Has This Ever Happened on Your Landline?

[kyphysics]

"The number you have dialed is not in service, please check the number and try your call again Thank you."

Been getting this weird message on my landline phone after every call I make to others.

No matter who I call - Target, Walmart, Panera Bread, library, sister, brother, cousin (have tried them all) - I'm getting this same message. Any ideas what this means? I can accept incoming calls, but cannot make outgoing ones, as I keep getting this message.

 

[phinds]

Why do you not just call the service company and ask them? Doing so should not be a normal outgoing call, but a special code of two digits or some special character(s).

 

[berkeman]

What's a land line?

Spoiler

J/K

Did your area code or another area code near you recently change? Landlines are less forgiving of not dialing the area code correctly. Here in the San Jose area, there was so much growth that they had to add another area code recently, and that forced folks with landlines to dial "1-408" for any calls into the 408 area code, even if your own area code was 408...

 

[phinds]

What's a land line?

Mike, your spoiler was pointless. What it should have been was a picture

Spoiler

 

[Mark44]

What's a land line?

It's a phone line that can be used in areas where cell phones don't work too well (like where we live) or in areas that are prone to electrical outages (like where we live). All the power and phone lines are underground in our development, but outside the development, these lines are strung on poles. The many trees where we live are prone to falling and breaking the lines when it gets very windy or they're covered with lots of snow.

My wife has an iPhone for which reception is a little spotty, and we also have a land line with a base unit and two phones. When the power is out, the base unit doesn't work, but we have a POTS ("plain old telephone system") phone that we can plug in, that doesn't require any external electricity.

Of course, we also have a generator for when the power is out for an extended amount of time...

 

[Vanadium 50]

Why do you not just call the service company and ask them?

This.
Or call them on your cell.

I would also try another phone and see if the problem is with the line or with the phone.

 

[collinsmark]

More on the area code issue (at least as applied in the US):

When using a landline, if you're making a local call (i.e., a number with the same area code as your landline's area code), don't include the area code when you dial the number. Cell phone services are smart enough to figure this out, but landlines are not (at least the last time I used a landline).

If you're making a landline call to a different area code, you need to include an additional "1" at the beginning. And once again, cell phones are smart enough to figure this out, and the additional "1" (and area code for a local call) is superfluous, but with a landline it is not. (And just to be clear, if you're making a local call, do not include either the "1" or the area code.)

To reiterate, if you're making a local call, just dial the number with no "1" and no area code. If you're making a call outside your area code, make sure to include "1 + <area code> + <number>".

(Maybe things have changed with landlines, but that's how I last remember it. Again, this only applies to calls made from the US. Also, international calls made from the US are another bag of worms not discussed above.)

 

[JT Smith]

...To reiterate, if you're making a local call, just dial the number with no "1" and no area code. If you're making a call outside your area code, make sure to include "1 + <area code> + <number>".

(Maybe things have changed with landlines, but that's how I last remember it. Again, this only applies to calls made from the US. Also, international calls made from the US are another bag of worms not discussed above.)

Things have changed where I live in the United States. Here you have to dial 1 and the area code even if it's your own area code. Cell phones have to do this too but they have a feature to add the prefixes automatically.

 

[Tom.G]

I ran across that 'No longer is service' message a couple days ago. There was a particular company I was trying to call and kept getting that message even when calling different offices.

One finally started ringing... and ringing... and... was finally picked up and immediately disconnected. AHA, a clue! It takes a Person to do that.

I have my outgoing caller ID blocked by default. When I re-enabled sending it, the call was answered.

I suspect the company I was contacting uses an alternate phone provider that touts that as a 'feature.' I can sympathise to some extent, at home we have lately been averaging 6 or 7 sales or scam calls per day.

Cheers,
Tom

p.s. We got a funny scam call recently. Usually they hang up when the answering machine kicks in. This particular one, a female voice with a local accent, waited patiently thru the machine announcement. When prompted to leave a message she politely said "Goodbye" and hung up! Must have been an amatuer.