Krysten Robertson is in area-code denial -- and she's not alone.
The Santa Monica resident's personal and professional life are centered in the 310 area code. Like others who call the Westside and South Bay home, she has little more than two weeks before callers are required to dial 1 plus the area code before a number, even for calls within the 310 boundaries.
For Robertson, 28, that means reprogramming scores of numbers on her cellphone and work line. Her dentist, her bank, her tax preparer, her credit union, even her local pizza joint.
"I just never really thought about how much of an inconvenience it's going to be," said Robertson, who's not sure if she'll bother reentering the numbers or just wait until she gets a new phone and start over.
After years of debate and delays, residents of the 310 will no longer be able to dial just seven digits to make local calls starting July 26. That milestone will be followed a month later with the overlay of the 424 area code. With 310 numbers being depleted, phone companies are set to begin distributing 424 numbers to new customers on Aug. 26.
The 310 zone is the first in California to get an overlay. Typically, regulators simply split areas when numbers begin to run out. But neither the Westside nor the South Bay wanted to give up the vaunted 310. State regulators approved the overlay last year, allowing existing phone customers to keep their 310 numbers.
If the 310-424 switch proves successful, overlays could be applied in other California area codes running out of numbers, including the 714 in Orange County, the 408 in San Jose and the 818 in the San Fernando Valley.
Still, some of the more than 1 million people living in the 310 said they don't like the idea of being area-code guinea pigs.
"It's a nightmare," said Mel Honl, a Torrance resident and business owner. His job keeps him on the phone nine hours a day. Honl expects to have to reprogram nearly 100 numbers with the 310 area code.
He said he plans to start later this week.
But some believe inconvenience is not the worst consequence. They fear that "automatic dialers" -- used in apartment gates, elevators, alarm and security systems -- could be rendered useless if the settings are not modified.
"We're telling people, 'It's coming, it's coming. Are you ready?' " said Marna Smeltzer, president and chief executive of the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce. "But my concern is that a lot of people, it's just not on their radar screen.... If they don't change them and put the 1-310 in, they're not going to work."
