USA
Phone and email
The main means of communication between Americans is the telephone. Telephone communications in the United States are provided by private telephone companies. There are a lot of telephone booths on the streets of American cities, and in the vast majority of cases they are in good order. Each booth has its own number, so you can call back to you directly in the booth. Local phone numbers in the US are seven digits long. Local negotiations (local calls) provide communication within the same city or locality. The cost of the first six minutes of a call from a pay phone is paid in 25 cents. For the subsequent time of the conversation, you need to pay extra with coins of
Usually, when specifying telephone numbers, Americans write the area code in front of the telephone number. For example, New Orleans is 504, Miami is 305, Manatten and the Bronx in New York are 212, and Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island in New York are 718.
For long distance calls within the United States, be aware of the time difference. The main territory of the United States is divided into four time zones. The states adjacent to the Atlantic coast operate the so-called Atlantic Time (Atlantic Time), in the states of the Mississippi Valley — Central Time (Central Time), in the states of the Midwest — mountain time (Mountain Time), and in the states of the Pacific coast — Pacific time. Thus, when in California and Oregon it is midnight, in Utah and Colorado it is one in the morning, in Texas and Illinois it is two in the morning, and in Pennsylvania and Virginia it is three in the morning.
If the area code is known, communication is provided automatically. If you do not know the area code of the desired city, then feel free to dial 0 and the operator will help you connect and make long distance calls.
International telephone service (overseas calls) in the US is one of the best in the world. Long-distance and international calls in the US can be made from any phone, including city telephone booths. You only need to have enough twenty-five cent coins and know the necessary codes. However, in the latter case, an overseas operator is always ready to help you, which can be called at number 0. In order to call the United States, you need to know the region code for North America (USA, Canada, West Indies) — 1. Information on international telephone calls can also be obtained by calling
In the United States, it is possible to conduct telephone conversations on the principle of collect calls, according to which the callee pays for the call. The person-to-person-calls rule assumes that the call is paid only when the called subscriber was at the place and was able to answer the phone. A feature of telephone communications in the United States are the so-called “free eight-hundredth” numbers, by which you can order air tickets, a car, hotel rooms and other services.
The system of mark-ups for hotel services significantly increases the cost of a telephone conversation from a hotel, the cheapest call can be made from a public telephone booth.
The police, ambulance and fire truck in the United States are called by one phone — 911.
Post offices are open on weekdays from 9:00 to 18:00, and on Saturdays from 8:00 to 12:00. To send a telegram, you should not contact the post office, but the branch of Western Union or the hotel administration.
