Zenith number
A Zenith number is a special type of toll-free telephone number which allowed a calling party to call the number's owner at no charge by ringing the operator and requesting the specified "Zenith", "Enterprise" or "WX" number.
Introduced in the 1950s, a Zenith number was listed in local directories in each community from which a business desired to receive calls. In that era, direct-dial numbers were commonly published with telephone exchange names followed by digits (such as "PEnnsylvania 6-5000"). The letter Z originally did not appear on the telephone dial, necessitating the caller dial the operator. The operator looked up the regular number corresponding to the Zenith number, typically in a paper book kept at the switchboard, completing the call as if it were a collect call to the regular number.[1]
In the United States and Canada, usage of manual Zenith numbers diminished after the 1967 introduction of interstate direct-dial 1-800 InWATS toll-free service; the requirement that +1-800 numbers arrive on special fixed-rate trunks ended in 1982. A similar service in the United Kingdom, in which callers asked operators for "Freephone (name or number)", had no direct-dial counterpart until 1985.
As direct-dial toll-free service declines in cost, Zenith numbers have nearly disappeared; telephone companies in most service areas are no longer assigning new Zenith numbers.
A few organizations continue to keep their Zenith numbers. For example, as of 2006, the California Highway Patrol continues to use the same single number it has for decades, Zenith 1-2000,[2] though it advertises 1-800-TELL-CHP on its website.[3]
Examples
- Ontario Provincial Police Detachment Search - Zenith 50000[4][5]
- Ambulance Dispatchers - Ontario Zenith 80000 [2]
References
- ↑ Pacific Telephone (August 21, 1959). "Your special ZENITH number: ZENITH phone service gets you out-of-town customers without costly branch offices" (advertisement). The Spokesman-Review, Spokane WA. p. 7.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Remembering Old Zenith Numbers
- ↑ "Contacting the California Highway Patrol". Retrieved 2013-12-18.
- ↑ http://oppmuseumfriends.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Friends-newsletter-MAY-2012-WEB.pdf
- ↑ Zenith 50,000 - A call for crime prevention (archival video), Ministry of the Solicitor General, Ontario Provincial Police (1975), OPP Museum accession number 2012.20.16