[GreenKeys] 0, # and timeouts

[Eric Scace K3NA]

   It was mentioned that 0+timeout brings the operator on line in 
USA/Canada.  That's true, but 0+National Number will also bring the 
operator on line.

   I mentioned in my earlier message that some countries use "open" 
numbering plans ... so one does not always know how long a number would 
be.  For example, if one calls to Germany +49-69-... there could be 4 
digits or more following.  So how does the originating telephone network 
know when the number is complete?

   There are two situations for landline phones:
-- timeout (required for dial phones).
-- the customer enters "#" on a pushbutton phone.  The octothorpe (its 
proper name, not "pound") tells the network that the customer has 
finished entering the number.  The network stops waiting and immediately 
processes the call.

   In the Olde Days of mechanical switches, call processing began 
immediately when as the first digit(s) were dialed.  Computerized 
switches accumulate the whole number before triggering the inter-office 
signalling.

73,
-- Eric K3NA