San Jose and South Bay to dial differently beginning October 20, 2012

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Beginning October 20^th, 2012, residents and businesses with 408 phone numbers must dial 1+ the area code + phone number when making all direct dial calls. This change paves the way for an additional area code (669) for new telephone lines and services in the same geography.

The 408 Public Education Program (408 PEP) participants, a consortium of landline and wireless telecommunications providers in cooperation with the California Public Utilities Commission, offer the following tips to residents and businesses alike:

• Deadline.  Beginning October 20, 2012 direct dialed calls from 408 phone numbers will not go through unless dialed as 1 + the area code + phone number.
• Phone numbers and pricing unchanged.  The new dialing procedure will not change existing 408 phone numbers or the cost of the call.  Calls that are in a consumer's local calling area remain local calls.
• Dialing 9-1-1 unaffected.  Consumers can still dial three digits to reach 911, 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711 and 811.
• Reprogram automatic dialers.  Automatic dialing equipment must be reprogrammed to use the new dialing procedure, including: life safety systems, fax machines, Internet dial-up numbers, alarm and security systems, gates, speed dialers, call forwarding settings, voicemail services, and similar functions. 

Phone numbers with the new 669 area code may be issued beginning November 20, 2012. These numbers will share the same local calling area as 408 numbers have today.

Over the past ten years, California and other states have implemented more than 50 area code "overlays" throughout the U.S. to make additional telephone numbers available to meet growing demand.  For more information, please visit your service provider's website or www.cpuc.ca.gov/408areacode

SOURCE California Public Utilities Commission