How to make Outlook 2007 stop from changing my phone number (forma

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TFS

I'm using Outlook 2007 (in XP Pro).

I wanted to know if it's possible to make Outlook stop from changing
telephone numbers I input. For example, I enter something like 01 23 45 67
89, then Outlook 2007 "very cleverly" changes that to (01) 23 45 67 89.....

Come on! Not everybody needs area code. I mean, I've seen the article at
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=318575
but this so-called "canonical format" is only true for USA and Canada and a
few other countries.

Sorry to say so, not everybody on Earth follows everything Americans are
doing. Telephone numbers are one of the things that Europeans don't follow!

Moreover, it's more common for us, eg in France, to use a dot as a separator
instead of a blank-space, eg 01.23.45.67.89 for two reasons:
1. When we use the number pad, it's easier to type the dot than the blank.
Similarly, it's easier to type the dot than the dash.
2. When we copy-n-paste the number to Word doc, and when the number is at
the end of the end, dot-separated number won't get splitted off as
blank-separated number.

Sorry, Americans aren't always correct.
 
I wanted to know if it's possible to make Outlook stop from changing
telephone numbers I input. For example, I enter something like 01 23 45 67
89, then Outlook 2007 "very cleverly" changes that to (01) 23 45 67 89.....

Come on! Not everybody needs area code. I mean, I've seen the article at
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=318575
but this so-called "canonical format" is only true for USA and Canada and a
few other countries.
Click to expand...

Disable the Windows dialing service and your phone numbers should remain
unchanged from how you enter them.
 
Brian Tillman said:
Disable the Windows dialing service and your phone numbers should remain
unchanged from how you enter them.
Click to expand...

By "Windows dialing service", what did you mean exactly? I don't see any
service by that name. Did you mean "Telephony" whose internal service name
is TapiSrv?
 
Brian Tillman said:
Sorry, yes. The Telephony Service.
Click to expand...

The "Remote Access Connection Manager" (RasMan) service is in
dependency with TapiSrv, and for some unknown reason, RasMan can't be
stopped. So TapiSrv can't be stopped! I've also quitted Outlook before
trying to stop RasMan/TapiSrv again, but with the same result: can't stop.

What could I do?
 
Diane Poremsky said:
Are you using internet connection sharing? I believe that is what Remote
Access Connection Manager controls.
Click to expand...

No. As we're already having a firewall device, every PC in my computer (XP
Pro + SP3) has its "Firewall/ICS" (SharedAccess) service stopped and startup
type changed to "manual".
 
Try pausing the service then restart outlook.

The service will restart when you reboot, but as long as you don't touch the
button that brings up the check number dialog in contacts (Business... etc),
the format should not change once its enabled (never has for me). The
button is dead when telephony is paused.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



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Diane Poremsky said:
Try pausing the service then restart outlook.
Click to expand...

Great! That does the trick! However, this brings up another (stupid)
issue: when I input the international format for the number, ie with the
leading plus sign, eg +33 for France, Outlook removes the plus sign!

You see what I mean? When "Telephony" service is on, brackets are added
to tel numbers! When "Telephony" is off, plus sign is removed! Come on!
..... I really don't know what to say....
The service will restart when you reboot, but as long as you don't touch the
button that brings up the check number dialog in contacts (Business... etc),
the format should not change once its enabled (never has for me). The
button is dead when telephony is paused.
Click to expand...

I might have missed something: what button to "check number"? I don't
think I've ever pressed this button. Maybe its effect (ie check number) is
by default?
 
Do you have dialing rules set up correctly? (Control panel, phone and modem)
Outlook gets everything from windows...

In the US, numbers are formatted (202) 234-5467 and if you click the
Business..., Home... etc buttons to the left of the number field, it formats
the number as +1 (202) 234-5467. If you click that button and choose the
correct country, outlook will add the country code and +, removing any
spaces you may have entered. Using your France example, outlook converts
01.23.45.67.89 to +33 0123456789 if I press the button without tabbing out
of the field first. If I enter +33 01.23.45.67.89 outlook converts it to
+33 (01) 23.45.67.89 when I tab out of the field.

If you aren't using making the call from outlook, you can add a leading ' or
other character and outlook won't reformat it. If you sync to a cell phone
and it recognizes the trailing number as a phone number you can select and
dial it from a cell phone.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




You can access this newsgroup by visiting
http://www.microsoft.com/office/community/en-us/default.mspx or point your
newsreader to msnews.microsoft.com.
 
Diane Poremsky said:
Do you have dialing rules set up correctly? (Control panel, phone and modem)
Outlook gets everything from windows...
Click to expand...

I suppose you mean the "site" properties, right? Well, in this properties
dialog, the only thing that's defined is the country/region, and it's set to
France. Other fields are all empty. I just don't know where Windows
(Microsoft) has got the idea that there's this area code in France! I mean,
someone in 01 region still needs to dial 01 even when the other person is in
the same region.
In the US, numbers are formatted (202) 234-5467 and if you click the
Business..., Home... etc buttons to the left of the number field, it formats
the number as +1 (202) 234-5467.
Click to expand...

I see. No, I never press this button. I always wonder why all these
fields' labels are buttons!
If you click that button and choose the
correct country, outlook will add the country code and +, removing any
spaces you may have entered. Using your France example, outlook converts
01.23.45.67.89 to +33 0123456789 if I press the button without tabbing out
of the field first.
Click to expand...

Blanks or dots are added to facilitate reading telephone numbers, esp long
numbers. It's a bad idea to remove such separators. I mean, we are human,
not robots!
If I enter +33 01.23.45.67.89 outlook converts it to
+33 (01) 23.45.67.89 when I tab out of the field.
Click to expand...

That's purely wrong. And what's irritating is that Outlook keeps on
modifying the format, thinking that it is right!? I really wonder who's
controlling whom. The human, or the computer?
If you aren't using making the call from outlook, you can add a leading ' or
other character and outlook won't reformat it. If you sync to a cell phone
and it recognizes the trailing number as a phone number you can select and
dial it from a cell phone.
Click to expand...

I see. I'll try this.
 
I suppose you mean the "site" properties, right? Well, in this properties
dialog, the only thing that's defined is the country/region, and it's set
to
Click to expand...

The dialog rules are in Windows Control Panel, Phone and Modem settings.

--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]



Outlook Tips by email:
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Diane Poremsky said:
The dialog rules are in Windows Control Panel, Phone and Modem settings.
Click to expand...

I know. And as I've written before, nothing is set except Country/Region.

Outlook/Windows pretends to be smart, but actually it's not!
 
I also live in France and want to turn off telephone formatting completely. I just want a simple list of phone numbers in my Outlook Contacts. I never use my PC to make a phone call either directly or through a mobile and it does not provide a shared internet connection. What do I disable? Or is there a Registry key to change?
 
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