Keeley Meier, Brandon Valley Journal
Starting in October, ‘605’ will be more than just a brand strategy. It will come back into play as a necessary part of making calls.
Residents will be required to dial ‘605’ before the following seven digits in order to make a call, even if the call is local.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted ‘988’ as a new three-digit number to be used nationwide to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline, starting July 16, 2022.
However, the transition will begin on Oct. 24 and will occur through July 16, 2022. Depending on the phone company residents use, they must begin to dial 10-digit numbers to complete a call starting in October.
Companies like Alliance Communications, though, recommend beginning the change now.
Amy Ahlers, marketing supervisor for Alliance, says clients should get used to dialing ‘605’ for local calls.
“In addition to changing their dialing habits, they also have to reprogram seven-digit local numbers to 10-digit numbers if they use speed dial or any other system that automatically makes calls for them,” Ahlers said. “Customers should contact their cell phone providers for additional information on making calls from their cell phones.”
The change is occurring to bring mental health to the forefront and make the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline more accessible by allowing users to simply dial ‘988’ instead of its current number: 1-800-273-8255.
The change will make ‘988’ a number like ‘911.’
Nationwide, this transition will affect 82 area codes across 36 states—any area codes in which 988 is a working prefix.
“In some states, 988 is a prefix for some local phone numbers,” Ahlers explained. “As an example, if a caller tried dialing 988-1111 after 988 becomes the suicide helpline number, the call would be sent to the suicide helpline. In that example, the caller should dial 605-988-1111 to ensure the call goes through.”
According to Paul VanDeBerg, business relations for Alliance, companies like Alliance will be getting the message out to customers regarding the transition.
“Alliance will be publicizing this change as much as we can to give the customers ample time to change their dialing habits and to adapt to the changes,” VanDeBerg said.
After the transition to 10-digit dialing is implemented, customers who forget to include the area code will receive an error message.
“If someone forgets to dial 605, the customer will receive this message: ‘Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and include the area code when calling this number,’” Ahlers said.
The transition will not require anyone to change their phone number, nor will it affect the price of a call, coverage area or other prefixes—such as dialing ‘1’ before the area code for long-distance calls and designated prefixes for multi-line telephone systems.
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission put together a list of changes that will be necessary to implement when 10-digit dialing is required:
- Life safety systems or medical monitoring devices (like LifeAlert)
- Private Branch Exchanges, or PBXs
- Fax machines
- Internet dial-up numbers
- Fire or burglar alarm and security systems or gates
- Speed dialers
- Mobile or other phone contact lists
- Call forwarding settings
- Voicemail services and other similar functions
The commission also recommends checking contact information on websites, stationery, advertising materials, checks, identification tags and other similar items to make sure ‘605’ is included.
