Public service companies/utilities such as Hospitals, fire brigade, doctors, electric supply companies, pharmacy, vehicle emergency, pizza order, phone order businesses etc should have standardized phone numbers.
e.g. Lets assume phone numbers are 7 digits. First three are exchange code. Lets say numbers 1111-1119 are reserved for local doctors/physicians etc. So if any exchange code suffixed by 1111 will go to local doctor. e.g. 555-1111, 213-1112 will be doctors phone number. and so on...-- VJW, Dec 09 2010 Telephone numbers are an artifact of crude switched-circuit communications systems, dating back 150 years - a legacy app.
Why not just replace telephone numbers (which are location dependent) with email-type addresses ? Upcoming telephony/comms technologies can easily implement this.
[-] for Oldthink.-- 8th of 7, Dec 09 2010 ... or just living in Tennessee ...-- 8th of 7, Dec 09 2010 When someone sets up a business, they may choose a 'phone number which spells out something significant, though not over here. This in itself can be hard due to numbers already being taken, and this is the problem. It could work for public services but not for plumbers or pizza delivery unless lots of people had to start afresh with a new number which would either have to be forwarded or would render all their business cards, Yellow Pages ads, websites and the like obsolete. Not popular.-- nineteenthly, Dec 09 2010 //scheame// I think you left out an 'r'.-- lurch, Dec 09 2010 //Why not just replace telephone numbers ... with email- type addresses ?// Good idea! Makes things easier for the humans, not so much advantage for your kind.-- mouseposture, Dec 10 2010 Numbers are easier for me to remember, to be honest.-- RayfordSteele, Dec 10 2010 To find a nearby doctor's phone no., I will have to find out his email "type" address; But with other idea I can *predict* the number.
Whats the difference between an email address and a phone no. anyway ?-- VJW, Dec 10 2010 A 'phone number is more like an IM address than an email one. Email is more like an ansafon.-- nineteenthly, Dec 10 2010 With an email type address it would be doctor@washington.tel-- marklar, Dec 10 2010 random, halfbakery