How can I make a foreign phone number format stick?

Just for the record, I made a minor mistake in the above post. The number should be in the +81-3-1234-5678 format by dropping the 0 in front of the Tokyo area code 03. While outside of Tokyo in Japan, you are required to begin with 03 to call Tokyo.

🙂

One issue has arisen. While the +81-3-1234-5678 format saves as is and it is retained on the iPhone as +81 3 1234 5678 without the dashes, I do need an entry in the 1234-5678 format because, when in Tokyo, one needs to dial 1234-5678.

The 1234-5678, however, shows up as (123) 456-78 on the iPhone, which is totally in a wrong format.

How can I make 1234-5678 show up as is on the iPhone?

nextdoor - In Address Book, if I go to Preferences > Phone and create a Custom Format, how do I then apply the Custom Format to a specific phone number?

I will give you an example:
[1] I need to enter the same phone number in Tokyo in two different formats for the same person.
[2] One format is ####-#### and the other is ##-####-####.
[3] So, I created both formats as custom formats.
[4] Now, I typed 1234-5678 and 03-1234-5678.
[5] 1234-5678 saves as it. But, 03-1234-5678 saves as 031-234-5678, which is wrong.

Another issue, now on the iPhone side.

I unchecked +Automatically format phone numbers+ in Address Book on the Mac.
Then, I entered a number 1234-5678, saved it, and synced it via MobileMe.

On the iPhone, however, Contacts shows the number as (123) 456-78, which is totally wrong.
How can I make Contacts on the iPhone retain the same 1234-5678 format?

Thanks again, nextdoor, for trying to help me.

It is encouraging to know that, in your case, the format you use in Address Book is preserved through MobileMe onto your iPhone. If I make a small change in Address Book, then the change does show up on the iPhone. So, Address Book and Contacts are syncing through MobileMe. Also, as I stated above, in Address Book I now have +Automatically format phone numbers+ unchecked.

And, thanks for the tip on saving a phone number in only one format 01 2345 6789. Your story makes sense, and that's what most likely happens in Japan as well.

When I travel to Tokyo, upon landing in Narita I immediately rent a 3G cell phone. Then, I yank the SIM out and put it in my iPhone. That's when I need to see these phone numbers in a correct format. (Though it has nothing to do with this thread, they no longer rent a SIM for iPhone.)

I just tested the following:

[1] In Address Book, I changed 1234-5678 to 03-1234-5678.
[2] This change was indeed transmitted to Contacts on iPhone, but it showed up as 0312345678 without the -'s.

I am still truly puzzled as to why, even if +Automatically format phone numbers+ is UNchecked in Address Book, the format does not get preserved when synced to Contacts on my iPhone 4.

For example, 1234-5678 entered in Address Book shows up as (123) 456-78.

Can other people confirm this as well?

Thank you, etresoft, for your tip. You really brought sanity to my mind. I only wish I could enter +81-03-1234-5678 while in Contact.app on the iPhone, however.