Foreign Phone Numbers in Address Book

Question

Level 1

56 points

Foreign Phone Numbers in Address Book

I'm trying to figure out how to put foreign phone numbers in the Lion Address Book. And whether you put the international code or country code, as well as the actual format. Now I saw in the HELP menu, that you can change the format of phone numbers by going to Preferences/Phone ....However, that seems to change the format for ALL your contacts, and that's not what I want to do. I just want to change formats for certain people in foreign countries such as England or Australia.

For example my Australian friend said his cell # is XXXX XXX XXX and a home # of XX XXXX XXXX and that doesnt include international 011 or the country code of 61. (Im not sure where the + comes in -- when he's texted me via his cell , I get +61XXXXXXXXX (+61followed by nine digits so Im confused although I read online that the first number is a zero that gets replaced by the country code)

My London friend gave me a number in this format +44 XXXX XXXXXX

So Im confused. I admit I never have called them ; they always call me because it's cheaper and if I have to text, I've just responded. But I'm trying to fill out my Address Book and want to put this in accurately (as well as put it in my cell phone but this post is for the Mac Address Book)

Do I need to create a custom format? There has to be a way of doing that for individual entries in the address book. (And if you're familiar with UK and/or Australia formats, that would also help...although I will clarify it with my friends)

Im sure this is an easy solution; I just need someone familiar with international phone numbers to tell me how. Thanks

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 29, 2011 5:32 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 29, 2011 7:10 PM in response to sajam

In AddressBook>Preferences> you can set country address format, hopefully the phone number layout would follow.

Make group or some such and try to set for that group.

I do not know if this is universal setting, but hope you can set according to group.

report back with your finding.

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Answer 2

Jul 30, 2011 12:34 AM in response to sajam

If you have a GSM based phone then you can store numbers in international form and they will work for dialling and sms. The international form is where it is preceded with the +. You can even do this with local numbers. The reason for this is for when you are roaming you don't need to change the stored details to dial the number. It also gets around the various international dialing access codes in use (Australia: 0011, UK: 00, USA: 011).

Many countries, including Australia and the UK, prefix the national dialing number with a zero. You remove this zero when prefixing with the + and country code. So an Australian mobile number which can be dialled in Australia as 0411 000 321, can also be dialled as +61 411 000 321.

There's no need to create a custom format. In fact I have that turned off. Since even in Australia there are several formats in use. Mobile numbers are in the format 04xx xxx xxx. Geographic numbers are in the form 0x xxxx xxxx. The UK has a lot more since an area code varies in the number of digits.

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Answer 3

sajam Author

Level 1

56 points

Jul 30, 2011 4:15 PM in response to leroydouglas

Thanks for your response...It just seems to set the format for all the entries...not just for one or two...as I would assume I need a separate format for entries from different countries (for example, England will be different from Australia which will be different from Israel) and at least on my screen, Im seeing all the formats with the same number of digits. Maybe I have to set up a custom for each one...but still it seems like the system preferences is to change it for all of them, and not just a single entry.

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Answer 4

sajam Author

Level 1

56 points

Jul 30, 2011 4:22 PM in response to Matthew Smith

Thanks for your reply. I guess you were responding to the phone part of the question, and not the Address Book...since Im still not clear how to do it with the Address Book.

For the phone, I currently have Tmobile so I think thats GSM

In Australia, it seems the numbers are eight digits, so for the phone do I just do +61then the number (do I not have to dial 011 first?) I know thats a phone question now and not a Mac question but just curious. I havent called my Australian friend because with my phone plan, it's free for him to call me...but when Ive responded to his text, I have not dialed 011 just responded to his message and I noted it was a +614...number (maybe for text messages you dont need 011?)

You seem familiar with international dialing. My friend in London sent me his phone number as +44 then ten digits...Interestingly, in Address Book, it input that number the exact format, he sent it. It says +44 (space) XXXX (space) XXXXXX ...is that right? I assume +44 is a country code - then they have 10 digits? And do you have to dial 011 or use 011 if you text?

I dont know why it formatted the UK number exactly as my friend emailed it to me...but the Australian phone number was changed to format it like a US number instead of what I had stated in the first message.

Guess you can tell I dont do a lot of international dialing except to Canada which is the same as the US

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Answer 5

Jul 30, 2011 4:43 PM in response to sajam

Australian numbers are only 8 digits if you don't include the area code. Australia has 4 geographic area codes which can roughly equate the the different states although they do cross borders in places.

02 - New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory

03 - Victoria and Tasmania

07 - Queensland

08 - South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia

Mobile numbers start with 04 but it is not considered an area code.

All these are followed by 8 digits. Geographic numbers are formatted as two sets of 4 digits after the area code. Mobile numbers are mostly formatted as 04xx xxx xxx. The first two digits after the 04 usually identifies the carrier, although number portability means it might not be true.

To make the international format you remove the leading 0 and replace with +61. Numbers on a GSM phone can be dialled like this. T-Mobile USA is a GSM system. There's no need to dial 011 if you include the +. The GSM system knows the + means international format of a number and will dial appropriately. This does not mean it will dial internationally. On T-Mobile USA you have a number on your phone as +1xxxyyyzzzz the network will know you are dialling within North American dial plan and it will be billed as if you dialled the number in the non-international form. Since GSM was designed in Europe with roaming in mind and every country having its own country code this meant several things. You did not need to know the international access code for the country you are in. You also did not need to edit the number in you phone before dialling it.

Number formatting in Address Book on the Mac is looking at the number of digits you have entered and formats only if it matches the number of digits. When entering an Australian number the digits are the same number as an American number so it is formatting it that way. A UK number has more digits so it does automatically format it. Unlike the North America both the UK and Australia have multiple formats. Area codes in the UK vary in length.

You can enter multiple rules for the number formatting but it would be quite complex to do. I have actually turned off the number formatting. I manually format all numbers however if I enter the number of my iPhone it will be formatted correctly, because iOS 5 knows how to format phone numbers for each country (when entered in the international format).

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Answer 6

Jul 30, 2011 5:39 PM in response to sajam

Seven or ten digit numbers will get formatted as if they are US numbers if your computer is set up as a US computer.

Either enter the international access code plus country code:

011 61 xx xxxx xxxx

or enter "+" and the number:

+ 61 xx xxxx xxxx

Either should preserve the formating.

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Answer 7

Jun 29, 2015 5:37 AM in response to Matthew Smith

Matthew Smith wrote:

I have actually turned off the number formatting. I manually format all numbers however if I enter the number of my iPhone it will be formatted correctly, because iOS 5 knows how to format phone numbers for each country (when entered in the international format).

Uh -- how to you turn off number formatting?? I can find a way to turn off all formatting but not just phone number formatting.

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