The truth about area codes and markets

[ThePherb]

Hi everyone. I'm a little bit confused about the truth about area codes and markets in AT&T. I've gotten different answers from different people when contacting AT&T.

I have family plan with two lines. My number dates from around 1999, and was ported to AT&T around 2008. My wife's number is older, and was ported to AT&T around the same time. Both numbers have area codes in Seattle. About two years ago, we moved to California, but we kept our Seattle numbers. We just updated the billing address on our account. Now my wife wants to switch to a local number, but I want to keep mine the same. This raises a few questions:

--- Does AT&T "officially" have a problem with people moving to a different market and not changing their number to a local one? They've never said anything to us about it, but I'm afraid that if we point it out to them, they might want to make me change my number too, which I don't want to do.

--- Does AT&T yet allow two phones on a family plan to have numbers in different markets? The threads I've found about this are kind of old, I don't know what the current status is.

--- Is there any way for my wife to have her old number forward for a few months, so she can get everyone updated, short of paying for a new line? We thought about porting it to Google Voice, but it says that will cancel the line with AT&T, and then I think we'd get an ETF even if we immediately signed up for a new line/number. Is that right?

Thank you all.

[spdickey]

Hi everyone. I'm a little bit confused about the truth about area codes and markets in AT&T. I've gotten different answers from different people when contacting AT&T.

I have family plan with two lines. My number dates from around 1999, and was ported to AT&T around 2008. My wife's number is older, and was ported to AT&T around the same time. Both numbers have area codes in Seattle. About two years ago, we moved to California, but we kept our Seattle numbers. We just updated the billing address on our account. Now my wife wants to switch to a local number, but I want to keep mine the same. This raises a few questions:

--- Does AT&T "officially" have a problem with people moving to a different market and not changing their number to a local one? They've never said anything to us about it, but I'm afraid that if we point it out to them, they might want to make me change my number too, which I don't want to do.

--- Does AT&T yet allow two phones on a family plan to have numbers in different markets? The threads I've found about this are kind of old, I don't know what the current status is.

--- Is there any way for my wife to have her old number forward for a few months, so she can get everyone updated, short of paying for a new line? We thought about porting it to Google Voice, but it says that will cancel the line with AT&T, and then I think we'd get an ETF even if we immediately signed up for a new line/number. Is that right?

Thank you all.

1) No.
2) Yes in your case. Just change one number.
3) No. Once she gives up the number, its gone. No forwarding. And if you port the number to Google Voice, the account is disconnected.

[Nutflush920]

What you want is an NBI account. This allows you to have multiple phones on the same family plan with different area codes. I have this type of account. It doesn't cost anything to get.

[ThePherb]

So, I called in. The first rep said that I need to talk to relocation. I got transferred to relocation, and they said it's not possible without changing both numbers on the account. They said the only way to do it without changing both numbers is to break up the family plan and go onto individual plans. I asked about the NBI, and she said that's not possible unless I have a licensed business...

[spdickey]

Check out the thread at http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...-across-states

It can be done, but lazy customer no-service agents may not know how its done.

[FormerRuling]

Check out the thread at http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...-across-states

It can be done, but lazy customer no-service agents may not know how its done.

That is harsh! As someone working in a customer service center (just not on the phones currently) I can tell you that's not the case. Everyone knows about the NBI..I think a good bit of misinformation ABOUT the NBI that spreads through "in the know" channels like HowardForums can make it seem like customer service is just bullying or not caring about the obvious issue though.

While it is true people have had the issue fixed by getting an account located in the NBI, there are some roadblocks to consider.


The NBI is meant for businesses. This is not just a written policy where the rep tells you "Oh you have to have a business to do that" to get you off the phone..There are actual consequences (good and bad) to having your account there that make it suited better for businesses. Even if 8 out of 10 customers that present the issue of the OP are moved there and live happily ever after together as a FamilyTalk, the 2 other customers AT&T has effectively failed because they often weren't fully advised of the ramifications and/or something comes up and the process is VERY hard to reverse - AT&T has basically just lost those customers' loyalty when they could have been explained how the system works. This is why policy is there to begin with.

[i0wnj00]

Even if 8 out of 10 customers that present the issue of the OP are moved there and live happily ever after together as a FamilyTalk, the 2 other customers AT&T has effectively failed because they often weren't fully advised of the ramifications and/or something comes up and the process is VERY hard to reverse - AT&T has basically just lost those customers' loyalty when they could have been explained how the system works. This is why policy is there to begin with.

I was considering switching to NBI to combine out of state numbers together, but after a lengthy discussion with a rep regarding it, I made the decision not to combine those numbers in the meantime. I actually glad that the rep provided me with the issues associated with it or else I would have blindly converted without weighing the problems I could encounter with it. I'm not sure about other those who have already converted, but I don't really want to or have time to deal with the issues which currently surround it.

I was about to convert to NBI while under my former employers FAN, but ended up backing off due to certain issues.

I'm glad that somebody here could confirm that there are issues with how things work and pitfalls of switching to NBI in its current form.

[Endlessknight]

I was considering switching to NBI to combine out of state numbers together, but after a lengthy discussion with a rep regarding it, I made the decision not to combine those numbers in the meantime. I actually glad that the rep provided me with the issues associated with it or else I would have blindly converted without weighing the problems I could encounter with it. I'm not sure about other those who have already converted, but I don't really want to or have time to deal with the issues which currently surround it.

I was about to convert to NBI while under my former employers FAN, but ended up backing off due to certain issues.

I'm glad that somebody here could confirm that there are issues with how things work and pitfalls of switching to NBI in its current form.

What kind of issues?

I have an NBI for over 2 years now and I have yet to see any real difference other than I get to have numbers in different area codes and I'm always transferred to business support when I call 611.

[AnthroMatt]

What kind of issues?

I have an NBI for over 2 years now and I have yet to see any real difference other than I get to have numbers in different area codes and I'm always transferred to business support when I call 611.

Agreed. It was a total pain to switch over to NBI, but I haven't had any issues since doing so.

[jtludwig]

Interesting. Verizon recently made some changes where you can change your number online to any area code where they offer service. It would be nice for AT&T to do this.