As of Sunday, callers in nine California Area codes, from Pasadena to Palo Alto, will be necessary to use dialing when making phone calls.
To complete their connections, callers having a conventional 988 or “central office code” – the first three digits of a seven-digit telephone number – must first create the prefix of the desired number, followed by the remaining seven digits.
As of Sunday, callers in nine California area codes, from Pasadena to Palo Alto, will be required to use digit dialing when making phone calls.
Callers with a 988 exchange or “central office code” – the first three digits of a seven-digit phone number — must dial the area code of the desired number first, followed by the remaining seven digits, to complete their connections.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline currently connects to an extensive network of about 180 crisis centers around the country via the toll-free number (800) 273-8255.
As per the FCC, it “would help ensure the mass adoption of the 988s, making it available to suicide prevention and crisis intervention services, reducing the stigma associated with suicide and mental health crises, and consequently saving lives.
The mentioned California area codes will also be switched to digit dialing:
Stockton, Modesto, and the adjacent regions (209)
530: Northern California areas such as the Sacramento Valley, the Shasta Cascade, and the northern Sierra Nevada.
562: Long Beach and the adjacent Orange County regions
626: the majority of the San Gabriel Valley and its environs, including Pasadena
Six hundred fifty covers of San Mateo County and Santa Clara County, including Palo Alto.
707: the north coast, which includes Santa Rosa, Napa, and Vallejo
925: portions of East Bay and Alameda County Southern Orange County: 949
951: Counties of Riverside and San Bernardino
Residents in specific area codes will be required to dial all ten digits for any calls, including local numbers.
Inquiries with three to seven digits will be terminated, and clients will be instructed to hang ahead and attempt again with the appropriate digit format.
Some callers, such as those dialing from landlines or wired phones, may additionally be needed to enter a one before the three-digit area code.
Most smartphones automatically append a prefix to the area code.
The lifeline numeration shortcut will not be accessible until July 16, even though the upgrade goes into the impact this weekend.
Composition callers will send 988 to the suicide prevention hotline at this point.