Calling
Nothing is metered, so nothing is counted. Most calls are routed directly between the two people making them, which reduces load on the main lines and leaves no media at the exchange.
The basisNo billing system exists
Free at the point of use
Calls are not metered, timed or counted. No billing system exists, so the network was never built to record who called whom or for how long.
Every number in the plan below is reachable from a handset with no SIM in the case of the short codes, and from any SIP client that can reach sip.telephony.rof.
Short codes112 to 121
Three digits, free everywhere
These work from every line, from a call box, and in the case of 112 and 108 from a handset with no SIM.
- Emergency112Fire, ambulance, communal police, sea and mountain rescue
- Operator100Telephony support, at any hour
- Line faults101Dead line, noisy line, exchange down
- Directory105Look up a number, or request that a page be read aloud
- Text and speech relay108Between text and speech, in both directions, on every service
- Commune switchboard110The caller's own commune office, from any line
- Missing person116Held jointly with the communal police
- Medical advice118A clinician, at any hour
- Line test119Echo test and loop measurement, for use before reporting a fault
- Speaking clock120Fed from the same clocks as ntp.telephony.rof
- Voicemail121Reaches the subscriber's own equipment; see below
How a call is carried94 per cent go direct
Peer to peer, for traffic reasons
Most calls never touch a server
When two people call each other, the exchange completes the signalling and takes no further part. The two ends negotiate over WebRTC and carry the audio directly between themselves. The exchange knows the call was set up; it never carries a single packet of what was said.
The principal reason is network load. A relayed call crosses the network twice and lands on lines that are thin in the countryside and cross a single gateway at the border. Routing calls directly halves that load, and on a bonded voiceband line it is the difference between a call working and not working.
turn.telephony.rof relays only where the two ends cannot reach each other directly, which happens on about 6 per cent of calls.
NumberingSeventy-four exchanges
Reading a number
| Range | Kind of line | Example | Digits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1xx | Short codes, free from everywhere | 112 | 3 |
| 2 | Fixed line, copper or fibre | 2 18 044 125 | 9 |
| 3 | ISDN, one number for each channel | 3 04 811 260 | 9 |
| 5 | SIP endpoint with no wire of its own | 5 66 003 918 | 9 |
| 6 | Mobile | 6 21 447 052 | 9 |
| 8 | Conference room | 8 00 214 776 | 9 |
| 9 | Cooperatives, communes and public bodies | 9 12 000 340 | 9 |
Digits two and three are the exchange. Seventy-four exchanges are in service. Ranges 4 and 7 are unassigned, and there are no premium numbers, since no call is charged.
Mechanical exchangesNine in service
The old exchanges
Nine mechanical exchanges are still in service, all of them in sub-regions that voted to keep them. They route about 8,000 lines between them and they interwork with everything else through a gateway at Sederna.
On these exchanges dialling is slower and the ring cadence differs. Nothing else differs, and the short codes work.
Voicemail
There is no central mailbox and no message store on the network. Where messages are to be taken, the subscriber's own equipment takes them: the TS-24 router contains an answering function, and any SIP client can do the same.
121 reaches the equipment on the subscriber's own line. Where no answering equipment is present, an unanswered call is not recorded.