How to dial an international fax number: a guide to 7 countries

Short answer: on a traditional fax machine, an international number is made of three blocks: your country's exit code (00 everywhere in Europe, 011 in Canada), the destination's country code, then the national number minus its leading zero. Italy is the exception: the zero stays. Spain, Portugal and Canada have no zero to remove in the first place. On FaxTelecom you don't build anything: you pick the country from the list and type the number the way a local would dial it.

Three blocks, always in the same order

An international number reads like an address on an envelope, from the widest area to the most precise.

1. The exit code tells your carrier the call is leaving the country. In Europe it is 00. In Canada and the United States it is 011. The + printed on business cards stands in for it: it means "put your exit code here".
2. The country code identifies the destination network: 33 for France, 49 for Germany, 1 for Canada.
3. The national number identifies the line itself, including its area code (Lyon, Porto, Montreal…).

Almost every mistake hides in that third block. In many countries the national number starts with a 0, the trunk prefix. It is only used for calls made inside the country. From abroad, you drop it. Leaving it in is still the number one reason an international fax never gets through.

Country by country

The numbers below are fictitious examples, chosen to show the structure.

France (+33)

A French landline has ten digits. It starts with 01 (Paris region), 02 to 05 (the four large regions) or 09 (non-geographic lines, widely used by internet boxes). Internationally, the zero goes: 04 72 10 20 30 is dialled +33 4 72 10 20 30. A number starting 06 or 07 is a mobile, and no fax machine will ever reach it.

Belgium (+32)

Belgian landlines have nine digits, zero included. Large cities have a short area code (02 Brussels, 09 Ghent, 04 Liège, 03 Antwerp), other areas a three-digit one (081 Namur, 071 Charleroi). Drop the zero: 02 512 34 56 becomes +32 2 512 34 56. Mobiles have ten digits and start with 046 to 049. Don't mistake them for Liège.

Germany (+49)

The German plan has variable length. The Vorwahl (area code) is two to five digits after the zero, and the subscriber number adjusts accordingly. Munich is 089, Frankfurt 069, Hamburg 040, Stuttgart 0711. The usual rule applies: drop the zero, so 089 2345678 becomes +49 89 2345678. German companies often write their fax line as an extension of the switchboard: 089 23456-99. The hyphen is just a separator; every digit gets dialled. Mobiles start with 015, 016 or 017.

Spain (+34)

No zero here. Numbers have nine digits with the provincial code built in: 91 Madrid, 93 Barcelona, 96 Valencia, 954 Seville. Landlines start with 9 or 8. You dial +34 93 412 56 78 exactly as it reads in Barcelona. Mobiles start with 6 or 7.

Italy (+39)

The classic trap. Since the 1998 reform, the zero has been an integral part of Italian landline numbers and is dialled from abroad too: 02 8765 4321 (Milan) becomes +39 02 8765 4321. Removing that zero, out of habit picked up with France or Germany, sends the call nowhere. Mobiles start with 3.

Portugal (+351)

Nine digits, no zero. Landlines start with 2: 21 Lisbon, 22 Porto, 239 Coimbra, 289 Faro. You dial +351 22 345 6789. Mobiles start with 9.

Canada (+1)

Canada belongs to the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), alongside the US: country code 1, then ten digits, made of a three-digit area code and a seven-digit local number. From Europe: 00 1 418 555 0142. No zero to drop. One quirk: nothing in the number tells a landline from a cell phone, so ask your contact to confirm it really is a fax line. The other way round, from Canada to Europe, you exit with 011: 011 33 4 72 10 20 30.

The table to keep at hand

For more cities and area codes, see our international country code directory.

The mistakes we see most often

• Keeping the "(0)" in brackets. Plenty of email signatures show +33 (0)4 72…. That bracketed zero is a reading aid for domestic calls, not a digit to dial after the country code.
• Removing the Italian zero. It is the opposite of the general rule, which is exactly why people forget.
• Aiming at a mobile. A fax machine sends signals only another fax machine understands. A mobile phone never switches to fax mode. Clues: 06/07 in France, 6/7 in Spain, 3 in Italy, 9 in Portugal, 015 to 017 in Germany.
• Mixing up phone and fax. Organisations often publish both side by side, sometimes differing only in the last two digits.
• Forgetting the outside line. Behind a company switchboard you may need to press 0 to get out, before the 00. The number then becomes 0 00 49 89….
• Trusting an old number. As copper networks are switched off, many offices have changed or dropped their fax line. Our page on the copper switch-off and fax explains why. Always confirm the number on a source dated this year.

How the FaxTelecom form asks for the number

You never have to assemble an international number. The form works in two steps.

1. You pick the destination country from the list. The country code is handled by the service; you don't type it.
2. You enter the number in national format, the way it would be dialled locally: with the zero for France, Belgium, Germany and Italy; without a zero for Spain and Portugal (nine digits); all ten digits for Canada.

Under the field, the expected format for the chosen country is shown, along with an example. Spaces, dots and hyphens are fine. If you paste a number already written internationally, starting with +33 or 0033, the country code is stripped and the national zero restored where the country needs it. A number that doesn't match the format is flagged straight away, before you even confirm the send.

The seven accepted countries and their specifics are listed on the destinations page. Pricing doesn't depend on the country: a single-page PDF costs nothing; from the second page on, one flat fee of €3.99 incl. VAT covers the whole send, be it two pages or thirty. For country-specific procedures, our international fax guide picks up where this article leaves off.

The thirty-second check

Before you click "Send", run through these five points:

• the selected country is the recipient's, not yours;
• the number of digits matches the table above;
• it isn't a mobile number;
• it comes from a recent letter or website;
• your document is ready: a clean PDF that stays legible once reduced to black and white. Our article on preparing a PDF for fax shows how.

A correct number on the first try means a fax delivered in a minute or two rather than an afternoon of redials.