For customers of some telephone companies in Canada and in the U.S., 611 is the abbreviated dialing telephone number used to report a problem with telephone service, or with a payphone. Many wireless phone providers also use 611 or *611 as a general customer service access number; most do not count calls to 611 against the minutes in subscribers' calling plans, or assess any extra charges for 611 calls. A service from RANGER Wireless Solutions exists called 611 Roaming Service, which allows wireless phone customers to dial 611 and they will be connected to their own customer service department regardless of the network to which they are connected. In 2010, Dial611.com was launched as a consumer site to educate wireless users about the free 611 service from their mobile carrier.
Prior to the introduction of Direct Distance Dialing (DDD) in the 1950s, which required dialing "1" to initiate a DDD call, the number for "Repair" was 1-1-4 ("Information" was 1-1-3). All existing local numbers beginning with 1 had to be changed, so 114 and 113 (and others) changed to 611 and 411, respectively.
The 611 number is not officially assigned by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), but both have chosen not to disturb the assignment as it is generally recognized across the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA).
In some localities (including Calgary, Alberta), 611 was used to report problems with landline telephone service. 811 was used to report problems with cellular telephone service but this has since been discontinued.