11-digit dialing appears here to stay

It seems like only yesterday a Wheaton resident could call a friend in Addison using just seven digits.

Actually, that was yesterday.

Today marks the dawn of a new "overlay" area code -- 331 -- within the 630 district. If you just dial seven numbers, all you'll get is a recorded message on the other end. Instead, callers need to punch in 1 plus 630 and the other seven digits.

Illinois Commerce Commission administrators said the 630 area code officially reached capacity in June.

The reason is the expanding cell phone market and the burgeoning population base, officials say. The 630 area code includes most of DuPage and parts of Cook, Kane, Kendall and Will counties.

The switch doesn't mean local calls will cost more, and all current 630 users will keep their area codes. People wanting to add new lines should still be able to get in under the 630 umbrella.

Members of the Citizens Utility Board, however, pooh-poohed the notion of 630 exhaustion.

The watchdog group contends there are sufficient numbers in the 630 exchange to avoid requiring the 11 digits.

"It's an unnecessary inconvenience," CUB Executive Director David Kolata said.

"Every area code has roughly 7.9 million numbers available. The system is used very inefficiently, and phone companies tend to hoard numbers."

The ICC says it's more complex than that. The agency applied for an overlay in 1998, forecasting that a new area code would be needed by 2001.

Conservation and monitoring of number use stretched that out to 2006, ICC engineering analyst George Light said.

There are up to 3.9 million working telephone numbers in the 630 area code. But disposal of those numbers isn't up to the state.

Instead, the numbers are divvied up among phone service providers who receive a set amount at a time, Light explained.

Complicating matters is the fact prefixes for seven-digit phone numbers aren't given out randomly. Instead each prefix is particular to a geographic area within 630.

"The biggest misunderstanding over area codes is that they're not handed out like social security numbers," Light said.

It's likely the first 331 numbers will be allocated to cell phone users as cell phone service providers were the first to request new numbers.

Asked how the ICC reached 331, Light said picking the three digits was a relatively arbitrary choice.

"It's more of a consideration of what's available and something that is easy to remember," he said. "The 331 has a repeating digit so it's easier to remember."

Asked to give an independent view, the Illinois Institute of Technology's Martin L Bariff agreed dialing 11 numbers is a "burden."

The fact the ICC assured existing customers that they should be able to add new lines and keep 630 proves there are still numbers available, said Bariff, an associate professor of information management.

But it's difficult to obtain data on unused numbers from the private sector, he noted.

"I'm not sure what the answer is, since the truth is at the discretion of those who hold the keys to the kingdom," Bariff said.

Overlay survivor

People in the 847 area code went through an overlay in 2002 with the addition of 224. That was followed by an overlay in the 815 area code in February, which gained 779.

In 2002, Dick Fulk, a real estate broker and owner of a Century 21 office in Arlington Heights, summed up the change as a "pain in the backside."

These days, "I got used to it so I don't even notice it anymore," he said.

One DuPage institution that relies on reaching out to hundreds of doctors' offices and thousands of patients is Edward Hospital in Naperville.

Edward chief technology officer Laura Bagus said the hospital's been preparing for the changeover for several weeks.

Employees who deal with the public by phone were reminded several times and all the hospitals' automatic dialing systems for voice and fax had to be reprogrammed.

About 15 technology analysts spent two to four hours of time getting Edward up to speed, Bagus estimated.

"It's just a fact of life and you live with it," she said.

As for the survival of the seven-digit call in any large urban area, Bagus said, "I think those days are over."