LETTER: New area code needed to keep up with Western Washington growth.

The State of Washington population is booming and state regulators will soon be adding area code 564 to keep up with our growth.  

Here is an article that describes the new requirement in Western Washington requiring that all ten numbers have to be used (including the area code) for all calls...even for local calls. This affected me personally because I had a few pre-set numbers on my home phone stored for local Redmond calls as only seven numbers.   

It's important to update all stored local phone numbers to include the area code (if not already stored that way).  

I was just thinking that in the rare case of someone having an emergency trying to dial a family member/friend/organization in the local 425/206 area code locations and having the number stored as 7 digits only.

The new requirement does not affect 911 calls.

David Spackman
Redmond, WA.