How To Call a Foreign Country

How to call a foreign country from either a 'landline' or a cellphone.

Calling a Foreign Country From a 'Landline'

1. From a landline (stationary telephone) you will need to know your IDD Prefix. This is nothing more than the code you need to dial to get outside of your country. For the USA, it is 011. (More Prefixes)
2. Then you need to know the country code of the country you are dialing. For the United Kingdom, it is 44. (List of all country codes)
3. Then you need the local number. (World Telephone Directories)
4. Example: We wish to call the British Museum in London, England. Their telephone number is written as: +44 (0) 20 7323 8000
5. From the USA, we would then dial: 011 44 20 7323 8000

- Note: You leave out the number in parentheses (0) for the UK and most other countries. Some countries, such as Italy or Russia require you to leave the zero in! Try both ways if you are not sure.

How International Numbers are Formatted

• Telephone numbers are typically formatted as shown above. (This is the number for the British Museum in London, UK.)
  • Country Code: +44 = England
  • Local Code: (0) = Do not dial this unless you are in England!
  • City Code: 20 = London
  • Local Number: 7323 8000

Calling a Foreign Country From a Cellphone

1. The first step is to find the + key on your phone as shown in the video. Then you dial the rest of the steps the same way as for a 'landline'.

Video - Calling Internationally from a Cellphone

How to call internationally

Tips

• You can find a list of country codes for every country in the world here: Country Codes.
• You can find all of the world's telephone directories here: World Telephone Directories.

Warnings

• Remember that time differences do exist. You generally don't want to call someone in the middle of their night. Check the local time of the person you want to call)
• International phone calls still can be very expensive.
• When you have finished the conversation make sure you have terminated the connection.