Telecommunications

FAQs Alaska's Transition to 10-Digit Dialing

What is changing about phone dialing in Alaska?

In order to avoid overlap with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline abbreviated phone number, Alaska is moving to a 10-digit dialing plan for all telephone calls across the state. To facilitate this change by the deadline of October 24, 2021, several updates to the UAF phone systems are necessary. Those updates include:

  •  All outbound calls will be prefixed with 8, instead of 9
  • All local calls will include the 907 area code
  • 4-digit internal dialing will no longer be officially supported

Why is it changing?

Alaska must change to a 10-digit dial plan to prevent dialing overlaps problems with the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, which uses the 3-digit 988 code. The new 988 hotline number presents an overlap with Alaska’s current 7-digit dialing plan, as the 988 prefix is also in-use within many Alaska phone numbers. More information can be found at the Regulatory Commission of Alaska web site.

Who will be affected by this change?

This change will affect all local calling across Alaska, both on the UAF campus and elsewhere. As of October 24th, 7-digit dialing will no longer operate across all of Alaska. Changes at the UAF campus must take place prior to this date. Stay tuned for local communications for scheduling updates for your campus. The following campuses will be scheduled for the changes prior to the October 24 th deadline:

  • UAF Main Campus users (including Toolik, Soldotna, Poker Flats)
  • Dillingham Campus
  • Nome Campus
  • Bethel Campus

For other UAF campuses, please contact your local office administrator for additional information.

What should customers expect after the change?

UAF telephone users will need to dial 8 to get outside the system. This is being done to gain
consistency with other campuses and also to avoid dialing overlap with our 907 area code.

  • Local calls must be dialed with the area code. Alternatively, you can dial every call as long
    distance (e.g. 8-1-907-555-1212) and the system will automatically complete the call correctly.
  • 4-digit internal dialing plans are affected by this change and can no longer be fully supported
    going forward. In order to prevent complex dialing rules for certain internal phone numbers,
    NTS recommends all internal calls are dialed as 7-digits.

Once the change takes place, how will customers dial calls?

  • Internal calls: 7-digit extension (e.g. 555-1212)
  • External calls will be prefixed with an 8, instead of 9
    Local: 8 + 907 + Phone Number (e.g. 8-907-555-1212) or 8 + 1 + 907 + Phone Number (e.g.
    8-1-907-555-1212)
  • Long Distance: 8 + 1 + Area Code + Phone Number (e.g. 8-1-907-555-1212)

What else should customers be concerned about?

  • All external call forwarding will need to be updated to follow these dialing rules.
  • If you have speed dials programmed, these will need to be updated to reflect the above rules.
  • If you have automatic dialers (e.g. fax machine), these will also need to be updated to reflect the
    above rules.

For any immediate concerns, questions or issues with this transition, please contact the NTS service Desk or submit a Telephone Support request.