I program all of my contact's telephone numbers into the phone-book of my GSM phone in the "international format"
North American phone numbers would be programmed as:
+1 NXX XXX XXXX (where NXX is the area code)
and other countries would be:
+XX XXX XXX XXXX (+countrycode area/citycode phone number)
It annoys me when I see the majority of my friends/relatives (mostly in North America and areas where people only make local calls) either only program their phone numbers as 7 digits, or area code and phone number (in areas where there is 10 digit dialing). One person I know had to keep reprogramming the phone numbers on his GSM phone as he travelled!! For example, he would store the phone number along with the international dialing prefix of 011 when he is North America, and when he arrived in China he reprogrammed it to 00 (using the "+" sign would have solved the problem).
While, most people I know in Europe, tend to program all phone numbers in their phone book using the international format (preceeded with the "+" sign, country code, area code, phone number).
Also, some people I talked to think that by storing all your phone numbers in the international format (+) will mean that you will get charged for a "long distance" or "STD" call even when calling a number that is local. This is not true. In the GSM network, how you get charged for the call depends on where the call originates, and the HOME location of the destination phone number, NOT how the call was dialed.
redbeard911
Apr 10, 04, 3:49 am
I do the same thing. My numbers are all in international format. Since I sync my Lotus Notes contacts list with my Pocket PC phone, I have to periodically modify numbers. My understanding is that by using the "+", the phone system knows when you are dialing international, and when you are dialing local, and you are charged accordingly. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. :eek:
Rudi
Apr 10, 04, 5:10 am
I do the international format:
preceeded with the "++" sign, country code, area code (without preceding 0) , phone number
I also synchronize my Sony-Ericsson cell phone at least once a week with my calendar (iCal) of my PC (Apple iBook G4) using the bluetooth connection.
Savage25
Apr 10, 04, 12:43 pm
I store all my numbers as (+countrycode area/citycode phone number) as well, and I store it on the phone as I change SIM cards to a local one in countries where I travel frequently.
When you prefix a "+" sign in front of the number and you dial a local call in the country of your SIM operator (ie. +65 xxxx xxxx for me when I make a local call in Singapore), the network will charge it as a local call.
When you prefix a "+" and call an overseas number, the network will replace the "+" with their preferred IDD prefix automatically, but there can be cheaper ways to make international calls if you use a specific prefix (eg. M1 in Singapore will replace a "+" with their 002 IDD access code, but I often manually replace the "+" with their budget VOIP service access code 021, which is sometimes half as expensive as their normal 002 service).
cordelli
Apr 10, 04, 4:11 pm
I have two GSM phones, one for domestic use with the 850 band and regular old digital and analog in it, and a triband for the rest of the world. There are times when I'm in analog it doesn't understand the + on a number, so all the numbers in that phone are 1 xxx yyy zzzz, in the international phone they are all with the +
I really don't have that many numbers that is't an issue one way or the other.
michswiss
Apr 10, 04, 6:17 pm
All my numbers are set up as + entries. Who would want to keep having to remember the specific IDD prefixes between intercontinental standards. I always get confused with the Australian standard especially when New Zealand uses the normal (in my daily life) European 00xx approach. I have no idea what the U.S. prefix is. Just throwing in the + covers everywhere I travel and can use my normal kit.
savage25, I'm curious what other countries have alternative IDD dialing mechanisms that you referred to in Singapore.
Always Flyin
Apr 10, 04, 7:21 pm
Only 14% of the adult population in the States even has a passport. I'll bet 95% don't know what the international dialing code is from the States (011). I'll bet 99.8% have no idea that using "+" on a cell phone is the multi-national replacement for whatever the local international prefix is.
Based on that, I am hardly surprised that most American's program their phones the way they do.
cordelli
Apr 10, 04, 8:12 pm
I don't agree that only 14% of the population has a passport. In the last ten years the state department has issued 63,977,715 passports.
With a poulation of 16 and over (we'll start adults off at 16 for the sake of argument) of 229,568,369 (all population numbers July 03 estimates) that means that only 32 million adults have passports. They've issued more passports that that in the last five years alone.
Either the 14% number is way too low, or there are lots more kids out there with passports then one would think, or there is a very active group of people who renew every other year driving the numbers up.
The basic fact is that most cell phones used in the United States won't work in another counrty. People don't need to program in an international code, because there is little chance what so ever they will ever be in another country and be able to use their telephones.
Always Flyin
Apr 11, 04, 2:05 am
The last numbers I heard were 14%. I did some research and here is what I was able to find:
One of the reasons America is sometimes described as being an insular country is the low ownership or passports, and thus the low rate of international travel. Which in some ways is fair enough; in comparison to Europeans, for example, popping over to another country is often a bigger deal than jumping on a train. But Ted read that only 7 per cent of Americans own passports and wondered where the figure comes from. It seems the statistic varies, for example:
25%: “75% of Americans don’t own a passport”
22%: “just 22% of Americans own a passport”
<20%: “less than 20% of all Americans own a passport”
15%: “85 percent of Americans do not own a passport”
10%: “only 10 percent of US citizens *ever* own a passport”
<10%: “fewer than 10 percent own a passport”
7%: “only seven percent of Americans own a passport”
None of these are remotely official but I can’t find an official government statistic for passport ownership. The closest I’ve found is this page [pasted below] of the number of passports issued per year. First, lets be generous and say that every passport was issued to an adult and therefore lasts ten years. Assuming that everyone who’s been issued a passport over the last ten years still has it, that’s 60,884,784 people with US passports. Given the US population is around 280 million, that gives us 21.7 per cent owning passports. Taking into account some of these will be five year passports, we have a figure that’s probably a little under 20 per cent. Is there any reason this calculation would be way out?
Incidentally, I graphed the statistics for US passports issued per year. You can see the dramatic rise over the past ten years. This may account for some of the lower figures people give; they could simply be out of date. Using the same method for the years 1981-90, for example, we get less than 15 per cent ownership, without taking into account five year passports. If the rate of issue stabilised at around 7 million per year, never mind further growth, then by 2013 around a quarter of US citizens will own a passport (assuming the same total population).
http://travel.state.gov/passport_statistics.html
Below are two lists showing the number of U.S. passports issued from 1974 to the present.
U.S. Passports Issued Per Calendar Year (1974-1995)
Bottom line is that it is still a small percentage of the population who travel, and a smaller percentage still who worry about international communications.
I still think the conclusions that I drew are valid. In my experience, even when I try to tell people to dial "+" and the number, they don't know what I am talking about.
GUWonder
Apr 11, 04, 3:11 am
I don't agree that only 14% of the population has a passport. In the last ten years the state department has issued 63,977,715 passports.
With a poulation of 16 and over (we'll start adults off at 16 for the sake of argument) of 229,568,369 (all population numbers July 03 estimates) that means that only 32 million adults have passports. They've issued more passports that that in the last five years alone.
Either the 14% number is way too low, or there are lots more kids out there with passports then one would think, or there is a very active group of people who renew every other year driving the numbers up.
In America, the ratio of kids with valid passports to total kids is higher than adults with valid passports out of total adults. I found it strange to be told that too.
I think the figures are edging upwards toward 20-25% for Americans who have ever held a passport. A large part of this growth is due to the increase in immigration (legal and illegal) in the 70s, 80s and 90s and the children of immigrants who now are more likely than ever to visit relatives overseas at least once in their lifetime. Very cheap international air travel (in real terms) and a robust economy in the 90s did much to expand this percentage too.
Also we should examine said numbers on the basis of passports of being valid for no more than 4.75 years or 9.75 years with a disproportionately higher amount of 4.75 year passports. Also, the diplomatic and military personnel stationed overseas are more likely to have shorter, duplicate, and/or lost/replaced passports faster than the 10 year ones.
Kiwi Flyer
Apr 11, 04, 5:58 am
Definitely international format. Way back before you could do this (or before I discovered it) it used to drive me nuts remembering all the different international access codes.
Kurwah
Apr 12, 04, 11:07 pm
I use the international format also.
The looks I get when entering + symbol and told "no my number is such and such". :eek:
Not even worth explaining!
SkiAdcock
Apr 13, 04, 12:34 am
To answer the ?: I use international format.
To answer the wee bit of arrogance & elitistism in some of the above posts: America's a big country, not all folk go overseas, they have US cell phones which work fine here & in the course of their biz or personal lives might not need to make intl calls, hence no need to learn intl prefix. So what. Who cares. If you need to do intl & you're set up for it & others aren't, their problem. Not yours. Move on.
Europe is comprised of smaller countries close to each other w/ dif country codes, so it's not surprising they're more attuned to plugging in intl format. Btw, not all folk who reside overseas travel to other countries either, even if their cells do work. I get a bit tired of that being trotted out all the time. I've been to many European countries & talked to people who hadn't even explored their own country, much less others (just like Americans are accused of-see, there are similarities around the world ;)).
Kiwi Flyer
Apr 13, 04, 12:54 am
well said sharon
pdhenry
Apr 13, 04, 6:14 am
I occasionally have to explain to my wife the benefit of entering the area code into her cellphone contact list....
studley
Apr 13, 04, 7:48 am
America's a big country, not all folk go overseas, they have US cell phones which work fine here & in the course of their biz or personal lives might not need to make intl calls, hence no need to learn intl prefix.
This was me until last year. I have had my passport for a little over a year now. I bought my new GSM phone because I discovered, last October, the hard way, that the other one did not work overseas.
I did know that 011 was the US code, although I didn't know until now that using the international method (+) simplifies the general process of dialing numbers, no matter where I am in the world. Thanks for sharing this information. :)
Now, if only I could figure out how to set up and book these darn Mileage Runs on AA from DFW (and YES, before you playa-hate me, LOL, I've read all of the Primers, etc., over and over and over, I am trying, but with no luck, maybe someone can message me with some spiritual enlightenment concerning this)....
MatthewClement
Apr 13, 04, 8:19 am
I'll bet 95% don't know what the international dialing code is from the States (011). I'll bet 99.8% have no idea that using "+" on a cell phone is the multi-national replacement for whatever the local international prefix is.
I'm working on a project right now for an international, Fortune 100 firm. We work constantly with our counterparts in the US. It still amazes me that we must ALWAYS call them, because they seem baffled about making international telephone calls. Quite a few of them admit to having NEVER made an international phone call in their lives.
While it doesn't surprise me that Ma and Pa from Podunk may not have the opportunity to call abroad very often, it amazes me that experienced professionals working on a global project team and speaking with their European counterparts on a daily basis could go through their professional careers without having to pick up the phone and dial 011+country code+number. It amazes me even more than, after explaining the process, they still seem reluctant to try it themselves.
Back on topic, I typically programme my telephone domestically -- without the country code. When I'm roaming, my phone automatically converts these numbers for me -- which I think is dead clever. As long as they're in my contacts, I can just dial and go.