Shortcut dialing of local area code?

[Stephen Tashiro]

Since dialing the local area code will soon be mandatory, are there LAN phone sets (not cell phones) than have a shortcut way of doing that?

[Jim Becker]

Since dialing the local area code will soon be mandatory, are there LAN phone sets (not cell phones) than have a shortcut way of doing that?

Not really, other than storing whole numbers. 10 digit dialing has been standard almost everywhere in the US for "eons" now. You must be in one of the very few areas left that didn't require it already. I'm guessing that the equipment that services your area is being upgraded to modern IP based switching (even if you are using a landline) so local land line operation will be pretty much identical to using your cell phone going forward.

[Scott Winners]

I had to dial a 1 + the area code to send a fax down to Anchorage yesterday. My impression is Alaska is getting too crowded and I will need to find somewhere with less people in it to move to.

[Jim Becker]

I had to dial a 1 + the area code to send a fax down to Anchorage yesterday. My impression is Alaska is getting too crowded and I will need to find somewhere with less people in it to move to.

LOL....

Seriously, even less populated areas that only need on area code will at some point be 10 digit dialing simply because that's what the communication system is becoming normalized on. You'll likely not need to dial the Country Code (the 1) at some point on any land lines left at some point just as it's not required on cell phones already. The country code in the overall structure will not be needed unless one is calling a different country.

[Dick Strauss]

On old phones you used to be able to store numbers other than phone numbers in the memory/speed dial settings. I used to do that for long distance calling card info.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Not really, other than storing whole numbers. 10 digit dialing has been standard almost everywhere in the US for "eons" now. You must be in one of the very few areas left that didn't require it already.

Yes, I've not had to dial the local area code to make local calls. Do the advanced areas of the country dial 1 before dialing the area code? Or is that unnecessary?

They should make a phone where you can dial the local area code with one keypress.

[Scott Clausen]

This is also going to be a task for those that haven't traveled much. You will need to add the area code to all of your stored contacts. I learned this early in cell phone use the first time I went out of town.

[roger wiegand]

Much of the country no longer has a "local" area code-- in Boston for example you are randomly assigned one of 4-5 area codes that are used in the region. Increasingly, with number portability, people no longer change numbers at all as they move about the country. Lots of people I call now have "area codes" unrelated to where they currently live.

It will not be very much longer until you just have your personal 10 digit number for your lifetime that says nothing about where you are.

Having to actually dial a 10 digit number has also become a rare thing for many folks-- they are either in your directory and you can you call them with one click, or you look them up on google and click the phone number to dial with one click. So getting a landline phone with a good directory function would seem to be the best way to avoid a lot of button pressing. Out 15 year old Panasonic phones do this adequately, I imagine new phones are much better in this regard.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, I've not had to dial the local area code to make local calls. Do the advanced areas of the country dial 1 before dialing the area code? Or is that unnecessary?

They should make a phone where you can dial the local area code with one keypress.

Whether you need to dial a one or not for calling another area code depends upon the equipment your phone provider is using. More and more do not require the one to be dialed. Cell phones do not. I don't beleive it was necessary any more on land lines here, but since I haven't had one for a number of years now, I can't test that.

BTW, in my area, there are three active "area codes" in the county and adjacent and the same the next county over. The 215 area code that originally was pegged to almost the entire SE PA area was first split into 215 and 610 and then additional "overlay" area codes were added, like the 267 that three of our four cell phones use. It's possible to have three different area codes in a single household here! (some areas have more than three) This was made necessary because of the "number of numbers" required in this age of cell phones in every hand and the proliferation of DID (direct inward dialing) in businesses where every desk phone has its own "public" number. Even with waning "landline" subscribers in residences and even small businesses, the number of numbers required still is expanding at a respectable rate. Each "area code" can only have so many numbers so when they are running out, another area code is established in the same area.

[Alan Rutherford]

We went to area-code-required earlier this year. One area code had served the whole area but a new one was added because they were running out of numbers. Just to make it more confusing and less convenient, when it's a local call in our local area code on a landline the 1 is not required although the area code is. If you include the 1 you get a recorded error message. There are locations in the same area code that are long distance and the 1 and area code are both required, as they were before. I don't know whether you need the 1 or not with local calls to the new area code. Haven't had to do that yet.

[Kev Williams]

I haven't dialed a 1 to start calling anyone in years, just the area code & number--

[Mike Henderson]

I haven't dialed a 1 to start calling anyone in years, just the area code & number--

Many phone plans now offer free long distance so dialing across the country is the same as dialing next door. I have a land line - my wife wants it - but I never use it so I don't know if the 1 prefix is required. It certainly isn't on cell phones.

Mike

[Dave Lehnert]

Not really, other than storing whole numbers. 10 digit dialing has been standard almost everywhere in the US for "eons" now. You must be in one of the very few areas left that didn't require it already. I'm guessing that the equipment that services your area is being upgraded to modern IP based switching (even if you are using a landline) so local land line operation will be pretty much identical to using your cell phone going forward.

Im in Cincinnati and we only use 7 digits now but 10 is around the corner.

[Kev Williams]

Our landline is internet/voip based thru Ooma, it's what I'm -not- having to dial the "1" with ...

[Jim Becker]

Im in Cincinnati and we only use 7 digits now but 10 is around the corner.

Yea, as soon as they either have to roll out an overlay area code or put in modern, IP based central office equipment, 10 digits will be the thing. They don't "have to do that" with the latter scenario if there's no overlay, but for consistency with the majority of the overall system, they likely would make that change anyway.