360 Area Code? (Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver: shop, suburban, offices)

[rtloucks]

I am getting a lot of conflicting information on this. I am NOT here to solicit a business but I do need to inquire. If I am investing in a start up business in the area, what is the most prominent phone number area code to use? Does it matter?
i see 360 but is that more for the Vancouver area or does it span most of the western half of Washington?

When I google it, it shows Vancouver but when i research it, the results show all the way through Seattle too. Does anyone in Seattle use this area code?

Thank you all for your help....

[texasdiver]

Google is your friend:

https://www.worldatlas.com/na/us/wa/area-code-360.html

[slan490]

360 is Olympia south to Vancouver and west to the coast. Also port Angeles and Bellingham.

253 is Tacoma up to federal way-ish.

206 is mainly Seattle.

425 is north of Seattle and east of Seattle till you hit the mountains then it's 509 for eastern WA.

[rtloucks]

Thank you. So in your opinion...
If you were considering a business to use, would it matter if they use a 360 area code in seattle?

[StealthRabbit]

If you have a Seattle business, you want a 206 area code (if you expect to get calls from Seattle customers / potential)

Not all are 'territorial' but MANY in metro areas are VERY territorial.

(it will not affect your business if a Gun Shop, but may have an effect on your business if you are a 'cake shop' / 'greenie' business)

360 - 509 are NOT part of the 'real' (voting) Washington

[texasdiver]

Honestly, most Seattites are pretty new to the state. Most of them probably wouldn't recognize a 360 area code. Stealth is right. You need a 206 if you want to do phone business in Seattle.

[rtloucks]

Good points. The business services Seattle to Portland and no so much in the Seattle city center. Mostly suburban and between cities. But fair points to consider thank you again

[Diana Holbrook]

360 covers all of Western Washington EXCEPT the urban centers of Seattle, Bellevue, and Tacoma.

Funny how perspective is everything! If you're a business that covers the whole region, most won't bat an eye at a 360 number, whereas a 206 number covers only Seattle, a 425 number means ONLY the eastside, and 253, means only Tacoma. Much more specific and limiting in your reach.

[Ttark]

Be on the lookout for 564 overlay numbers to start appearing in the next few years, my fellow 360ers (former 206ers). That's the real reason why Clark County is in 10-digit hell now.

If the phone company were smart they would have implemented 360 as an overlay of the Seattle area and maybe Tacoma and left 206 alone everywhere else. Actually if the phone company REALLY were smart they would have implemented 8-digit phone numbers and there wouldn't be any need for all this NPA overlays and splits and NPA+7 local dialling silliness. With the computerized switching systems that were dominating by that point (mid-90s) (360 was the first odd NPA and came to being in 1995) it wouldn't have been difficult at all to tack a filler "0" at the end of all the existing numbers then start counting at "1" when that's run out. That could have been problematic for the few little step-by-step offices still in place by that time, but for the majority it wouldn't. Gee, throw a digit-absorbing selector in there before the third and fourth, or the connector, problem solved.

But, hindsight is 20/20 and the damage is already done. Thanks Mother Bell. </rant>