THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 7, 1996 TAG: 9606050107
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 40 lines
When Hampton Roads' telephone area code changes from 804 to 757 July 1, some Chesapeake municipal government numbers also will gain a new prefix.
The change will alter only telephone prefixes in the 547-6--- and 436-8--- series of numbers. The new prefix will be 382.
If a city department or agency's number is not in either series, its number will not change. The change will in no way alter residential numbers.
``We were running out of numbers,'' said Sharon R. Hoggard of the city's public information team, adding that the switch will make room for the telephone, modem and fax lines of tomorrow.
``Rather than create a new prefix when we (ran out of numbers), GTE and Bell Atlantic got their heads together and created the new prefix now,'' said Hoggard.
The new prefix will not alter the last four digits in a phone number. If a number was 547-6344, it will become 382-6344.
And all 547 and 436 numbers will not change to 382, stressed Hoggard. If a number is in the 547-5--- series it would stay the same. The fourth digit is the key.
The city has already embarked on a public relations campaign to spread the word. Chesapeake is planning to advertise the change, and the electronic cable television bulletin board on Channel 27 has already announced the alteration.
Outgoing city correspondence envelopes are being stuffed with reminders, said Hoggard. Chesapeake is covering the bases. Business cards are being amended. So is stationery.
The new numbers are already up and running, in case callers want to practice making the big switch before the old numbers go away for good July 1.
After the first, those dialing the old numbers will be greeted by a recorded message bearing the new number.
The city phone book coming out July 1 will reflect both the change in area code and the new municipality changes.
Bell Atlantic and GTE telephone directories coming out later this year will also reflect the changes. by CNB