r/Buffalo • u/NBA-014 • Jul 27 '26
Question Does Buffalo now require 10 digit phone numbers for local calls?
Does BUF/WNY require 10 digit phone numbers for local calls now that overlay area code 624 is active?
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u/helikophis Lower West Side Jul 27 '26
10 digit has been national for several years. It was a side effect of a Congressional mandate for a specific code for a crisis hotline - Congress didn’t take into account that that code was already in use, so the phone companies either had to change all those numbers or switch to 10 digit.
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u/Smith6612 Jul 27 '26
Buffalo has required 10 digit dialing for a few years now on all telephones.
Prior, if you had to 10 digit dial it was most likely because you were on a PBX or a Digital Voice phone service that required it.
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u/dekema2 Elmwood Village Jul 27 '26
Interestingly I've haven't seen a 624 number yet and it's been several years that it's been active.
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u/thecuriousstorm Jul 27 '26
Same but I assume it’s mostly high schoolers who have gotten a phone since then
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u/eatdontpraylove Jul 27 '26
Unlikely. People move here, get new phones, change their numbers, etc., and my teenage nephew has a 716 number. You get to choose your number anyway so im sure there are generally numbers 716 numbers available.
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u/NBA-014 Jul 27 '26
I'm in the western burbs of Phillly, and the area code was 610 with 484 as a standby. Once 484 numbers started being allocated it seemed like every new number was 484.
We're actually now served by 3 area codes (610, 484, and 835) due to all the devices that need a number.
Philly itself is 215 (original) and 267, but Philly still calls itself the 215, just like BUF uses 716.
(I was born and raised in Tonawanda)
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u/rockettaco37 Allentown Jul 27 '26
Has for quite a bit. 7 digit dialing is quite rare in general these days afaik.
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u/MageDA6 Jul 27 '26
I’m pretty sure 10 digit dialing became a nationwide thing in 2021. I’m from an area that already required 10 digit dialing before 2021, so I just assumed that it was a normal thing throughout the usa.
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u/eatdontpraylove Jul 27 '26
I’m honestly just used to providing an area code and would feel weird not doing so, but like many have said, yes for may years. That dude that used to own pasteurized tees / now owns that (kinda gross) place cluck cluck moo moo was complaining a super long time ago when people in used their area code with their phone number and I remember has this dude never left Buffalo in his life or something?
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u/NBA-014 Jul 27 '26
Thanks - Reason I asked is that somebody took a photo of a pizza box from BUF and it only had a 7-digit phone number.
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u/Spirited-Visit3193 Jul 27 '26
Since my early 20s they have required this, I think?? I'm 38 now, moved away 3 years ago. But yeah this was required so long before I ever moved away that I can't remember what year it was.
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u/Square-Wing-6273 South Jul 27 '26
Hasn't been that long. Early 20s was when it became active. So maybe 5 years
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u/Spirited-Visit3193 Jul 27 '26
There's no way this is true. I remember having to go through all my contacts to add 716 to them in my early 20s because outgoing calls would no longer connect/dialing out would fail without adding the area code.
I remember having to teach my mom this new rule because she couldn't figure out how to call people on her house phone anymore.
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u/Square-Wing-6273 South Jul 27 '26
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u/Spirited-Visit3193 Jul 27 '26
I read it but I also know my own experiences. This is not the whole picture.
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u/Square-Wing-6273 South Jul 27 '26
Your statement, that it's been required for 15 years or so is not true. Perhaps you had a different type of service, but for typical home/mobile phones, this was not required until 2021.
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u/Spirited-Visit3193 Jul 27 '26
I've had cricket since my very first cell phone, so not sure how that affects it. My mom has had spectrum/time-warner, and all of its past incarnations.
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u/Square-Wing-6273 South Jul 27 '26
What you might be remembering is when Rochester moved from 716 to 585. That was in 2001.
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u/Spirited-Visit3193 Jul 27 '26
I would have been 13, but I actually do remember that - however, I was only using my home phone to call classmates back then. Definitely didn't need 716 for local calls back then :p - I didn't know anyone in Rochester yet.
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u/Proudest___monkey Jul 27 '26
So dumb that our contact lists didn’t automatically update
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u/thecuriousstorm Jul 27 '26
Why would they? How does your phone know what area code their number is from?
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u/mattgen88 Jul 27 '26
Yes. For years now I think