The day when Wilkes Countians will have to dial the area code even when making local calls is fast approaching.

It was necessary to adopt a second area code because the 706 area code is about to run out of numbers.

The good news is that the area code of existing telephone users will not change. Instead, the telephone industry is recommending what it calls an “overlay” in which the new area code has the same geographical boundaries as the existing area code. In other words, both the original area code and the newly assigned area code will co-exist within the same service area.

New numbers assigned after next year’s changeover will have the new overlay area code of 762. Existing numbers and the parameters of local calling areas will not change.

What will change, however, is that callers will have to dial 706 or 762 before every local call, even when calling the house next door.

Prior to the changeover, there will be a six-month period beginning Thursday, September 1, during which phone users can become accustomed to dialing all 10 digits before it becomes mandatory on April 3, 2006. During the permissive dialing period, seven or 10-digit dialing will be permitted to numbers within the local service area.

Callers need to note that this will not change patterns associated with toll and extended area service dialing. It will affect only calls made to other customers within the local dialing area.

According to a spokesman for the telephone industry, “During the next six months, individuals may be required to re-program equipment and make changes to services they are presently using. If a person currently subscribes to calling features that require the telephone number to be programmed to operate properly and he has the numbers entered as seven digits, he should re-program these now before 10-digit dialing is mandatory. This could include features such as speed dialing, anonymous call rejection, special call acceptance, and so forth.”

He went on to remind telephone users to check all equipment, such as fax machines and modems, that may be used to access numbers within the local dialing area. Internet access and other services are included in this category.

However, there will be no changes made to any N11 services (911, 411, 211, etc.).

In her remarks, Angela Elizabeth Speir, chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), indicated that the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) has determined that the 706 area code will be exhausted by the second quarter of 2006.

“The commission has mandated number conservation measures since 2000 to delay the assignment of a new area code, including 1,000 block assignments and reassigning unused exchanges. But things have now reached the point where the proliferation of telephone numbers in the 706 area code has made it necessary to implement a new area code.”

Another PSC spokesman said, “Think of all the ways we use telephone numbers: multiple phone lines, modems, pagers, fax machines, wireless telephones, and some alarm systems. Also, competing local telephone companies need phone numbers to serve their customers.”

In conclusion, the telephone industry emphasized that consumers will not be required to change their currently assigned telephone numbers. The new area code will be assigned only to new telephone numbers in the service area after all existing available numbers have been assigned.