I got my utility bill today and in the community interest insert that comes with it was this info. As of 10/24/21 we have to use the area code to call local numbers. That’s the first I’ve heard of this. It’s being implemented to enable the use of 988 to work like 911 for the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
I glanced at my local contacts in my phone and most already have the area code but some didn’t so I need to update them. If you haven’t heard about this, check the link for the list of affected area codes.
The preview is showing an insert on the main page. The link for the area codes in a bit further down in the article.
Having not followed it too much, I’m kinda surprised it’s not already universal. We’ve had mandatory ten-digit dialing for years now.
I also find the practice a little odd in the first place. It’s required because the prevalence of cell-phones and such caused exchanges to run out of numbers, which meant that they had to add new area codes. But why not just have 7-digit dialing point to numbers in the same area code, and require 10-digit dialing for all others? My understanding is that the 7-digit dialing was tied to geography, not area code–but I don’t really get why that was important. Just tie it to area code.
It seems that 10-digit dialing is now becoming universal because they want 988 to point to the national suicide prevention hotline, but the number is already being used as an office code (as it happens, my parents and their neighborhood are in a 988 area, though I think they already have 10-digit dialing).
This is required because a POTS line (plain old telephone service) has to figure out what you’re trying to dial based on the first 3 digits of the number. If there are any exchanges in your area code that match any area code anywhere in the North American dialing system, you must use 10 digits.
I lived somewhere where we’d been 10 digit dialing since the 90s, and then a few years ago moved somewhere where they just implemented it this year. Thank goodness, I say. It was so annoying to pointedly say, “AREA CODE xxx…” when giving my number to a clerk or receptionist and still have them enter it in the exchange field and we’d have to start all over. Every damn time.
Right? Here in Portland OR we had a situation where Vancouver WA was still on 7 digit and we’d been on ten digit since the overlay of the 971 area code and it was so irritating that even with us RIGHT THERE and the majority of Vancouver residents working in Portland they’d fuck it up on the regular by not paying attention to the damned area codes.
Weird. I didn’t know this was just a local thing. We’ve been doing it here in the Cleveland & Akron area since the late 90s as well. I figured The Phone System In the US worked universally the same way and it never occurred to me that some people could still dial just 7 numbers.
Almost all of the area codes in Canada have overlays and require 10-digit dialling now. I think the only exceptions are 807 (far northwest Ontario) and 867 (the northern territories).
Ten-digits has been the standard in Merrylande for at least the last 17 years. Eons ago when I was a kid, the whole state was 301. Then they added 410 and divided the state. In more recent years, 240, 443, and 667 have been added. I don’t know if geography matters any more in assigning numbers, what with the mobility of cell phones. Still, 10-digits is the rule.
I can’t remember the last time I only dialed 7 digits. With cell phones being the norm, area codes are from all over the place and may not match the local one, plus we have a whole bunch of area codes in NY.
A bit more than half the numbers that I call are in the same area code, and so currently only require 7 digits.
This may not be the case for cell phones, but I always program in the 10 digit code for numbers in my cell phone anyway, as I may be out of of the area code from time to time. I just tried calling my business from my cell phone with only the 7 digits, and it gave me an error, telling me that I need the area code.
But for landlines, which I still use at my business, as long as it’s the same area code, I’ve always only needed the 7. I can call from my landline to my cellphone using only the 7 digits.
I think in some places, you have to dial [area code][phone number] for local calls but dial [one][area code][phone number] for long distance calls and if you use the one for a local call, you get a message saying not to. But I seem to remember being in other places where using the one on either local or long distance calls works. That seems a better solution.
We went to 10 digit dialing so long ago, I can’t really remember how long it has been. Mid-90s or earlier as a guess. We have overlapping area codes in NJ and 10 total for the state.
Once upon a time, Area code, by definition, was tied to geography. The whole Chicago area was 312, then split to 312 and 708, then 312, 708, 630, then you started with the overlays. Now, you can keep your entire 10-digit number wherever you go. Area Code no longer applies to a physical area. Within that, then, there is no way on the face of god’s grey earth that an exchange can be for a specific area. I remember when I was very very young that you could dial only the last 4 numbers if you were dialing within the same exchange.
So, here’s a question. Many of us old folk were used to dialing 7 digits within the same area code; 1-(xxx) - yyy-zzzz when dialing a number with a different area code. I’m pretty sure all phone systems still accept 11-digit dialing. Why isn’t it set up that way universally? There are no exchanges starting with “1”; dialing “1” (damn, I’m old - who uses a dial any more?) tells the system “I’m using 10 more digits!”
And, before anyone comes back with “But that won’t work with the national suicide prevention hotline number of 988 because some area codes have exchanges using 988!”, I know that all of the x11 exchanges were set aside (911 is universally “Emergency” in the US; 411 is “Information”; etc.); I think there were others; can Suicide Prevention use one of those?
That’s going to depend on who’s running the phone service. I’m pretty sure none of the cell phone companies (unless there are some that deal with very specific locations) care about 10 vs. 11 digits; it would pretty much have to be a small local carrier for land lines.
