On a telephone, why does ABC start on the number 2 and not 1?
by 
kareena mehta
ANSWERS: 5
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I'm not entirely sure, but I think that's because the last part of a phonenumber almost never begins in a 1.
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In the early days of the Canadian and American unified telephone numbering system, the three digit prefix had a word associated with it. For example my phone number could be YORK 9374. That would be dialed YOR-9374. The 1 digit had no alphabet letters assigned to it, because in those days, the prefix could not have a 1 in it. The thinking was that a phone number would be easier to remember if it combined a word and a number, also, in those days, the prefix word indicated the neighborhood the phone number was in.
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The one has been designated for long distance and other functions. There are no area codes or prefixes that begin with the number 1. Just as the number zero does not have any characters attached to it. It is designated for the operator and/or operator assisted calls and other functions that the general public may not be aware of yet.
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Because ususally by holding down 1 you get the answer phone, so it already has another function
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Phone numbers cannot begin with 1, which was reserved for future use, now to signal the switchboard that the phone number begins with an area code. Phone numbers cannot begin with 0, which was reserved for the operator, now rarely used. In the original area codes, the first digit is 2-9, the second digit is either 0 or 1. Adding the initial 1 was necessitated because we are running out of phone numbers. 408, 510 and 415 follow the old area code pattern, but 831 and 650 do not. 510 is the newest of the old-pattern area codes. 650 and 510 were part of 415. 831 was part of 408.
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