New 679 Area Code Begins in November for Detroit and Other Areas. 10-Digit Dialing Soon Required.
The city of Detroit and its surrounding areas with a 313 area code will switch to a 10-digit dialing requirement and a new overlay area code later this year.
To prepare customers for the switch, a six-month “permissive dialing” period will go into effect on Monday, April 7, to help people get used to the new requirement. All local calls can be made with seven or 10 digits during that time. Additionally, all local calls will continue to be local even if you dial 10 digits.
Starting Oct. 7, however, all local calls must use the 10-digit phone number. Calls using only seven digits will not be completed as dialed.
WXYZ-TV detailed the following points to know about the upcoming 679 area code addition:
- Current telephone numbers, including the current 313 area code, will not change.
- Callers will need to dial the area code and telephone number for all local calls, including calls within the same area code.
- Callers will continue to dial 1 plus the area code and telephone number for all long-distance calls.
- A local call will remain a local call.
- The price of a call, coverage area, or other rates and services will not change.
- Callers can still dial using only three digits to reach 911 and 988, plus 211, 311, 511, and 811 where available.
These changes come after the North American Numbering Plan proposed two years ago that the Detroit area start using the 679 area code because number combinations using the current 313 area code are running out. The Michigan
Public Service Commission approved this proposal.
The 313 area code coverage includes the following:
- Allen Park
- Dearborn
- Dearborn Heights
- Detroit
- Ecorse
- Grosse Pointes
- Hamtramck
- Highland Park
- Inkster
- Lincoln Park
- Redford Township
- River Rouge
- Taylor
“It’s a problem that’s occurring throughout the country,” said Ryan McAnany, director of the Telecommunications Division of the Michigan Public Services Commission, in an interview with WXYZ-TV. “As technology has evolved, there’s a lot more demand for numbers, and at some point, numbers will run out altogether.”
