Detroit phone prefix assignments

**rid0617** · November-20-10, 08:53 AM

Since we have decided we are coming to Detroit April 2011 after talking about it forever, I changed my magic jack to a Detroit phone number. They gave me area code 313 with prefix 459. Is that a certain area of Detroit or is it all random now?

**catch22** · November-20-10, 09:54 AM

Detroit Zone 1 [[downtown).

http://www.telcodata.us/telcodata/te...3&exchange=459

**stromberg2** · November-20-10, 04:55 PM

We'll see you in April. The forum picnic is usually on sunday before Memorial Day. Great way to meet a great bunch of folks.

Stromberg2

**MikeM** · November-20-10, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by rid0617

They gave me area code 313 with prefix 459. Is that a certain area of Detroit or is it all random now?

It's sorta random...not a legacy Bell Telephone exchange tied to a certain geographical area of the city.

**CLAUDE G** · November-20-10, 08:21 PM

There is some order to the phone prefixes in Detroit.

Here are a few examples

882,884, 885, 886, 343 - Grosse Pointe
921 - Indian Village
963, 963 - Corktown
365 - Hamtramck, Van Dyke
526 - Dearborn/Detroit Border

**Meddle** · November-20-10, 11:23 PM

I'd guess it's either an overlay or cell phone prefix that doubles as a virtual number for VoIP services.

**rid0617** · November-21-10, 05:29 AM

It got so crazy when we were in Atlanta, you had to dial the area code on every call because there were so many. I was 770, the guy across the street was 404 and there were a few others with 678.. So, a call even to your own area code required dialing 10 digits.

If nothing else I now have a Detroit local number for incoming call free to the caller. That will make please leave a message a lot easier.

**Meddle** · November-21-10, 05:32 AM

10 or 11 digit calling will be the norm before long. It was supposed to have happened already, but has been delayed partially due to all the people canceling landlines.

**CLAUDE G** · November-21-10, 06:43 AM

I have been dialing 11 Digits for the last 10 years, ever since cell phones became popular.

**jerrytimes** · November-21-10, 09:52 AM

I've gotten so used to dialing ten numbers. Your majic jack number doesn't apply to a geographical location. It's actually listed just as a Detroit number in the Metro PCS network.

http://www.numberinvestigator.com/

**rooms222** · November-21-10, 04:10 PM

Catch22's website is better. In the lower part of the page, it breaks the prefix down by thounsands, and not just ten thousands. It shows that all the numbers starting 313-459-0xxx are for magic jack while the other 9000 numbers in the prefix are metropcs. Because of scarcity, numbers can be doled out in thousand unit blocks rather than an entire prefix now. Many phone prefix websites dont have that level of detail.

Also, the zones do matter still as they determine who can call you for free with a landline. For example, the furthest northwest zone in detroit can call/be called from southfield and farmington as a local call. Often when I have activated phones and put Southfield as the location, I get 313 numbers that are in that Detroit zone [[e.g. 313-682 and 313-681). Those numbers can be called without long distance from Farmington and Southfield.

**mikefmich** · November-21-10, 06:02 PM

TUxedo for HW & some Pointes.

**MikeM** · November-21-10, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by rooms222

Also, the zones do matter still as they determine who can call you for free with a landline. For example, the furthest northwest zone in detroit can call/be called from southfield and farmington as a local call. Often when I have activated phones and put Southfield as the location, I get 313 numbers that are in that Detroit zone [[e.g. 313-682 and 313-681). Those numbers can be called without long distance from Farmington and Southfield.

Are there any Detroit Zones that can't be called local from another Detroit Zone?

**Detroitnerd** · November-21-10, 06:47 PM

I always thought downtown numbers started with 96 because it stood for Woodward, and that slightly more uptown numbers got 83 for Temple.

**catch22** · November-21-10, 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by MikeM

Are there any Detroit Zones that can't be called local from another Detroit Zone?

Not from a landline. They're all local.

**MikeM** · November-21-10, 07:53 PM

Maybe a better question would be: can you call any zone in the 313 from another zone in 313 without it being local?

**Detroitnerd** · November-21-10, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by MikeM

Maybe a better question would be: can you call any zone in the 313 from another zone in 313 without it being local?

In the old days, there were "toll calls" within an area code, and I'd have to dial a 1 first to call, say, Rochester from Dearborn.

**rooms222** · November-22-10, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by MikeM

Maybe a better question would be: can you call any zone in the 313 from another zone in 313 without it being local?

It appears that since the 734 split, all 313 numbers can call each other, but there the downtown exchanges can only call 313 [[and the single 248-777 exchange for some arcane reason)as a local call. All the other Detroit zones have additional numbers they can call in 248/734/586.

These two tools are useful:

http://localcalling.sbc.com/LCA/lca_input.jsp

http://www.areacodedownload.com/313/index.html

Update: 248-777 is actually a 248 exchange situated physically in Detroit Zone 5, the Old Redford central office.

**Gistok** · November-22-10, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by rooms222

It appears that since the 734 split, all 313 numbers can call each other, but there the downtown exchanges can only call 313 [[and the single 248-777 exchange for some arcane reason)as a local call. All the other Detroit zones have additional numbers they can call in 248/734/586.

This is true.... on the far east side of Detroit... the area code 313 TUXEDO Exchange 881, 882, 884, 885, 886 which includes much of the Grosse Pointes, Harper Woods, [[and yes parts of) the far east side of Detroit, and 1 small subdivision in St. Clair Shores..... and the neighboring area code 586 PRESCOTT Exchange 77x numbers in St. Clair Shores, Roseville and Eastpointe... require the area code when dialing... but they are considered local phone numbers to each other.

AFAIK... only the 248 area code is an area code overlay... and all 248 numbers in Oakland County require dialing all 11 digits for any other 248 number. This is not the case in other metro Detroit area codes [[for example numbers within 586 require only 7 digits for any other number within 586).

**WaCoTS** · November-26-10, 12:38 AM

actually i believe downtown originally had the "BEll" exchange, before WOodward was adopted during expansion.

Dearborn actually has three Central Offices, the Oregon/LUzon [[east Dearborn), the Fairborn [[mostly serving Ford Motor Co, IIRC), and Dearborn-Main/LOgan [[west Dearborn).

much of detroit's west side was also covered by the LUzon wire center, and some of the extreme west side like Parkland neighborhood are in the LOgan. Old Redford was the KEnwood exchange.