why is it in american films all the phone numbers start 555?

Question

from a scottish person who needs to know !!!!!

Answer 1

Because they know people will try to call the numbers they see in films, and 555 is a "dead" exchange.

Sometimes, depending on the rest of the number, it connects you to the phone company! :-))

For example, if I dial [phone], I get Directory Assistance :-))

(330) is the Area Code, 555 is the exchange, and 1212 is the number.

It is to prevent real telephone subscribers from being harassed by movie-goers.

Answer 2

The 555 numbers used are reserved by the phone company for their own use. If someone were to call the numbers used on TV and in films that start with 555, they would end up speaking with someone at the phone company! I think the phone companies did reserve a block of numbers in the 555-xxxx range that will never be assigned to real people so they can be used in TV and films with no real consequences.

Answer 3

Because, unfortunately, Americans will often call numbers that they hear in songs or see in movies or tv shows - a LOT. It was not always this way - I think it changed in the 80s. I don't think it is a rule, but it has certainly become a strong custom now that any time a fictitious phone number is mentioned in the media, it begins with 555 - and the phone company doesn't use that as an exchange any more. The clog to the phone lines, never mind the total inconvenience to the person who answers that number, just got to be too much.

Answer 4

For the longest time there was no 555 prefix in the United States. Film makers used 555 preceding a number so that people would not be bothered with harrassing phone calls from people who watched the movies. I think there is a 555 prefix now but it is a limited group of numbers.

Answer 5

they don't always. The reason they use 555 is because it isn't a real phone number, because if they used something that could be a real number people would call it. Sometimes in films and tv shows they use a number, and when people call it it will have something to do with the show.

Answer 6

This is done to avoid inconveniencing people with real phone numbers, just in case moviegoers are tempted to actually try calling a number they see in a movie. The 555 exchange is reserved for directory assitance and other special applications, so no real phone customers are impacted if these numbers are called. This can be a real problem -- just ask anyone who ever had the number 867-5309 (from the song by Tommy Tutone).

Answer 7

In the US and Canada, there is an 3 number "area code" then an "exchange" of 3 numbers and then 4 final numbers:

123.456.7889

No telephone # exists with an exchange of 555... except for information which is 555.1212 (using any area code).

That way someone doesn't accidentally get their telephone number in a movie or TV show, and have crazies calling them all the time.

Answer 8

Beacause at some point in the 1960s nut job mental cases started calling those numbers and harassing the people. The fim makers feared lawsuits if anything ever happened, hence the 555 edict.

Even the song 867-5309 got innocent people deluged with crackpot calls. Isn't America wonderful?

Answer 9

Because there are no numbers in the U.S. that start with 555. They don't want any idiots calling phone numbers they see in movies.

Answer 10

The phone company began encouraging the producers of television shows and movies to use the 555 prefix for fictional telephone numbers. In older television shows from the 1950s or 1960s, "KLondike 5" or "KLamath 5" was used, as at the time the telephone exchanges used letters