Get a local business phone number in Athol, MA

What area code is Athol, MA?

Athol town is a Census town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, with an estimated 12,105 residents in 2024. All 7 exchanges NANPA lists for its rate center are in area code 978. 978 is part of an overlay with 351, so a new local number in Athol may carry any of those codes depending on which have numbers available. Athol is in the Eastern time zone.

According to NANPA's dialing-plan data, local calls within 978 are dialed as ten digits (area code plus number) and toll calls as 1 plus ten digits.

Who holds Athol phone exchanges

5 carriers hold the 7 exchanges assigned to Athol's rate center. Verizon New England INC. has the most, with 2. 6 of them are pooled codes, which the holder shares with other carriers in blocks of 1,000 numbers. Holding a code means NANPA assigned that block of numbers to the carrier for this rate center; individual numbers may since have been ported elsewhere.

Athol phone prefixes

A prefix (NXX) is the three digits after the area code. Numbers starting with these prefixes are rated as local to Athol. The earliest assignment date recorded in the file for these codes is 2001. None were assigned in 2020 or later.

When Athol's exchanges were assigned

The table groups Athol's exchanges by the decade NANPA recorded them as assigned.

How local numbers work in Athol

Phone numbers are tied to a rate center, the local calling area used to decide whether a call is local or toll. Athol's numbers are rated to the ATHOL rate center in NANPA's records. A business number from one of the prefixes above shows up on customers' phones as a Athol number.

If your business already has a Athol number, porting it to Callata is free and keeps it on your cards, listings and vehicles.

Who does business near Athol

Athol is part of the Worcester, MA metro area, home to 881,000 people in 2024. County Business Patterns counted 19,181 business establishments in the Worcester, MA metro area in 2023, employing 319,255 people. The largest sectors by establishment count are construction (2,610), health care and social assistance (2,418), and retail trade (2,405).

Setting up a Athol business line

For $99 a month, Callata puts a team of up to 5 on one plan ($20 for each person after that): up to 3 local numbers, unlimited inbound calls, a pooled allowance of 1,500 outbound US and Canada minutes per user, browser and cell calling, voicemail transcription with urgency triage, recorded calls with AI summaries and business-hours routing, with E911 on every number.

Porting a number you already use in Athol is free, and business texting is available once the carrier registration (10DLC) is approved; the registration carries a one-time $49 fee. Which specific numbers are open in a given area code depends on carrier inventory at the time you sign up.

AI agents are optional: an AI receptionist or scheduler can pick up when the team is busy or closed, take a message, send a text or email, or transfer the call. They draw on prepaid AI minutes ($0.25/minute), disclose that they are AI, and outbound AI calls require prior consent and are limited to 8am–9pm.

A 17-person team is the benchmark here, the rounded average establishment size in the Worcester, MA metro area. Billed per seat at month-to-month list prices (checked September 28, 2026), RingCentral RingEX Core costs $510.00 a month and Ooma Office Pro $424.15. Callata comes to $339.00 a month for 17 users ($99 a month with 5 users included, then $20 per additional user), below both.