Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Making a call
• Part 2 of 3: Other methods
• Part 3 of 3: Call at an appropriate time
• Tips
• Warnings

In recent years, calls have been made more and more regularly to other countries. This may seem confusing at first, but it is actually very easy. Whether you want to speak to a family member, business partner or friend, follow the steps below to make a call to the UK from the United States.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Making a call

1. Enter 011. This is the international access code.
2. Enter 44. This is the country code for the United Kingdom.
3. Enter the phone number and omit the first 0.

Part 2 of 3: Other methods

You can also call abroad in other ways. These are two examples of ways you can do this with your computer.

1. Call from your computer to a phone. It is very easy to call a foreign telephone number with your computer. These are three programs that allow you to do this:
   • Freebuzzer
   • EvaPhone
   • Spout talk
2. Call from your computer to another computer. You can also call another computer from your computer. You can then make an audio call, but you can also use your webcam, for example. Here are three programs you can use to do this:
   • Skype
   • Yahoo Voice
   • Windows Live Messenger

Part 3 of 3: Call at an appropriate time

1. Pay attention when you call! Unless it is an emergency, you should of course not call when it is 3 a.m. in the UK.
   • In general, it is 5 hours ahead of the US Eastern time zone in the UK. Adjust the time based on your time zone.
   • In the spring and fall, there are two short periods when the United Kingdom is only four hours ahead of the United States. In the United Kingdom, the clock is set to a different date to ring in summer and winter time.
   • If you are not sure what time it is in the UK, you can go to Google.com and search for "UK time". Then the correct time in the United Kingdom is immediately displayed on your screen.
     
     

Tips

• If the phone number you want to call has a zero between the country code and the local code (for example, +44 (0) 141 XXX XXXX), you do not need to enter the zero. Enter the number as follows: 011.44.141.XXX.XXXX.
• If you only have a local number (with 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 digits), you will need to find the code for the area where you want to call someone. There are more than 600 of these codes, and most of them have 2 or 5 digits. The codes for some major English cities are: Aberdeen: 1224, Birmingham: 121, Bristol: 117, Cardiff: 29 (for 8 digit phone numbers starting with a 2), Exeter: 1392, Glasgow: 141, Leicester: 116, Leeds : 113, Liverpool: 151, London: 20 (for 8-digit numbers starting with 7, 8 or 3), Manchester: 161, Plymouth: 1752, Reading: 118, Sheffield: 114, Southampton and Portsmouth: 23 (for 8-digit telephone numbers starting with 8 or 9), Swansea: 1792. Five-digit telephone numbers exist in 40 areas with 4-digit codes, for example in Buxton: 1298 and Northwich: 1606. There are twelve areas with 5-digit codes including Langholm: 13873 and Sedburgh: 15396.
• If you are unable to make a call to the UK, you can key in 00 and ask the international operator for assistance.
• If you want to call abroad, you do not have to enter a "1" first. If you are calling from a phone that requires you to dial "9" first, the phone number would look like this: 9.011.44.XXX.XXX.XXXX.

Warnings

• Phone numbers starting with 1 or 2 in the UK are linked to a specific location. Phone numbers starting with 3 are not linked to a specific location, but are used regularly by large companies. The usual international rate is charged for all numbers starting with a 1, 2 or 3. Telephone numbers starting with a 7 are usually mobile phones, often with a higher rate. Phone numbers starting with 70 are not mobile phone numbers, but are much more expensive to call. Telephone numbers starting with 500 and 80 are house telephones and 84 and 87 are service numbers. Phone numbers starting with 9 are often very expensive to call. At http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumer/consumerProducts/pdf/SpecialisedNos.pdf you can see exactly what rate you pay for certain numbers in the UK. How much you lose as an American caller depends on your own telephone provider.
• It can be very expensive to call abroad. To avoid unnecessary surcharges, it is best to call in the evening during the weekend. You can also consider purchasing an international prepaid card. With this you often pay a lot less per minute than with your normal telephone. You can also get a VoIP (voice over IP) account as it makes phone calls to the UK free.