Chicago Dialing Instructions

To make an international telephone call to Chicago, IL from any country worldwide, please follow the dialing procedure shown below.

Dial Chicago, United States

The United States has highly standardized phones numbers, so the dialing steps are the same whether you are dialing a Chicago landline phone or a Chicago mobile phone

To dial a Chicago phone number, you will need:

Your dialing procedure may be affected if you are calling Chicago using a calling card or VoIP phone service. Follow links for more additional information for dialing.

Click here for dialing steps by country.

Procedure to Dial Chicago, IL from Any Country

Follow this basic dialing procedure to place an international long-distance call from any country worldwide to a landline or mobile phone number in Chicago, IL.

The procedure outlined below is for direct international dialing from a landline or mobile phone in the home or office.

Additional or different dialing steps may be required when calling Chicago using calling card or VoIP service.

1. Dial international access code / IDD:   idd 

Dial your country's international access code (aka international direct dial code or IDD) to initiate a phone call to Chicago.

Lookup your international access code here.

Note that some mobile operators do not require dialing an IDD and/or allow use of substitute characters (such as '+') in lieu of dialing an IDD. As well, in many cases you don't dial an IDD when using a calling card or VoIP service.

2. Dial United States country code: + 1 

Dial country code +1 to reach any location in United States, including Chicago. Country codes are also known as ISDs or international subscriber dialing codes.

If your Chicago phone number starts with a ' 1 ' - e.g., 1 312 224 1800, don't add a second ' 1 '. Dial just a single ' 1 ' after the international access code.

3. Dial a 10-digit Chicago phone number

All Chicago phone numbers are 10-digits long with two parts:

a. Dial a 3-digit Chicago area code:  aaa 

b. Dial a 7-digit local subscriber number: nnn nnnn

Some common Chicago area codes are: 312 , 773 , 872 , and 708 . List of Chicago area codes

Lookup a Chicago phone number

Back to top

Steps to Dial Chicago from a Specific Country

Follow the links below for country-specific dialing instructions for calling Chicago landline and mobile phones. These pages include originating country access codes and other information.

Back to top

Dialing Tips

  • If you are in an office or building with a main switchboard or PBX, make sure you have a live outside line by dialing '9' or similar
  • Some mobile carriers provide shortcuts for making international calls - generally, by changing if or how an IDD is dialed. E.g., In the US, t-mobile allows you to dial a '+' instead of an IDD when calling international numbers.
  • Most calling cards do not require an IDD - but generally do require dialing of additional access numbers and identifying codes
  • Most VoIP services do not require an IDD - but VoIP dialing procedures vary widely, so check dialing for your service carefully
  • Make sure you don't have an extra '1' in your number (see step #2)

Related Topics

Back to top

Related Pages

Sorry, no related content.

Back to top