10 digit dialing coming to Eugene

In January 2010, 7 digit dialing for local telephone calls in the Eugene area will end and 10 digit dialing (area code + number) will be required to make local calls.  This change was worked out by the organization which manages the North American {telephone} Numbering Plan in cooperation with the Oregon Public Utility Commission in order to accommodate the addition of a new area code (458) for this region.

The new area code will cover the same regions as the existing 541 area code.  The advantage to this approach is that no existing phone numbers will change.  The disadvantage is that phones in the same calling area can have different area codes so local calls will require 10 digit dialing.  This change will apply to all telephones in the 541 area code including UO phones, other business lines, residential lines and cell phones.  The Portland/Salem region has required 10 digit dialing for a number of years now.

5 digit dialing to other UO phones (in Eugene and Portland) will remain unchanged through the area code transition.

Two important dates are associated with 10 digit local dialing.  On 7/12/09, Qwest will start allowing callers to dial local calls with 10 digits.  We will make the routing changes to the University's telephone system very close to this date  Both 7 and 10 digit dialing will be allowed from 7/12 of this year through 1/10/10.  On this date next January, 7 digit dialing will be turned off and 10 digit dialing will be required for all local calls.

Some areas to think about in preparing for this transition include:

- Databases that store 7 digit phone numbers.
- Auto dialers and speed dial lists that call local 7 digit numbers
- Literature that lists 7 digit numbers without area codes