When you have a phone number, you can dial to phone numbers locally, all over the country, and internationally. However, the way to dial to different places isn’t as straightforward as typing in the number and pressing dial. In this article, we will go through the steps to place calls to various countries and scenarios. We will discuss:

• What is NANP (North American Numbering Plan)
• Local calls, in country
• Long distance calls
• Call inside the NANP area
• Calling from NANP area to outside of it
• Calling from outside to NANP area
• Calls between countries outside NANP

What is NANP?

NANP stands for North American Numbering Plan. It is an integrated telephone numbering plan that serves 20 North American countries¹ NANP was planned in 1947 by AT&T and implemented it in 1951. NANP Phone numbers are Ten digits long. Three of those digits are for the area code. The format is XXX-XXX-XXXX. 

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) assigned the country code of 1 to the NANP area. This means any country included in the NANP area will have an international code of 1. That means a NANP phone number is +1 XXX-XXX-XXXX.

The countries included in the NANP area are:

• United States
• Canada, 
• Bermuda, 
• Anguilla, 
• Antigua & Barbuda, 
• American Samoa
• the Bahamas, 
• Barbados, 
• the British Virgin Islands, 
• the Cayman Islands, 
• Dominica, 
• the Dominican Republic, 
• Grenada, 
• Guam
• Jamaica, 
• Montserrat, 
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Puerto Rick
• Sint Maarten, 
• St. Kitts and Nevis, 
• St. Lucia, 
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 
• Trinidad and Tobago, 
• Turks & Caicos
• US Virgin Islands

To determine where your area code is located, you can use this link to find your area code.

What’s included in phone numbers?

A phone number has three parts to it:

Code to Dial Phone

For examples:

We will assume the source phone number to dial is: XXX 234-5678

We will assume the destination phone number to dial is: XXX 987-6543

We will assume the destination phone number to dial internationally is: (0) XX 98 76 54

XXX or XX will depends on the area.

Local Dialing

To dial to another phone in your local area, you can type in the area code + phone number. For example,

• (416) – 234 - 5678 dialling (905) – 987 – 6543

Calling from within the same country doesn't need anything more than the area code and the phone number. What determines your local area depends on your phone carrier.

Long Distance Dialing

Dialing within your local area will not need any changes beyond the 10 digit number. To dial to another person beyond your local area you would need to add the number 1 to the number to dial. This is added to the beginning of the 10 digit number identifying this as a North America long distance call.² If you do not, and you call a phone number that is long distance, it will prompt you saying that you are making a long distance call, and complete it for you.³ For example,

• (416) – 234 - 5678 dialling 1 (604) – 987 - 6543

International Dialing

This guide is meant for people dialing within the NANP area. Therefore, we will assume that you are dialing from the NANP area.

To dial internationally, you will need to type in the international prefix, also known as an exit code, then the country code, then the area code in the country of destination, and then the phone number you are dialing.

The international prefix code allows you to dial any number outside of the NANP area. For people dialing from within a NANP country to a non-NANP country, you generally use 011. If you want to be sure, you can use this link: https://www.howtocallabroad.com/codes.html

Regardless of where you dial to, if you’re on your mobile phone, you can type in plus (+) in place of a specific international code.

 

From Canada to United States

Since both Canada and the United States are within the NANP area, no exit code is needed to complete the dialing. You would still need to type in 1 as that is the country code of the NANP area, then the area code, and then the phone number.

• For (416) – 234 - 5678 dialing 1 (212) – 987 – 6543

From United States to Canada

Since both countries are also in the NANP area, the reverse (a US number calling a Canadian one) also works the same way. For example,

• (212) – 987 – 6543 dialing 1 (416) 234-5678

From Canada to Jamaica

Since both Canada and Jamaica is also in the NANP area, an exit code is not needed to call Jamaica from Canada. You would still need to type in 1 as that is the country code of the NANP area, then the area code, and then the phone number. For example,

• (416) – 234 - 5678 dialing 1 (876) – 987 – 6543

From Jamaica to Canada

Since both countries are also in the NANP area, the reverse (a Jamaican number calling a Canadian one) also works the same way. For example,

• (876) – 987 – 6543 dialing 1 (416) 234-5678

From Canada to France

France is not included in the NANP area, therefore an exit code is needed to call a French number. For example,

• (416) 234-5678 dialing → 011 33 (0)1 98 76 54 32⁴

From France to Canada

Since France is not in the NANP area, for the reverse to work, we will have to use a different exit code. For example,

• 33 01 98 76 54 32 dialing → 00 1 416-234-5678

From Canada to Armenia

Armenia is not included in the NANP area, therefore an exit code is needed to call an Armenian number. For example,

• (416) 234-5678 dialing → 011 374 (0)94 98 76 54

From Armenia to Canada

Since Armenia is not in the NANP area, for the reverse to work, we will have to use a different exit code. For example,

• 00 374 (0)94 98 76 54 dialing 00 1 416-234-5678

Find your country code:

To find your country code, use the dropdown menu here.

Select your country

International Dialing with Gazelle

If you want to establish international dialing with Gazelle Voice Services, we will need to establish an account code to allow you to dial internationally. If you do decide to have international dialing, you are responsible for your own usage and fees accrued. Don’t be calling Nigerian princes now!

Conclusion

These days, a lot of dialing has been made simple with the plus sign in our mobiles, and voice over IP. However, it’s good to know how to dial when these technologies are not available to you. Dial cautiously.

Useful resources

• https://countrycode.org/
• https://www.nanpa.com/resources/area-code-maps
• https://www.cnac.ca/area_code_maps/canadian_area_codes.htm
• https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/international-calling-codes.htm