Parse a phone number against any of 245 dialling regions, see whether it is valid, where its range was issued, who carries it and what time it is there.
How it works
Pick a country and type a number, and the page parses it against Google's libphonenumber numbering plans, as the libphonenumber-js package carries them. A number starting with + names its own country and moves the picker to it; one without is read as a national number of the country showing, and is spaced as you type the way that country writes numbers. There are 245 dialling regions, a few of them, such as Ascension Island, with no ISO country code of their own.
The page says whether the number is valid and, if not, whether its length is at least possible there. It names the line type, writes the number as E.164, international, national and RFC 3966, and shows how to dial it from your own country. It then takes it apart into calling code, national number, area code, national destination code and extension.
A valid number is also looked up in three tables Google publishes beside the plans: where the range was issued, which operator it was issued to, and which time zones it can be in. They come from a fixed release of google/libphonenumber taken when the site was built.
Short codes such as 000, 112 and 911 are read against the country showing and answered as what they are: whether they reach an emergency service, what they cost, and whether they belong to one carrier.
Examples
A London landline
United Kingdom, 020 7946 0018:
E.164 +442079460018
International +44 20 7946 0018
National 020 7946 0018
RFC 3966 tel:+442079460018
Type Fixed line
Area code 20
Location London+44 (0)20 7946 0018, a common way of writing it that cannot be dialled as it stands, gives the same result.
The zero Italy keeps
Italy, 02 1234 5678:
E.164 +390212345678
International +39 02 1234 5678
Area code 02
Location MilanIn Germany 030 123456 becomes +49 30 123456, the 0 being a trunk prefix dialled only inside the country. In Italy the 0 is part of the number and stays.
Short codes
000 with Australia selected is Emergency and Toll free. 112 is an emergency number in Australia and Germany alike, while 611 in the United States is Carrier specific. None has an E.164 form, a short code being dialled only inside its own country.
Common problems
The trunk prefix and +44 (0)
Many countries put a trunk prefix in front of national numbers, 0 in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia and 8 in Kazakhstan, and it is dropped after the country code. In +44 (0)20 the 0 is for callers inside the country and is not part of the number. The page accepts that style and removes the 0.
Valid is not the same as in service
Valid means the number falls in a range the plan allocates; nothing here dials it or asks a network. Possible means only that the length fits. 07700 900123 in the United Kingdom is Possible and Not a valid number: it has the length of a British mobile but sits in a range Ofcom sets aside for drama.
The carrier may not carry the number
The Carrier row names the operator the range was issued to. Numbers can be ported between operators and keep their digits, so 0412 345 678 in Australia reads as Optus whoever the line is with today.
Countries that share a calling code
+1 is shared by 25 regions, and only the digits after it tell them apart: +1 416 555 0199 moves the picker to Canada and reads as Ontario, +1 212 555 0199 to the United States and New York, NY. +7 is Russia and Kazakhstan, and +44 also covers Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey. The country lookup lists each country's dialling prefixes.
Frequently asked questions
What is E.164?
The ITU-T recommendation for international numbering, and the form it defines: a plus, the country calling code and the national number, with no spaces and no trunk prefix, at most 15 digits in all. +442079460018 is one. It is the form to store, since every other format can be written from it.
What is the RFC 3966 format for?
It is the number as a tel: URI, such as tel:+442079460018, which is what a link needs so that tapping it offers to call. An extension goes on the end as ;ext=.
Does the location show where the phone is?
No. It is where the number's range was issued, according to Google's geocoding data, which for a landline is usually a town and for a mobile often nothing at all.
How current is the data?
As current as the site's last build, whose date the mark beside the title gives. A range allocated or reassigned since then can read as invalid, or with an old location or carrier, until the site is built with newer data.