It’s time to change your dialing habits
Published 1:59 pm Friday, July 10, 2009
Starting Sunday all calls require the area code – but it’s OK if you forget, for now
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The days of punching in seven digits to make calls are nearing an end.
Starting this Sunday, July 12, residents of southern and eastern Oregon should begin dialing 10 digits to place all calls.
Even for local calls it is necessary to dial the 541 area code before the seven-digit phone number.
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But if you happen to forget, or it takes a while to adjust to punching in three more digits, that’s fine.
The Oregon Public Utility Commission has instituted a grace period from July 12 to Jan. 10, 2010.
During this period, calls without an area code will still be completed. However, after Jan. 10 callers that fail to dial all 10 digits will receive a recorded message instructing them to try again.
Projections show that Oregon would completely run out of phone numbers as early as 2011.
To avoid this predicament, last October the PUC approved the addition of the 458 area code to serve residents in eastern and southern Oregon. And with the new area code, callers must now dial 10 digits when placing all calls.
Here are some quick facts about this change:
andbull; All current telephone numbers will remain the same
andbull; Only new numbers will receive the 458 area code, which is projected to begin in February 2010
andbull; Long-distance and local calls will remain unchanged
andbull;Information and emergency numbers, such as 911, 411 or 611, will remain unchanged
andbull;Oregon now has four area codes: 503 and 971 for the northwest portion of the state, and 541 and 468 for residents in the eastern and southern regions
andbull;With the 458 area code, Oregon is now expected to satisfy phone number demand for at least the next 24 years.