All Wisconsin calls will require dialing the area code

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Starting Sunday people in Wisconsin will have to dial local numbers using 10 digits — the area code and the seven-digit phone number.

Currently, people in Wisconsin can place a call to a number in the same area code without dialing the area code.

The Journal Sentinel reports it will affect both landlines and cellphones and all of Wisconsin’s six area codes, as well as more than two dozen other states that have not already switched to 10-digit dialing.

The change is because the Federal Communications Commission is establishing 988 as the new nationwide phone number for suicide prevention and mental health help.