International dialing rules?

[luckycharms]

Hi Folks,

I travel alot internationally, and I always put a local sim chip in wherever I go. I store many of my contacts with country codes (e.g. +507-6612-1212). What I'd like is to configure my iPhone such that it won't dial the country code if I'm in that country, but it will if I'm not. Anyone know if there's a way to do this? If not, how to other international folks handle this?

thanks!

 

[yrchern]

Hi Folks,
I store many of my contacts with country codes (e.g. +507-6612-1212). What I'd like is to configure my iPhone such that it won't dial the country code if I'm in that country, but it will if I'm not. Anyone know if there's a way to do this?

It shouldn't be a problem storing the country code in your contact. The carrier's network will take care of this.

 

[luckycharms]

The carrier's network doesn't always take care of it. Both Panama and Bolivia have issues with this, for example. Better to be able to deal with it on the phone side.

So, again: is there any way to deal with this in the iPhone?

 

[Scott90]

Isn't the option "International Assist" in Settings > Phone exactly what you want to turn on?

 

[luckycharms]

Perhaps it is, but I've never seen such an option in settings -> phone.

 

[bigaljones]

international calling

Isn't the option "International Assist" in Settings > Phone exactly what you want to turn on?

I have international assist turned on, have all the + and international dialling codes in the right place but still my iPhone 4s will not make international calls. My carrier (Vodafone) and roaming are all ok so i am totally lost - anyone have any advice on how to resolve the issue?

cheers

 

[CyBeRino]

The carrier's network doesn't always take care of it. Both Panama and Bolivia have issues with this, for example. Better to be able to deal with it on the phone side.

So, again: is there any way to deal with this in the iPhone?

No. The carrier's network is supposed to take care of this.

You could store the numbers for such problematic countries twice maybe, once with and once without the country code.

As per http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2977, the "International Assist" feature is only available for AT&T customers and when enabled only adds the country code to US numbers when dialing from outside the US. Apparently Americans don't know how to put international numbers in their phones, so they need help.

 

[luckycharms]

Interesting. Perhaps the dialing rules are baked into the carrier settings somewhere? Those files that apple updates occassionally?

 

[416049]

Interesting. Perhaps the dialing rules are baked into the carrier settings somewhere? Those files that apple updates occassionally?

that could be a reason,... i used to face this problem myself, would be curious how it can be resolved.

 

[Daveoc64]

I've noticed that the iPhone formats numbers based on the country you're in, although that could be because I have the "International Assist" feature "ON" (I've never taken my iPhone to the United States, or used it on AT&T, yet the feature's always been there).

I don't need the feature, because every UK carrier has arrangements with their roaming partners in the most commonly visited countries to accept UK-formatted numbers anyway.

If I type in a UK number, e.g. 07123 654321, then it shows correctly while I'm here, but if I go to another country, it tries to format it like that country's numbers (this happened when I was in Italy last summer).

 

[sharkmok]

I store all my number with the +<country code>, +1 for US, +44 for UK, +86 for China etc. My home country is US.
The iphone4 I have always put it in the correct format. I have contacts that have multiple country phone numbers. I've roam in many countries and also used local sim and never had any problem with calling.
Also once I start using this format, I never had problem connecting iMessage and whatsapp with my friends on the other side of the earth.