Whidbey Telecom - Compartmentalization of Exchanges

Compartmentalization of Exchanges

Prior to 1991, Whidbey Telephone had two service prefixes (or exchanges), the original 321, and 221 (which was added in the late 1980s). Whidbey Island was in a period of growth, especially in the south end community. Whidbey Telephone realized that if they did not have more prefixes to use, they would shortly run out of numbers. In 1991 Whidbey added 331, 341, 579, and 730 to the existing service prefixes and began to use them on what appears to be a random basis until 1992. That year, Whidbey Tel changed its policy and began to issue numbers based on location. The south end was carved into different exchanges; this coincided with the ending of the company's offices acting as the primary switching station. New switching centers were built in each of these geographical areas. Shortly thereafter, the existing numbers in those areas were gradually changed to the 'local' prefix, while retaining the extension (or last 4) that the number had before. This was around the same time that western Washington state was broken into two area codes. These two changes, being so close together caused problems until residents gradually adapted. However, as of 2008, technology now makes it possible to retain a number from a different area of service when moving, rather than just the extension.

When Greenbank was added to the service area in the late 1990s, Whidbey Telephone assigned all Greenbank lines a 222 prefix.