On Thursday, August 28, 2014 1:59:34 PM UTC-4, mrob...@att.net wrote:   
   > > It is an 800 number.  Dialed 10 digits.   
   > Interesting.  Were you close enough to a border that your phone might   
   > have been talking to a tower in another state?   
      
   I don't think so.  But, in the past, I have discovered cell phone calls   
   handled by towers quite some distance away from where I was.   
      
      
   > I didn't think this mattered anymore for toll-free numbers, but I recall   
   > when companies used to advertise a 1-800 number for all states but the   
   > one where they were located, and then either a regular phone number or a   
   > different 1-800 number for use within their state only.  I assume this   
   > was an attempt to save money, or possibly a consequence of how long   
   > distance calls used to work.   
      
   Years ago, there were different regulations for in-state and out-of-state   
   calls.  It was thus necessary for businesses to have two 800 numbers--one for   
   in-state, one for out-of-state calls (assuming a business wanted to serve out   
   of the state callers;    
   and some didn't).   
      
   800 service used to be charged by mileage bands.  A company would choose how   
   far away customers could call.  Some companies wanted national coverage, but   
   many businesses wanted only regional coverage.   
      
   I don't think mileage matters today as it once did.  (For bare bones local   
   calling POTS plans, they still have message unit zones in a few places, but   
   that is rare.     
      
      
   > Perhaps NJT thinks it is economical to have a toll-free number that only   
   > works from within New Jersey (if such a thing still exists), and your   
   > phone happened to be "out of state" for them.   
      
   That is possible, but very unlikely under the circumstances.   
      
   It is more likely that, if the number is still in service, that it was a   
   glitch by my cellphone carrier.   
      
   By the way, I would've tried reporting it using a pay phone, but they were   
   recently all removed.  I think if a station does not have pay phones, it   
   should have an emergency call box.  Not everyone carries a cell phone, and   
   many cell phone users (a) do    
   not have their phone with them; (b) forgot to charge it, (c) the phone is   
   broken, etc.   
      
   As an aside, in border areas, if you call 911 and end up in the wrong place,   
   that 911 unit will quickly transfer you to the right unit.  Of course, getting   
   the 911 center to understand a problem and its location is another story.    
   It's all computerized    
   and centralized, and if you can't spell a street name _exactly_ right, the   
   operator can't deal with it.  I had to report an accident on a MacDonald St,   
   and I gave it as McDonald (not being familiar with the area).  Had the   
   operator forwarded the report    
   to the local cops, they would've known exactly where to go as it was small   
   town.  But the operator couldn't get it into the computer without the proper   
   spelling.   
      
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