I realize this is an older posting, but I was searching for the same issue --
would like very much to suppress the area code from the display of phone
numbers. This feature was active in previous versions of Outlook. You could
simply edit the phone number, deleting the area code, and it would display
whatever you'd like to put there. We use a 7-digit "extension" where I work,
so it "looks like" a regular phone number, but I do not need or want the area
code; it's very misleading as an extension.

Yes, I know that I can enter "just" an extension in the phone number field,
but then Outlook 2003 once again comes in and "masks" an "x" in there,
helping me to know that it's an extension. I don't want the X, and I don't
want the area code. I want to be able to edit the phone number to my heart's
content. We used to be able to, and can't anymore. There are a lot of
Outlook 2003 features that were nice, and have been lost. They seem small in
the bigger world, but attention to detail has become an expectation in mega
software developers.

Thanks for the opportunity to share my $.02 worth.

Steve Vincent

"Bar JW Farm" wrote:

Thank you, Russ. I appreciate your prompt answers (you and all the folks that
replied to my little post) and I will do as you suggest and ask them to
consider an update. My compliments to you and your team of problem-solvers.
You are indeed in a hot-spot and have a difficult task helping the end-user.

Uncle Joe, I do appreciate your input and opinions but as far as a TOOL
goes, it is my tool as well as yours and ( for whatever reason, vision
difficulties or not) if I want that tool to suppress the DISPLAY of an area
code within my own area code (or any other area code for that matter) I
should be able to do so. If I can tell the dialer to not dial something (such
as the area code) I should be able to suppress that display. I am not even
allowed a work-around such as creating a blank default area code so that
there IS no default area code for outlook to insert - that would at least
allow me to enter an area code if I want one to display. As it is, even
though you may have to, I don't have to dial an area code for these numbers.
If I don't type in an area code, it shouldn't insert one. It is only a
display - shouldn't be that hard to make a button or checkbox that allows you
to do the same thing to a display that the dialer does. Bottom-line, If you
can tell the DIALER not to dial, you should be able to tell the DISPLAYER not
to display. It's the same thing with the picture attachments - if I want to
open up all of the pictures at once, I should HAVE THE ABILITY to highlight
all of the pictures and tell it to open them. It is a TOOL for heaven's sake
and It should accomodate simple requests such as this. OK - Use outlook
express - well, no... it doesn't have the calendar.
I absolutely ADORE outlook - it's the best out there - but I cannot use it
because of these two very simple issues - Vision problem or not.

Ok. I have ranted enough. Thanks for "listening" and thanks again to all who
responded - you are doing a great service for users such as myself. Many
thanks to you all.


"Uncle Joe" wrote:

I appreciate your vision difficulties, but as cell phones, fax
machines, and population growth
impart more pressure on telephone companies, there's a growing need
for even more area
codes. When I moved to Atlanta in 1980, we had one 404 area code.
Now, we have
five area codes for metro Atlanta. Everyone must dial 10-digit
numbers. It's a nightmare.
New services and all new cell phones are being assigned to one area
code. It's crucial to
maintain area codes, including PDAs. I know of no way to avoid area
codes in Contacts.

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote in message
...
What I was saying is that there is no way to change the way Outlook
masks phone numbers. That is hard coded.
For most users there is no need to eliminate the area code since
dialing is controlled by dialing rules, not how Outlook masks the
phone number.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Bar JW Farm" wrote in message
...
Russ, Appreciate the answer but what do dialing rules have to do
with
exporting the area codes? My area code is setup for XYZ and the
area code
appears in outlook as XYZ and if I am not using outlook to actually
dial the
numbers, I can't see how that resolves anything.
-diane


"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Outlook always include the area code. You can't prevent it. Nor
would you
need to if you create your dialing rules correctly.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Bar JW Farm" wrote in
message
...
ok. I can get the +1 to not appear now, but Outlook is still
including the
blasted area code in the contact listing. Is there any way to
stop the
area
code from appearing when I create a contact in Outlook? The
dialing
properties are set to the proper area code but the contact still
lists the
area code as (xxx)xxx-xxxx even if theoretically it would dial
correctly.
If I create the contact on the Palm it will upload to outlook
without the
area code but if I make a change to the contact in Outlook it
(outlook)
will
add the area code again. I'd really like to use Outlook for
updating my
contacts because it is a pain to enter them manually and the
palm desktop
does not have the features that outlook provides that I need.
once again,
sorry for the bother.