One place I worked had these US government customers, that were so "hush-hush" we weren't allowed to know what their names actually were (obviously some sort of intelligence agency or military project–although we had other customers of that nature where we were allowed to know their names). They were just "US Government A", "US Government B", etc. I personally never had anything to do with any of them, but a colleague in Support got a ticket from one of them once. He wanted to call the customer, but couldn't find their phone number in the support system. So he updated the support ticket to ask for a contact number, and was told "we aren't allowed to tell you our phone number; you tell us your desk phone number and we'll call you". (Support engineers weren't supposed to give customers their desk phone numbers, but my colleague understood that this kind of super-special customer was an unwritten exception to that rule.) Literally a secret government telephone number?
Secret government telephone numbers
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Re: Secret government telephone numbers
#12One place I worked had these US government customers, that were so "hush-hush" we weren't allowed to know what their names actually were (obviously some sort of intelligence agency or military project–although we had other customers of that nature where we were allowed to know their names). They were just "US Government A", "US Government B", etc. I personally never had anything to do with any of them, but a colleagu…
You may love the movie "the night agent"
Basically one of these secret numbers and how used, fictional but still a good movie
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I just recalled a memory from when I was nine years old:
My dad was friends with the Secretary of energy, and I recall we had some pen or stationary or such...
And (1983) [EDIT: it was 83 because war games] these had the phone number to the white house on them...
So, as a typical latch-key 80s kid with nothing to do in the summer while parents are working and I'm home alone, I called the White House several times asking to speak to the President.
I didnt get through... and that summer I went to see the release of WAR GAMES.
Man Phreaking had never been sexier... hello 2600!
Re: Secret government telephone numbers
#13In 1989, I worked on a software upgrade to a nuclear power plant. We were adding digital displays to the control room. I needed a place to work and they stuck me in the disaster response room. Definitely amongst the weirdest place I've been placed to work. Besides the rack of level a hazmat suits, there was also a shelf with phones that directly dialed first responders and government officials. They did pointedly ask me not to pick up any of those phones. I did always wonder how they worked technically.
Re: Secret government telephone numbers
#14I remember in the early 90s other kids and I somehow knew that if you used a payphone and dialed 550-(last 4 digits of the payphone), it would call itself back and ring. Or there was some ANI (?) number where you would call and it would tell you the number you're calling from. I wonder how we knew that stuff, and where that kind of info is now....
Re: Secret government telephone numbers
#15In 1989, I worked on a software upgrade to a nuclear power plant. We were adding digital displays to the control room. I needed a place to work and they stuck me in the disaster response room. Definitely amongst the weirdest place I've been placed to work. Besides the rack of level a hazmat suits, there was also a shelf with phones that directly dialed first responders and government officials. They did pointedly ask…
They had arrangements with the telco for prioritization.
My father in law was a fire chief in a mid-sized city. They had a red phone that would direct dial the public safety dispatch or be rung/paged by them.
AT&T and Verizon offer similar services for wireless.
Re: Secret government telephone numbers
#16There is a parallel emergency communication system in the US - SHARES.[1] It's ham radio type equipment for first responders. 5MHz HF radio has enough range that you can get through to a distant station even if telephony is completely down. It's not used much, and has very limited capacity (5 channels) but Homeland Security has a few staffed stations so that some place isolated by a hurricane can call somebody.
[1] https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/programs/shared-resourc...
Re: Secret government telephone numbers
#17I'm not sure I understood this bit: > For example, if I needed to reach Comcast in a genuine internet emergency, I would dial *2721710627438712345678901218009346489. This is so incredibly convenient that the government offers a phone app for WPS/GETS users just to do the dialing for you. Why wouldn't a user just save that in their phone's address book? Even ancient GSM phones allowed for pre-programmed numbers which…
It’s a bad idea because you can inadvertently dial it. Use is audited and you can get in trouble for abuse.
WPS provides a cellular phone with priority on a hierarchy, on the carriers network. It’s something like FBI->State Police->Local First Responders->other entities (DOT, etc)
GETS is a code that gives you priority on wired connections.
WPS guarantees access to spectrum at a major sporting event. GETS will drop lower priority calls when circuits are loaded.
Re: Secret government telephone numbers
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's multiple dimensions folding down into a single vector. If a bunch of paratroopers just landed outside my facility I need immediate assistance. If what look like incoming nuclear missiles are spotted that needs to override a call about a bunch of paratroopers.
I guess I just question the naming. You have five levels of priority, but two are higher than "without delay" It's sort of like "our amplifiers go to 11."
There are levels of classification beyond “top secret”. Jargon need not fit the surface constraints of ordinary semantics.
Re: Secret government telephone numbers
#19I currently carry a GETS card in my wallet, along with a second WPS-enabled iPhone. My agency instructs us to place a test call to the GETS/WPS "Familiarization Line" on a monthly basis to ensure we are able to connect successfully (and I suppose to also become comfortable with the process should we ever need to use it in a true disaster).
As the article mentions, we also have the app pushed out to all of our phones that can place outgoing calls with prioritization, but it only automatically keys in your PIN and the number you wish to reach after calling the dial access number. It's more of a convenience feature for those not wanting to manually enter the long string of digits for GETS. The app offers three modes to dial out: WPS, GETS, WPS+GETS. I always thought the WPS+GETS method seemed redundant, but I'm glad the author made the distinction on why stacking both methods makes sense.
Re: Secret government telephone numbers
#20I'm not sure I understood this bit: > For example, if I needed to reach Comcast in a genuine internet emergency, I would dial *2721710627438712345678901218009346489. This is so incredibly convenient that the government offers a phone app for WPS/GETS users just to do the dialing for you. Why wouldn't a user just save that in their phone's address book? Even ancient GSM phones allowed for pre-programmed numbers which…
> Interestingly, GSM does allow for priority of emergency calls (112, 999, etc). IIRC, the SIM can make a priority request to be connected to the emergency services. The network could disconnect a non-emergency call to free up the air interface.
An emergency call on GSM doesn't really "call" a number in the traditional sense-- the number is never even transmitted. This is also why emergency services can be reached by the GSM standard number (112) or other emergency numbers specified by the phone or the SIM itself.