> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I would be careful saying that it is
>> a 'simple misdialing' if there are _many_ people calling it.
> In this particular case, it does sound likely it's merely
> misdialing -- people are trying to reach the company but reaching his
> number instead. Yes I agree the translation table should've been
> updated but nowadays it's understandable it wasn't. Indeed, with all
> the mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcies I'm frightened to what > exists out there.
> Also remember that right now the new Medicare Drug Plan is being
> implemented and it's a mess. Lots of people are calling in with
> questions, so call volume is unusually high. That would increase the
> chances of error dialing.
> Don't underestimate the grief someone has with a phone number close to
> a popular number. A friend's number is vaguely similar to a pizza
> place and he gets frequent calls for the place. (Since he's not
> usually there it's not a problem). A number I once had was similar to
> a call-in for work assignments and I got calls regularly at 5am.
> I remember when our family moved and got a new number from a newly
> created exchange. My mother was concerned that it was ANC and an
> exchange no one heard of; she thought it would make us look odd.
> (Interesting how we were concerned with our appearances back then.)
> However, we never got anyone wrong numbers for many years.
> I wonder if Touch Tone pads generate more errors than rotary dials
> since people can zip along much faster, increasing the chance of
> error. Further, with portable and cell phones, people could not be
> paying attention while dialing and make more mistakes.
> The old Bell Telephone movies showing somebody dialing carefully from
> a written down number while seated with good posture at a good desk is > not real life.
> I think in the old days the phone company knew certain numbers were
> error prone and avoided assigning them out if possible. Also,
> businesses tended to have symetrical or even hundred numbers. But
> today that's not the case. Further, many businesses use spelled out
> numbers which I think are much more error prone. That is, dialing
> ABC-BANK is trickier than say 922-4800.
That's why I love my phone number. It's n2n-2n2n - the repeating two's make it fairly easy to remember.