You can hang up, but you can`t hide any longer. It`s coming in just two weeks.
It is the new 708 area code for many of Chicago`s suburbs. Or, put another way, it is a whole new identity for almost 300 communities, whether they like it or not.
And how are the suburbs adjusting?
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”It`s a pain in the neck,” said Evanston City Clerk Kris Davis.
”Seven-O-eight isn`t very sexy. It seems podunk. The big areas have the 2s and the 3s. Seven seems terribly indistinguishable.”
One executive is concerned that the suburban identity, solidified by a new, separate area code, will hurt business at his Arlington Heights-based real estate services firm, which has a national clientele.
”We`re concerned we will not be able to make it as convenient for our customer base having a long distance-type number,” said Phil Krawiec, president of Residential Title Network. ”The 312 area code is synonymous with Chicago, and we need that Chicago-based image. We`re actively pursuing office space in Chicago.”
But no amount of complaining and no mass movement to or from the city will stop what telephone company officials saw coming 10 years ago.
The Chicago suburbs will get a new area code Nov. 11 because Illinois Bell has exhausted the telephone numbers available to meet local
telecommunications needs.
The 312 area code stays in Chicago. Suburbs in the 815 area code are not affected by the change.
That means suburban callers must dial 1-312 to reach a telephone number in Chicago, and Chicago callers must dial 1-708 to reach a suburban number.
Calls between the two area codes will not carry long distance rates, so the need to dial four digits to reach city and suburban lines may only be a bother, not an extra expense, the phone company is quick to point out.
Callers can start using the 708 area code now, and those who haven`t adjusted to it by Nov. 11 will have a grace period until Feb. 10. During that period, calls will still go through for those who don`t dial the right area code.
Has the arrival of the new suburban area code sunk in yet?
”Evidently, people are not reading their telebriefs,” the newsletter inserted in Illinois Bell bills, said Kathleen Sterling, a local toll operator. ”They call every day, asking, `Have we changed the area code yet?` Operators deal with the ones who just aren`t paying attention, and we`ll be there ready for them, happy to help, when they need us.
”You never really think about things like an area code change. You just pick up your phone, and that`s it.”
But the change may not be so bad, some say.
”I thought it would be more traumatic than what I believe now,” said Mark Westergard, president of Union Pacific Realty in Oak Brook. ”We`re changing business cards and stationery, and it will be a little bit of a hassle getting used to it, but it hasn`t had a large impact on our business. We`re ready to change.”
If it`s any consolation for Chicagoans and suburban residents, new area codes have come to five major cities in the last five years, and the event has been viewed as a good indication of economic growth.
Since 1984, the New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami and Denver metropolitan areas have added new area codes. San Francisco, northern New Jersey and Dallas will add new area codes in their regions by the end of next year.
While the large cities usually keep the older, more recognizable area codes, the suburbs with the fresh numbers stand to benefit as well.
”Now that it`s got its own area code, San Diego is a little more distinctive,” said Michael Runzler, a spokesman for Pacific Bell, commenting on the changes that occured when San Diego took the 619 area code in 1982. The switch left Orange County with the 714 area code.
”The intense interest people have in their area code is unbelievable,”
Runzler added. ”A disc jockey in San Diego composed a song, `Ode to 619.` We anticipated more image problems than we got. It`s all in how you look at it.” According to Illinois Bell, 89 percent of the businesses in the Chicago area are aware of the planned change to the 708 area code, and 78 percent of the residents in the city and suburbs are aware of it.
Although there are no songs to celebrate the switch here, some businesses are listening happily to the ring of changeover-induced sales. Elyse Kennard, a printer in Glen Ellyn, said she has had sales of $25,000 over the last two months printing business cards, letterheads, labels, invoices and envelopes.
That`s enough business to keep her happy with the suburbs.
”There`s a lot of work out this way and there`s tons of business coming out,” she said. ”Businesses out here wouldn`t even think of going to Chicago.”
Sam Lipsey, an 81-year-old former vacuum cleaner salesman-turned owner of Talisman Speed Print in Glenview, has turned a handsome profit from businesses that want to avoid printing new forms with the 708 area code before using up their old ones.
His gold mine came in the form of small adhesive labels with the new area code and the effective date emblazoned on them. Many small business owners have chosen to simply paste the labels on their old stationery rather than printing up a whole new batch of forms.
”I thought about the 1.4 million phones in the suburbs,” Lipsey said.
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”I called a guy in Omaha who makes labels and asked how much it would cost for a million.”
Based on competitive prices, Lipsey calculated that he could sell 1,000 labels for $10, so he ordered 2 million. Since then, he`s ordered another 4 million, and he`s waiting for more.
”My little gamble to save people a little money has turned into a crazy thing,” Lipsey said. ”I`ve been having too much fun to think about the money I`ve made.”
For those yearning for 312, Illinois Bell is offering a remote call-forwarding service that will allow businesses, and residents, to keep the
”312 identity.” For instance, a Lombard-based business can purchase a new 312 telephone number that forwards the call to the original number, which is in the 708 area. Chicago-based offices with suburban customers can obtain a 708 number that would forward calls to the 312 number.
Remote call-forwarding costs $15.51 per month per line, plus usage. Normally, $84.50 in service order and connection charges apply, but Illinois Bell is waiving the charges on orders placed before Feb. 28.
Some businesses are grateful they invested in an 800 toll-free number.
Mae Pepper, owner of H&M Limousine Service in East Dundee, is relieved she started using toll-free numbers five years ago, since many of her customers are out-of-town business people who call for reservations before flying into O`Hare International Airport.
”If you`ve been in the business for 20 years, you learn to cope with the changes,” Pepper said. ”I`m glad I did ahead of time.”
Since June, Illinois Bell has converted more than 140 of its 156 switching centers so that they will understand the 708 area code. The last centers will be converted just one week before the new area code goes into effect.
Those outside the Chicago area who need to call the 555-1212 directory assistance number will be able to get information about numbers in the 708 area by dialing 312, and vice versa, officials said. That service will be evaluated in late 1990 for possible changes.
Illinois Bell will mail new calling cards for customers in the 708 area code early next month, officials said.
Cellular phone owners won`t have to change their phone numbers, according to cellular telephone service providers. However, if a suburban caller mostly uses the cellular phone for suburban calls, he or she can have the phone reprogrammed from 312 to 708 to make calling more convenient. That will require a new phone number, company officials say.
Additionally, the cellular phone number change is free until May, cellular providers say, adding that customers who want to change their numbers should contact the local dealer for reprogramming.
While Illinois Bell plans to set up a ”war room” to handle misdialed calls when the new area code takes effect, long distance telephone companies are assuring their customers that service is not affected by the change. They also have trained their operators to handle misdialed calls.