International Dialing

Did you ever experience dialing the wrong number and waste expensive international phone cards just for attempting to dial? Though in many countries it is free (or really cheap) to dial domestic long distance, dialing overseas is not free (or cheap). It is very important that before you start dialing to get the correct number format.

When dialing a local number, you dial only the exchange number and the four digit number. In a long distance number, you need to add the area code. Often people make calls within their own country with 1 then the area code, exchange number, and the last four digits. However, when you want to call a different country, you won't get through without a international access code followed by the country calling code that identifies where your call should be going.

When dialing a different country, you need to dial the code that let the exchange know you meant to dial overseas. This code that lets you dial overseas is known as the international direct dialing prefix. It is used when dialing from the given country to outside the country. This is sometimes also referred to as international access code. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recommends 00 as the general standard for International Direct Dialing (IDD) prefix, however, many countries but not all have implemented it.

On the other hand, in the United States, if you are dialing overseas, international access code of 011 used instead of 00. For a mobile telephone's international telephone calls, one can use a "+" instead of the local IDD code. The "+" is universal prefix for all international mobile telephone calls. After dialing the "+", you need dial the country code. The country code or national prefix used to dial into that country from outside the country followed by the area code and phone number.