Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldcodger
As I mentioned in an earlier post ( without any detail), the 131 codes could be used in almost any exchange area. I was employed by a firm that commissioned and attempted to repair problems with the Vanderhoff ( and other ) Smart boxes. We found it more convenient on the road to nip into a phone box and dial 131, then the * then the pin code, followed by the office number. I never had any problems from north of Nottingham through the Midlands and a bit further.
|
Interesting that...
Those Vanderhoff boxes, were they wall mounted cabinets about the size of a microwave oven?
I saw a few, but they were installed before I got involved with office telecoms in about 1990.
Now, you mention dialling a * before the PIN, that wasn't normally necessary on the 2200 service...
...except
I remember one service call where I was trying to programme the 10 digit PIN from the Mercury paperwork provided by the customer. I couldn't get it to work, and had to ring the helpdesk for assistance.
It transpired that this customer was an early adopter of the service, and although they were issued with a 10 digit number, they only expected 8 to be sent, due to the limitations of their original equipment, and I was asked to try the "star star trick" which meant substituting the first two digits with ** which worked.
This was 30 years ago and I may have got the detail wrong.
Yes, 131 worked from phone boxes, I always thought that was strange, I suppose it was an OFTEL requirement for a level playing field etc, but customers didn't use the facility or even know it was there. I bet there was a measure of fraud because of it.
The other odd thing about the 2200 service is how long it lasted, I can't remember exactly when 131 stopped returning the dial-tone, but at a guess I would say within the last five years.
Who was still using it I wonder?
If you dialled the test PIN 131-123456 you would get "A test PIN was used to dial this number. Cable & Wireless customers benefit from..." etc, etc. and gave an 0500 number that was not recognised if you dialled it.