Calling and Area Codes

Country code +507 (dialed as 00 507 from many places) is Panama.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

Telephone country codes never begin with zero.

Country code +591, dialed as 00 591 from many places, is Bolivia.

Country code +91, dialed as 005 91 from many places, is India.

To avoid confusion, it is best to write an international telephone number in correct international format, beginning with the plus symbol and the correct telephone country code (e.g., +591 or +91), omitting any dialing prefix.

(The plus signmeans "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

Mexico City is in Mexican telephone area code 55.

In international format, dial +52 55 for landlines in Mexico City, or +52 1 55 for cell phones from Mexico City. The remainder of the number should be 8 more digits.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

A ZIP code is an American term for a postal code.

The telephone area codes for mobile phones anywhere in the UK (without regard to specific location) are in the range 07400 through 07999; in international format, replace the leading 0 with the telephone country code +44.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

In most countries, you omit the trunk prefix 0 from the beginning of the domestic number to put it into international format. For example, the area code for Queensland, Australia, is 07 in domestic format, but becomes +61 7 in international format.

There are some exceptions, most notably Italy. For example, Rome is 06 in domestic format, but becomes +39 06 in international format.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

The Dallas telephone area code 972 was created on 14-Sep-1996. However, area code 817 is Fort Worth. Area code 817 did not change to 972.

Area codes 214, 972, and 469 serve the Dallas area. Area codes 817 and 682 serve the Ft. Worth area.

Area codes 940 (Denton, Wichita Falls) and 254 (Waco) split off from 817 in 1997.

When you lift the receiver on a landline telephone, the telephone switching office has to connect your line to special equipment that turns the clicks (on a rotary-dial or pulse-dial phone) or sounds (on a touch-tone phone) into a telephone number so that it can connect your call. The dial tone is an indication to the caller that the system is ready to accept a telephone number. Normally, you get dial tone immediately when you pick up the phone, but in an emergency when thousands of people are trying to make calls simultaneously, you may have to wait your turn before you get a dial tone.* Also, if you wait a long time without dialing a number, the telephone switch will take you off the dialer circuit so that it can use that equipment for someone else's call; that's when you hear the "howler" that alerts you that your phone has been left off the hook.

The way that a cellphone dials is completely different. You enter the whole number on the phone and press "send," which sends the number as a packet of digital data on a completely different radio channel from the one that carries your voice. Since you aren't ever connected to a dialer circuit, there's no need to have a dial tone.

* In an emergency, when the telephone system is overwhelmed, you should wait to make any non-essential calls. If you must make a call from a landline, pick up the receiver and wait until you get dial tone, even if it takes a minute or more. Do not hang up and pick up again; that will only move you to the back of the queue.

Area code 5 in France (05 in domestic format, +33 5 in international format) is roughly the southwestern quarter of the country. Numbers beginning with +33 5 49 are in Bordeaux, with 6 more digits following.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but North America (USA, Canada, etc.) uses 011, Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

Telephone country code +1 is North America (USA, Canada, etc.), but there is no area code +1 692. North American area codes never have '9' as the middle digit. There are no valid international telephone numbers beginning +1 692.

Telephone country code +692 is the Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the Pacific Ocean.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)

Telephone country code +1 is North America, including the USA, Canada, and 18 islands in or near the Caribbean. Telephone area code +1 661 is in California, including Bakersfield and northern Los Angeles County.

(The plus sign means "insert your international access prefix here." From a GSM mobile phone, you can enter the number in full international format, starting with the plus sign. The most common prefix is 00, but Japan uses 010, Australia uses 0011, and many other countries use different prefixes.)