Fictitious telephone number

Ranges for fictitious telephone numbers are common in most telephone numbering plans.

One of the main reasons these ranges exist is to avoid accidentally using real phone numbers in movies and television programs because viewers frequently call the numbers used. An example of this situation is with the 2003 film Bruce Almighty. The makers of the movie opted not to use the prefix, and several people whose phone numbers matched one mentioned in the film were inundated with callers asking for "God", and the number was edited out for television airings of the movie and on most copies of the DVD. Another widespread example is Tommy Tutone's hit 1982 song "867-5309/Jenny", which is a valid number in many area codes. Some of these numbers reportedly still receive prank calls asking for "Jenny". In 1992, filmmaker Michael Moore unwittingly included footage of himself reciting his telephone number in the documentary Pets or Meat: The Return to Flint. He received 314 phone calls in just the first day following its broadcast on PBS.

Australia

Per the Telecommunications Numbering Plan 1997, version 04/01/2008:

• 0x 5551 xxxx reserved for fictitious use. (not including 03 5551 xxxx, South-East Region country Victoria)
• 0x 7010 xxxx reserved for fictitious use.

See Telephone numbers in Australia.

North American Numbering Plan (555)

Main article: 555 (telephone number)

Area code 555 in the North American Numbering Plan is reserved for Directory Assistance applications. However, the use of a 555 number in fiction is almost universal. Only the 555-01xx range is officially reserved, though numbers outside this range are commonly used. The area codes 958 and 959 are also reserved, but this isn't very well known, and doesn't appear in fiction very often.

United Kingdom

Main article: UK telephone numbering plan § Drama numbers

The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has reserved blocks of numbers in most major areas for use in TV and radio dramas, with the generic area code 01632 available for all other areas. Fictitious numbers mostly end with the digits 4960xxx. Ofcom also reserves blocks of mobile phone (07700 900xxx), freephone (08081 570xxx), and premium rate (0909 8790xxx) numbers for drama use.

Use of real phone numbers in fiction

Some movie or television producers, such as those of HBO's Sex and the City, Scrubs, and The Wire have acquired actual telephone numbers solely for the purpose of using them in the movie or on TV. For example, in the film Sneakers, a character is given anything he asks for; he asks for a lady's phone number. The director wanted to have a real phone number so that the two characters would seem actually interested in each other.

Alternatively, a show's producer might choose to use an actual phone number from the place they are portraying. During The West Wing Season 2 episode "In This White House", a character receives a call from phone number 202-456-1414. This is the actual switchboard number for The White House. The phone number was also used in the 1976 film All the President's Men and in 1994's The American President.

The producers of the television series 24 began using the real telephone number belonging to a member of the show's production staff. The cell phone the number belongs to is answered by the show's staff whenever anyone actually calls it. This approach was also taken by the producers of the show Scrubs, who used the phone number (916) CALL-TUR(k) as the notional number of the cell phone of Dr. Chris Turk. The number goes to a voicemail box on which the outgoing message is recorded in rotation by various members of the cast. In the CW series Supernatural, near the end of the fourth episode of the first season ("Phantom Traveler"), the brothers call their father's cell phone and hear a greeting that directs all callers to call Dean at 866-907-3235. When viewers called the number, the voice mail greeting, recorded by Jensen Ackles was: "This is Dean Winchester. If this is an emergency, leave a message. If you are calling about 11-2-83, page me with your coordinates."

In addition, the US version of The Office had an episode where Dwight sets up a hotline to collect information on a flasher. Posters put up around town included the phone number 1-800-984-3672, as well as a sketch of a man looking very similar to Dwight. Calling the number yields a recording of the Dwight character offering different options such as buying paper, leaving information about the flasher, and an option for the flasher himself to talk things over with Dwight.

See also

• 555 (telephone number)
• Fictitious domain name
• example.com