North American Numbering Plan - Special Numbers and Codes

Special Numbers and Codes

Some common special numbers in the North American system:

• 0 - Operator assistance
• 00 - Long-distance operator assistance
• 011 - International Access Code. (For all destinations outside the NANP)
• 01 - International Access Code using operator assistance. (For all destinations outside the NANP)
• 10x xxxx - Used to select use of an alternative long-distance carrier
• 211 - Community information or social services (In some cities), formerly payphone refund line (and prior to that, used to access "long distance" operators or as a ringback number in some cities)
• 311 - City government or non-emergency police matters such as noise complaints, suspicious people, minor injuries and non-working streetlights and parking meters, etc. (In some cities)
• 411 - Local telephone directory service (Some telephone companies provide national directory assistance)
• 511 - Traffic, road, and tourist information or reads back the number you are calling from (i.e. drop line ID) (In some cities and states)
• 611 - Telephone line repair service (Some telephone companies use this instead of 4104 or 811). Also used by mobile telephone companies to reach customer service
• 711 - Relay service for customers with hearing or speech disabilities. Formerly used for single-announcement time and temperature in many areas.
• 811 - "Dig safe" underground pipe safety line in the United States, mainly to encourage people not to hit telephone or power lines when they dig. Non-urgent telehealth services in Canada (formerly telephone company business office)
• 911 - Emergency dispatcher for fire department, ambulance, police etc.
• 830 or 958 or 9580 or 998 - Returns the number on the line via a recorded voice (in some areas)
• (Area Code) + 555-1212 - Non-local directory service

There are also special codes, such as:

• *51 and 1151 A history of unanswered calls on a telephone number, useful for those who are not Caller ID subscribers.
• *57 and 1157 Used to "trace" harassing, threatening, abusive, obscene, etc. phone calls, and keep results of trace at phone company.
• *66 and 1166 To keep retrying a busy-line (see also Called-party camp-on)
• *67 and 1167 Caller ID Block
• *69 and 1169 Call Return caller may press '1' to return call after hearing number
• *70 and 1170 Cancel call waiting on a call-by-call basis
• *71 and 1171 Three way calling, which lets a person talk to people in two different locations at the same time.
• *74 and 1174 Speed dialing, which allows someone to quickly dial any of eight frequently called numbers using a one-digit code, from any phone on their line. *75 allows a total of 30 speed-call numbers.
• *82 and 1182 Releases Caller ID block on a call-by-call basis

Note: The four digit numbers do not work in some areas. The codes prefixed with the "*" symbol are intended for use on Touch-Tone telephones, whereas the four-digit numbers prefixed 11xx are intended for use on older rotary dial telephones, where the Touch-Tone * symbol is not available.

Not all NANPA countries use the same codes. For example, the emergency telephone number is not always 911: Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica uses 999, as in the United Kingdom. The country of Barbados uses 211 for police force, 311 for fire, and 511 for ambulance, while Jamaica uses 114 for directory assistance, 119 for police force, and 110 for fire and ambulance services.

Despite its early importance as a share of the worldwide telephone system, few of the NANP's codes, such as 911, have been adopted outside the system. Determining that 911 requires unnecessary rotation time on rotary dial telephones, the European Union has adopted its own standardized number of 112, while countries in Asia and the rest of the world use a variety of other two- or three-digit emergency telephone number combinations. The 112 code is gaining prevalence because of its preprogrammed presence in mobile telephones that conform to the European GSM standard. The European Union and many other countries have chosen the International Telecommunication Union's 00 as their international access number instead of 011. The toll-free prefix 800 has been widely adopted elsewhere, including as the international toll-free country code. It is often preceded by a 0 rather than a 1 in many countries where 0 is the trunk prefix.