Health Sciences Campus phone numbers are getting a new area code (323) and a new prefix (442) - but offices have more than a year to order stationery and business cards with the new numbers.

Beginning Saturday, Dec. 13, the new 442 prefixes for HSC will begin to appear on telephone set displays. The area code and prefix changes will not affect campus five-digit dialing, however, and the current (213) 342-XXXX HSC phone numbers will continue to work from off-campus until Jan. 16, 1999, also the end of the grace period for the area code split.

The move to a new 442 prefix for HSC was prompted by the upcoming split of the 213 area code, said Larry Nelson, telecommunications manager for USC's Information Services Division (formerly telecommunications).

With the growing demand for phone lines, area code splits have become increasingly common. Area code 818 was recently split into 818 and 626; area code 714 will soon split into 714 and 949.

Area code 213 will split effective June 13, 1998, with a seven-month grace period when both the old and new area codes will work. The area code for the HSC campus east of downtown will become 323; the University Park Campus and downtown Los Angeles will remain in the 213 code.

But why change the HSC prefix to 442? Currently, USC has only 7,800 of 10,000 possible phone numbers available under the 342 prefix, Nelson said; Pacific Bell has dedicated the rest to other residential and business uses. Converting to the now-unused 442 prefix on the HSC campus will make all 10,000 numbers available to USC, he said.

"We thought we would use the window of opportunity created by the area code split to make our own change to accommodate the growth of phone lines required by increasing use of fax machines, modems, pagers, cellular phones and connections to the Internet," Nelson said.

The new 442 prefix will cover all HSC offices and affiliated campus organizations, except for the Norris Cancer Center, whose prefix will change to 865.

There are no plans to change existing 764-XXXX numbers for student housing on both campuses.