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Get ready for South Jersey’s newest area code

Starting Aug. 18, residents living in the 609 or 856 area codes will need to change the way they dial numbers on cell phones and landlines.

Staff
    by Avalon Zoppo
    Published 

South Jersey — land of the 609 and 856 area codes — is getting a new dialing procedure.

That's because a new 640 area code is being rolled out in September in the central and southeastern parts of the state as the supply of 609 number combinations runs out.

Come Saturday, South Jersey residents will need to change the way they dial numbers on cell phones and landlines. Anyone living in Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Salem, Cumberland, Gloucester, Atlantic, and Cape May Counties will be affected. Three years ago, as 609 combinations started dwindling, New Jersey service providers and the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) began discussing an overlay plan.

"Once 609 began reaching exhaustion, we started to plan another area code," said Beth Sprague, industry liaison for the NANP, which was implemented in 1951 in an attempt to simplify long-distance dialing.

The new three-digit code will overlay the geographic area from Trenton to Cape May.

The same happened in Philadelphia when a third area code rolled out in March.

Here's how dialing in South Jersey will work:

  1. If you're calling from 609 or 640 to 609 or 640: area code + seven-digit telephone number

  2. If you're calling from 609 or 640 to 856 or any area code other than 609 or 640: 1 + area code + seven-digit telephone number

  3. If you're calling from 856 to 609 or 640 or any area code other than 856: 1 + area code + seven-digit telephone number

  4. If you're calling from 856 to 856: seven-digit telephone number

Those who dial incorrectly will hear a recorded message with directions on how to properly make a call.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities hopes the new dialing procedure will become habitual. But to simplify the process, callers can update their contact lists or speed dial with the new dialing combinations. Other equipment, such as fax machines and voicemail services, will need to be reprogrammed.

"It is important that all consumers take a moment to understand and implement the new dialing procedures," said Joseph L. Fiordaliso, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, in a statement. "Once they get used to the changes, the new dialing procedures should become second nature."

The 609 area code was introduced in 1947 as one of New Jersey's two original area codes, and the 856 number was added 50 years later in Camden, Salem, and Gloucester Counties, and parts of Burlington County.