A magnetic-drum storage system considered for use as a common sender in nation-wide dialing

The inauguration of direct-distance dialing by the customer requires use of telephone numbers consisting of ten digits. Thus a telephone subscriber in San Francisco will dial 212 CH 3¿1000 in order to reach the Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York City. The first three digits are the code for the metropolitan New York area, while the remaining seven digits comprise the telephone number dialed by subscribers within the metropolitan area. To handle calls involving ten digits, the digit-storing capacity of many existing offices will have to be extended and various methods of accomplishing this are under consideration.