Why is it that you have to dial a one when using a land line and not when using a cell phone?

Question

When calling long distance?

Answer 1

when the phone systems were originally arranged,, yes i mean ma bell...they used a "local exchange"(like your town or region) with operators plugging you into who you want to calls line. as more and more folks got phones they invented the rotary phone.same idea... but mechanicalso when you wanted to reach someone in another area dialing the 1 alerted the system to not use the local exchange and the next three digits would tell the system what exchange to use...

cellphones are not  fixed in one location so whatever call is made goes to the closest antenna, finds the recipient and connects...the cell number could be from across the world but they could be standing side by side...

Answer 2

not me, i just pick up the phone and tell Sarah to connect me.

Answer 3

It is determined by your carrier (mobile or landline), and how they want to handle long distance routing... it's at their discretion...

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You don't always have to dail 1 with land-phones either.... just depends on where you are calling to, and the local carrier.

For example, not all calls in one area code are long distance.  If it is considered "local" then you don't have to dial the area code, and it is just a 7-digit number call.  But, if it is still in your area code calling area, but not close enough to be considered local, then it is a "long distance" call and you have to dial the "area code" first, then the number.... so now you are dialing a 10-digit number (3-digit area code + 7-digit exchange  number).

Typically, when dialing "out of area code" area, you need to dial "country code" first - 1 for USA/Canada.  So, now it becomes an 11-digit call.

I guess most land-line PSTN phones, by default,  require 11-digit dialing.

But, sometimes it just depends on your carrier.

Some carriers will allow you to dial anywhere in USA/Canada with 10-digit dialing. When you dial 10-digits, it is then "assumed" the call is being placed to an area code in USA/Canada only, thus the 1 is not required... this is by the carrier as a convenience.

For example, I subscribe to various VoIP services.

I am able to manually configure my VoIP accounts to dial-out in various ways that I pre-configure it for.

- I can have it assume (as most PSTN phones) that when I only dial 7-digit number, it will dial my area code first followed by the number I dial. (by default, VoIP services require 11-digit dialing... even to next door... but this is configurable).

- Or, I can force my account to require all calls to require 10-digit dialing, which means I always have to specify the area code.  It will then "assume" my 10-digit dialing is for North America calls (country code = 1).

- Or, as I now have it set, I am always required to dial a full 11-digit number which means 1-x*x-x*x-xxxxx.  I have to dial the same way whether I am calling next door or from Alberta, Canada to Miami, Florida.  And, with my VoIP carrier, it costs me the same 2 cents/min to call next door or Miami, Florida... it doesn't distinguish the difference, cost wise.

So, your cell carrier is just assuming if you dial a 10-digit number, it is in USA/Canada country code 1.  (but, they could force 11-digit dialing if they wanted to...)