Calls typically originate from outside the United States
It surprises me why someone would ever call back a long-distance number they didn't recognise. Sure, the Internet has made long-distance communication seem like it doesn't cost any more than local, but that doesn't mean the same rules apply to more traditional phones.
I think part of the reason is that the US phone system is set up so these areas are connected to the system as domestic numbers, but they are charged as international numbers. If I see a truly international number (starting with + or 011 in the US) I wouldn't call it. But a number that looks like a domestic number shouldn't be an international number.
I have no concept of "long distance" anymore. Neither my cell phone nor my "land line" (actually a VoIP box) care where in the country the destination number is, it all costs the same (minutes for the cell phone, nothing for the land line).
The trick here is that these are numbers that appear to be American but are actually international. That's a whole different level beyond "long distance" and people would generally not call those without checking, but it's not well known that there are certain area codes that are mapped to other countries entirely.
Worse, there's no more real mapping between number and location within the US anyway.
My cell phone account has five numbers from three different area codes in two different (non-adjacent, even) states. Only two of the numbers are from the "right" area code, and even those are "from" a city >150 miles away from where we live.
If you think that's bad, my 703 area code "home phone" is currently in Beijing. The wonders of VoIP.
Thankfully, due to the absence of "long distance", it doesn't matter too much. My cell phone still has a Wisconsin number but nobody cares even though it's not a "local call".
Comments
It surprises me why someone would ever call back a long-distance number they didn't recognise. Sure, the Internet has made long-distance communication seem like it doesn't cost any more than local, but that doesn't mean the same rules apply to more traditional phones.
I think part of the reason is that the US phone system is set up so these areas are connected to the system as domestic numbers, but they are charged as international numbers. If I see a truly international number (starting with + or 011 in the US) I wouldn't call it. But a number that looks like a domestic number shouldn't be an international number.
I have no concept of "long distance" anymore. Neither my cell phone nor my "land line" (actually a VoIP box) care where in the country the destination number is, it all costs the same (minutes for the cell phone, nothing for the land line).
The trick here is that these are numbers that appear to be American but are actually international. That's a whole different level beyond "long distance" and people would generally not call those without checking, but it's not well known that there are certain area codes that are mapped to other countries entirely.
Worse, there's no more real mapping between number and location within the US anyway.
My cell phone account has five numbers from three different area codes in two different (non-adjacent, even) states. Only two of the numbers are from the "right" area code, and even those are "from" a city >150 miles away from where we live.
If you think that's bad, my 703 area code "home phone" is currently in Beijing. The wonders of VoIP.
Thankfully, due to the absence of "long distance", it doesn't matter too much. My cell phone still has a Wisconsin number but nobody cares even though it's not a "local call".
The numbers are American. North American. From the NANP :P
They're not American in the same way that Canadian numbers are international and not American.
Go tell someone from the Dominican Republic that they're American and see how that works out.