From the archives: Sign of splitsville

This story was originally published in Newsday on February 16, 2000.

Suffolk County residents should soon begin seeing 631 on their phone bills as part of Long Island's area code split.

The new code may not have appeared on the bills of Bell Atlantic Corp. customers in Suffolk who received statements dated earlier this month, such as on the first or the seventh, but it will be on their March bills, company spokesman John Bonomo said.

Last week, Bell Atlantic's directory-assistance service made the switch to the new area code, so when customers ask for a number in Suffolk, they'll be told that the area code is 631. And customers' Caller ID boxes should now be displaying 631 as the area code if the incoming call is from Suffolk County.

The new code went into effect Nov. 1 but state regulators set up a five-month grace period during which callers should be able to use either 516 or 631 to reach Suffolk County phones. However, the transition hasn't been smooth for several Suffolk County businesses.

Herb Valfer, president of Cutting Tools in Deer Park, said he had at least four or five customers calling in from states such as Ohio and Minnesota who told him that when they used the 631 code, they heard a recorded message saying his phone number was disconnected or no longer in service.

"Things have been quiet over here, and we think it's because people haven't been able to use the new area code," said Valfer, who put the 631 area code on all his new catalogs.

Those in the telecommunications industry say that area code changes aren't always easy because thousands of pieces of telephone switching equipment are involved and many pieces must be changed.

Local phone companies, long-distance carriers, cellular companies, paging firms and a host of other companies get updates once a month on area code changes through a master list.

But sometimes, one or two switches are forgotten or programed incorrectly, keeping an entire neighborhood from dialing that new area code.

In some cases, equipment that businesses use hasn't been correctly updated. Many large companies use "private branch exchanges" or PBXs. That equipment allows employees to dial internal extensions, but can also be programed to restrict long-distance calls on certain telephone lines within a company. If the company's telecommunications department or contractor hasn't entered the new area code, employees will get an error message.

The New York Public Service Commission mandated the new area code because Long Island's 516, in use since 1951, is running low on numbers that can be assigned.

Despite any glitches, in less than seven weeks the 631 area code will be mandatory. As of April 1, people calling from Nassau to Suffolk or vice versa will have to dial 11 digits: 1 + the area code + the seven-digit phone number.

Telephone rates are not changing, however, and calls currently billed as local will stay at a flat rate of 10.6 cents per call while regional calls- from Riverhead to Glen Cove, for instance-will be billed by the minute.

For more information on recent area code changes, customers can call Bell Atlantic's toll-free line at 1-800-322-3558 for a recorded message in English; 1-800-882-7818 for information in Spanish; and 1-800-299-2630 to use teletype machines for the deaf and hearing impaired.