How many menu items are there?

I called the attendance hotline to report that my son was staying home from school today. Usually you get a recording that says, press 1 for help, press 2 to leave a message, etc. This one said "press 1000 to leave a message", then on that one it said "press 1500 to record your message". Were 1-999 already used? That is ridiculous and not user friendly.