[solved] Dialling codes when texting abroad

scape

If I'm sending a text to someone with a UK-based mobile who is currently abroad, for example in the USA, do I put the UK dialling code or the US dialling code?

+447123456789 or +17123456789

I always get confused by this.

redux

it's always a UK number, wherever it is

Paul_Herring

scape wrote: »

If I'm sending a text to someone with a UK-based mobile who is currently abroad, for example in the USA, do I put the UK dialling code or the US dialling code?

+447123456789 or +17123456789

If you're sending to a UK number from the UK, you don't need the international form of the number (though it will work,) regardless of where the destination phone is physically located (even if it's in the UK.)

So 0123456789 will get through.

I always get confused by this.

However when you're sending using a UK number from a different country, that's when you need the international form.

The international form has three parts, the first number(s) are an instruction to the local phone network that you're dialing an international number, the next number(s) are the country code where the number belongs and then the phone number.

So, from US to UK you'd need
011 44 123456789

Where 011 is the US instruction for an international number, 44 is the code for the UK.

Sydney to UK: 0011 44 123456789
Qatar to UK: 0 44 123456789

You'll notice that the first part of the number differs depending on which country you're calling from, however as a simplification, most phone systems will recognise + as the instruction for an international number regardless of which country you're in.

So you're quite safe to replace the initial 0 of all your (UK) phone numbers in your address book with +44, and know that the numbers will work where ever you are.