Dialing rules may not be applied to tools such as Fax and Phone Dialer on Windows XP-based and Windows Vista-based computers

When you use the Microsoft Fax, the Windows Fax and Scan, or the Phone Dialer applications, your dialing rules may not be applied, and the number may not be dialed correctly.

This behavior can occur if you do not use a canonical format for the telephone numbers. If you do not use canonical format, the dialing rules are not applied, and the number may not be dialed correctly.

To resolve this issue, type the telephone numbers in the following format: For example, this is the format for a subscriber in the United States of America in canonical format:

This behavior is by design.

To correctly apply the dialing rules, Microsoft Fax, Windows Fax and Scan, and Phone Dialer require both of the following items:

• Information about where the call is being dialed from (from the dialing rules).
• Information about where the call is being dialed to (from the full canonical number).

This includes the country/region code and area code in both cases.

If you type only a string of digits, Windows cannot reliably parse the information to determine which portion of the number is the country/region code, area code, and local number.

Note that programs that store numbers, such as Microsoft Outlook, try to intelligently convert random strings of digits into canonical numbers before storing them in the Contacts folder.