Anyone else remember ‘01’ for London?

[KnewYearKnewMe]

I’m reading The Mandibles, and it talks about a fictional big deal when the US international country code for their phones was ‘downgraded’ from 1 to 2..

It got me wondering if anyone else remembers when London’s phone area code was just 01 all over – and the uproar when they changed it to 071 and 081? I still remember people getting really aggrevated about being lumped into “outer London” with an 081 number when they were sure instead of they should be thr apparently much posher 071!

It all seemed very snobby looking back. Yet people did get very wound up.

for anyone younger – this was back when we actually used landlines and knew people’s phone numbers - Imagine that 😂😂)

Would love to hear if anyone else remembers – or any other examples of people getting terribly snobby about something that seems pretty daft to you .

I remember it happening in the 80s. The work letterhead had to be changed. I remember being pleased that my area code was 071.

My grandmother always answered the phone "town 1234".

It wasn't. It was 0208 for outer London. And 0207 for inner London.

Nope. 020 became the code for the whole of London (as 01 had been in the past). If you had an 0171 number, your number went from 0171 XXX XXXX to 020 7XXX XXXX. All new landline numbers for London are 020 3XXX XXXX - there was never an 0203 code, just as there was never an 0207 or 0208 code. Just 020.

https://telephone-exchanges.org.uk/exchanges/london-exchanges-h-n/

The complete history.

I love the fact that prior to 'All Figure Numbering" some of the old exchange names seem to be completely random.

Don’t forget we also had 0171 and 0181 for a while, then a few years ago my landlord line number was 0203

SAME! I was trained as a child to answer the phone by saying “01243554121 Who’s speaking please?” I used to run it all off like a single word!

Wasn't the idea of saying your phone number in case of crossed lines, so that the caller knew they had come to the right number? Also, with the rotary dials, it was easy to make a mistake.

Yes it probably was. I remember Mum dialling the rotary phone with a pencil so she didn't break her nails.

Absolutely right. It was considered the correct way to answer so that the caller knew they had reached the right number, especially as crossed lines or party lines were common then. It was considered a bit common to just answer the phone with Hello 😄.

Exactly. I still get annoyed when numbers are written as 0207 XXX XXXX. If it's incorrectly that way in someone's email signature and I'm replying to them I correct it. I'm sure they never notice but it makes me feel better.

So you change their signature by stealth? 😄

What do you get if you dial 014843674773785347844732578644?

A sore finger!

Yep! If we end up in a chain I might change it 4 or 5 times. I'm sure they never notice. 🤣.

When I'm looking for a tradesman if there are two who seem fairly similar and similarly priced but one of them advertised their number as 020 7XXX XXXX and one as 0207 XXX XXXX then the first one will get my business for their attention to detail.

Your email signatures must be set up very oddly, you can’t change someone else’s at my workplace, only they can. A quick look today shows me that those who still have a landline in their email have it correctly displayed - phew!

Not their actual signature that appears for them in a new email but once it is in the body of an email.

So where it is effectively just part of the text of what they've sent me. Hence changing it potentially 4 or 5 times in a chain. I can't change anyone's email at source of course. Would be great if I could.

Maybe it's just more basic auto signatures that can be changed - I assume signatures that involves graphics and company standard fonts would already be correct.

I think this level of pedantry can only be applauded.

I can't change their actual signature, just how it appears once the email has been sent to me. So when I reply the text of what they sent me originally has slightly changed.

Same as I correct typos and "of" for "have" etc if it appears. I'm sure nobody notices that either because how often does anyone go back over their original emails rather than just looking at the new messages but again, makes me feel better!

The changes from 01 to 071 to 0171 to 020 7 is one of the many reasons why I think BT is the exemplar of dysfunctional organisations.

You can take any single aspect of what BT does, examine it and find whole new levels of failure. And each of those you could put under a microscope and discover entire realms of hitherto undiscovered galaxies of ineptitude. And hidden within each of those are entire new oceans of uselessness. It never ends.

BT has achieved fractal incompetence.

That explains it!

It also brings up another bugbear of mine - people who set their email signature up (often complete with huge banner) to appear in Every Single Fucking Email They Send, cluttering things up and making it harder to follow the flow of a conversation. Just set it up so it only appears in new messages, not replies!!!!!

Wouldn’t the world be improved if undercover investigative organisational theorists were a “thing”?

Er, what?

Sorry that was as clear as mud. I’m just whimsically imagining some career between being an Organisational Behaviour lecturer and an investigative journalist, who would infiltrate and expose the businesses with the most toxic structures and cultures.

BT would be a good case. Admittedly the target audience would be nerdy and a bit niche, but maybe lots of people would like to see the companies that drive them mad dissected for public consultation.

I’ve been stuck on the phone, in a queue, listening to terrible musak for 40 minutes, for context. So I might have cracked. 😊

You are my new hero 😍