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A list of ANAC numbers, as formerly listed on Wikipedia.

Eventually I'll clean up all the broken links...


These numbers appear on various lists circulated on-line, many from the 1980s and 1990s. Most were published years ago by Phrack, 2600 Magazine, the alt.2600 Usenet newsgroup[4] (as part of the FAQ) or phone phreaks and are now hopelessly outdated. The information is not reliable, as numbers change often. Many of the listed numbers no longer work.

The list is presented by area code, number and location. In some regions, there are several numbers, depending on the telephone company or the area code of the caller, as there can be several central offices serving some areas.

United States

The North American Numbering Plan reserves 958-XXXX and 1-NPA-959-XXXX for local and long-distance test numbers in almost all USA and Canadian area codes.

Frequently, a prefix outside the 958 or 959 range (such as 200, 997, 998, 999) was also listed as a test exchange, only to be reclaimed and issued as a block of standard numbers at a later date. NANPA's utilised codes report will indicate 'UA' (unassignable) for valid test prefixes; if a formerly 'UA' code newly appears on the available list or becomes an active exchange, any former test numbers from its time as a reserved prefix are presumed invalid and deprecated. N11 prefixes such as 211, 311 and 511 are also disappearing as test numbers as these codes are reassigned to local services such as city, community or highway information.

958, 959 test prefixes
The standard location for test numbers in most NANP area codes, although specific local numbers vary. 1-NPA-959 traditionally contained long-distance test numbers, but this convention is often ignored; AT&T's 959-1122 and GTE (Verizon)'s 959-1114 are local. Some area codes will flag additional codes as 'UA' or unassignable, in some cases reserving them for test numbers.

A few commonly-used 958 or 959 numbers for major incumbent landline carriers:

Numbers otherwise vary arbitrarily by locality:

Other regionally nonassignable (UA) test prefixes
These are, over time, being phased out. As each reservation consumes a block of 10000 numbers, the prefixes are increasingly being recovered for use as regular exchange codes and the test numbers moved (usually) to 958-XXXX. If the number is active for test, the prefix listed (often 200, 990, 997, 998, 999) remains within a block currently marked by NANPA.com as unassignable[6] in the one specified area code. These test numbers will be shut down before the 'UA' flag is removed, the prefix made available[7] or reassigned as a standard exchange.
Vertical service codes, carrier-specific
Most vertical service codes are activated with #, * or a leading 11- and are internal to an individual landline or wireless carrier. This block mostly contains codes to activate or deactivate features such as call forwarding, but rarely a test number may appear in this set.
Long-distance carrier-specific
Area code 700 is reserved for carrier-specific numbers operated by interstate long-distance providers, such as AT&T. With the exception of 1-700-555-4141 (which identifies the default interexchange carrier on a line), all of these are LD carrier-specific. Area code 700 is therefore rarely used.
Area code 1-200
There is no non-geographic area code 200, although exchange 1-NPA-200-XXXX now exists in many local area codes (if it has not been explicitly reserved). The 1-200 area has occasionally been used as an unused space in which to place test numbers, but is rare as in most communities a 1- indicates a long-distance trunk call.
Local numbers
These are regular numbers within valid local exchanges in the communities listed. Many belong to competitive local exchange carriers or independent telephone company exchanges. Supposedly, a test call gives an automatic announcement. Some may announce caller ID instead of ANI; these will incur a toll (if they work at all) for calls outside their home area. These are unverified; there is a risk these will be reassigned to individual subscribers:
N-1-1 numbers
These are mostly dead, except in rare locations where some of the standard information numbers (2-1-1 through 8-1-1) have not yet been assigned to their usual function. The corresponding test number will stop working when 2-1-1 becomes community info, 3-1-1 becomes city or county hall, 4-1-1 becomes directory info or 5-1-1 provides highway conditions, for instance. With rare exception, one should not expect these numbers to be valid.

US toll-free

Please note that it is always preferable to call the local ANAC; only if the local ANAC number can not be called is it advisable to call a toll-free ANAC number. It is also preferable to call an open ANAC rather than the password-protected one given below.

The below numbers are not true ANAC numbers; however, they do read back one's phone number. These numbers provide valuable services to the customers they serve; it is, therefore, inadvisable to misuse them.

Canada

The current use of exchange prefixes for each area code is listed by CNAC;[8] if an exchange changes from "plant test" to reclaimed or active, any former test numbers with the associated prefix are invalidated. Commonly-used test numbers for major carriers (dialled with any of the local area codes, as 10 digits) include:

These numbers are carrier specific and may be blocked from some individual payphones.

Additional plant test codes may be in use locally in some areas:

Occasionally, a number in an existing, standard local exchange in the area is used. These will incur a toll (and might not work) outside their home area. Some may be announcing caller ID, which is not the same as ANI. As standard local calls, they are not accessible from ADSL "dry loop", inbound-only or unsubscribed lines:

In Bell Canada territory, +1-areacode-320 was formerly reserved for 320-xxxx test numbers; these were moved to the 958-xxxx range and 320-xxxx reclaimed for use as a standard exchange. 958-ANAC was in use by Bell Canada (416 Toronto) but looks to have been replaced by 416-958-2580. The use of N11 prefixes (such as 3-1-1) for test numbers is also deprecated as 3-1-1 now often reaches city hall or municipal services while 2-1-1 is local community information.

Some lists erroneously mention 1-555-1313 as ANAC (506 New Brunswick). The purpose of +1-areacode-555-1313, a pay-per-use "name that number" reverse lookup information service introduced in the mid-1990s, differs from ANAC. ANAC announces the caller's own number; the reverse lookup gives the directory name for a listed telephone number input by the user. 555-1313 is one of the rare uses of the 555 exchange for other than the standard 555-1212 directory information line.

United Kingdom

Ireland

This service announces the line number on all Eir lines, including lines where calls are carried by another provider using carrier preselect. The same number also works for lines provided by local-loop unbundling.

The number is called out without the leading 0. For example, 021 XXX XXXX is read back as "21 XXX XXXX".

There is also an extended ANAC service for identifying which carrier handles calls. Dialling these numbers will cause the local switch to announce which carrier the calls are being routed through for a specific category of calls.

Israel

Australia

New Zealand

Subscribers may also dial +64 (8) 320-1231 from overseas to test if the (CPN) Caller ID number is being passed on to New Zealand; this should announce the area code and local number as it appears on call display.

South Africa