What is the reasoning behind area codes?

Who designed the area code sequence? It makes no sense at all! Why is 918 for Oklahoma, but 919 is North Carolina?

Please help!What is the reasoning behind area codes?
in the 1940s, and before, phone #s were 5 digits.

somewhere around 1950, 2 digits were added, to the front.

at that time, if you wanted to do a long distance call, you had to have an operator.

as technology improved, AT%26amp;T assigned area codes, to allow people to call w/o an operator.

the first area codes had either a 0 or 1 as the second digit.

that was because, when the 2 digits were added to the front, 0 and 1 were not used - the 2 digits all had alpha names.

mine was JAckson (JA = 52).

a few years ago, country codes were assigned, allowing people to make overseas calls w/o operator assistance.



as to how were area codes assigned, there was little planning.

but there was some.

popular areas were more often assigned low numbers.

because at that time, all phones were dial phones, and the low numbers were easier, and faster to dial.

212 was new york. 213 was LA. 312, chicago. %26lt;== THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION.

i guess that would make 909 low man on the totem pole. ;-)



at first, some phone exchanges allowed you to dial either a 7 digit number, or an area code %26amp; number, and the phone system determined which it was by looking at the 2nd digit. if it was 0 or 1, it was an area code.



these days, you always have to dial the 1 because there are so many numbers that that area code rule can no longer be maintained.

and, it probably won't be many years before there will need to be another change, adding at least 1 more digit.



and just for interest, in the 1940s, the san francisco china town area did not have dial phones.

if you wanted to call someone, the operator had to make the connection.

just imagine, "Can i talk to Sam Lee?" and you have to figure out which sam lee. "Oh, the one on Grant street, near Pacific."
you're welcome. my pleasure. ;-)



(that's one thing about being old. there's too much history that you lived through:)

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What is the reasoning behind area codes?
go ask the person who made area codes!!What is the reasoning behind area codes?
The logic behind it is so the same 7 digit # can be used in neighboring areas. If the area codes are too similar in an area, then there will be many calls that will be "sorry, you have the wrong #".
They have to do with a geometric grid that routes calls in the most efficient manner when the effects of such things as magnetic poles and gamma rays are factored in.
I agree - 212 is NYC; 213 is Los Angeles!

I think that they are separate so that we don't confuse the numbers for people who live near each other. They were set up before so MANY of us did so MUCH traveling and knew people all over the place.
The original reasoning behind area code requirements, back in the days of dial phones, was to assign the quickest-to-dial codes to the most populous regions.
Area codes are present to limit confusion and to add a magnitude of other numbers to the list. 555-1515 can now be used in each new area code listed instead of just once. There is no rhyme or reason to the numbers, but once you become familiar with an area, you learn what area codes belong to what towns (e.g., Cleveland 216) Until recently (the last few years) we did not have to type in the area code to dial our neighbor. Now we do. Go figure. But we now have more telephone numbers to use. As populations grow new area codes are added to create more phone numbers (440 was added recently in Ohio). Hope this helps.
they are setting up concentration camps right now its for population relocation the details are kept secret
Area codes were not meant to give a geographic location like zip-codes, they are simply a way to extend the possible combinations of phone numbers available in this country.
well theres obviously more than 10,000,000 people with phone numbers (think 000-0000 - 999-9999) So by using area codes it allows for more numbers and for you to get your call in quicker because it automatically knows what part of the country its going to be sent to.
The US area code was established to provide a larger number of phone numbers to the US population. Originally, the area codes were assigned according to geographic region but afterward, they just started getting asigned as they became needed. The number of the area code mean nothing and should not be construed as any sort of geographic identification system.