108 lines
4.8 KiB
Plaintext
108 lines
4.8 KiB
Plaintext
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Illinois Bell Operations Letter
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Planning & Engineering CS&E 7.1
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October 28, 1988
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312 Split / New 708 Area Code
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(Operations Forces)
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1. This letter is issued to provide information about the area
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code 312 split that will occur November 11, 1988.
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2. All prefixes in the City of Chicago will keep the 312 area
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code. All prefixes outside the physical boundaries of the city
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will become area code 708. Customers will keep their same seven
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digit telephone number.
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3. This split is necessary because customers in this fast growing
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area need more telephone numbers than are now available. The
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split will be revenue neutral. Subscribers will not pay more to
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make a call that requires eleven digits (1 + Area code + 7 Digits)
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than they pay for the seven digits presently dialed. Although the
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split is revenue neutral to the subscriber, it will cost Illinois
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Bell several million dollars in operating expense.
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4. A main 312 Split Committee supported by eight subcommittees
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is charged with the task of implementing the split. The split
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will be accomplished with the least customer dissatisfaction
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possible, without spending more expense money than needed.
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5. The Split Committee and subcommittee are identifying the
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various data bases and processes affected by the split in some way.
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6. Due to Alarm Company and Carrier concerns, a "permissive"
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period will begin on June 1, 1989 in some offices. The permissive
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peroid will allow either 7 or 11 digit dialing in both area code
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312 and 708. This will allow testing by carriers and equipment
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changes by the Alarm Companies. A schedule is being assembled
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that will contain the date each office will convert to permissive
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dialing. All offices in the present 312 area will have permissive
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dialing before November 11, 1989.
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7. After the split date we will continue the permissive dialing peroid
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for 90 days, until February 9, 1990. The permissive periods are
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not announced to the general public. At the end of the permissive
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period a mis-dialed call will go to a special annoucement for
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each area. The permissive dialing will be in local offices only
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and may not be provided outisde the present 312 area.
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8. Some codes such as 555, 591, and 976 will remain as seven digit
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codes in both areas. Mobile cellular prefixes will be a seven
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digit code in one area only and may not always be the same area
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where the carriers switching machine is located.
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9. Three digit codes such as 411, 611, and 911 will all remain as
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theee digit codes in each area. A call to 411 in either area will
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provide information for both 312 and 708 areas.
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10. The method of achieving permissive dialing will be different
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in each type of switch. TCN's and detailed instructions will be
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issued to cover the various types of switches. Many hours of
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translations and testing are required to attain the permissive
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dialing. A computer based program has been developed to make
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tests to the call-through test numbers.
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11. Potential problems that may have been identified include remote
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call forwarding, flexible route and automatic route lists. In
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most cases Marketing will issue an order to make the required
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change.
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12. Speed call lists, automatic dialers, computer modems and lines
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that are call forwarded can also become a problem. This is
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because subscribers may forget to make the needed area code
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changes. The only known fix for this problem is extensive
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customer education.
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13. Illinois Bell has begun to advertise the date and other
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information about the split to our subscribers through the media.
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Bill inserts are being used to alert people about what to expect
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when the split occurs. Directories distributed late this year
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will copntain references to and information about the 312 split.
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14. Closer to the actual split date, the publicity will be
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intensified. This will be to alert as many people as possible
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about the split and its impact. About three.weeks before the
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split, all employees will be encouraged to use the new 312 or 708
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area code whenever appropriate. This will provide as an in service
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test if any problems encountered are reported.
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15. This letter is intended to be shared with all employees of the
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Operations department. Except information concerning permissive
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dialing, the contents of this letter may be shared with non-
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employees such as family, friends, and associates.
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16. This letter will be cancelled March, 1990.
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17. The oprginator of this letter is xxxxx xxxxxx, (312) 727-xxxx.
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[Editor's note: Name and number of orignator omitted for lack of relevance.
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All else is verbatim from intra-company memorandum]
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