Talk:Ten-digit dialing

Commonality of 10-digit dialing

This article made 10-digit dialing seem a lot more common than it is. For example, it refers to a time when 10-digit-dialing was unnessecary as "in this period," even though we are still in that period: 10-digit-dialing is limited some metro areas. Also, at the end of the article, it says that 10-digit-dialing is "becoming the norm" but is "not yet universally required." This tone suggests that the US using ten-digit-dialing with pockets not yet conforming. Just the opposite is true! Even many major metro areas don't use ten-digit-dialing. So I've done some re-wording to reflect this. -Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.145.102.253 20:01, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Commonality in 2011?

Well this comment was a while ago, but I think now it has become more common now? Not necessarily through overlays, but cell use. Now that people have cell phones they tend to keep their number even when moving across country. But even before that, I have always used 10 digits really since the split in my area[Seattle/'burbs '97], even when dialing in code numbers(we have no overlay). And everyone I know always gives out the area code when asked for a number without thought. My view maybe slanted by my Seattle upbringing with ol' M$ right down the street and all bringing in people from all over tho. -Audiovore (talk) 01:27, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Terminology

I don't know it if it a regional issue, but I have heard "11-digit dialing" far more often than "10-digit dialing". I believe the admittedly less common "11-digit dialing" should be reflected on this page and through a redirect page. I am going to be bold and do so, but I am putting it up for discussion here as well. -Rrius (talk) 00:32, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

We should talk about both 10- and 11-digit dialing, but we should not equate them, as they are not always interchangeable. Doctor Whom (talk) 23:14, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

I understand what you are saying, but when the first overlays were introduced in the Chicagoland area, it was referred to as "11-digit dialing" and has been since. A quick search shows the same in NYC and LA. It may not be accurate, but people use it. -Rrius (talk) 01:42, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

From what I could gather from NANPA and localcallingguide.com, in those areas, it is or at least originally was 11-digit dialing (leading 1 required). In other areas, like Maryland and Northern Virginia, 10- and 11-digit dialing have been kept separate ever since 10-digit dialing was introduced. Doctor Whom (talk) 22:33, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Written Standard

So will the numbers be written: 987 654 3210 OR 987.654.3210  ?? The first one looks like a credit card number —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.47.83.60 (talk) 15:59, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

In the US, neither. The ways of separating area codes vary, but the exchange and station code are virtually always separated by a hyphen (555-1212). Area codes are sometimes set off the same way or by a slash (212/555-1212), but more often, the area code is in parenthesis with or without a space after the closing bracket: (212) 555-1212 or (212)555-1212.

I live in Edmonton, Alberta which is part of the new 10-digit-dialing that's starting. More often than not, I see phone numbers as 780-555-1212, 780.555.1212, or the old (780) 555-1212. Any combination of them is common. Corath (talk) 17:19, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Why is 10-digit required?

TLDR: because it's the law.

Some areas in the US let you dial less than seven digits. For example, if your number was 987-654-3210 and your neighbor was 987-645-3211, you could just dial 3211 (yes, this is from the phone company, not a PBX). Why couldn't they use this same logic for an overlay? If you just dial a seven digit number, slap a 1+area code in front of it before processing it on the switch. This can also be done on a VoIP PBX. Some information on why this is necessary would be useful. 72.87.188.156 (talk) 08:43, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Any common analog telephone adapter will do this for voice over IP; les.net subscribers can also enable this (7 or 10-digits defaulted to +1- or +1-NPA right at the switch). No obvious reason why a smartphone app couldn't be created, either. If seven-digit calls within an area code are failing, its because telcos want them to fail. Sadly, the CRTC and (to a lesser degree) the FCC are a nightmare of regulatory capture; they listen to carriers, not consumers, even in the few instances where a US state regulator or consumer group has tried to fight this in court. K7L (talk) 15:13, 2 November 2014 (UTC)

It is purely a legal matter.

The courts have held that permitting 7-digit dialling to existing providers while requiring 10-digit or 11-digit dialling to new providers would be tantamount to endorsing an anti-competitive rort that would freeze out new entrants in the market (both new telcos and new subscribers). Where short dialling is permitted, it's allowed because that covers everyone in a locality; there's no "overlay" of numbers outside that range.

The alternative is a split, which forces half of a city to renumber their phones. In that case, because the new area code has about the same number of subscribers as the old one, there's no competitive advantage in retaining the old code, but there's certainly an inconvenience factor in being forcibly moved.

There's no technical reason why the default area code when dialling needs to match the area code of the number you're calling from.

The only question to my mind is why everyone is fixated on 10 digits? Why not 8, with a 2-digit area code? Martin Kealey (talk) 03:41, 21 April 2017 (UTC)

Phone numbers in North America have had 10 digits since the North American Numbering Plan was introduced in the 1940s. 10-digit dialing imposes a minor inconvenience on customers (having to dial a person's full telephone number), but doesn't fundamentally change anything. An 8-digit numbering plan would both drastically reduce the pool of available telephone numbers, and would require everyone in North America to adopt a new telephone number. --68.144.32.134 (talk) 16:54, 21 June 2017 (UTC)

Eight-digit dialing?

We don't seem to have any article that discusses eight-digit dialing, which I remember from my youth in the 1970s and '80s: if you wanted to call a number in your area code but outside your city, you dialed 1 + the phone number without the area code. So back when Austin and San Antonio were both in area code 512, if you were in Austin and wanted to call someone in San Antonio, you dialed 1-234-5678 (or whatever the phone number was); you only had to dial 1-512-234-5678 if you were outside the 512 area code. There was no circumstance to my knowledge where you would have called 512-234-5678. Nowadays, the latter is what you have to call even if it's just across the street. Does 8-digit dialing exist at all in the U.S. or Canada anymore? —Mahāgaja · talk 19:13, 26 March 2020 (UTC)

Eight-digit dialing is not a craft term, it is properly referred to as 1+7-digit dialing, just as "11-digit dialing" is 1+10-digit. Kbrose (talk) 23:47, 28 March 2020 (UTC)