The great thing about mobile phones? I don't have to bother to dial a phone number. Well, for the most part. Anyone Who is in my family, friends and co-workers are already programmed in and it's just a touch of their name to make a phone call. And when I'm in my car, I can easily connect via voice command. It's a great new technological world we live in.

But, it doesn't work for all calls, of course. If you need to call a person or business that isn't in your contact list, you'll be punching those seven digits for a local call or 10 for long distance. Whenever I complain about having to punch in those seven or 10 numbers, I think back to when I was growing up, and my family only had a rotary dial phone. And to make matters worse, we were on a party line, so that meant someone else not in your home cold be using the line. That was a pain in the you know what.

There are some changes coming to the way you dial a local phone number. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the company that governs communications including radio, is transitioning some area codes in the United States to require dialing all 10 digits when making a local call.

And guess what? The 607 area code is one of those areas that will experience this change along with 516, 716, 845 and 914 area codes in New York State. It doesn't appear that any area codes in Pennsylvania will be affected.

The FCC says this is due to the creation of the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline which provides suicide prevention and mental health crisis assistance at 1-800-273-8255 or by texting 838255.

988 will be an easy to remember 3 digit phone number Americans in crisis to connect with suicide prevention and mental health crisis counselors according to the FCC.

The FCC timeline for transitions to the 10 digit dialing is as follows according to their website:

  • Beginning April 24, 2021, to begin to become accustomed to 10-digit dialing, consumers should begin dialing 10 digits (3-digit area code + 7-digit telephone number) for all local calls. If they forget and dial just 7 digits, their call will still be completed.
  • Beginning October 24, 2021, consumers must dial 10-digits (area code + telephone number) for all local calls. On and after this date, local calls dialed with only 7 digits may not be completed, and a recording will inform you that your call cannot be completed as dialed. Consumers must hang up and dial again using the area code and the 7-digit number.
  • Beginning July 16, 2022, dialing “988” will route calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

via Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

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