Analise

I have never used my mobile to call the UK whether in the US or in the UK itself. I need to reach a friend who gave me her home # while I'm in London. I will be using my iPhone — no SIM card. It's my own number.

The number I need to call is ( 01451)-83XXXX. Obviously I blanked out the end. I will have the Verizon Travel Pass which allows me to call any participating country for $10 in a 24 hour period. I confirmed with Verizon that I'll need to dial 011-44 etc even when in the UK.

So….do I dial 011 44 (01451)-83XXXX or 011 44 (1451)-83XXXX? Not sure if I keep the 0 listed with the regional area.

Thank you very much.

:D!

Remove the 0.

merrickdb

You can just dial the plus sign followed by country code and number. Much easier than on a landline! To dial the plus sign, hold down the 0. I add the plus sign to all numbers in my contacts since I move between countries frequently. It works fine whatever country you're in and whatever country you're calling. Note that both international calls and calls while roaming can be expensive. I use Google Voice and the Google Hangouts app to make most international calls or calls while roaming.

tanglin

To call a UK number, within the UK, from a US phone, you just dial the local number. E.g 01451 83XXXX is all you need. The cojntry modifier is only needed if calling another country from the locale you are in.

Analise

Do I hold it down longer than when I typically press the 0?

Maybe another dumb question but what do mean by adding the plus sign? I thought you just press the 0. What am I missing?

I know of the expense. I'll be using the Verizon Travel Pass which gives me unlimited calling and access to my domestic data plan for 24 hours for $10. The number I'm to call is a landline in an old home in the Cotswolds. I have never used Google Voice or Google Hangouts app. What would I do out of curiosity?

As for : D! and tanglin, I'm getting differing advice from the two of you.

tanglin, Verizon instructed me to dial 011-44 etc with its Travel Pass. They actually emailed me those instructions. What they didn't tell me was whether to keep the 0 in the regional code or not.

lhrsfo

All numbers everywhere can be standardized by using + followed by the country code and then the number. That's how pretty well every major international businesses present their numbers and how most travelers store their contacts so that they can call anyone from anywhere. A number stored without + and the country code is useless for calls from anywhere else.

UAPremExecflyer

Just dial ... +44-1451-83XXXX

merrickdb

Hold down '0' and you'll see a plus sign appear instead of a 0. You can use it right now in the US...call someone with +1 617 555 1212, for example, and you'll see it works fine whatever country you're in. Just dial the plus, then the country code, then the number. A UK number would be +44 7584 000000, for example. That'll work whether you're in the US or the UK or anywhere else.

Travel Pass looks like it'll work well for you. I use the Google Hangouts app to call countries other than the US when I'm in the US (e.g., calls to Australia are 1 cent per minute) and use it on wifi or my old unlimited global data plan for calls everywhere while traveling. You can sign up (for free) at https://www.google.com/voice Incoming calls and calls to the US and Canada are free regardless of where you are. Calls to other countries are fairly inexpensive.

Analise

Thank you.

Excellent. Thanks.

Good to know. Thanks.

Thank you.

GUWonder

It's a generally good practice to have any stored numbers saved with the +[country code]-[number] format. Gets around the issue of dialing an international dial prefix before the country code and various other stuff related to phone number usage.

tanglin

You're getting the right answers but to slightly different questions.

Dialing a local number (0xxx) - in the UK you would need the zero.
Dialing a local number in the UK using an international prefix method (+44 xxx) - you would omit the zero.

Dialing internationally from the UK using 011, despite what Verizon tell you, will not work. You would be on a UK network, not Verizon's, and their system would barf at this.

The UK international prefix (I believe) is 00. You could use this dialing the US: 00 1 xxx xxx xxxx, but it would be easier to use the US country code in the format +1 xxx xxx xxxx.

Analise

Tanglin, I'm definitely lost. I admit it!

Yes, I will be on whatever British network with which Verizon has an agreement. I will be using my iPhone with its NYC phone number. Verizon told me directly that whether I'm making a call to a number in the UK either from the US or across the street from the destination in the UK, I still must dial as if I were in the US.

Others here have agreed with that. So what you're saying is that I won't be dialing +44 1451 (omitting 0) and the rest of the phone number.

I am confused. So I would dial the + sign (in place of 00) and then 01451 83XXXX? Thereby I would keep the 0 and drop the 44 country code?

MADPhil

The prefix for dialing an international number in the UK is 00 just as it is 011 in the US. The prefix for a national number is 0 in the UK and 1 in the US, confusingly the international code for the US is also 1.

The + sign is used as substitute and the system knows how to handle it if you then enter the number with the country code. In your example if you enter the number as +44-1451-83XXXX then it will be treated as if you dialed 011-44-1451-83XXXX if you are in the US and as if you dialed 01451-83XXXX if you are in the UK. You should get the same result if you dial the appropriate number directly but the + sign makes it easier.

WorldLux

No matter what (Oxford Circus or Betano, East Timor), just dial

+44145183XXXX and you're good to go.

rcspeirs

No wonder you're confused. Whoever is giving you advice about international usage at Verizon is utterly clueless - ignore them.