KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 816 Kansas City region area code is getting a new number.
The Missouri Public Service Commission announced on Monday that it will soon begin implementing the new 975 area code in the Kansas City region.
The 816 area code serves communities such as Kansas City, St. Joseph, Blue Springs, Odessa, Harrisonville, Parkville and others.
All existing customers with area code 816 will still keep their current area code and their phone numbers will not change.
But as early as August 2023, companies can start requesting phone numbers with the 975 area code. By October 2023, those new numbers can be activated.
The Missouri Public Service Commission said this change is called an overlay plan and is happening because the 816 area code will soon run out of available phone numbers.
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator expects the Kansas City area to run out of 816 phone numbers by the second quarter of 2024.
The new 975 area code will coexist everywhere in the region where the 816 area code exists, and the cost of a call or other rates will not change.
All local calls must be dialed using 10 digits instead of seven. This shouldn’t be too much of a change for area code 816. In July 2022, area 816 was one of many in the United States that were required to initiate 10-digit dialing to accommodate the new 988 mental health hotline.
This isn’t the first time the Missouri Public Service Commission and the North American Numbering Plan Administrator have introduced a new area code in Missouri.
Just last year, the commission announced a new 557 area code for the St. Louis region. Mid-Missouri also got a new 235 area code last year in the current 573 region.
