Making a phone call in four of Missouri’s six area codes, including the 660 area code, will change by the end of the year. By October of this year, you will need to dial 10 digits to call a phone within your own community. The Federal Communications Commission is mandating 10-Digit dialing in area codes that include a local prefix of 988. The change is necessary to allow for the establishment of “988” as a three-digit code to reach a National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline.
The Missouri Public Service Commission says “To avoid conflict with the new 988 code, all United States area codes that use a 988 prefix (for example 314-988-xxxx) must move to ten-digit local dialing. In Missouri, the affected area codes are 314, 417, 660, and 816. Area codes 573 and 636 do not use a 988 NPA prefix and can continue to use seven-digit local dialing.”
Under a plan by the Missouri Public Service Commission, the use of the 10-digit local dialing begins April 24th and will be mandatory by October 24th. This could have an effect on businesses that have programmed dialing systems and those that use FAX machines, as those numbers will need to be updated to include the local area code.
