Area code 710 is a special area code, reserved to the federal government of the United States in 1983. As of December 2006, it had only one working number, 710-NCS-GETS (710-627-4387), which requires a special access code to use. See Government Emergency Telecommunications Service for more information on this service.
Area code 710
61–70 of 87 posts
Re: Area code 710
#62When I was in college in the '80s, My roommate and I got curious about unused area codes (and/or prefixes? I forget). We started dialing some. Within about 15 minutes we stumbled on some government service with a scary-official sounding operator on the other end (I've no idea if it was this service or a different one). The really scary part was after dialing the number and encountering the operator, we were unable to…
What was the conversation like? Was the operator trying to scare you off?
Re: Area code 710
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Power grid?
I assume the poster is intentionally not revealing their role. While I am also curious, having known people working in the defense industry, it's considered polite to not ask questions to things they aren't offering information about.
Then it's weird to reveal that kind of connection on HN, a website about sharing links to sites in order to inform and teach the readers.
Re: Area code 710
#64When I was in college in the '80s, My roommate and I got curious about unused area codes (and/or prefixes? I forget). We started dialing some. Within about 15 minutes we stumbled on some government service with a scary-official sounding operator on the other end (I've no idea if it was this service or a different one). The really scary part was after dialing the number and encountering the operator, we were unable to…
How is hanging up (creating an open circuit) different than pulling the relay (creating an open circuit)?
Even if the circuit is still open from the telco trunk to the dormitory switch, the link back to the specific extension that dialed out would be broken.
Re: Area code 710
#65The article mentions that individuals placing calls though GETS, with a valid access code, receive "alternate carrier routing, high probability of completion, trunk queuing and exemptions from network management controls". I find this fascinating, and it's hard not to wonder if any (rough) equivalent exists for government-related internet traffic. As in, perhaps some special/cryptographic data can be provided in netw…
Presumably they just have dedicated fibre lines between critical infrastructure? With dedicated routing hardware
Re: Area code 710
#66The article mentions that individuals placing calls though GETS, with a valid access code, receive "alternate carrier routing, high probability of completion, trunk queuing and exemptions from network management controls". I find this fascinating, and it's hard not to wonder if any (rough) equivalent exists for government-related internet traffic. As in, perhaps some special/cryptographic data can be provided in netw…
GETS supports modems and secured telephones (STU-III), which in turn support secure modem connections:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/STU-III
There are also VPN via VSAT connection too: http://www.vsat-systems.com/PDFs/VPN-over-satellite-large.pd...
Re: Area code 710
#67I have a GETS account that uses this area code. You are given a credit card sized reference card with your PIN number to activate it. There is also another service called WPS for cell phones where you get priority just by prefixing your number with *272, the only catch there is your specific phone needs to be enrolled.
Unsure if you can answer this, but this info is not utterly impossible to find by trial and error, so it's not concretely private.
Are you saying there's more than one 710 number? [Just Y/N]
Re: Area code 710
#68I wonder what it's like being an operator on that line; is it mostly hours or boredom, punctuated by a few phone calls? Or is it actually busy throughout the day?
I don't know how similar it is, but often for customer support lines and the like there'll be shared call centres. When someone calls in the operator is shown which company they're calling for and answers accordingly. I imagine its the same here with a pool of operators handling both this and other services.
Re: Area code 710
#69I have a GETS account that uses this area code. You are given a credit card sized reference card with your PIN number to activate it. There is also another service called WPS for cell phones where you get priority just by prefixing your number with *272, the only catch there is your specific phone needs to be enrolled.
Unsure if you can answer this, but this info is not utterly impossible to find by trial and error, so it's not concretely private. Are you saying there's more than one 710 number? [Just Y/N]
[deleted]
Re: Area code 710
#70I have a GETS account that uses this area code. You are given a credit card sized reference card with your PIN number to activate it. There is also another service called WPS for cell phones where you get priority just by prefixing your number with *272, the only catch there is your specific phone needs to be enrolled.
Unsure if you can answer this, but this info is not utterly impossible to find by trial and error, so it's not concretely private. Are you saying there's more than one 710 number? [Just Y/N]
Someone posted a reply to my comment a few minutes ago then deleted it. Proof: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14531411 / http://i.imgur.com/HcU8NgS.png - yes, looks like Arc completely hides newly-posted-then-deleted comments, very probably for aesthetic reasons.
In a nice bit of timing, HN Replies (my HN notifier) grabbed the comment before it was deleted! It was interesting, so I'm anonymously adding it below:
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> I have seen first hand a large VoIP carrier reach out to an ITSP because one of their end subscribers was scanning the 710 number space either manually or not. And it was within a few minutes after the scan started. This type of activity (and others too) will set off all kinds of alarms at phone providers.