Home Country Direct
Home Country Direct is an international telephone service that allows travelers abroad to connect with a telephone operator in their home country via a toll-free access number. The service enabled users to communicate with an operator speaking their native language, who could then place calls charged to a home-country account, telephone calling card, or collect billing arrangement.
History
The first such services were introduced by AT&T in the early 1980s under the brand name USA Direct. This allowed American travelers to reach U.S.-based operators toll-free while overseas. Similar reciprocal services were subsequently launched by other national telecommunications providers, including British Telecom, NTT, and Bell Canada.Because Home Country Direct predated the International Freephone Service, each country had to assign a unique domestic toll-free number conforming to its own numbering plan. In some cases, the numbers were short codes accessible only from payphones, and callers were required to insert coins or use prepaid cards before connecting to the international operator.
Some service variants offered connections to third countries, often at higher tariffs, while others restricted use to specific caller types such as tourists or business travelers.