ORLANDO, Fla. — With nearly 1,000 people moving to Central Florida each week, more people are living and working in the area which means more phone usage.
- New area code '689' was activated in Central Florida last year
- Some with 689 area code users are showing up as "Spam Risk"
- Florida Public Service Commission said issue is out of its jurisdiction
- RELATED: "689" Now Central Florida's 3rd Area Code
In Central Florida, 689 is a new area code activated just last summer.
Spectrum News 13's Justin Soto learned more about headaches for some 689 phone users.
Soto's Spectrum News work phone number through Verizon Wireless has a 689 area code.
When he calls some people, it comes up as "Spam Risk" on their caller ID, and they don't answer.
Megan Sladek is the newly elected mayor of Oviedo who uses her work phone for city business often. Her new city phone number has a 689 area code.
"Spam risk, different things for different carriers, but it's not Megan Sladek or Oviedo," Sladek said.
That area code is making day-to-day work frustrating.
"It's a little bit of a time-waster because you call, nobody answers, and then they call back and say, ‘Hey I didn't think that was you,’" Mayor Sladek said.
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator notified the Florida Public Service Commission in 2018 that Central Florida numbers are running out. The Florida Public Service Commission approved the new 689 area code plan, activated June 2019.
"Everywhere the 407 area code. It's just an overlay over the top of that same geographic area," Greg Fogleman with the commission said.
The commission said "Spam Risk" is out of their jurisdiction, saying carriers are trying to combat robocalls hiring 3rd party vendors to do call analytics for a potential spam call.
"It's not Verizon wireless's 3rd party analytics provider, that's sending that spam risk, it's the company of the person that you're calling," Fogleman said.
We're told part of the criteria they may be using is that an area code is not yet active, so the database needs to be updated.
Meanwhile, Mayor Sladek hopes people she's trying to reach will soon answer on the first ring.
"I hope they'll at least say what city or area it's from whether it's Orlando, Oviedo or even the person's name calling. Just some kind of other identifier besides spam," she said.
Fogleman said NANPA is now very interested in working to fix this issue now that they're aware of it.
We spoke to a NANPA representative Monday who said she's looking into it.
Fogleman said if you have any questions about the new 689 area code you can reach out to the Florida Public Service Commission.
NANPA has a help desk number you can call with questions about spam risk, that number is 1-866-623-2282.