Upcoming change means relearning how to make phone calls

There are several months yet before the change occurs giving time for new habits to be developed and address books to be updated.

The change is a simultaneous roll out of a new western Washington area code and mandatory 10-digit dialing announced last May.

The change to mandatory 10-digit dialing (ie ###-###-####) will go in effect July 28th. Afterwards, calls to any western Washington phone numbers that do not include the area code will not be connected.

For many, this requires a change of habit since making calls within the same area code has always been possible using only 7 digits (ie ###-####), leaving off the implied area code.

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Also, many digital address book entries could lack the area code for the same reason. Reviewing and making updates to personal and business address books are advised before the change takes place.

New phone numbers that would have been assigned to the 360 area code will begin being assigned to the new area code, 564, in August.