With a new area code fast approaching, Jamaicans have been urged to prepare for compulsory ten-digit-dialling starting May 31.

The addition of a new 658 area code forms part of the Office of the Utilities Regulation’s (OUR) plans to move the country from the current standardised seven-digit dialling as Jamaica’s existing 876 area code becomes exhausted.

You might be worried about manually going through your contact list and adding the existing area code before the new one is introduced. But, updating your contacts is much easier than you think, because there’s an app for that!

DigIt has found two mobile apps that have received high ratings for users aimed at making the transaction easier. Please note that the following does not serve as recommendations from the Jamaica Observer.

For Android users, we tested the “Add Country Code App”— one of the most popular applications in the Google Play Store with a 4.5-star rating. It was created to keep contacts updated in bulk and to affix area codes to all contacts that have been saved to the device.

The free app was created by ‘Ahmed’ and works with Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and above. It has over 10,000 downloads and takes up 4.9 megabytes of space.

Here’s a step by step guide of how you can use it to affix the 876 (or other codes) to your contacts in bulk:

Step 1: Download the application from the Google Play Store

Step 2: Open Application and Click Pending Contacts after which a list should appear

Step 3: Check the checkbox to update in groups

Step 4: Click update any amount of group(s) and proceed to enter 1876, 1658 or any other prefix you’d like to add.

Step 5: Check all contacts and update

We gave this application an eight out of 10 because it was simple to use, straight to the point and most importantly it was free. We did not encounter any challenges with the running of the application and noticed that it had the options to backup and restore contacts, which could come in handy if you made a mistake and wanted to attach a different area code to your contacts.

For iPhone users, Compelson Lab’s Contact Optimiser Pro was the only application in the Apple store that had the capability of adding area codes to contacts in bulk. It was hardly rated and required an in-app purchase of US$1.99 and also had the ability to de-duplicate contacts, move contacts between clouds, and automatically merge contacts, among others.

It takes up 2.2 megabytes of storage, requires iOS 9.0 or higher and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPad touch.

Here’s how to use the app:

Step 1: Download application in Apple Store and purchase

Step 2: Open app and at the top select where your contact list will be originating from (Google, phone or sim card).

Step 3: Search for duplicates and delete accordingly

Step 4: Select the Toolbox option

Step 5: Select Internationalisation option, insert desired country code and select contacts to add

Contacts Optimiser Pro is also available on Android and for free however, the add country code is only available for Pro users who bought the application. We rated the contact organisers a six out of 10 because it was a paid application and was not easily accessible. Unlike other apps it seemed to be very professional and had a range of different service.

The OUR had revealed that as at December 2009, 6.25 million of the assumed capacity of 7.73 million numbers had been assigned to telecommunications service providers and their projected five-year demand for numbers indicated a need for 1.31 million new numbers over the next three years.

Using its numbering resource utilisation and forecast survey results, the regulator estimated that the expected period for the exhaustion of area code 876 would be the fourth quarter of 2012. As such, plans were put in place for the implementation of a new area code which has inevitably led to mandatory 10-digit-dialing for both local and international calls.