If you've tried to make a local call today but dialed only the customary seven digits, then you know that your call didn't go through. What was missing was 419.
Mandatory 10-digit dialing - 419 plus the local number - went into effect at 12:01 this morning. Getting used to it isn't a life-and-death adjustment, but it likely will catch many Toledoans by surprise.
Brooke Keller, a University of Toledo student from Defiance, nearly was caught off guard. She was among several people interviewed who wasn't aware of the 10-digit dialing or the fact that the region soon will have a new area code, 567, for new phone numbers.
‘‘Really?'' she asked, when told of the change. “I'll probably forget and dial the seven digits until I get used to it.'' She had another task ahead of her that could face many people - reprogramming a cell phone that has numerous seven-digit numbers.
Toledoan Randy Dawson admitted he hadn't heard of the change, either. ‘‘It won't bother me, though. I work out of town a lot and already use 419 with my cell phone,'' he said.
When just seven digits are dialed, a reminder will be heard that the call isn't going through, said Denise Koenig, a spokesman for SBC Ameritech. The caller first will hear a beep and then the message: “It is now necessary to dial the area code plus the number to complete this local call.”
The reason for the change is that the availability of phone numbers in the 419 region rapidly are being used up. Once that happens, probably sometime in the first half of next year, all new telephone numbers will be given the new area code. That means someone adding a phone in their house could have two area codes.
People with programmed phone numbers on home and business phones or on computer modems will need to add the 419 to complete the call.
Stacy Richard of Toledo first heard about the change yesterday. ‘‘It's kind of a nuisance, but we've got to use it, right?” she said. “Knowing me, I'm sure I'll probably forget about it until I've made the call and hear the ‘do-do-do' and the message.''
In contrast, Toledoan Jason Brown says he's ready for it. ‘‘It's just three extra digits,” he said. “I'm sure I'll remember it.”
Leonard and June Randall, an elderly couple from Sylvania, said they don't understand what the big fuss is about.
Oliveanna Baumer, who works at the Chester Zablocki Senior Center on Lagrange Street in Toledo, said she occasionally has been dialing 419 for the past year and didn't find it to be a problem.,
“I know I'll forget to dial it and when it's not about to go through, I'll just have to dial it again,” she said. ‘‘Let's face it, we're becoming a society of numbers and this is just the latest step.''
First Published December 1, 2001, 3:56 p.m.
