ALBANY — The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today announced that residential, business and wireless customers within the existing 631 area code in Suffolk County should be preparing for the introduction of the new 934 area code, and the start of 10-digit dialing (631 or 934 plus the 7-digit local telephone number) starting June 18, 2016.

To ensure a continuing supply of new telephone numbers, the new 934 area code was added to the 631 area code region which serves all the communities in Suffolk County. The new 934 area code is being “overlaid” or superimposed over the same geographical area as the 631 area code. Beginning July 16, 2016, customers in the 631 area code region requesting new service, an additional line, or in some cases moving their service, may be assigned a number in the new 934 area code. The Commission ordered an overlay for the area served by 631 in 2014.

The area code overlay will require 631/934 consumers to dial 10 digits (area code + 7 digit local telephone number) when making calls within the 631/934 area or 1+10 digits when calling other area code regions. To allow customers to adjust to the new dialing pattern, a permissive dialing phase has been in place since July 18, 2015.

During this current permissive dialing phase, customers have been able to place a call within the 631 area code by dialing 7 or 10 digits (area code + 7 digits). Calls to other area codes must still be dialed as 1+ ten digits. The ability to place calls within 631 using 7 digits will end June 18, 2016. Beginning that same day, all calls within 631/934 must be placed using the 10-digit telephone number (631 or 934 plus the 7-digit local telephone number). Calls to other area codes must still be dialed as 1+10 digits.

The most important facts that consumers and businesses need to know about the upcoming 934 area code overlay are:

• Your existing telephone number, including current area code, will not change.
• You will need to dial area code + telephone number for all calls within 631/934 (“10-digit dialing”).
• You will continue to dial 1+ area code + telephone number for all calls to other area codes.
• What is a local call now will remain a local call.
• The price of a call, coverage area, or other rates and services will not change due to the overlay.
• You can still dial just three digits to reach 911.
• If 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711 or 811 are currently available in your community, you will still dial these codes with just three digits.

Customers should identify their telephone number as a 10-digit number (area code + 7-digit telephone number), and include the area code when giving the number to their friends, family, business associates and business customers, etc.

Customers should ensure that all services, automatic dialing equipment, applications, software, or other types of equipment recognize the new 934 area code as a valid area code. Some examples are life safety systems, fax machines, Internet dial-up numbers, alarm and security systems, gates, speed dialers, mobile phone contact lists, call forwarding settings, voicemail services, and similar functions. Be sure to check your business stationery, advertising materials, personal checks, and your personal or pet ID tags to ensure the area code is included in your telephone number. Remember that all calls within the 631/934 area must be programmed using 10-digits and you need to add “1” for all calls to other area codes.

For more information, please visit either your service provider’s website or the New York Public Service Commission’s website at http://goo.gl/jvIOP4.