555 (telephone number)

Usage

North America

In 1994, the North American Numbering Plan Administration began accepting applications for nationwide 555-numbers (outside the fictitious 555-01XX range). A number could be reserved for a single area code, for a region, or for nationwide service.{{cite web | access-date=2014-06-12}} In theory, a consumer from any area code could be invited to dial a seven-digit number such as 555-TAXI and the owners of that number could connect the call to a local car service. According to a 2003 New York Times article, the desired functionality requires the cooperation of local phone authorities, and most phone companies have been reluctant to cooperate.{{cite web

In 1996, Canadian telephone companies began promoting 555-1313 as "name that number", a pay-per-use reverse lookup which would give a subscriber name if the user entered an area code and a listed telephone number.{{cite book

Use of 555 for anything other than 555-1212 style information numbers raises the problem that call cost is unclear to consumers; in theory, the numbers could be anything from toll-free to premium. This complicates the provision of toll restriction to local subscribers.{{cite web | access-date=2014-06-12}}

New Zealand

In New Zealand the number *555 is a free mobile telephone number to report a road incident or an unsafe driver. The number goes to the New Zealand Police Communication Centre, but is given a lower priority than a 111 emergency call (111 is an analogue of 911 in North America). When you call the police communicator will ask you, where you are, how long ago the incident happened, the vehicle licence plate and what is happening now. The information will be passed along to frontline police, but will often only result in a warning letter. Police still urge drivers to call 111 for more serious instances such as a serious motor vehicle crash or any instances where life is at risk.

Fictional usage

Main article: Fictitious telephone number

Telephone companies began encouraging the producers of television shows and movies to use the 555 prefix for fictional telephone numbers by the 1960s. Two early examples include The Second Time Around (1961), which used 555-3485, and Panic in Year Zero! (1962), which used 555-2106. In television shows made or set in the mid-1970s or earlier, "KLondike 5" or "KLamath 5" reflects the old convention of using telephone exchange names.

Before "555" or "KLondike-5" gained broad usage, 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. Numbers in the format "Zenith" X-...., while not directly dialable, were not fictional. These were an early form of regional tollfree number which required operator assistance.

Only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are now specifically reserved for fictional use; the other numbers have been reserved for actual assignment.{{cite web | access-date=2019-09-09}}

555 use is restricted only in North America. In 1994, cartoonist Gary Larson's The Far Side included a panel with graffiti of a 555 number by which prank calls could be made to Satan. In Australia, 555 was at the time a standard exchange, and the Australian owner of the number became the subject of harassment, launching an unsuccessful lawsuit against Larson and his syndicate for defamation.

The 555 exchange is not reserved in area codes used for toll-free phone numbers. This led to the video game The Last of Us accidentally including the number to a phone-sex operator.

The number "555-2368" (or 311-555-2368) is a carryover from the "EXchange 2368" ("Exchange CENTral") number common in telephone advertisements as early as the 1940s.{{cite web| url=http://www.myinsulators.com/commokid/telephones/1940s_telephone_ads_cont.htm| title=Telephone ads of the 1940s| author=The Phone Lady

555 numbers are mentioned directly in the 1993 action film Last Action Hero, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Danny Madigan (played by Austin O'Brien) tries to convince Schwarzenegger's character that he is inside a movie by pointing out the 555 exchange provides at most 9,999 available telephone numbers, insufficient for all the phone users in Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger's character replies, "That's why we have area codes", and O'Brien's character drops the subject.

The use of 555 numbers helps to avoid use of valid numbers in works of fiction or entertainment, which can lead people to call those numbers and bother their holders. Tommy Tutone's song "867-5309/Jenny"{{cite news

The prefix has also seen use in journalism about phone numbers, as in The Wall Street Journals A-HED feature on the nomenclature of nominal degrees of intimacy: They're Dating, but He's Still Just 212-555-1234 in Her Contact List.

References

References

1. "Report a road incident or unsafe driver – *555 and Roadwatch".
2. Huffadine, Leith. (2017-10-13). "This is what happens when you call *555 to report bad driving".
3. Cuccia, Mark. "CODE 555 AND THE MOVIES". Australian Telephone Collectors Society Inc..
4. (2001-03-27). "Laughs and Litigation: Taking The Joke Too Far". [[Radio National]].
5. Rouner, Jef. (June 28, 2013). "The Last of Us Video Game Has a Real Phone Sex Number in It".
6. NBC Productions. (2014-06-21). "Rockford Files Answering Machine Messages (complete season 2)".
7. (Jun 23, 2010). "Full Ghostbusters TV Advert". whitetigerfilmz2.
8. Caro, Mark Caro. "Hold the phone — that fake number works".
9. Harrison, Mark. (September 7, 2021). "When Bruce Almighty gave out God's phone number".
10. (15 June 2010). "Dear Diary".