10-digit dialing coming for 251 Area Code (Montgomery, Mobile: home, move, deal)

[RocketDawg]

Just read an article on al.com that those in the 251 area code (Mobile and SW Alabama) will have to start dialing the area code plus the normal 7-digit telephone number to make a local call. The reason is that 988 will become the National Suicide Hotline, and some in the 251 area code, specifically in Baldwin County, have 988-XXXX numbers. Requiring 10-digit dialing will prevent accidental calls to the suicide line.

My question is - instead of changing to 10-digit dialing, why not just change the phone numbers of those who have a 988 prefix (or even everybody who has a 98X prefix)? Most of the state already requires 10-digit dialing (we've been doing it since 2010), but it'll take some time to get used to it, not to mention everybody will have to update contacts in their cell phones.

Presumably going to 10-digit dialing was deemed to be the simplest solution.

[Surge0001]

I had no idea about this, frankly sounds like more of inconvenience than anything

[southernnaturelover]

They started doing this across the line in FL recently too.

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by Surge0001

I had no idea about this, frankly sounds like more of inconvenience than anything

It’s no big deal once you get used to it. The rest of the state has been doing it for several years now

[Surge0001]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

It’s no big deal once you get used to it. The rest of the state has been doing it for several years now

Interesting

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

It’s no big deal once you get used to it. The rest of the state has been doing it for several years now

We (the 256 area code) added 938 as an overlay in 2010 or 2011, so we've been doing it for at least 10 years. 205 added an overlay (I think 769) in 2019. I don't think the Montgomery area has an overlay, and according to the al.com article, they don't have any 988 numbers so they'll continue with 7-digit dialing.

Neither overlay is used very much, I suspect because of a couple of reasons - 1) Fewer people have home landlines, and 2) the portability of cell phones, and the elimination of roaming fees, make area codes a little less meaningful, since you can move into an area and keep your old number, including the area code from where your phone is registered, without any negative consequences.

When I grew up in Mississippi, we only had to dial 5 numbers, and in some cases only 4, for local calls. If we had an area code, nobody used it and you had to dial O (for Operator) and make a long distance call through her. Then they converted to 7-digit but all were either 482, 483, or 485. If you had a 485 number you only needed to dial the last 4 digits to make a call; the other 2 you had to dial the last 5. That practice/capability went on for a long time into modern day, at least into the 90s. My, how things have changed.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by Surge0001

I had no idea about this, frankly sounds like more of inconvenience than anything

It's not bad. Most of the calls I make are stored in my contacts anyway, and if I call a new number using all 10 is pretty much habitual now.

[edtv411]

Ten digit dialing has been engrained in my head for over two decades since my home area started an overlay area code back then, but I only started seeing numbers with the new area code only about 5 or 6 years ago.

The "988" thing is new, but it does make sense if it is an existing prefix in many areas, and it will set up 251 for a future overlay if needed.

[Fountain-of-youth]

This been going on in Georgia for yeeeeeeeaaaaaarrrrrsssssss.