Contact stored in International format

Question

Contact stored in International format

I've read quite a few pages of this topic, but my problem isn't in there - unless I missed something. I have an iPhone which is running on firmware 1.1.2. I live in France and I use it on Orange - the official iPhone network here.
All my numbers are stored in the international format, I've been doing so for years as I'm often abroad. Everything works fine when I'm home - also, in France, the networks always send the international number, ie +33x xx xx xx xx. If I dial a number which is in my contact list in its national format, ie with a 0 instead of the +33, the phone realises that it's stored in my list and display the name in the "Calls" list.
So far so good.

Now for the strange part: I'm in London for a few days, and I know that the networks here transmit the numbers in local format. 020 1234 5678 for instance. Now if a local contact calls me, his name doesn't appear, but only his number in local format. For instance if a contact is +442012345678 in the contact list, I only get 020 1234 5678 on the screen. I tried switching the "local format" to UK in the "International" settings, but it's still the same.
Any ideas? Is it something that can be considered as a bug? Did Apple never think some users would travel with their phones?

iPhone 1.1.2, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Dec 10, 2007 4:54 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 10, 2007 6:10 AM in response to Pierre Haberer

I'm in the UK and store all my numbers with the international code.

If i receive a call from a UK number whilst i am in th UK it shows the caller ID?
I'll have to check next time i'm in France if someone calls me from France, does it show there ID!

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Answer 2

Dec 10, 2007 6:51 AM in response to gaz_chops

I've been on Orange for years, and all my cellphone have always been able to display the name if the person is in the Contact lis. And when I was living in the UK and had a cellphone here, it was always fine - and my contacts were already stored in International format.
I think the iPhone is trying to be too clever because it wants to display the numbers as they appear in the local country - for instance in France we write the phone number using groups of 2 digits, ie 01 23 45 67 89. In the UK, it is different, for instance 020 7777 1234 for London landlines.

I tried one thing: switch the iPhone to UK display in the International Settings and then I rebooted it - which I didn't do yesterday. I'll let you know if it makes any difference...

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Answer 3

Dec 10, 2007 7:28 AM in response to Goshia

Bad news: no difference.
After the change and a reboot, a friend called me and his number appeared 077etc, not his name. I checked the Contacts and noticed that the change had one effect: all my french number now appear as +33123456789 instead of +33 1 23 45 67 89. No difference for the UK numbers, they appear as +44 12345678 with both settings.
Strange... Can we consider this a bug or a weakness?

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Answer 4

Dec 11, 2007 5:17 AM in response to gaz_chops

Quote - gazchops: I'll have to check next time i'm in France if someone calls me from France, does it show there ID!

It probably will because the numbers in France are transmitted in their international format by the gsm networks.

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Answer 5

Dec 11, 2007 5:29 AM in response to Pierre Haberer

My contact numbers are in the same format for UK, French, German etc
The only dirrerence being the prefix +44, +33, +34 etc

I have not had any problems with caller display whilst in the UK and have received calls from German/French mobiles whilst they where in the UK!

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Answer 6

Dec 12, 2007 2:04 AM in response to gaz_chops

Now for the weirdest part: yesterday night, I put a UK sim card in the phone (mine can do that thanks to Orange France). I changed the language and the format to british, rebooted, got a friend to call me on the number of the sim card AND HIS NAME APPEARED! Though he is stored in the iPhone with the +44 code! I then switched the iPhone to French language and format, rebooted and did the same test: his name appeared! Then I shut the phone down, put my sim card back in, the friend called me and all I got on screen was 077...etc instead of his name.
Now that's sure, it's a bug. The iPhone is confused to be abroad and when it gets a phone call from a local phone, it doesn't know how to deal with it. How can this be escalated to Apple for further testing?

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