THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, December 9, 1995             TAG: 9512090331
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   45 lines

BUSTLE TO KEEP UP WITH THE CODE

The ring of a new area code in Hampton Roads will be a hassle for some businesses, cause confusion for others, but may send cash registers humming for a few.

Businesses will have to order new business cards, brochures, invoices, letterhead and other documents, all of which cost money. On the other hand, there's Bill Eger, owner of Printsource printing shop in Virginia Beach.

Business may be about to take off for local printers whose customers will have to update their marketing and billing materials.

``Sounds good to me,'' Eger said of the new area code. ``Then again, I'll have to reprint all my stuff, too.''

The telecommunications industry announced Friday that Hampton Roads would be getting a new area code. The new number will be rolled out during the second half of next year, but residents and businesses will likely have a six-month period during which both the current area code and the new area code work.

Lou Hatty, at Marlin Business Forms in Virginia Beach, said businesses that use a lot of printed material with their names on it order several times a year, so they'd have plenty of time to use the old forms before ordering new ones. But some smaller businesses may have to order a new supply before the old letterhead can be used.

``It's not just business cards and stationery,'' Hatty said. ``If I'm paying an invoice and I have a question about it - maybe whether I need to pay a sales tax - I need a number to call.''

Generally, though, businesses said the area code change shouldn't be a big problem. Ann Baldwin, director of research at Forward Hampton Roads, said the nuisance of changing printed materials could be lessened by notice of the area change.

``It might cause some confusion,'' Baldwin said, ``but it's going to be a national phenomenon, so people are going to be aware of it. It's just one of those things we have with growth and development.''

KEYWORDS: AREA CODE TELEPHONE SERVICE LONG DISTANCE PHONE SERVICE by CNB