[net.news] International Phone Numbers

mjs@alice.UUCP (M.J.Shannon,Jr.) (12/28/84)

Ok, folks, I've now seen the original article included in no less than a dozen
followups!  The point is that folks in the US of A do not include the
INTERNATIONAL prefix to their posted phone numbers.  This is true -- we don't.
I just dragged down my copy of the NJBell phone book for my area, and though it
mentions a large number of international `country codes' and `city codes', it
DOES NOT mention what information we should give to extranationals to dial the
USA (nor, for that matter, how to use the `country codes' and `city codes' that
are so thoughtfully listed).  I suspect this is true for most other phone
books, as well.  Now, while I agree with the point raised in the original
article (this IS an international network, people!), I'd prefer to give no
information rather than mis-information.  It's a pity that NJBell does AT&T
Communications such a disservice by providing no instructions on the use of the
international codes.
-- 
	Marty Shannon
UUCP:	{alice,research}!mjs
	(rabbit is dead; long live alice!)
Phone:	201-582-3199

ekrell@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/30/84)

In article <3211@alice.UUCP> mjs@alice.UUCP (M.J.Shannon,Jr.) writes:
>
>I just dragged down my copy of the NJBell phone book for my area, and though it
>mentions a large number of international `country codes' and `city codes', it
>DOES NOT mention what information we should give to extranationals to dial the
>USA (nor, for that matter, how to use the `country codes' and `city codes' that
>are so thoughtfully listed).

You must be joking. Do you expect EVERY country in the world to have the same
dialing procedure to reach the USA ?. No way !!. In fact, almost every country
has a very different way of reaching the USA via direct dial. The digits to be
dialed can even be different from one city to another in the same country...
-- 
    Eduardo Krell               UCLA Computer Science Department
    ekrell@ucla-locus.arpa      ..!{sdcrdcf,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!ekrell

piet@mcvax.UUCP (Piet Beertema) (01/08/85)

	>I just dragged down my copy of the NJBell phone book for my area,
	>and though it mentions a large number of international `country codes'
	>and `city codes', it DOES NOT mention what information we should give
	>to extranationals to dial the USA
No phone book will do that, except perhaps for mentioning the international
country code. The simple reason is that almost every country has its own
conventions for international calls. E.g. you may have to dial something
like "0" or "009" etc. before the real number. Therefore the '+' in a phone
number in international format represents the national "prefix" plus any
"prefix" a local exchange may require.

-- 
	Piet Beertema, CWI, Amsterdam
	...{decvax,philabs}!mcvax!piet