xxx-xxx-xxxx, you have to dial 1 before you dial the first 3 digits (which are the area code) and the rest of the number

What???

You just dial it! If you are using a cell phone you shouldn’t have to use the one, just the area code and number. If you are using a lnad line dial 1 then the area code then the number!

Now if you are talking about like a foreign country area code, or whatever that special number is calle IDK!

There is no single, definitive answer to this question and there never has been, because it depends upon how the telephone switches are configured in your particular area. Back at the beginning of customer DDD (Direct Distance Dialing) in the 1950s, the plan was that area codes ALWAYS had a 0 or 1 as their middle digit, while the second digit of a local 7-digit number could NEVER be 0 or 1. That meant that the equipment could easily determine what you were dialing from the second digit. If you dialed, say, 205, it knew from the zero in the second place that this must be an area code, and then waited for another seven digits before trying to complete the call (in this case to Alabama). If, on the other hand, you dialed 235, it knew that this must be the beginning of a 235-xxxx number within your own area code and then it just waited for another four digits before completing the call. Thus in many places there was NEVER any need to dial 1 first for ANY call, local or long distance. In fact in some places right up until the 1970s or even later (e.g. parts of New York City) it was impossible to dial a 1 first — If you tried the equipment would ignore it and the dialtone would carry right on as if you hadn’t dialed anything. However, there were many places in the U.S., especially in small towns and rural areas in which the switching equipment in use could not easily be adapted to DDD with area codes in this way, and it was in these places where it became necessary originally to dial a prefix for long-distance calls, whether within your own area code or to another area code. The prefix told the equipment to send the call to another telephone switch to handle the billing and long-distance routing. Thus the rule in many places at one time was: Local call — Dial just the 7-digit number; Long-distance within your own area code — Dial 1 plus the 7-digit number; Long-distance to another area code — Dial 1 plus area code plus number. (In fact some places actually had prefixes other than just a simple “1” at one time, such as 112 or some other code.) By the 1970s, a couple of areas started using office codes (the first three digits of the 7-digit number) which had a 0 or 1 as the middle digit, and thus needed to be distinguished from area codes in some way. The Los Angeles area was one of the first such places around 1973. In these places the “1” prefix it then had to be used as an indication to the equipment that the three digits following were an area code rather than the first three digits of a local number. So in these areas, dialing instructions then typically changed to: Local call — Dial 7-digit number. Long-distance within own area code — Dial 7-digit number. Long-distance to another area — Dial 1 plus area code plus number. This meant that SOME long-distance calls were not dialed as 1+. In 1990s the converse situation arose when for the first time area codes could have a middle digit other than 0 or 1. Since an area code could now clash with the first three digits of a local number anywhere in the country, it became necessary for 1+ dialing to change to a system whereby the 1 indicates that an area code follows. However, by this time some areas had firmly established the idea that “1” at the beginning signifies a toll call, and in fact the PUC (Public Utility Commission) would require it in some states. Since a long-distance toll call would need 1 at the beginning and the 1 had to be used to indicate that an area code followed, that’s why from the mid-1990s there was a wholesale change of dialing formats to require that you dial an area code for ALL long-distance toll calls, even if calling within your own area code. More recently the situation has also gotten more complex with overlay area codes, where two or more area codes actually cover the same physical city or district. In many of these places it is now necessary to dial all 10 digits for ALL calls, even if calling your next-door neighbor on the same office as yourself. Again, whether 1+ is needed still depends upon local programming. In some places you need dial 1+ ONLY for long-distance (toll) calls while local calls are still dialed as just 7-digits (or 10-digits in overlay areas). In other places 1+ is not needed for any calls, or is optional.

Try using your finger.

are you for real?