Misspelled Operator Redirected Collect Calls

After MCI made 1-800-COLLECT a major success in the 1990s, AT&T launched the competing 1-800-OPERATOR collect-calling service. Many customers misspelled "operator" as "operater," and the corresponding 1-800-OPERATER number was owned by MCI who routed calls these calls to 1-800-COLLECT instead. After several months, AT&T discovered the mistake, discontinued 1-800-OPERATOR, and replaced it with 1-800-CALL-ATT.

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