People will now need to take a moment to dial a few extra numbers when making local phone calls.
According to a social media post by the City of Bolivar Office of Emergency Management, those making a phone call will need to start using the 417 area code when dialing a local phone number as of Sunday, Oct. 24.
“Whether on your landline or cell, you must use the 10 digit number to call local,” the post stated. “... If you try calling with just the 7 digits, your call will likely not go through.”
The post stated it’s important for people to plan ahead and possibly update saved phone numbers in their cell phones.
The post stated the same change will take effect across many other areas across the nation.
The change is being implemented by the Federal Communications Commission in order to create a new national suicide hotline, the post stated.
Per the FCC website, found at fcc.gov, there are more phones in America than there are people, and each phone needs its own phone number.
“Beginning in the early 1990s, to accommodate the growing need for more phone numbers, some areas began to add a second area code for local calls,” the website states. “Dialing both the area code and the seven-digit number was necessary to ensure the call reached the intended recipient.”
The website states that a second local area code may be added as more area codes begin to run out of new seven-digit phone numbers to assign. This change requires a transition to 10-digit dialing.
“In 2020, the FCC established ‘988’ as the new, nationwide three-digit phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline,” the website states. “The new three-digit dialing code will be available nationwide by July 16, 2022, and will provide an easy to remember and easy to dial three-digit number to reach suicide prevention and mental health counselors, similar to ‘911’ for emergencies and ‘311’ for local government services.”
To help with the creation of 988 as the national suicide hotline, area codes that use the numbers “988” as a local exchange or the first three digits of a seven-digit phone number need to use 10-digit dialing.
According to the FCC website, transitioning to ten-digit dialing will not affect people’s current telephone numbers.
“Your phone number, including your area code, will not change,” the website states.
For more information, visit fcc.gov/consumers/guides/ten-digit-dialing.
