+1 country code shows with all local calls?

[ClassicBean]

When someone calls me, even within my area code, a +1 shows before the number -- obviously the country code.

For example, I'm in area code 416, and if someone calls me from the same area code, it shows as +1 (416) 555-5555.

I find this a bit odd since on my old carrier and phone this was not the norm. Also, if I go to create a new contact, it will save the +1 which clearly I don't want.

Anybody know if this is the norm?

 

[applecupcakes]

I don't have an iphone, but I make a point of putting the +1 in front of the numbers in my address book on my cellphone. The reason for this is I move a lot between my apartment, which is in one city; my parents' house, which is in another; and my job, which is in yet another. The +1 makes it super convenient to call anyone, because regardless of whether or not the call is local or long-distance, it puts me right through.

Anyway, just my comment, and something to keep in mind if you travel at all.

 

[shinenjk]

Um I thought that is the norm? When someone calls me and I don't have his/her # in the phonebook, it has +1 at the front. Who cares though it's not a big deal.

O
C
D

 

[crsd36]

If you really want to turn it off there is an option here:

Settings -> Phone -> International Assist

 

[Hutch1]

Rogers does that actually it is handy if you save the number it will dial it and automatically use the 1 for long distance, that way you don't have to add it or listen to that message "this call is long distance your call is being completed". I save all my numbers with the +1 prefix.

 

[mkrishnan]

I don't have an iphone, but I make a point of putting the +1 in front of the numbers in my address book on my cellphone. The reason for this is I move a lot between my apartment, which is in one city; my parents' house, which is in another; and my job, which is in yet another. The +1 makes it super convenient to call anyone, because regardless of whether or not the call is local or long-distance, it puts me right through.

Anyway, just my comment, and something to keep in mind if you travel at all.

In Canada, do cell phones have to dial the +1 if they are not located within the area code? US cell phones don't need to dial the +1 unless they leave the country. In fact it seems to me I've taken a US T-mo cell phone into Canada and dialed numbers that were stored in it without the +1 from there (which, granted, they're all +1, but my phone should be out of area code for any Canadian area code). If you take your phone outside the US/Canada, though, I think you do need the +1's, right, so then the practice is quite smart, and will pay off....

 

[cellocello]

Rogers does that actually it is handy if you save the number it will dial it and automatically use the 1 for long distance, that way you don't have to add it or listen to that message "this call is long distance your call is being completed". I save all my numbers with the +1 prefix.

That's the EXACT reason why I don't want my contacts to have +1 on them. I LIKE knowing when the call I'm making is long distance or not.

I travel between different towns and call amongst these towns pretty randomly, pretty frequently - knowing when I'm on long distance helps quite a bit.

 

[applecupcakes]

In Canada, do cell phones have to dial the +1 if they are not located within the area code? US cell phones don't need to dial the +1 unless they leave the country. In fact it seems to me I've taken a US T-mo cell phone into Canada and dialed numbers that were stored in it without the +1 from there (which, granted, they're all +1, but my phone should be out of area code for any Canadian area code). If you take your phone outside the US/Canada, though, I think you do need the +1's, right, so then the practice is quite smart, and will pay off....

Yes, in Canada any non-local call requires that you dial 1 before the area code and the number.

However, being located in the same area code does not always mean a local call! I can't speak for all of the provinces, but that's how it is in Ontario. For example, we use the area code 519 in Windsor, ON, but Guelph and Cambridge also use 519, even though they are close to a 3 hour drive away. Not a local call. Conversely, in the GTA my area code is 905, so most (all?) 905 area codes are local, but some 416 area codes are local as well, while some 416s require the 1.

 

[mkrishnan]

Yes, in Canada any non-local call requires that you dial 1 before the area code and the number.

Ahh, okay, see, this is generally the way landlines work in the US (including the part about parts of several area codes being local with other parts of the same area codes not being local, especially in cities), but all US mobile phones dial any US/Canada phone number with ten digits and don't need the +1.

God bless that plus nationwide free long distance. Even dealing with my office phone becomes a nuisance, because, as you say, there are several different ways that a number can be dialed (seven digits, ten digits, +1 + ten digits, +1 + seven digits, etc), and it's never clear which one is right. I hate that system with a passion, even when I'm not directly paying for anything (if I need to call my patient, I need to call my patient, but I have to figure out how to get my office phone to actually do it!). With my cell phone, that's all a non-issue.

 

[applecupcakes]

God bless that plus nationwide free long distance.

Ah, this reminds me! In my 3rd year of university I was living in a house with about 5 other people and we shared a landline which I believe was "digital phone" or something to that effect, I can't really recall. In any event, with this type of calling system, all calls to Canada (and to the US I believe, too) were treated as local calls (10-digit dialing).

(seven digits, ten digits, +1 + ten digits, +1 + seven digits, etc)

I forgot about 7-digit dialing! In the greater Toronto area we've been plagued with 10-digit dialing for what seems like forever... if I'm not mistaken it's now an Ontario- (if not nation-) wide standard.

 

[d wade]

i get the +1 every so often. i was puzzled about it as well.

then i got a call from Germany, +49

weird.

 

[applecupcakes]

then i got a call from Germany, +49

weird.

Not really - they're country codes!

 

[moabon.rob]

Yes, this topic confused me... In the UK, I can call anywhere in the UK with its 11-digit code (beginning with a 0) which narrows it down. If I am rung by someone not in my address book, the call is prefaced with +44 (and the leading 0 is dropped) which tells me they are phoning from the UK. If I add them to my address book, I can remove the +44 and reinstate the 0 and whenever they call I get the 11-digit number with the 0.

The only time I would ever have any use for "+XX" is if I am phoning or texting someone in another country. Perhaps I misunderstand the American/Canadian system, but I don't see what adding the "+1" achieves in distinguishing between making local/national calls. It shouldn't make any difference whether it's used or not. Surely the first three digits of, say, a US number narrows it down to area/state (possibly city too) and then the final seven to a specific person/place?

In the UK the first digit is always 0 unless an international call is being made (or you are using the +44 preface), the next four digits narrow down the area and specifically city/town/etc, and the final six digits get the exact place. (Mobile phones begin 07 and that is the only differing rule they seem to have.)

 

[mkrishnan]

Perhaps I misunderstand the American/Canadian system, but I don't see what adding the "+1" achieves in distinguishing between making local/national calls. It shouldn't make any difference whether it's used or not. Surely the first three digits of, say, a US number narrows it down to area/state (possibly city too) and then the final seven to a specific person/place?

As I understand it's an idiosyncrasy of a very old phone system, and the fact that our country code is "1"... basically, just like anywhere else, we do not need to dial country codes unless we are dialing out of country any more than you do. However, the 1 was also used to transfer a call to a long distance operator, in the day. Then, as switchboards got automated, the 1 key was still used to transfer the call from the local calling switchboard to the long distance calling one. One still sees the effect in internal networks like in companies -- sometimes when one hits 8 or 9 to dial outside from an office phone, one actually gets a change to a different dialtone for the external-facing switchboard.

So anyway, in the US, landline telephones will not make calls that use long distance unless they are preceded by a 1 -- one gets an error message without it. Of course, technically, there is no need for this, but as I said, it's the idiosyncratic remainder of a very old system. Apparently Canadian cellphones and landlines work this way. In these cases, the 1 isn't really acting as a country code per se, but as a long distance switchboard code.

At least, that's the way I understand it.

 

[TEG]

If you have international Assist turned on, you always get the +1. As far as I know, as long as you are calling on the NANP (North American Numbering Plan) then you only need the +1 when calling from a land-line, cellphones figure out that you are dialing an area code, prefix, and number before you dial, so you don't need to signal that you want to make a long-distance or toll call by dialing 1. Although if you are making a tollcall or a local call to another areacode (or live someplace with two area codes) then you must always dial ten digits.

Also, if you just dial a 7-digit number (prefix - number) then your phone's home area code is prepended, so you don't need the area code for calls within your area code from your cell phone.

TEG

 

[TEG]

The only time I would ever have any use for "+XX" is if I am phoning or texting someone in another country. Perhaps I misunderstand the American/Canadian system, but I don't see what adding the "+1" achieves in distinguishing between making local/national calls. It shouldn't make any difference whether it's used or not. Surely the first three digits of, say, a US number narrows it down to area/state (possibly city too) and then the final seven to a specific person/place?

In the UK the first digit is always 0 unless an international call is being made (or you are using the +44 preface), the next four digits narrow down the area and specifically city/town/etc, and the final six digits get the exact place. (Mobile phones begin 07 and that is the only differing rule they seem to have.)

In the NANP 1 indicates a direct-dial long-distance number. The 0 calls the operator, or if prepended to the number, it will make it operator assisted, usually used for collect calls. To make an international call, cell phone users can just use the '+' whereas land-line callers use 011 for direct dial or 001 for Operator assisted.

This all goes back to the old mechanical systems.

Searching Wikipedia for North American Numbering Plan explains everything in more detail than I care to go into.

TEG

 

[NeoMayhem]

Seeing the +1 on incoming calls has nothing to do with international assist or the iPhone. I get it on my iphone sometimes with international assist off, and I have seen it on other AT&T phones as well. I have no idea what is causing it, but it seems to be related to ATT, not any specific phone or caller (although it does seem to happen more with prepaid phones and voip phones).

 

[applecupcakes]

Perhaps I misunderstand the American/Canadian system, but I don't see what adding the "+1" achieves in distinguishing between making local/national calls.

Our +1 is your +44. The +1 indicates that the caller is from the US/Canada. dialing 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx lets you make a long distance call, where xxx-xxx-xxxx (or xxx-xxxx) is just a local call.

 

[MeDay]

When someone calls me, even within my area code, a +1 shows before the number -- obviously the country code.

For example, I'm in area code 416, and if someone calls me from the same area code, it shows as +1 (416) 555-5555.

I find this a bit odd since on my old carrier and phone this was not the norm. Also, if I go to create a new contact, it will save the +1 which clearly I don't want.

Anybody know if this is the norm?

I don't believe it is, in fact if you answer them it is usually a foreigner trying to get personal information, you need to block them and don't answer them, thanks to people in politics that had no right to sell everyone's information out there we will continue to have people trying to steel our information, if it is important or a real person then they will leave a message. Also, these numbers are generated from a computer so therefore you will never be able to really track them.