Mandatory 10-Digit Dialing Begins April 3 for 814 Region in Preparation for New Overlay Area Code

Beginning on April 3, all phone calls placed in the 814 area code will require 10-digit dialing, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission reminded residents on Monday.

The 814 area code is the largest in the state and the only one that currently allows for seven-digit calling without first dialing the area code.

The reason for the change? Starting May 1, a new overlay area code — 582 — will be placed into service within the 814 region, as previously reported. When all 814 phone numbers are exhausted, the new 582 area code will be assigned to customers in the 27-county region in central and northwest Pennsylvania, including Centre County. Existing 814 phone numbers will not change.

When 10-digit dialing goes into effect, calls made with only seven digits will receive a recorded message prompting the caller to hang up and redial using the full 10-digit number.

“To prepare for 10-digit dialing, consumers and businesses are encouraged to check devices that store telephone numbers – including cell phones and other devices with ‘speed dial’ functions – to be certain that all the stored contacts include the area code,” a statement from the PUC said. “Moving forward, when adding any new numbers to those devices, be sure you include the area code.”

Other than the obvious devices like cell phones, landlines and fax machines, PUC advises also checking configuration of devices such as life-safety and medical alert systems; alarm/security systems and security gates; call-forwarding settings and voicemail services; internet dial-up systems; automatic dialing equipment and software; and speed-dialers.

Established in 1947, 814 is one of Pennsylvania’s four original area codes and the only of those to not undergo any form of area code “relief,” either through a geographic split or through an overlay. The Federal Communications Commission mandates that states implement a relief plan when an area code is about to exhaust its available numbers.

582, meanwhile, has long been considered a possibility for the region. In 2009, a plan proposed splitting 814 geographically and assigning 582 to the northwestern part of the state. That plan, however, was eventually dropped in 2012 as residents and telecommunications providers advocated for an overlay instead.

The 582 overlay is projected to provide a stock of phone numbers for the region for 67 years.

In addition to most of Centre County, the 814 area code includes all or portions of Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Fulton, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin,  Potter, Somerset, Tioga, Venango, Warren and Westmoreland counties.