A Zenith number was a special type of telephony service that allowed a

calling party The calling party (in some contexts called the "A-Number") is a person who (or device that) initiates a telephone call. The person who, or device that, receives a telephone call is the called party (or callee or B-party). In some countries, it ...

to call the number's owner at no charge by requesting the call from a

switchboard operator In the early days of telephony, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. They were gradually phased out and replaced by automated system ...

and citing the "Zenith", "Enterprise" or "WX" number. The service preceded the system of

toll-free telephone number A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number from a landline is free of charge. A toll-free number is identified by a dialing pre ...

s with area code 800 in the United States. Introduced in the 1930s, a Zenith number was listed in local directories in each community from which a business desired to receive calls. In that era, direct-dial numbers were commonly published with

telephone exchange names A telephone exchange name or central office name was a distinguishing and memorable name assigned to a central office. It identified the switching system to which a telephone was connected, and facilitated the connection of telephone calls betwee ...

followed by digits, such as in the telephone number "

PEnnsylvania 6-5000 PEnnsylvania 6-5000 is a telephone number in New York City, written in the 2L+5N (two letters, five numbers) format that was common from about 1930 into the 1960s. The number is best known from the 1940 hit song " Pennsylvania 6-5000", a swing ...

". The letter Z appeared on many telephone dials from the early 1930s to the early 1950s at the same position as the label ''Operator'', indicating that the caller had to call the operator to place the call. The operator looked up the city and regular number in that city corresponding to the Zenith number, typically in a paper book kept at the switchboard and completed the call as if it were a

collect call A collect call in Canada and the United States, known as a reverse charge call in other parts of the English-speaking world, is a telephone call in which the calling party wants to place a call at the called party's expense. In the past, collec ...

to the destination number. For organizations having limited access from specific areas, a Zenith number could provide savings over using foreign exchange (FX) service. For example, if a bus company had to provide a bus information number for callers in a distant area from its main office, and a Zenith number cost $6 a month plus about $1.50 per call, and an FX number cost $50 a month, until the Zenith number regularly received at least 30 calls or more a month, it would be cheaper than establishing foreign exchange service. In the United States and Canada, usage of manual Zenith numbers diminished after the 1967 introduction of interstate direct-dial 800 area code InWATS toll-free service, and especially after the requirement that 800 calls be placed via special fixed-rate trunks ended in 1982. A similar service in the United Kingdom, in which callers asked operators for "Freephone (name or number)", had no direct-dial counterpart until 1985. As direct-dial toll-free service declined in cost, Zenith numbers nearly disappeared; telephone companies in most service areas are no longer assigning new Zenith numbers. A few organizations continue to keep their Zenith numbers. For example, , the

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enforcem ...

continues to use its decades-old ''Zenith 1-2000'', though it advertises 1-800-TELL-CHP on its website.

Examples

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorp ...

Detachment Search - Zenith 50000Zenith 50,000 - A call for crime prevention
(archival video), Ministry of the Solicitor General, Ontario Provincial Police (1975), OPP Museum accession number 2012.20.16 * Ambulance Dispatchers - Ontario Zenith 80000

References

{{Telecommunications Telephone numbers