Re: Way back when...
A lot of the old strowager exchanges had a mechanism to "absorb digits. In one exchange with 60,000 subscribers) dialing "2" would just be ignored; dialing "4" would also be ignored but would take the next digit (even 2 or 4). So dialing 242-xxxx would result in 2 (ignored), 4 (ignored but prime for the next digit), 2 (would actually step to the second level and go on to the next bank of switches).
This could cause connections to numbers only loosely related to what was dialed.
I actually saw this exchange (I think in Albuquerque, NM, about 50 years ago) and it was an amazing sight and sound. Continuous clickity-clacks and alerts etc. Amazing that they could keep this acre of equipment working.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
