AT&T: New Dialing Procedure to Debut in 630 Area Code

[Nikos Kartalis]

Residential and business customers with area code 630 phone numbers should be prepared for the introduction of the 331 area code. AT&T has announced that, beginning Oct. 7, 2007, customers will be required to dial 1 + area code + seven-digit number when making their calls.

The Illinois Commerce Commission approved adding the 331 area code to the 630 region to ensure that businesses and consumers have access to numbers from their carrier of choice. An area code overlay is the addition of another area code (e.g., 331) to the same geographic region served by an existing area code (e.g., 630).

The most important facts that consumers and businesses need to know about the area code overlay are:

• All customers who have a 630 area code phone number today will keep the 630 area code.
• Phone numbers with the new 331 area code may be issued after Oct. 7, 2007.
• All customers in the 630 area code should begin learning new dialing habits when calling from the 630 area code phone number. Everyone should dial "1" followed by the three-digit area code and seven-digit number when making calls.
• Beginning Oct. 7, 2007, customers must use the new 1+10-digit dialing procedure for all calls. After this date, if they do not use the new dialing procedure, the call will not be completed and a recording will instruct callers to hang up and dial again.
• Dialing the 630 area code when dialing local calls, or dialing a number in your local area with the new 331 area code, does not increase the cost of your calls — calls that are in a consumer's toll-free calling area continue to remain toll-free.
• Customers can still dial three digits to reach 911, 211, 311, 411, 511, 611 and 711.
• In addition to changing the dialing procedure, customers are encouraged to begin reprogramming their automatic dialing equipment and all other types of equipment that are currently programmed with only seven digits on a 630 area code phone number. All such devices will need to be reprogrammed with the new dialing procedure prior to Oct. 7, 2007. Examples of programmed equipment and features include: life safety systems, fax machines, Internet dial-up numbers, alarm and security systems, gates, speed dialers, call-forward settings, voice mail services and similar functions.

During the past 10 years, telecommunications carriers successfully implemented 50 area code overlays throughout the U.S. to make telephone numbers available to meet growing demand. The last overlay implemented in Illinois was in February 2007, when the 779 area code was overlaid on the 815 area.

For more information, please visit AT&T - Help - Area Code Information or Illinois Commerce Commission.