I know we now use the (*) button for things like *69, but was the a use for the (*) and (#) buttons prior to that? Also did the "dial" phones have a dial hole for the (*) and (#)?? Thanks!

No, rotary phones did not have * or # holes.

I don't know why they were added with touch tone phones. Perhaps things like *69 and automatic menus were the reason for the symbols, since touch tone phones are, relativley speaking, not that old.

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Originally posted by methos:
No, rotary phones did not have * or # holes.

I don't know why they were added with touch tone phones. Perhaps things like *69 and automatic menus were the reason for the symbols, since touch tone phones are, relativley speaking, not that old.

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Touch-tone phones produce two distinct tones simultaneously. One tone indicates the row of the pressed button, and one the column. With a 3 by 3 layout, you get nine digits using six tones. Adding the zero requires the addition of a seventh tone, which allows three more tone combinations. The extra buttons were added to generate these combinations, and the phone companies have found uses for them.

Alan Moore