What's a "usable" phone number and why do we need them?

Having phone numbers formatted correctly in our database is important for them to be usable in reaching members, individually and in phone campaigns. Phone numbers have to be:

  • readable by humans,
  • usable with calling services like CallHub,
  • possible to call from outside their country,
  • sortable with other phone numbers, and
  • possible to copy reliably from place to place without losing information along the way.


Problematic phone numbers

Right now a lot of the phone numbers in our database are problematic because:

  1. they're outdated or no longer exist, 
  2. they're simply wrong or impossible, or
  3. they're formatted in a way that makes them hard to use.

Outdated or nonexistent numbers

There's not much we can do about outdated or nonexistent numbers except to delete them or replace them as they're discovered.

Wrong or impossible numbers

Some wrong or impossible numbers can be found and fixed by careful inspection; for instance, if a member in France has the two numbers

Home

+33 6 12 34 56 780

Mobile

+33 6 12 34 56 78

then the home number is impossible (too many digits) so it's a pretty good bet that it's a mistake and the "0" should be dropped, because the mobile number looks legit. For another example, the number

+1 111 111 1111

is obviously bogus and should simply be deleted or replaced with a known good number, whatever the motive of the person who originally entered it.

Badly formatted phone numbers

Now the sizable problem of badly formatted numbers. What's meant by "properly formatted"?

It means that every phone number should begin with "+" and the country code followed by a space, then the destination code with no leading zero, a space, and then the rest of the number, optionally with more spaces to make it readable according to local custom. It should have no letters, symbols, or other punctuation. Every phone number must contain a space after the country code.

Why “+{country code}”? Because different countries use different digits to begin international calls: worldwide about 20 different combinations are in use. “+” is an international standard (ITU-T E.164) that means “use the right international call introducer for wherever the call is placed from”. Your mobile phone knows this!

So for example

+1 40 41234567
+33 612 345 678
+41 44123456 7

may be usable formats, but you can make them more readable:

+1 404 123 4567

US grouping

+33 6 12 34 56 78

French grouping

+41 44 123 45 67

Swiss grouping

I won't try to describe here all the 10,000 ways phone numbers can be badly formatted, I'll only marvel at human ingenuity. But take a look below for a glimpse at that ingenuity.

The little list of peculiar phone numbers

Here’s a selection of telephone numbers found in the records of Swiss members, showing different ways of getting numbers wrong, peculiar, or unusable—and sometimes peculiar but usable. (I’ve replaced the last four digits with 9s, but those might still be valid numbers, so treat them with respect.) In the numbers I use “·” (middle dot) to show spaces.

It may help to know that some Swiss members actually reside in bordering countries France, Germany, and Italy. And that a Swiss phone number should ideally be coded in the Swiss convention:

+41 12 345 67 89

but in a pinch it’s okay to use a single space (not so readable) or a US-like convention:

+41 123456789
+41 12 345 6789

The same general rules apply for other countries’ numbers. And now to the list…

In the database

What’s wrong

(041)·2239-9999

No country code; “(0..)” and “-” are wrong; impossible number in any case (too many digits)

+41·22·339·99·9

Impossible (too few digits)

+41·022·302·9999

“022” should be “22”

(203)·256-9999

No country code; “()” and “-” are wrong; can’t be sorted

+·41·31·350·99·99

Space after “+”

+1··40·7··923·9999

Double spaces; peculiar; can’t be sorted; possibly usable

+1(479)·633-9999

“()” and “-” are wrong; peculiar format

+33·4·12·29·09·9999

Impossible (too many digits); perhaps “+41 22 909 9999”?

+41·(0)79·206·9999·Ph


+41·04·1·7·64·589999

Should be “+41 76 458 9999”.

+41·04·1·7·67·439999
+41·76··74·3··99·99

Both in a single member’s record; the first is both wrong and peculiar; the second has double spaces; can’t be sorted; possibly usable

+41·1··75··99·9·99

Double spaces; impossible; “1” should probably be either “43” or “44” (new area codes introduced in 2007)

+41·22··89·6··58·9999

Impossible; peculiar formatting

+41·25·191·15·09999

Impossible; some other country?

+41·30··37··3··19·999
+41·30··37··3·19999

Both in a single member’s record; multiple spaces; impossible

+41·33·066·82·29999

“0” wrong; should perhaps be “+33 6 68 22 99 99” (French mobile)

+41·33·450·40·9999

Should perhaps be “+33 4 50 40 99 99” (French fixed line)

+41·33·420·69·999

Impossible for either Switzerland or France

+41·34·099·99

Impossible; perhaps should be “+41 41 340 99 99”?

+41·39·329·47·69999

Impossible; perhaps should be “+39 329 47 69999” (Italy)?

+41·49··79·7··93·9999

Impossible; multiple spaces; Germany?

+41·49·151·64·709999

Impossible; perhaps should be “+49 151 64 709999” (Germany)?

+41218079999

No spaces; can’t survive in a spreadsheet

+41227989999·(H)

“·(H)” wrong; without it, no spaces

-2-210·99·99

Impossible and truly peculiar

00·41791549999

Leading 0 and 1 are always wrong; “00·” isn’t a country code

001·7737329999
+41·77·373·29·999

Both in a single member’s record; “001·” isn’t a country code; second number is impossible; maybe “+1 773 732 9999” (USA)?

0014·797309999

Should “0014” be “+41”? Or US “+1 479 730 9999”?

0031·23719999

Impossible; some other country?

0041764899999

Should be “+41 76 489 29 99”; no spaces; can’t survive in a spreadsheet; can’t be sorted

011·41·71·545·9999

Leading “011” is always wrong; should be “+41 71 545 99 99”

011-86·1391·168-9999

Leading “011” is always wrong; “-” wrong; China?

02072869999·(H)
02072879999·(Fax)

“·(H)” and “·(Fax)” wrong; wrong even without them

041799529999

No country code; “·(Ph)” wrong; no spaces; can’t survive in a spreadsheet; should perhaps be “+41 79 952 99 99”

0468309999

No country code; “46” isn’t a valid Swiss destination code; no spaces; can’t survive in a spreadsheet; maybe “+33 4 68 30 99 99” (French)?

10620

Maybe a postal code in the wrong place?

1133673999999·(Ph)

“·(Ph)” wrong; may once have begun “011...”, but that’s also wrong; should perhaps be “+33 6 73 99 99 99” (French mobile)

2.52E+11

Literatim! Totally wrong, probably from passing through Excel

202-744-9999
2027449999

Both in a single member’s record; no country codes; “-” wrong; no space in either; perhaps US

22759999

Impossible

25.79.99

Impossible

41

An actual entry; brief, very brief!

41·079·914·99·99

No “+”; “0” is wrong; should be “+41 79 914 99 99”

41223669999

No “+”; no space; should be “+41 22 366 99 99”

617-652-9999·
16176529999

Both in a single member’s record; first has no country code, a trailing space, and “-” are wrong; second has no “+” and no space

666666666666·(M)

An actual entry; obviously phony and should be deleted

Switzerland

An actual entry; doesn’t look to me like a phone number!

-
None
Refuses to share
TBD
tba
to be added

Actual entries, where the phone number should just have been left empty

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