
Area code 710 - raldi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_code_710
======
yodon
When I was in college in the '80s, My roommate and I got curious about unused
area codes (and/or prefixes? I forget). We started dialing some. Within about
15 minutes we stumbled on some government service with a scary-official
sounding operator on the other end (I've no idea if it was this service or a
different one).

The really scary part was after dialing the number and encountering the
operator, we were unable to hang up (any time we hung up and picked back up,
the operator was still there, even after waiting about two minutes).
Fortunately this was (a) at MIT which still had a central electromechanical
telephone switch for student phone lines in the '80s and (b) I had keys to the
switch as a student phone repair tech.

I still remember grabbing my keys, running over to the switch, and physically
pulling the relay contacts to release the call and prevent a trace to our
location in case that was the motivation for holding the line (nowadays traces
are digital and instantaneous, but when looking at old-school
electromechanical switches you really did need time to trace the call
physically through the relays).

Yes, we were aware the operator was probably just messing with us by showing
he could hold our line against our will to discourage us from calling again,
but it still scared the crap out of us just in case.

~~~
coin
How is hanging up (creating an open circuit) different than pulling the relay
(creating an open circuit)?

~~~
ajross
The phone circuit in the analog days was physical. It doesn't matter that it
was open, the relays between one and and another were all connected and could
be inspected.

It's analogous to finding the hardware corresponding to someone's network
address by being able to inspect the routing tables of all the intervening
routers. Even if they turn their computer off, you can still trace them back
to the physical line.

------
kijeda
I have a GETS account that uses this area code. You are given a credit card
sized reference card with your PIN number to activate it.

There is also another service called WPS for cell phones where you get
priority just by prefixing your number with *272, the only catch there is your
specific phone needs to be enrolled.

~~~
i336_
Unsure if you can answer this, but this info is not _utterly_ impossible to
find by trial and error, so it's not concretely private.

Are you saying there's more than one 710 number? [Just Y/N]

~~~
i336_
Someone posted a reply to my comment a few minutes ago then deleted it. Proof:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14531411](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14531411)
/ [http://i.imgur.com/HcU8NgS.png](http://i.imgur.com/HcU8NgS.png) \- yes,
looks like Arc completely hides newly-posted-then-deleted comments, very
probably for aesthetic reasons.

In a nice bit of timing, HN Replies (my HN notifier) grabbed the comment
before it was deleted! It was interesting, so I'm anonymously adding it below:

\--

> _I have seen first hand a large VoIP carrier reach out to an ITSP because
> one of their end subscribers was scanning the 710 number space either
> manually or not. And it was within a few minutes after the scan started.
> This type of activity (and others too) will set off all kinds of alarms at
> phone providers._

------
813594
I have a GETS account too (I work in healthcare). T-Mobile provides WPS
service free, whereas Verizon charges $5/month per enrolled line. More info
here [https://www.dhs.gov/publication/getswps-
documents](https://www.dhs.gov/publication/getswps-documents) and
[https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/HOW%20I...](https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/HOW%20IT%20WORKS%20THE%20GOVERNMENT%20Emergency%20Telecommunications%20Service%20_May%202017%20FINAL%20508C.pdf)

------
doctorshady
Little known fact: sometimes the other exchanges in area code 710 will
translate to places going to military bases and such, depending on the time of
year. The best way to tell is by calling 710-867-5309. If you get a recording
saying "You are using <long distance provider>" followed by a not in service
recording, well, it worked. If you'd care to look around random exchanges and
thousand blocks, you might be in for a fun day. Or a knock at your door.

But yeah - it's all the luck of the draw. Some phone people have had varying
levels of luck with other things involving that area code as well:
[http://www.binrev.com/forums/index.php?/topic/48478-weird-71...](http://www.binrev.com/forums/index.php?/topic/48478-weird-710-thing/)

~~~
aisofteng
>867-5309

I can't tell whether this is a joke comment.

~~~
doctorshady
It isn't; 867 is a valid translation, and -5309 is easy to remember. There's
other, working numbers out there you'll eventually find if you look around.

------
wonderous
Here are more docs on the 710 area code via a simple Google:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=%22710-NCS-
GETS%22+card+ext:...](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22710-NCS-
GETS%22+card+ext:pdf)

For example, this PDF explains a lot than anything present on HN or Wikipedia:
[http://chicagofirstdocs.org/resources/060912-GETS.pdf](http://chicagofirstdocs.org/resources/060912-GETS.pdf)

Here's a doc that covers all US Federal emergency communications:
[https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/nifog-v...](https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/nifog-v1-4-resized-
for-pda-viewing_1.pdf)

~~~
matt_wulfeck
Basically it sounds like GETS is QoS for land and wireless lines for critical
or emergency personnel.

------
jpeterman
Every time I see posts like this on HN, I feel obligated to post
[http://www.evan-doorbell.com/production/](http://www.evan-
doorbell.com/production/)

I originally discovered this guy from HN and the audio recordings on that site
are mesmerizing to me.

~~~
waiseristy
The internet is amazing, hours upon hours of quality content about nothing
else but telephone networks!

------
schoen
I remember something in an old Phrack or another hacker zine where someone was
recounting a rumor about this mechanism that he heard from someone who worked
in a telco (viz., that there were special government phone numbers that were
treated differently by the telephone system). It's interesting to see the
progression from underground rumor to Wikipedia article.

~~~
Spooky23
There used to be a designation for landlines where they would be unlisted and
have priority when there was congested outgoing lines or a shutdown.

I had a relative who was a public safety official. It was pretty wacky, they
had an old school western electric leased phone, this magic line and other
weird features like custom short codes that would hit "internal" extensions in
the office.

------
losteverything
At&t used to create new prospects for long distance by comparing both numbers
in a call to its customers database.

If a number was not an active customer it was put in an outbound call list to
solicit long distance.

The best story i remember was when the navy wanted to know why we called one
of their nuclear submarines. This implied that the right 10 random digits
contacted a sub.

~~~
thatwebdude
Wait, you mean targeted advertising before the internet?

Blasphemy! We had integrity then!

------
axonic
Some numbers forward via DSN to "red phones" and what not. Please don't prank
them or waste their time. I had a spouse social engineer the number to an
overseas camp. It bloody rang the literal red phone used for CASEVAC
operations on my helipad. Then she wanted to get pissed when I told her to
hang up and call a civilian phone... "Well, don't you have call waiting?"...
We are divorced now, of course.

------
inspector-g
The article mentions that individuals placing calls though GETS, with a valid
access code, receive "alternate carrier routing, high probability of
completion, trunk queuing and exemptions from network management controls". I
find this fascinating, and it's hard not to wonder if any (rough) equivalent
exists for government-related internet traffic. As in, perhaps some
special/cryptographic data can be provided in network traffic data that
ensures higher-priority treatment in an emergency or crisis, like GETS. Can
anyone enlighten me here?

~~~
Niksko
Presumably they just have dedicated fibre lines between critical
infrastructure? With dedicated routing hardware

------
reaperducer
Another odd area code is 500. Back in the 90's, I had a 500 number through
AT&T. You could program it to "follow" you. Meaning that if, for example,
someone called your number between 9a-5p M-F, it would ring your office.
5p-6p, your car phone. 6p-10p, your home phone, etc...

I suspect it got killed off because so many businesses were switching to
cheapo, poorly-made, Winmodem-based PBXes that didn't recognize the area code.

~~~
dragonwriter
> I suspect it got killed off because so many businesses were switching to
> cheapo, poorly-made, Winmodem-based PBXes that didn't recognize the area
> code.

No, it was actively blocked (not unrecognized) by lots of places because, like
900, it was caller paid (and, like 900, it saw significant upkeep for phone
sex lines.)

AT&T replaced the service you describe with a similar service that was toll-
free, and used the 800 area code, which (service, not area code) was also
later discontinued.

------
nodesocket
I'm guessing don't try calling the number? Don't want to flood some poor
government operator with internet trolls.

~~~
akmodi
The Wikipedia page describes what happens when someone does call. I wonder if
that was a priori knowledge or if the writer called to see what would happen
and then shared his findings :P

~~~
nerdponx
Hopefully the former, since the latter would be "original research" and
therefore against Wikipedia policy ;)

~~~
baddox
There's also no citation for that claim.

------
doctorshady
I'll just leave this here:

808-248-0002 - "Your GETS call is being processed. Please hold."

------
michaelgrosner2
Is there anywhere else to read more about these kinds of special phone
numbers? Something about the current state of phreaking?

~~~
doctorshady
[http://www.binrev.com/forums/index.php?/forum/21-old-
skool-p...](http://www.binrev.com/forums/index.php?/forum/21-old-skool-
phreaking/)

------
nsaslideface
I imagine this was part of what was dialed in last week's Twin Peaks

------
polygot
> "the call is then redirected to a live human operator who then asks for the
> access code."

I feel bad for that operator

~~~
KevinIsMyName
Why? The job is a job. I assume they have quite a lot of operators and they
are crucial for certain processes which make their fairly simple job - a phone
operator - crucial.

~~~
ceejayoz
Sure, but now they're getting dozens of calls from curious HNers.

~~~
dismantlethesun
Why would people call? It's not a mystery what happens---they'll ask you for
the access code, and do nothing else if you don't provide it.

It'd be a waste of time to call them.

~~~
sneak
I don't think you understand the breadth of legitimate responses to your "why"
question. Lots of us called.

~~~
dismantlethesun
Oh, that's really interesting! What were you looking to find out, and what did
they say?

------
saul_goodman
There's lots of good lore about stuff like this in phreaker circles. I
remember a story about someone who supposedly found some listings of 710
numbers including things like the presidents bunker and such. The folks
answering the phones for some of these numbers were not amused and were also
caught off guard by calls from kids asking to talk to the president and such.

------
pavel_lishin
I wonder what it's like being an operator on that line; is it mostly hours or
boredom, punctuated by a few phone calls? Or is it actually busy throughout
the day?

~~~
grogenaut
Have you ever seen what a night security guard does?

~~~
hueving
Writes sufficiently advanced LISP compilers?

~~~
grogenaut
Theres no such thing as a sufficiently advanced lisp until we are at or beyond
the singularity, yo.

------
gumby
> GETS is intended to be used in an emergency or crisis situation

Sounds like a major security problem, and during a crisis is especially when I
would not like to have a buffer overrun.

------
axellgun
Area code 710 is a special area code, reserved to the federal government of
the United States in 1983. As of December 2006, it had only one working
number, 710-NCS-GETS (710-627-4387), which requires a special access code to
use. See Government Emergency Telecommunications Service for more information
on this service.

