11-Digit Dialing Will be Mandatory Starting In October
Sonora, CA–The Federal Communications Commission will soon be adopting 988 as the new three-digit number that will be used nationwide to reach the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis lifeline starting July 16th, 2022. Currently, customers must continue to dial 1-800-273-TALK to reach the Mental Health Crisis Lifeline until that date.
District 5 supervisor Jaron Brandon has been aware of this change and explains how this will impact how locals will make phone calls. He states “What they are planning to do is put an overlay, meaning you will have to dial +1 as if you were dialing from another country to be able to reach it. A new number might be 209 532 etc but now it will need to be 1-209 even if you’re local”
Starting October 24th, 2021 you must dial 11 digits(1 + area code + telephone number) for all local calls. After that date, local calls dialed with 7 digits will not go through, a automated recording will let you know the call cannot be completed.
You can find more information at the FCC website that explains the hotline here
