character drops the subject.

The practice of publishing specific numbers assigned for fictitious use gained demand after some telephone

customers were flooded by errant dialers using the phone number popularized by Tommy Tutone with the song

867-5309/Jenny.

See also

Fictitious domain name

Fictitious telephone number

References

1. ^ Telephone ads of the 1940s [cont]

(http://www.myinsulators.com/commokid/telephones/1940s_telephone_ads_cont.htm)

2. ^ Biederman, Marcia. "Personal 555 Number Is Still Mostly Fiction"(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06EFD8163BF935A35751C0A9659C8B63) , The New York

Times, February 6, 2003. Accessed September 10, 2008.

3. ^ NANP Administration System (http://www.nanpa.com/nas/public/form555MasterReport.do?

method=display555MasterReport)

4. ^ "Laughter and Litigation" (http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lawreport/laughs-and-litigation-

taking-the-joke-too-far/3480402) . Radio National. 27 March 2001.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lawreport/laughs-and-litigation-taking-the-joke-too-far/3480402.

Retrieved 2012-07-22.

Further readingPersonal 555 Number Is Still Mostly Fiction

(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/technology/circuits/06numb.html)

Why doesn't the phone company use the "555" prefix? (http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020826.html)
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020826.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/technology/circuits/06numb.htmlhttp://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lawreport/laughs-and-litigation-taking-the-joke-too-far/3480402http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Nationalhttp://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lawreport/laughs-and-litigation-taking-the-joke-too-far/3480402http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#cite_ref-4http://www.nanpa.com/nas/public/form555MasterReport.do?method=display555MasterReporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#cite_ref-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Timeshttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06EFD8163BF935A35751C0A9659C8B63http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#cite_ref-2http://www.myinsulators.com/commokid/telephones/1940s_telephone_ads_cont.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#cite_ref-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_telephone_numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name#Fictitious_domain_namehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/867-5309/Jennyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Tutonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_O%27Brienhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzeneggerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Action_Herohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_numbers_in_Australiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prank_callhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Larsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Far_Sidehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number)#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Timeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Numbering_Planhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software


3/3



TV Acres Compilation of 555 numbers in movies (http://www.tvacres.com/add_coverpage.htm)

Fictional Telecom - Phone numbers for use in drama (http://www.fictionaltelecom.com)

External links

555 at (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveFiveFive) TV Tropes

An extensive list of 555 numbers given in movies and TV shows (http://home.earthlink.net/~mthyen)

555 SPOT: a growing list of 555 numbers (http://www.555spot.com/) (Website still available on

archive.org (http://web.archive.org/web/20110707065100/http://www.555spot.com/) )

North American Number Plan - page on 555 Numbers

(http://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/555_numbers.html)

CNAC list of Canadian 555-xxxx information providers

(http://www.cnac.ca/other_codes/555/555_line_numbers.htm)

The Straight Dope, Why do phone numbers in TV shows and movies all start with 555?

(http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_374a.html)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=555_(telephone_number)&oldid=523581302"Categories: North American Numbering Plan Cinema of the United States In-jokes Telephone numbers

Fictional telecom protocols

This page was last modified on 25 November 2012 at 04:03.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may

apply. See Terms of Use for details.

Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
http://www.wikimediafoundation.org/http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Terms_of_Usehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_Licensehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Categorieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=555_(telephone_number)&oldid=523581302http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_374a.htmlhttp://www.cnac.ca/other_codes/555/555_line_numbers.htmhttp://www.nanpa.com/number_resource_info/555_numbers.htmlhttp://web.archive.org/web/20110707065100/http://www.555spot.com/http://www.555spot.com/http://home.earthlink.net/~mthyenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_Tropeshttp://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FiveFiveFivehttp://www.fictionaltelecom.com/http://www.tvacres.com/add_coverpage.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fictional_telecom_protocolshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Telephone_numbershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:In-jokeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cinema_of_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:North_American_Numbering_Plan

555 (telephone number) - wikipedia

Documents