988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: How to Call, Text or Chat and How Georouting Works

By Web Asset House Studio · October 29, 2026

Note: Some future links on this site may be affiliate links. We never claim hands-on testing; guides are researched from the public sources listed in each article.

How we wrote this: A plain-English summary of the FCC's 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline page (updated August 28, 2025), checked October 29, 2026. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 911.

If you're in crisis or worried about someone, call or text 988 now. It's free, confidential and open 24/7.

What 988 is

The FCC says 988 is the three-digit nationwide number for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It replaced the 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in July 2022. You reach trained counselors in a network of more than 200 crisis centers, supported by local and state resources and by SAMHSA (part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).

Ways to reach it

Need	How
Call or text	Dial or text 988
Veterans and service members	Call 988 and press 1, or text 838255
Spanish	Call 988 and press 2, text AYUDA to 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org/es/chat
Deaf and hard of hearing	See the Lifeline's options at 988lifeline.org

How calls are routed: georouting

Calls used to be routed by your phone number's area code and prefix, so a traveler or someone with an out-of-state number could reach a distant center. Now:

In October 2024, the FCC required all U.S. wireless providers to use georouting for 988 calls. Calls go to a crisis center based on your general location.
In July 2025, the FCC adopted rules requiring georouting for 988 text messages too.
If a provider hasn't turned georouting on yet, calls still route by the phone number.
Calls not answered locally within a set time go to a national backup center.

Privacy: the FCC says georouting does not share your precise location, and the Lifeline doesn't currently use precise geolocation for routing.

A dialing note for businesses

Since July 16, 2022, numbers starting 9-8-8 connect to the Lifeline. In areas where people still dial seven digits for local calls, include the area code when the local number starts with 988. Check auto-dialers and phone system speed dials (see phone system options).