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The Android Contact List (People App) on my phone has numbers from my contacts entered as it is needed to call them from my home country (Canada):

  • Local numbers entered with 10 digits, including now compulsory area code: 514-222-1111
  • Domestic long distance prepended with long distance prefix: 1-416-555-3333
  • International numbers entered with international dialing prefix, country-code, local area code, followed by the number: 011-52-664-555-2222

With a SIM from abroad (Currently Ecuador), the numbers need to be edited:

  • International dialing prefix and country code must be added to local home numbers. Same for previously domestic long-distance numbers.
  • International dialing prefix must be changed for international numbers.

Is there an efficient way to deal with this? Could there be place-holders to put in the number so that it would omit the country code and dialing prefix if needed? Maybe an Android Appp which could do the rewrite automatically based on the current country?

mts
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Itai
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1 Answers1

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Even if many countries switched to 00 (which is apparently recommended by the ITU) in the last decades, the international dialing prefix can indeed be different. Traditionally, business numbers were written as + [country code] [number without the long distance prefix] and it was up to the caller to substitute the right call prefix. Fortunately, modern mobile phones now take care of this for you. So you should be able to use the full number with + directly in your contact list and let the phone handle those numbers correctly wherever you are.

I always record all numbers that way, with country code and area prefix included - including local numbers and other numbers in my current country of residence - and never had any trouble - whether difficulties reaching a specific number or unexpected charges. I even moved to another country with my whole contact list without needing to update anything to use my new number/SIM card.

Note that I did not personally test this solution in either Canada or Ecuador.

Relaxed
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