A friend of mine recently moved to the US from Switzerland. A day or two ago, she was telling me about her issues with her phone numbers on her phone, and I just cringed. So, I want to let people know what I do which has proved to be quite easy, especially for this international world we live in and travel through.
My friend had saved numbers on her phone as
079 123.45.67 or
0041 22 123.45.67
and was commenting that she needed to go through her address book and change them all. Add the country code when necessary and change the "00" to whatever the US international dialing prefix is.
The problem with the first example is that even if you just cross the border to Ferney for some shopping and try to call your friend in Geneva, it's not gonna work. You're now on the French network and they won't recognize "079". You have to type it in manually.
The problem with the second example is similar. If you change locations and the int'l prefix is not "00", then you have to update your phone or type it in manually.
Both cases are just annoying, but it doesn't have to be like that. There's something easier.
I always save my phone numbers in the following format:
+1.301 555.1234
+41.79 123.45.67
+33.6 12.34.56.78
+7.495 123.45.67
The "+" at the beginning is a shortcut for "international". That is followed by the country code and then the full phone number.
So, no matter what country I'm in, or what provider I've connected to, I can dial everyone without having to think.
Backup
I've known several people who see me at a party or online and tell me, "I lost my phone, can you re-send your phone number?"
Every phone manufacturer has a way to back up your contacts to a computer. To synchronize your contacts. It may or may not be easy to set up, but once it is, it usually only takes about 1-2 minutes to sync.
And if anything should ever happen to your phone, you can always restore from your computer.
As always, if you have any questions about what I've written, please feel free to comment and/or write to me. And if you want to back up your contacts, but you want help, don't hesitate to contact me.
Have a good one.
