New overlay area code chosen for Dayton

The 326 code will be for new numbers and will take effect March 8, 2020. Your current phone number will not change.

The new Dayton-region area code will be 326 to overlay the 937 code use for years, according to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

The new code will be only for new numbers, and it will take effect on March 8, 2020. Your current telephone number and 937 area code won’t change. But in time, you will be dialing 10 to 11 numbers to make a phone call.

The PUCO said it has a plan to implement the new 326 area code, overlaying the new trio of numbers atop the existing 937 area code, which will continue.

The 937 area code is expected to run out of available phone numbers in just two years, the PUCO said.

The process ahead is fairly straightforward. Mandatory 10 or 11-digit dialing for all local calls begins on Feb. 8, 2020, a month before the new 326 area code takes effect.

“Customer education” by telecommunication providers will begin in earnest on Feb. 11, 2019, according to a PUCO timeline.

“They’ll create some mailers and some bill inserts, just to let people know of the dates,” said Matt Schilling, PUCO spokesman. “The big thing is the mandatory 10-digit dialing date.”

Starting Aug. 10, 2019, customers are encouraged to begin practicing the 10 or 11-digit dialing for all local calls so that it becomes second-nature by Feb. 8, 2020.

Ohio overlays are almost routine by now. An overlay of 380 over the 614 area code took effect in February 2016. And an overlay of 220 over the 740 area code took effect in April 2015.

Calls currently considered local calls will remain local calls. And calls between 937 and 326 will also be local calls.

Long distance calling won’t change, the PUCO said.

Customers are encouraged to update any saved contacts, speed dials, business cards, personal checks, programmed alarm devices, to include the area code + telephone number format.