Telephone numbers
Transemilian phone numbers consist of three parts: region code, exchange code, and line number. The
region code is a one-digit number indicating the general region of the country or other primary uses; this digit can be any digit from 1 through 9, though currently 6 and 7 are unassigned. The
exchange code is a two-digit number indicating a specific exchange office, generally corresponding to a subregion or other related grouping; neither of these digits may be 0. Finally, the five-digit
line number is the basic phone number itself; fax machines and phones for the deaf (and the few remaining teletype machines and landline Internet connections) have a final digit of 0, but otherwise 0 will not appear anywhere in a line number.
When one person calls another within the same exchange, all that is necessary is the line number. When calling from one exchange to another within the same region code, the caller dials the exchange code, the number 0, and the line number; when calling between region codes (including 8 and 9), the caller dials the region code, the exchange code, the number 0, and the line number. Because 0 can only occur as the fifth and final digit of a line number, any number with 0 as the third digit must necessarily be in a different exchange in the same region, and likewise a number with 0 as the fourth digit must be in a different region.
Thus, given the following phone numbers:
A: 3 24 46553
B: 3 24 71954
C: 3 65 32231
D: 2 77 88273
If A wants to call B, they simply dial 71954. To call C, they dial 65032231. And to call D, they dial 277088273.
Region code
1 is assigned to the provinces Gretsel and Echulda. Region code
2 is assigned to Stitshu and Dridza. Region code
3 is assigned to Ayênko and Zborgen. Region code
4 is assigned to Vulham and Shtshivo. Region code
5 is assigned to Tsimkra and Jholkmazhdi. Region codes 6 and 7 are not currently assigned.
Region code
8 is assigned to cell phones. The exchange codes within this "region" are different from landline exchange codes, but they are assigned geographically (the first cell phone exchanges began with 1 through 4, matching the landline region codes, such as 11-19 for Gretsel and Echulda or 41-49 for Vulham and Shtshivo, but as cell phone use has increased the region codes have expanded to higher numbers). Cell phone ownership is far lower in Transemilia than in the West, with about 25% of adults maintaining an active cell phone subscription in 2020. This is due in large part to the fact that every home is equipped with a cost-free landline as a basic utility, whereas a cell phone must be purchased and the owner must pay a subscription fee (usually annual) for their service. Cell phone ownership is most common among people with jobs requiring them to be reachable at all hours, although they are becoming more popular among younger adults in recent years, particularly in larger cities.
Region code
9 is assigned to state and social service agencies, such as the housing commission or the National Assembly. The exchange codes are assigned to individual agencies, subagencies, departments, and so on, and the individual line number will route to a certain desk. For most exchanges in this region code, the line number for the main desk, switchboard, or phone menu is
11111.
In printed material, the phone number is usually formatted with the exchange code in parentheses: 3 (24) 46553. Handwritten phone numbers will often substitute this format with hyphens: 3-24-46553, and this is sometimes seen in non-professional typed and printed material as well. The unpunctuated 3 24 46553 is occasionally encountered as well. In areas where an entire municipality or community shares the same exchange (typically rural areas or smaller towns), it is common to see phone numbers printed without region or exchange codes at all (simply "46553").
Special numbers and international calls
Transemilia has a set of three-digit dialing codes reserved for emergency use, all beginning with 10:
- 101: medical emergencies and paramedic services
- 102: fire services
- 103: police
- 104: hotline for sexual and domestic violence and child and elder abuse
- 105: public health emergencies or safety hazards (reporting downed power lines, gas leaks, etc.)
- 106: veterinary emergencies
- 107-109, 100: reserved for future expansion
These may be dialed from any phone, and are also reachable by fax, text message, and TDD. These numbers can even be dialed from a cell phone without an active subscription (as long as it has enough battery power to operate, of course).
The local operator and information directory can be dialed using the code
01 (or by dialing 0 and waiting five seconds without dialing another digit); this number can also be used for questions or complaints about the telephone service itself. Other codes from 02 through 08 connect callers to various non-emergency services. Callers who do not speak Transemilian can dial 09 to access services in other languages. Code 09 is run by the Foreign and Minority Language Services Agency, a government department dedicated to safeguarding minority language rights and coordinating language translation for government agencies and the public at large.
The Foreign and Minority Language Services Agency also runs the Foreign and Minority Language Relay Service, through which a person who speaks Transemilian and a person who does not can receive live conversation interpretation over the phone; each language has a hotline at a specific line number in the 9 (27) exhange code. Currently about 100 languages are represented through this service; for the English interpretation hotline, dial
9 (27) 26193.
The country calling code for Transemilia is
+37. To call a foreign number from a Transemilian phone, dial 00 before the dialing code; e.g. to call a US phone number (760) 555-1212, dial 00 1 760 555 1212.
Telephones
The actual telephones themselves are sturdy devices, and many residences and workplaces have phones that date back decades. The state telecommunications agency is responsible for replacing damaged or non-functional telephones at no cost, and a working phone can be replaced with a newer model for a relatively low price (about an average day's wages); most rotary phones had been replaced with touchtone phones by the year 2000. All phones manufactured since the 1990s have displays that show the full phone number that is calling or being called; if said number belongs to an organization or establishment rather than a residence, the name of the organization will be displayed as well. As a privacy and security measure, residential and cell phone numbers do not display the person's name, but individuals can save phone numbers into the phone's memory, and the name they enter will be displayed when they call or are called by that phone number.
