# US Phone Dialing - Any Standards? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498 "2015-02-24T06:06:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/1 "2015-02-24T06:06:07Z")
I am getting way frustrated lately with simply trying to dial a phone number. On my Landline: SOMETIMES, if I dial a local number (same area code), I can dial just 7 digits. SOMETIMES, if I dial a local number (same area code) with just 7 digits, I get the message “You must dial the area code first” SOMETIMES, if I dial a local number (same area code) with 10 digits, I get the message “You must dial a 1 first”. I cannot dial an 800 number, without dialing a 1. I just called my father in law in another state yesterday, using the same speed dial I have always had, 1-xxx-yyy-zzzz, and was told that I did not need to dial a 1. On my cell phone: I can just use 1 +xxx+yyy+zzzz for everything and it generally works. Is there any rule? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/2 "2015-02-24T07:09:36Z")
It’s a result of having 50 separate state utility commissions plus the FCC regulating the phone industry. Some utility commissions were obsessed about warning people if they were about to make a toll call, others were more laid back about it. The ones who were obsessed wrote detailed rules stating that you must require a “1” in front of any possible toll call. In some states when phone companies started charging for directory assistance, they even required a “1” in front of “411.” And they also wrote ridiculous regulations about forbidding a “1” in front of non-toll calls. Historically, going back to the days of electro-mechanical step-by-step switches, the leading “1” could be used to signal the switch to grab a toll trunk and let the rest of the digits be interpreted by a switch at the other end of the toll trunk. Many phone companies consequently did not have the local switches set up to do message accounting. In that case, you had to not dial the “1” so that the call wouldn’t get handed off to a toll switch. But even when more advanced equipment was installed, the utility commissions would force the phone companies to use the old “1” means toll. And for many years, the second digit of an area code had to be 0 or 1 and the second digit of a local phone number could not be 0 or 1. So the switch would check the second digit you were dialing to see whether you were dialing a 7 or 10 digit number. But when this restriction was lifted, they needed the leading 1 to resolve ambiguities. Unlike a cell phone, a landline phone does not have a “send” or “call” key to tell the switch when you are done dialing and the Bell System did not want to implement a “timeout” system, so you had to get clues from the phone number itself as to when the caller had finished dialing all the digits. Although not all of these were necessary for cellular phone systems, they copied many of the landline standards. And later they allowed competitive phone companies into the market and allowed multiple area codes for a single geographical area. The incumbent phone companies would have most of the phone numbers in the legacy area codes locked up and the new competitors would mostly get phone numbers in the new overlay area codes. Regulators felt that presented the newcomers with a competitive disadvantage if most people had to dial 10 digits to reach a customer of the new phone company but dial only 7 digits to reach a customer of the incumbent phone company. So they decreed that everyone must dial an area code, whether it was the same or different. And other regulators still kept in place the old “1 means toll” rules. So you’ve got a hodge-podge of dialing rules depending on the priorities of state requlators, historical switching equipment set ups, and the growth of demand for phone numbers in a given area. ---
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/3 "2015-02-24T07:28:38Z")
Great answer, thanks. I just wish we could go to something consistent. I’d be happy just to always dial 10 (or 11), but trying the same number 3 times just makes me want to hurt someone. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/4 "2015-02-24T16:32:58Z")
> [@Khendrask](#): > > I just wish we could go to something consistent. I’d be happy just to always dial 10 (or 11), but trying the same number 3 times just makes me want to hurt someone. Just move to New York City or another major city. We have mandatory 10 digit dialing (actually “1”+10 digit) because we have multiple area code that are overlaid for the same area. For instance, a Manhattan number can have either the 212, 646 or 917 area code. The original area code for New York City was 212, which was later geographically split, with 212 remaining for Manhattan and 718 becoming the code for the other boroughs of the City. Later, when cell phones were becoming popular and there were not enough 212 numbers available, they brought in the 917 area code which covered the same geographic area, but was available for cell phone use. More recently, when there were insufficient land line numbers available, they added the 646 area code for land use. Now, of course, with number portability and a relaxation of the restrictions, any of the area codes can be for a land line or a cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/5 "2015-02-24T16:47:11Z")
i’m thinking that if you don’t have required 10 digit dialing then it likely is permissive 10 digit dialing. do the 10. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/6 "2015-02-24T16:59:16Z")
I’ve actually had this happen to me: Dial XXX-YYYY Message: “You must first dial the area code when calling this number” Dial (AAA) XXX-YYYY Message: “It is not necessary to dial the area code when calling this number.” I could not get the call to go through… ---
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/7 "2015-02-26T08:09:08Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > i’m thinking that if you don’t have required 10 digit dialing then it likely is permissive 10 digit dialing. > > do the 10. Nope. If I always dial the 10, or the 1+10, I get the message “It is not necessary to dial the area code when calling this number”, or “It is not necessary to dial a 1 when calling this number” Annoying. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/8 "2015-02-26T22:16:38Z")
[quote=“Billdo, post:4, topic:713498”] Just move to New York City or another major city. We have mandatory 10 digit dialing (actually “1”+10 digit) because we have multiple area code that are overlaid for the same area. For instance, a Manhattan number can have either the 212, 646 or 917 area code. QUOTE] Hmmm…here is the metro-Boston area, when the population and businesses grew beyond the size that could be fit under the single area code, they actually re-drew the map and one big 617 area code was divided geographically into 3 or 4 area codes. Communities on the edge of the new/smaller 617 fought to be kept in it - some succeeded (my town did ) and others didn’t. But we all still had to go to the 1+10 system. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/9 "2015-02-26T23:07:31Z")
> [@Khendrask](#): > > I am getting way frustrated lately with simply trying to dial a phone number. > … > Is there any rule? There’s not much to add to Alley Dweller’s fine post about growth and change vs. regulators’ & Telcos’ responses. Your location says “Nowhere, South Carolina.” Which pretty well guarantees \*your \*regulators where mostly interested in keeping things constant for old people on the farm who only ever call folks within 20 miles of themselves, regardless of how crazy that made the system for everybody else in the state who calls farther afield. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/10 "2015-02-27T03:04:36Z")
Here is [detailed information](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overlay_plan) on the difference and impacts between area code splits and area code overlays. The [Atlanta area and environs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Georgia_area_codes) provide a good example of the mess created by new area codes and the actions of state regulatory agencies. > [@](#): > > Georgia was first supplied with only one area code, 404, in 1947. In 1954, 912 was given to its southern and central areas. > > The state would operate with two area codes until May 3, 1992, when 706 was created for the two separate areas outside of the metro Atlanta area. Due to complaints from exurban residents who were to be put in 706, they were moved back into 404, which makes every new area code added to the metro area run out of numbers sooner. At this time, these areas were also fully included in what was already the world’s largest toll-free local calling zone (previously many were only able to call the adjacent telephone exchanges on the edge of metro Atlanta). Area code 770 was therefore assigned to Atlanta’s suburbs just three years later in August 1995, requiring ten-digit dialing between them, and with all mobile phones keeping 404. 678 was given to both the city and its suburbs in January 1998, becoming the first overlay area code in the state, and forcing mandatory ten-digit dialing for all calls. > > Flip-flopping on its position on assigning new area codes, the Georgia Public Service Commission dictated that a double split of 912 would occur after that, with 229 and 478 being applied to southwest Georgia and central Georgia in August 2000. With the GPSC reversing course a third time, 470 became the second area code to overlay Atlanta in September 2001, but remained unused until 2010.[1] In September 2005, 762 was overlaid to all of the existing area code 706, despite the fact that that it has been physically split into two separate and disconnected sections since it was created in 1992.[2] ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/11 "2015-02-27T03:12:56Z")
I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not, but I’m in Somewhere, SC and have the same damned problem. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/12 "2015-02-27T18:48:42Z")
I live in Montreal, but have a US based cell phone. When I use it in Montreal, it uses the local Bell Canada cells. If I call outside the local area, they will not put it through unless you add the 1. If you dial inside the local area, they will not put it through if you add the 1. Clearly, they could put all these calls through, but have chosen not to. From anywhere in the US, the ten digits suffice. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/13 "2015-02-27T20:10:29Z")
> [@Khendrask](#): > > Great answer, thanks. > > I just wish we could go to something consistent. I’d be happy just to always dial 10 (or 11), but trying the same number 3 times just makes me want to hurt someone. I told them that this would happen if they split up the Bell System. 😛 Though we’d get overlays anyhow, since today there is one number per person rather than one per household. Voyager Former Bell System employee ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/14 "2015-02-27T20:20:05Z")
Wow, this is pretty insane. In the meantime, elsewhere in the world we just dial + [country] [area] [number] on our cell phones. On a landline, dial either just the number or the area code and the number, the phone company won’t complain either way. (But they will charge you by the minute for ALL calls.) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-phone-dialing-any-standards/713498/15 "2015-02-27T20:24:55Z")
There is no reason Bell Canada could not allow 1+area code+number on all calls.