Change coming to Idaho phones

A practice period for 10-digit dialing has started as Idaho prepares to introduce a new area code.

Local landline calls in Idaho will go through with or without an area code between now and Aug. 5, when 10-digit dialing becomes mandatory.

"Next August, all calls, even local calls without an area code, will not be completed," according to a news release from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission. "Callers will get a recording telling them to hang up and dial again and include the area code."

One month later, Idaho will introduce its second area code, 986. The 986 numbers will be assigned anywhere in the state as a need for more telephone lines arises.

The new area code is required because the state is running out of 208 numbers as use of cellphones, the internet and other innovations proliferate.

The state chose to move to 10-digit dialing, as opposed to assigning the new area code to a specific geographic region, for a number of reasons.

It could have been costly, requiring businesses and others in the region that got the new area code to replace business cards and other promotional materials.

Additionally, technology is moving in a direction that would have eventually mandated 10-digit dialing regardless of what the state did.

The practice period is intended to give Idaho residents a chance to adjust to the change. The commission is advising consumers to check any equipment that might be linked to a telephone number to be sure it's ready.

The devices that are affected include life-safety systems, fax machines, internet dialup numbers, alarm and security systems, security gates, call-forwarding settings, speed dialing, voice mail services and ankle monitors.

In some cases, Idaho residents have already had to use 10 digits. XO Communications, which provides telephone service to some employers in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, recently made a change prematurely that requires Lewiston callers to dial 10 digits for Clarkston calls, Gene Fadness, a spokesman for the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, said in an email.

XO Communications did so when it was updating its switch and is going to redo the setting so that 10 digits won't be required until Aug. 5, Fadness said.

Cellphone providers have more leeway about when they convert to 10 digits. Inland Cellular started 10-digit dialing more than five years ago when it was updating its system, said Chip Damato, director of business strategies.

The telecommunications provider did so partly because it knew 10-digit dialing was on the horizon and believed at the time it would happen much sooner than 2017, Damato said.

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Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.