User:Profbillneill

/hex

PARTITIONING - HEXADECIMALS to the rescue of your phone number's area code exhaust; part of the NANP: North American Numbering Plan for the Public Switched Telephone Network.

PARTITIONING - this is the third, and most modern, way of addressing the exhaust of telephone numbers in an area code of NANP: North American Numbering Plan for the Public Switched Telephone Network. Previously, the approach to telephone number exhaust was to SPLIT the existing area code into two parts, giving either of the new parts an entirely new area code while retaining the old telephone area code for the other part. Then the concept of an OVERLAY was put-forth. This is where the same physical area served by the existing area code, gets a second area code over laying the original.

The use of the Split is well known and is by far the preferred method used in the past. No new numbers are created and the 334 NANP: North American Numbering Plan for the Public Switched Telephone Network digit format is maintained. It requires only the need for changing the area code of that part of the old area to the new area code; prefix and line numbers are not changed and calls placed inside the area code continue to require only the dialing of the 7 digits.

The use of the Overlay is well known by now, and is by far the least preferred method now in use. No new numbers are created and the 334 NANP: North American Numbering Plan for the Public Switched Telephone Network digit format is maintained, but now all 11 digits must be dialed for each call. It requires the need for assigning this area code to the entire parts of the old area to the new area code; calls placed inside both area codes now require the dialing of both the area codes and the 7 digits assigned, plus they are proceeded by the digit 1, because all calls are routed as if they were long distance calls.

This does allow for the phone's number in your home to have two area codes, or for the business on one block to have the same 7 digit number, but with different area codes. This results in major confusion and is generally hated by the public and business alike.

The use of the Partitioning is by far the preferred method now in use. It requires the need for assigning various users to certain kinds of numbers. Human and business users and their needs are generally assigned the decimal, base 10 numbers, but with nearly 50% of the assigned numbers in an area code being used by and for non-human applications, the vast majority of these are assigned the hexadecimal, base 16 numbers. This maintains the 334 NANP: North American Numbering Plan for the Public Switched Telephone Network digit format but creates 250 million new numbers in the same area that had only 10 million numbers; prefix and line numbers are not changed and calls placed inside the area code continue to require only the dialing of the 7 digits.

The Partitioning concept has the desired accounting benefit of extending the use of existing equipment some 6 fold all at no cost. Sprint - Nextel already is using this Partitioning scheme with great success and all at no cost and with high customer satisfaction.

Many do not realize that the key pad on your cell, home, or business phone is missing the right-hand column of digits. This pad is not 3 by 4, but rather is 4 by 4; you just do not have the missing buttons. This is not a problem to humans, because automated systems can dial all numbers equally easily and humans will not need to dial these other numbers.

Prof Bill Neill

billneill@yahoo.com