Two New Yorkers spend six months 18 months!?! in Bangalore and other places in India.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Simple Rules for the Phone



By and large it's not to hard to call people on the phone here. But sometimes it is -- you need another digit, or the number is always busy, or the number is toll-free but doesn't work with your phone company. That's why I loved these rules from a Hyderabad web site:

Changed Telephone Numbers


While fullhyd.com works on updating the telephone numbers on its site after various exchanges have made modifications to their numbers, this is how you should use the current numbers on the site.

1: If the number has 7 digits and starts with anything other than 6, put a 2 in front of the number.

2: If the number has 7 digits and starts with a 6, make the first 6 a '55'. If that does not work, it means the number is a mobile and not a landline. In that case, instead of doing the earlier, put a 924 ahead of the number. (And if even this doesn't work, call 1952.)

3: For 8-digit numbers starting with a 3 (Reliance numbers), substitute the first 3 with '939'.

In general, call 1952 if the number doesn't work. Hyderabad's STD code is 040, and India's ISD code is 91. If you are calling from outside India, dial 009140 and then the number. If you are calling from India but outside Hyderabad/Secunderabad, dial 040 and then the number.





[This phone, with locking panel to prevent unscrupulous folks from using it, is from a museum in Udaipur. Not an exhibit! As you can see, the panel was busted.)

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