Starting Sunday, Feb. 27, callers will have to get used to dialing two new area codes to reach some communities in the Twin Cities area. Starting that day, the region now served by Minnesota’s 612 area code will be split into three different area codes: 612, 763 and 952.
In drawing the new area code boundary lines, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, the decision maker regarding area code changes, carved out a core area consisting of Minneapolis, Richfield, St. Anthony and the Fort Snelling area to keep the 612 area code.
The Annandale area code, 320, will not be affected.
The remainder of the 612 region will be divided roughly in half with the boundary line approximately following Interstate 394. For the most part, the new 763 area code will serve communities located to the north of I-394. The new 952 area code will serve communities located to the south of I-394.
More specifically, the 763 area code will serve Blaine, Brooklyn Center, Circle Pines, Columbia Heights, Delano, East Bethel, Fridley, Golden Valley, Ham Lake, Isanti, Lexington, Medicine Lake, Medina, Montrose, Mounds View, Plymouth, Robbinsdale, Waverly Buffalo, Monticello and all other communities located to the north and northwest.
The 952 area code will serve Apple Valley, Bloomington, Burnsville, Eden Prairie, Edina, Hopkins, Lakeville, Minnetrista, Minnetonka, Mound, Orono, St. Louis Park, Watertown, Wayzata and all other communities located to the south and southwest.
The 651 area code, which was added just over a year ago to serve St. Paul and its surrounding suburbs as well as communities to the east, is not changing. Also, Minnesota’s 218, 320 and 507 area codes are not changing.
Transition period
While the area code change is effective Feb. 27, callers will have a 10-month transition period to make the necessary preparations and adjust to the change. During the transition period, callers will be able to use either the new or old area code to complete a call. On Jan. 14, 2001, use of the new area codes will become mandatory.
Update records
During the transition period, callers throughout Minnesota should update any phone number lists or data bases to include the correct area code. Homes and businesses that have a new area code should also update stationery, check blanks, business letterhead, promotional items, brochures, catalogs, and other items that list a phone number. It is particularly important that businesses in the Twin Cities area include the area code with their seven-digit number in all advertisements and business materials.
Reprogram
dialing equipment
Also during the transition period, both homes and businesses should make any necessary changes to speed-dialers, auto-dialers, fax machines, computer modems and other devices that will be dialing into the new 763 and 952 area codes.
Businesses encouraged
to ‘take the test’
Businesses and organizations across Minnesota that use specialized telephone equipment are encouraged to test their equipment to be sure it is capable of completing calls to the new 763 and 952 area codes by calling the following test numbers:
From outside the Minneapolis/St. Paul area call: 1-763-571-1599 or 1-952-895-5000
From within the Minneapolis/St. Paul area call: 763-571-1599 or 952-895-5000
If a call to a test number does not go through, businesses should contact their telephone equipment provider to discuss the need to reprogram or update the equipment. If equipment is not the cause of the problem, businesses should contact their local telephone service provider.
Ten-digit local dialing
Callers in the Twin Cities area will have to get accustomed to dialing 10 digits more often to make a local telephone call from one area code to another.
This 10-digit dialing pattern, the three-digit area code plus the seven-digit phone number, is the same as that used today for local calls between the 612 and 651 area codes. For example, today a caller in St. Paul in the 651 area code must dial ten digits (the three-digit area code plus the seven-digit number) to place a local call to Minneapolis, which is in the 612 area code. The addition of new area codes means more 10-digit local telephone calls in the Twin Cities area.
According to telecommunications industry sources, the question people ask most frequently regarding ten-digit dialing is: “Do I need to dial a “1” before making a 10-digit local call?” The answer is “no.” Do not dial a “1” or “0” before the 10- digit local number.
The second most frequently asked question is: “If I dial 10 digits on a local call, will I be billed a long distance charge?” Again the answer is “no.” If a call was a local call before the area code change, it is still a local call. If a call was long distance before, it is still a long distance call.
Wireless phones
and pagers
People that have a wireless phone or pager working out of the current 612 area code, may want to check with their provider to determine the area code. Some wireless devices may have new area codes and may need to be reprogrammed.
Not unique to Minnesota
Running out of telephone number prefixes is not a problem unique to Minnesota, but rather a nationwide phenomenon driven by the dramatic growth in demand for new telephone numbers for such services as fax machines, pagers, wireless telephones and second telephone lines, as well as the many choices in telecommunications providers. There were 86 area codes in 1947 when area codes were first assigned.
Today, there are over 300 serving North America, and about half of the new area codes have been added in the past four years.