MADISON — Beginning Oct. 24 all customers with the area codes 262, 414, 608 and 920 will need to dial the area code and telephone number in order to connect their local and long-distance calls. This will apply to all calls that are currently dialed with seven digits.

The change comes after the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) adopted Order FCC 20-100, approving ‘988’ as the three-digit abbreviated dialing code to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline starting July 16, 2022. To ensure ‘988’ calls reach the lifeline, providers in 36 states, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Michigan, must transition to 10-digit dialing systems. As a result, calls made on or after Oct. 24 will not be connected with only seven digits. Wisconsin customers with the area codes 543 and 715 already operate with a 10-digit dialing requirement, and nothing will change for those customers.

The 10-digit dialing requirement will not change the following:

●  A customer’s telephone number, including current area code

●  The price of a call, coverage area or other rates and services

●  A local call will remain a local call regardless of the number of digits dialed

●  Customers will continue to dial 1+ the area code + telephone number for all long-distance calls

●  Customers will continue to dial a prefix (such as “9”) when dialing from a multi-line telephone system (e.g., in a hotel, office building, etc.) as required

●  Customers can still dial three digits to reach 711 (relay services) and 911 (emergency services)

●  If 211, 311, 411, 511, 611 or 811 are currently available in a community, customers can continue to dial these codes with just three digits

●  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can still be reached by dialing 1-800-273-8255 even after the ‘988’ code is in effect.