Leaders agree: Area code change a necessary burden

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 5, 2000

L’Observateur / July 5, 2000

LAPLACE – When the Louisiana Public Service Commission decides on the new area code numbers for St. Charles and St. John parishes, the only hasslewon’t just be punching in a longer string of numbers to reach out and touch someone.

The change was announced after a vote by the PSC on June 21 to provide a new area code for most of the present 504 area, while leaving 504 to Orleans and most of Jefferson parishes.

Changing an area code means also changing business cards, letterheads and signs, pager numbers, cellular numbers and fax numbers. For the privatesector this could be quite a headache both in time and money.

“The impact on local businesses will be major,” said Helen Banquer, president of the St. John Parish Business Association. “Not only will they have tochange envelopes and letterheads but other things like ad layouts for the newspaper and ads in the yellow pages.”Banquer couldn’t give a dollar amount on how the area code change will affect businesses. She said cost would depend on how much pre-printed material abusiness owns.

“But with growth I don’t see any other option,” Banquer said of the area code change.

Emile Garlepied, president of the St. Charles Parish Business Association,added, “It will be a burden to the business owners, but what alternative do we have?” Years ago, he continued, a business only needed a telephone. Now, with thecommunication technology explosion, most have cellular phones, fax machines, pagers and, in many cases, websites, all dependent on their basic telephone.

“I don’t like it, but it’s something we’re going to have to grin and bear,” Garlepied said.

Missy Danford, owner of Keller Williams Realty office in Luling, noted, “It’s all a result of the amount of growth we’re having. It’s just growing pains, theprice we have to pay. I’m willing to pay the price.”In the public sector, parish governments will have to change all their paperwork also.

Jeff Clement, chief financial officer for St. John Parish, was a bit takenaback by the situation.

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Clement said. “But I am doing research onit.”However, for St. John Parish, the change-over to a new area code might notbe such an expensive venture.

The St. John Parish Council just voted in favor of changing the parish logo,and that means it will have to change letterhead, envelopes, business cards etc. So to add the new area code won’t be such a big deal or expense.”We all ready have the money to make the change to the new logo, so I don’t see any real problem,” said Clement.

St. John Parish President Nickie Monica said the area code change came upso fast he really can’t put a dollar amount on what the change will cost the parish. But like Clement he thinks the change of the area code and the parishlogo came about at just the right time.

“We are also upgrading our phone systems here and adding seven more lines.

Maybe all these changes were meant to happen at once,” Monica said.

Bertram Madere, director of St. John Parish Civil Service, doesn’t see a bigupheaval in changing area codes either.

“It’s not that big of a hassle,” Madere said.

St. John Parish has two area codes already, 225 for Wallace and 504 for therest of the parish.

“Even after the change we will still have two area codes in this parish, and that hasn’t caused any problems,” said Madere.

The reason for the change is that the phone company is running out of numbers. With more and more people using cellular phones, pagers andcomputer modems, the number of phone exchanges is getting smaller and smaller.

“I expect this change will happen again two or three more times in my lifetime because of new technology,” Madere said.

Steve Sirmon, public information officer for St. Charles Parish, noted of theplanned change by the PSC, “It was quick, but I don’t see where they had any option.”St. James Parish area codes changed from 504 to 255 in April 1999.BellSouth allowed numbers in the changing area to be dialed with either of the area codes from September 1998 until the following April, thus giving residents time to get used to the change. The transition to the new 225 areacode was pretty smooth, said Tiffany Chauvin of the department of emergency preparedness.

The parish automated telephone systems had to be reprogrammed, but they given plenty of notice and it all went well, added Chauvin. The only expensewas the eventual change in parish letterheads and business cards, which was minimal, being due for reorder.

(Reporters Leonard Gray and Erik Sanzenbach contributed to this story.)

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