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Getting the hang-up of it
NWT residents learning their 867s by Glenn Taylor
NNSL (Dec 01/97) - Old habits die hard. But Northerners are learning to dial 867 when making long-distance calls these days. Some NWT residents were concerned in late October, however, that some southern phone companies had not yet made the switch-over. The failure to switch southern systems meant in some cases that callers from the South to the NWT were told the numbers they were dialing had been disconnected. Inuvik's Mary Beckett of Beckett Business Services learned that first hand. While in Edmonton in late October, she called her business to test the new area code. What she heard was a message that her business number was no longer in service. Phone exchanges in Edmonton, Corner Brook, Nfld., Winnipeg and two B.C. locations (including North Vancouver) failed to make the switch, according to NorthwesTel director of operations, Craig Hook. The problem was quickly rectified, however, said Northwestel assistant vice-president Don Yamkowy. Within a couple of days of the switch-over, these exchanges were notified and the problem corrected. According to Yamkowy, there may still be some exchanges out there that haven't implemented the number change, despite being notified by Northwestel. Yamkowy said customers should call 611 if they suspect a southern exchange has not made the switch. As for Northerners, some are finding old habits hard to break, and still dial 403 or 819 before realizing their error. Here's a report card from NorthwesTel, detailing the percentage of correctly dialed long-distance calls from the NWT, during the first two weeks of the change-over. The first number represents the percentage of long-distance calls correctly dialed during the first week of the change-over. The second number is week 2, representing a learning curve in action.
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