Old TWX Service (Was: Area Codes 610 and 710)
atos...@attmail.com
> [Moderator's Note: That was *so long* ago, Carl! It seems to me at one
> time 410 was up in the New England area for Western Union. Infomaster
> is a thing of the past now, and I really cannot tell you the physical
> location of 410-555-1212, or if it is even still operating under that
> number, so infrequent has been my use of Telex/TWX for many years. PAT]
Well, yes, the *old* InfoMaster is a thing of the past. It was
replaced by EasyLink, and its old TWX dial number was 910 420-1212.
However, one part of *today's* EasyLink is a database service called
InfoMaster, operated for AT&T EasyLink by Telebase Systems, Inc. on a
contract basis. So, the InfoMaster name still lives on.
TWX Directory Assistance was automated several years ago, following
the acquisition of TWX by Western Union. It's now called Directory
Information Service (DIS), and is accessed via EasyLink. At one time,
DIS could also be accessed directly from TWX via 910 221-5151. I don't
know if that method's still available. To access EasyLink from either
Telex I, or Telex II (TWX) today, you simply dial 4112.
Back in the AT&T TWX days, TWX Operator Assistance was (no area code)
954-1212, and TWX Directory Assistance was 910 555-1212 (for USA
listings) or 610 555-1212 (for Canadian listings). Until the mid-70's,
954 was a reserved prefix in all ordinary USA NPAs, used for reaching
a TWX Operator from a three-row (Baudot-based) TWX machine.
If I had to guess on a site for the old AT&T TWX DA (USA listings),
I'd guess East Saint Louis, IL, as that was the site back then for 800
DA, and it falls within 910's geographic region. But that's pure
speculation.
Today, the host site for (the former Western Union) EasyLink and most
of its related services is Bridgeton, MO. AT&T Mail is in the process
of moving there from South Plainfield, NJ, as part of the merger of
Western Union Telex/EasyLink and AT&T Global Messaging into AT&T
EasyLink Services.
[Moderator's Note: But *before* they were consolidated under 910-555-1212
many years ago, didn't they use 410-555-1212, and prior to even that,
use 555-1212 with the various TWX area codes just as voice calls are
handled today? I am thinking now back to the early sixties ... PAT]