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So I'm moving permanently across the country. I could happily keep my 415 phone number, or I could switch and get a local one. For people who have tried either path in the last few years, any thoughts?
@williampietri Have you considered keeping your 415 number then using something like Google Voice to obtain a phone number with your new local area code? I don't know what companies offer the same type of service, but it may be an option to consider for the best of both worlds.
@Melisondra Oh, nice idea! I'll check that out. Also, I've never met a Melisondra before, and it's such a lovely name!
@williampietri Gaming Tag/Screen Name that my wife suggested to me years ago because my nickname was always "Mel" short for Melanie, after my great grandfather Melvin. I am quite partial to my actual name and its story, but having Melisondra for a name would be quite pretty.
@Melisondra Ah, neat! And I love a name with family history like that.
@williampietri I moved to San Francisco from Pittsburgh 12 years ago, and kept my Pittsburgh 412 phone number.
Honestly, no real downsides. It makes for a cheap spam filter: if I get a call from an unrecognized 412 number it usually means it's someone trying to pretend to be a local call (or a wrong number). I thought there'd be more confusion with 412 and 415 being similar but that mixup only happened once and I caught it while they were writing it down.
Getting a new phone number also sounds like a real pain. I'd surely forget to update some of the hundreds of sites that demanded my phone number over the years, and then would have to fight to recover those accounts if they decide to surprise me with mandatory SMS MFA. Plus you get calls for the old owner for years depending on how long the number has been unused.
@adrake Thanks! This is exactly the sort of field report I was hoping for.