Intercept message

An intercept message is a telephone recording informing the caller that the dialed number is currently not assigned to any customer.

The precise wording of intercept messages was formerly left to the discretion of each local telephone company.

In the 1970s, for example, New York Telephone used the following:

"I'm sorry; the number you have reached is not in service, or temporarily disconnected. The number you have reached is not in service at this time. This is a recording."

In rural areas, the name of the town from which the exchange service is furnished was often included in the message; this was especially true if the telephone company providing the service was not part of the Bell System.

By the 1980s, a standardized generic message was adopted, and is in use in a vast majority of localities in the United States today. It reads as follows:

"We're sorry; you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again."

The option also exists to replace the generic message with a customized message, as applicable, such as in cases where a subscriber's telephone number has changed, most commonly due to relocation; in that instance, the disconnected number would be repeated, followed by a recitation the new number. In many localities — particularly in or near large cities — this option is used even in cases where no new number has replaced the old one.

In the past, the call would be forwarded to an intercept operator after usually two readings of the message; today, however, this procedure is not observed, and a busy signal follows the second reading of the message instead.

A different intercept message is used when the caller has dialed a number the first three digits of which have not yet been assigned within that area code. This message, too, formerly varied by locality; the following was used in New York City in the 1960s:

"If you are calling a number outside New York City, please dial the area code and the local number. If you are dialing a New York City number, please check the number and dial again. This is a recording. If you need assistance, please call your operator."

The standard version of this message in use today is the following:

"We're sorry; we are unable to complete your call as dialed. Please check the number and dial again, or call your operator to help you."

The first automatic intercept systems used rotating magnetic drums containing multiple recorded phrases, with a computer or mechanical control system playing phrases in the proper sequence.

Jane Barbe is famous for being the voice behind all of the original, and most of the currently-used, intercept messages in the United States of America.