Telecommunications > Telephones > Local Dialing Change

Local Dialing Change

Effective April 2, 2001, Verizon, formerly Bell Atlantic, added the area code 774 to the same geographic area served by 508. This addition requires local calls to be dialed using 10 digits (area code + seven digit phone number--no "1" is necessary). Dialing from WHOI extension to WHOI extension is not effected.

This means that all equipment, including computers, preprogrammed with speed dial or auto dial features need to include the 774 area code. You may own some of the following devices to check:

  • laptop or home computer using RAS account
  • cell phones with stored telephone numbers
  • home telephone sets with memory for storing frequently dialed friends and family
  • fax machines with stored phone numbers
  • Palm and other PDA's
  • Pagers
  • Lifeline systems and other emergency response systems. In fact, if you have a neighbor or friend with such a system, you could check that it is up to date for them.

For more area code information on the latest changes and dialing instructions, visit here.