Operator Services Inward Codes

Q. We are an operator services department. We were wondering if you know of any way to get updated inward codes for assistance through other carriers. We have some codes but most are outdated and do not work. We tried to buy a list from AT&T but they won't sell. Is this the only way?

A. I can't provide you with the Inward codes themselves but can offer a probable explanation of the difficulty you're having. I hope it's not too discouraging or long winded. First, AT&T considers the other carriers as competitors, they no longer consider themselves a corporate citizen in the public interest, and that's probably why they will not sell you inward routing codes. In today's environment I suppose that can be understood.

There is another reason also, which I can only answer anecdotally. As it happens, I live in a city where call centers are the primary industry, with over 225 of them employing well over 65,000 people. They are all contract centers, with names like InfoNXX, Excell, Afni, Spherion, Teletech, Convergys and many more. I mention their names because they are the major contract providers to almost every major telecom in the country and provide operator services as well as customer service rep services for AT&T, Verizon, SBC, MCI, Qwest, Sprint and the list goes on. In addition, a carrier may contract to several contract call centers for the same services. AT&T in fact closed the last 800-555-1212 Directory Assistance center in the country here and turned it over to a contractor. Lucent Technologies did the same. There are few actual employees of telecom companies left who do this type of work.

Your company is in a unique position in that it offers it's own services to it's own customers in it's own center. With the advent of call routing systems and massive outsourcing by most telecoms, when a customer dials "0", "0+" or 411 they are more than likely going to end up in a carriers contracted call center anywhere from Tucson to Kansas City to Opelaka (AL) to Helena (MT). It depends on who is available first. Additionally, carriers restrict the information and the access the contract operators have. I think you might be beginning to understand the problem.

For example, a friend works for emergency dispatch in King County, Texas. His primary responsibility is answering 911 and dispatching law enforcement. "911 hang ups" and "911 open line" are a common problem. On a hang up, from a wireline telephone, he's required to enter a high priority call to be dispatched (who's to say what may be going on?) and then call the number back. On a wireline it is different since we have name, number and exact address. If he gets a busy signal on calling back he's to call the operator. Their carrier is e-spire. First, we know the operator answering is not an actual e-spire employee and may be in any of several locations. Depending on where they are, they may be able to offer "busy line verification" or not, depending on the restrictions placed on their location by the carrier. The local carrier, Qwest, has all but abandoned operator services and refuses to take calls from e-spire operators, even though the end-user is almost always a Qwest customer.

I assume you're trying to reach inward for busy line verification, a "no ring no answer" or similar condition or listing information. To sum this up, for the larger and especially newer carriers, as illogical as it seems, your request is not relevant to them. This is also understandable in part because if the end user (called party) is in Des Moines (IA) and their long distance carrier is Sprint and their local carrier is Qwest - it is a cost to Qwest with no marketable benefits. Customer good will is not a consideration, Qwest only profits from Directory Assistance and "agent" calls. Therefore Inward is not a priority and has gone the way of the busy signal; Inward subtracts from the bottom line.

I use Qwest as an example because although I left Operator Services with them years ago, I did work for U S WEST (which became Qwest) and then Qwest until a few years ago. I still have many friends in what's left of Operator Services and also know people who are refugees from the contract telecom call centers here. U S WEST and now Qwest have no interest in any customer service unless it improves the bottom line in a measurable way. I don't get the impression that any other RBOC or carrier feels differently.

I apologize if this is a long winded answer, but I felt it was the only way to get to what I perceived was the spirit of your question. You have local customers that you provide operator services for, they're having difficulty reaching a distant number and your desire is to help them. One way to do that is reach the carrier or local company and see if they can get the call through. My response is based on my perception of the marketplace compared to the service sector I started in many years ago.

I do have two suggestions, one you may have tried. Instead of trying to route directly to a carrier or a local operator, does the old fashioned method of NPA+121 still work any more? If so you may get an operator in the region who has some knowledge of how to get to a local operator in their area. The other is have you checked with NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administrator, www.nanpa.com) to see if they have any information on this? I'm not sure the FCC would be of help, but they did just come out with an established policy on N11 (211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711, 811 and 911) codes.

Perhaps the people marketing DA/DQ services, who have relationships with carriers may have a more practical answer. Good luck.

Many, many more related pages! Click for a list. Information on operators, directory assistance working and history, placing toll calls and so on. Great reading.