alt Hacker NewsIt might have been the Ringworld
"Well?"Nessus began to pace the floor. "Many disqualify themselves by obvious bad luck. Of the rest, none seem to be available. When we call, they are out. When we call back, the phone computer gives us a bad connection. When we ask for any member of the Brandt family, every phone in South America rings. There have been complaints. It is very frustrating."
https://www.naneahoffman.com/the-blog/shelf-care-alien-archi...
“ When we ask for any member of the Brandt family, every phone in South America rings.”
That sounds like the computer had a bad solution to “find a Brandt.”
The comment with the request to find this reference had me thinking it would be a single phone number misconfigured to call a large population.