The following are miscellaneous telephone recordings from various places in the state of Virginia. We thank Steve Crow for the donation of all of these wonderful recordings.
Montpelier, Virginia – Locally Recorded Messages
(804-883) – new Nortel DMS-100 installed October 1999
“Anonymous or blocked calls will no longer be sent to your telephone.”
“We’re sorry but all circuits are busy now. It’s just a temporary condition and we hope you will try your call again later. This is a recording. 804-883”
“We’re sorry but we have a problem in completing your call as dialed. Please check the number and try your call again or call your operator for assistance. This is a recording. 804-883”
“We’re sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is not in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again. This is a recording. 804-883”
“[The] party you just dialed does not accept anonymous calls. Please hang up and call back with your caller identification unblocked.”
“Anonymous or blocked calls will now be sent to your telephone.”
Montpelier, Virginia – Mostly stock Nortel recordings
(804-883) – new Nortel DMS-100 installed October 1999
“<sit> You cannot complete your call by dialing less than seven digits. Please hang up and dial again, using all seven digits.”
“The line was free but it has just become busy again. You will be notified by special ringing when the line is free. Please hang up now.” Followed by single busy tone, then disconnect.
“You have canceled all of your requests to call someone back. Please hang up now.” (*86)
“You have canceled all of your requests to return calls. Please hang up now.” (*89)
“If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again. If you need help, hang up and dial your operator.”
Single busy tone, then “The last number that you called is busy. You will be notified by special ringing when the line is free. Please hang up now.” One more busy tone, then disconnect. This message was heard when activating *66 (Repeat Dial) on a target number that is still busy.
“We’re sorry, the last number that you called cannot be reached by this method. Please hang up now and call the number directly.” This message was heard when trying to use *66 (Repeat Dial) on a number outside the local calling area.
“The number you have reached is a party on your line. Please hang up and allow time for the phone to ring several times before lifting the receiver to talk.”
“The line is busy. For seventy-five cents, let Sprint Repeat Dial call you back if this line becomes available within 30 minutes. To accept, press 7 now.” This message was heard in lieu of a busy signal when reaching a busy number in the local calling area. Pressing 7 had the same effect as hanging up and dialing *66. Modem/fax users could avoid this message and hear only regular busy signals by dialing *03 before the outbound call. You might say it was a bit of a nuisance.
“We’re sorry, the last number that called your line is not known. Please hang up now.” This message was heard when activating *69 (Return Call) on an out-of-area call.
Rushed and all in one breath, “Your call cannot be completed as dialed if you dialed a five digit code it has changed please redial adding a 1 and a 0 before the 5-digit code or for assistance contact the carrier you are trying to use.”
Former Sprint-Centel Area
Various recordings from the former Sprint-Centel Virginia service area (now CenturyLink). Unless otherwise noted, these were all recorded somewhere between 1999 and 2003 from my home phone line on the Gum Tree, VA switch. These are direct audio recordings. Audio anomalies, background noise, “open mic” effect, etc., are all as-heard over the phone line.
An intercept recording with audio defects out of Sprint-Centel’s Ararat, VA office (276-251).
Enthusiastic intercept recording from Sprint-Centel’s Glasgow, VA office (540-258)
Intercept recording from Sprint-Centel’s Ferrum, VA office (540-365)
Intercept from Sprint-Centel’s Washington, VA office (540-675). They were playing a tape of the Front Royal office’s recording (540-635) and you can hear someone press the “stop” button on the tape just before the trailer code would have played.
Intercept from Sprint-Centel’s Front Royal office (540-635) bearing the old 703 area code. Front Royal has been area code 540 since 1995; this recording with 703-635 identifier was still in use in the mid-2010’s. Reused in Washington, VA.
Intercept with audio defect from Sprint-Centel’s Blackstone, VA office (434-392) with the old 804 area code. The high-pitched noise at the beginning of this recording may have once been part of an SIT; I’ve only ever heard the noise as it exists in this recording.
Intercept from Sprint-Centel’s Charlottesville “A” (434-293) with old 804 area code. Much of Centel’s central VA service area would occasionally hit this recording as intra-LATA calls appear to have gone through the 293 office.
Interesting (and noisy) default intercept message from Centel’s Alta Vista, VA office (434-309). “<sit> Your call cannot be completed as dialed. If you dialed a five digit code it has changed. Please redial adding a 1 and a 0 before the five-digit code, or for assistance contact the carrier you are trying to use.”
Intercept from Sprint-Centel’s Volens, VA office (434-349)
Intercept from Sprint-Centel’s Farmville, VA office (434-392) with the old 804 area code.
The Farmville, VA recording picked up some audio defects over the years; here’s an updated recording from April 2013.
Automated intercept from Sprint-Centel’s Virgilina, VA office (434-585). The AIS machine was in the South Boston, VA office (434-572) and identifies with the old 804 area code. This style of AIS was also in use in Charlottesville, Montpelier, and probably other Sprint-Centel service areas in the 1990’s and very early 2000’s.
Intercept with audio anomalies from Sprint-Centel’s Charlottesville “B” (434-973) with old 804 area code. Note the person saying what sounds like “Mark” at the end, clearly heard over the phone line.
804973ais.mp3 – Automated intercept from Sprint-Centel’s Charlottesville “B” (434-973) with old 804 area code. Note the MF’s at the beginning, and the words “AM dialtone” at the end. Every other call to this AIS would alternate between “AM dialtone” and “804-973” trailers.
804983.mp3 – Intercept from Sprint-Centel’s Dillwyn, VA office (434-983). This is another one they re-recorded, tape player into a microphone, and you can hear the tape player buttons being pressed.
Miscellaneous
804443.mp3 – Intercept from Verizon/GTE’s Tappahannock, VA office (804-443). Also heard in the Bowling Green (804-663) and Ladysmith (804-448) offices. Recorded 2013; message dates back to at least the early 1990’s.
804876.mp3 – Intercept from Verizon/GTE’s Doswell, VA office (804-876). Also heard in the Dawn (804-994), Hanover (804-537), and Old Church (804-779) offices. Recorded 2013; message dates back to at least the early 1990’s.
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