Remove the brackets for area code of phone number

[Scott]

Is there any way to remove the default brackets for area code of a phone
number? I am using Outlook 2003. Your advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Brian Tillman]

Is there any way to remove the default brackets for area code of a
phone number?

The formatting of phone numbers is hard-coded in Outlook and there should be
no need for you to remove the parentheses.

 

[Kjartan Andersen]

The formatting of phone numbers is hard-coded in Outlook and there should be
no need for you to remove the parentheses.

Hmm, there should be no reason? What about the fact that the (0) in my users
phonenumbers make the numbers useless on my PDA. I haver to manually fix
every number on my PDA. That is about 500 contacts...
The day (0) is understood by all phones to be ignored then your statement is
OK. But once again the reality is not always as someone thinks.
In my opinion this shold be made an optional setting. There is actually NO
reason for not giving the user an OPTION...

 

[Kjartan Andersen]

And here is the solution (hardcoded my ass....)

Edit following registryentry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Telephony\Locations\Location0\AreaCode

Delete the Areacode key for your location. For my computer it vas Location1
and not Location0 as in the example over.

You will still have (0) added if you use the number-entry tool. But at least
you are allowed to enter the numer manually without getting the (0) added
automatically.

Thanks to the internet-community for this solution.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You failed to understand some things. Masking of phone numbers in Outlook is
indeed hard coded and needs to be. Outlook manages the database with which
many PDA apps try to synch. Accordingly, Outlook must present a consistent
database because the synch software must know exactly what format to expect
for each field. That is why there is no option to change those formats. If a
PDA cannot use Outlook's format for some reason, it is up to the synch
software to convert it to some other format. If you think you need a
different format, it is because your PDA synch software is poorly written.
What you found is a reg hack for the operating system that keeps Outlook
from knowing the dialing location so it cannot format the phone number.
You're certainly welcome to use it, and it may work for you, but be advised
that it is an OS hack that doesn't work in all OS and may have unintended
consequences for other apps.