re = /(?<=\d)[[:blank:]]+(?!$)|[[:blank:]]+(?=\d)/m
str = '708 447 4797 JOHN SMITH 18000
708 447 4797 JOHN SMITH 18000
708 447 4797 JOHN SMITH 18000
708 -3.00 4797 JOHN SMITH 18000'
subst = '|'
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html