The state Public Utility Commission is giving people in the 570 area code more time adapt to 10-digit dialing.
But in an era of programmed numbers, smartphones and hands-free dialing, do people really need it?
The commission Wednesday agreed to extend the customer education and permissive dialing period - the period during which seven-digit dialing will be accepted - from three to six months as the region served by the 570 area code prepares to add a new 272 area code in the fall. All calls will require 10-digit dialing.
In the past, changing area code boundaries were controversial, to say the least. When the 717 area code was split to create 570, those on the 570 side had to adapt to a new phone number as businesses changed stationery and signs. This time, regulators went for an "overlay" in which the 570 numbers will remain unchanged, existing side-by-side with newly issued numbers in the 272 area code. But everyone will have to dial 10 digits for local and long-distance numbers.
How people make phone calls has changed dramatically. Even the word itself "dialing" is outdated. So, too, is the act of dialing and punching phone numbers, some said.
"I don't like to dial and I think it's a waste of time," Pamela deBourg said.
The Binghamton woman who works as a social worker in Scranton said as soon as she gets a phone number she may have to dial in the future, she programs it directly into her cellphone. When she needs to make a call, she finds the name, not the number, on a contact list. Some of her colleagues who use voice command features, such as the iPhone's Siri, don't even have look at their contact list. They can just say "Call John's mobile."
People are already making 10-digit local calls, said Joe Cocke, of the North American Numbering Plan. Technology has made it seamless and almost invisible.
"If they are using a mobile phone, they are dialing 10 digits," he said. "The phone is doing it for them and people don't even think about it."
Few people seem to be aware of the new area code, said Joseph Garcia, a sales representative at the Sprint mobile phone kiosk at the Mall at Steamtown. He said people will complain because some people like to complain. But having to dial 10 digits won't affect very many people, mostly because of the prevalence of cellphones.
"When people get a phone, the first thing anyone does is program phone numbers into it," he said. "It shouldn't be a big deal."
Even the shrinking number of people who have landlines tend to have phones that allow numbers to be programmed into their hard-wired phone, he said.
"People who have landlines are using them for incoming calls, not really making phone calls," he said.
The Office of the Consumer Advocate supported extending the time of permissive dialing.
"Cellphones have made it easier," said Tanya McCloskey, acting state consumer advocate. "The longer the period of permissive dialing the better we can make sure folks understand what is happening."
