# Area code - should they be entered in Contacts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792 "2016-12-28T21:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/21 "2016-12-29T04:33:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I screwed up badly one time in 1996 by entering the area code on a modem access number. it was a local number. End of the month my mom got a $350 phone bill. OMG. It had been getting billed as a long distance call. Every single time their computer connected. It took quite a persuasive call to customer service to get those charges waived. > > Since then I’ve always entered local numbers without an area code. The downside is the contact entry won’t work if I’m out of town. I have to dial manually and include the area code. > > I’m not sure how it works on the new VoIP connections. Is it safe to enter area code in Contacts for local numbers? Or is it best to leave it off? All calls in southern Nevada require ten digits now and have since August 2014. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/22 "2016-12-29T04:38:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > See, I don’t ever remember a time where the 1 was optional. I have memories of trying to dial without the one in the late 80s or early 90s here in Chicago and getting a prerecorded message admonishing me. I guess I thought the 1 before an area code was always required as some sort of telephony signal. > So this wasn’t the case? > > ETA: just noticed the posts above that mileage highly varies depending where you are. Actually, according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-digit_dialing), apparently it’s LA, Chicago, and New York, that require the initial “1” even for local calls. So I guess I fall under that exception. Looks like cellphones ignore it. I’ve always been in the habit of dialing that 1, due to local rules. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/23 "2016-12-29T04:42:38Z")
Just to clarify, you are not required to dial 1 before the area code for a long distance call in the US when using a wireless phone. You do when using a landline, although some companies are beginning to eliminate that. > [@](#): > > Telephone Service: In the US when using a landline, why must one dial 1 + the Area Code to call outside their own area code? > > Cellular calls don’t require the 1+. Are phone companies still using that much legacy mechanical switching? > > Faisal Khan, Banking/Payments Consultant + Fintech Scout for VCs > Written Sep 29, 2011 > > Mechanical switching is all but eliminated from the US telephone network. > > You need to dial +1 because of the disparate telephone system and companies running it. > > With cellular services, you have one cellular company, it can reprogram its entire network in a single go. The cellphone by de facto dials a +1, and within the same area code, can work just fine with the 7 digits (the cellphone tower and the cell switches, know how to handle this). > > Because there isn’t a homogenous solution in the landline system (100s of telcos and LEC/CLECs) the problem is a massive one to work with. You dial +1 to let the telco switch know that you now want to talk to another (external) switch. > **[Telephone Service: In the US when using a landline, why must one dial 1 + the...](https://www.quora.com/Telephone-Service-In-the-US-when-using-a-landline-why-must-one-dial-1-+-the-Area-Code-to-call-outside-their-own-area-code)** > > Answer (1 of 5): Until 1995, most parts of the United States maintained a sharp distinction between area codes and prefixes (the first three digits after the area code). All area codes had a 0 or 1 as the middle digit, and prefixes never had 0 or 1... ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/24 "2016-12-29T04:50:44Z")
One of the surprises about moving back to the US and to Hawaii was the inclusion of the area code for the state (808) in virtually all phone numbers. Here you can include or not include it in when calling locally. (I’m also surprised to see long-distance charges virtually eliminated. On my AT&T plan, I can call anywhere in the country at no extra charge. When did this start?) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/25 "2016-12-29T11:57:13Z")
Thank you for the replies. It’s hard keeping up with all the changes in phones. I learned a lot from this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/26 "2016-12-29T12:04:03Z")
Most landline phones still place the call as soon as enough digits are entered-- It’s not like cell phones where you enter all of the digits and then hit the “call” button. So you have three options for how to distinguish local calls from long distance: You can make sure that there’s no number that can be both a valid area code and a valid exchange number (what they used to do, before the quantities of both were greatly expanded), you can require all calls, even local ones, to include the area code, or you can require a prefix like 1 before an out-of-area call. The reason it’s inconsistent across the country is that various local phone companies made different decisions here. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/27 "2016-12-29T12:27:23Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I had no idea that anyone could still make a local call without entering an area code. I’m guessing it’s been a decade in DC since that could be done. > > If it’s a VOIP service, doesn’t that tend to mean unlimited long distance? About a year ago we had a thread about Idaho getting a _[second](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=767712)_ area code. Until that thread I had no idea that some places required you to use the full ten digits, however I’ve always programmed them all in, partially because then it looks all nice and organized instead of some having them and some not, but moreso because if I’m in an area with spotty reception and my phone is roaming, even local calls need the area code, so it’s just easier to have it there already. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/28 "2016-12-29T16:01:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You can make sure that there’s no number that can be both a valid area code and a valid exchange number (what they used to do, before the quantities of both were greatly expanded) Ah, that’s right. It used to be that a “0” or “1” had to be the second digit in an area code until they expanded it sometime in the 90s. (And the middle digit of the three-digit exchange that followed the area code could _not_ be a 0 or 1.) I remember us getting the first wave of non-0-or-1-middle-digit area codes here in the Chicago area around 1996. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/29 "2016-12-29T16:21:12Z")
Another difference: With cell phones and VOIP phones, you can put your phone into a different area code fairly easily. If you don’t store the local area code, when you’re in another area code your phone will try to dial the local number for that area code instead of the place you want. People aren’t as likely to move VOIP phones around, but cell phones definitely switch area codes routinely. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/30 "2016-12-29T16:27:44Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I know area codes are losing their meaning. I have a co-worker with a Missouri Area code. He’s been in my state for 7 years. I guess he’ll never get the right area code. Like [XKCD](https://xkcd.com/1129/) says: the anatomy of a U.S. cell phone number is the area code of the place you lived in 2005, followed by seven random digits. ---
**Author:** ![JHBoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/13edae/32.png) [@JHBoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHBoom)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792/31 "2016-12-29T19:55:08Z")
I’ve had to use area codes, on both landlines and mobile numbers, for at least a decade in my home area. Because of that, I’ve always entered area codes in my phones, but never used the +1 - I even went so far as to delete it from all my contacts when I made the switch to the iPhone a few years ago. Now, I’m using my US-purchased iPhone with a local provider’s SIM card in the Middle Eastern country I’m working in, and I had to go back and add the +1 to all my contacts to be able to call them (actual calls, not Facetime calls). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-code-should-they-be-entered-in-contacts/775792.md?page=1)