What Is a Geographic Number (02, 03, 04, 08, 09)?

Definition and origin

In the old phone network, each of the phone company's exchanges served a certain area, and numbers were divided according to the exchanges. The prefix told the network "which area to send the call to". Hence the name: a geographic number — a number tied to a place.

In Israel a geographic number is built from a zero, one area digit, and the subscriber's seven digits. Nine digits in total, for example 02-XXX-XXXX. Within the same area you used to be able to dial without the prefix; today it's customary to always dial with the prefix, and with cloud PBXs it's almost always necessary.

The simple comparison: a ZIP code in a mailing address. It tells which branch to send the letter to. Even when you move within the same city, the ZIP code still says something about the place.

The prefixes

The borders between areas aren't always sharp. In some cities, at the edge of an area, one prefix is common but you can find another too. If it matters to you that the number "looks local", it's worth checking which prefix is common in the city.

Beyond these five prefixes, Israel also has mobile prefixes (05X), non-geographic ones (07X), toll-free numbers (1-800) and short numbers with a star. Each is a separate family with its own rules. See Prefixes.

What a geographic number tells the caller

A number isn't only a technical address. It's also part of an organization's identity. A number with a city prefix tells the caller several things, even if nobody intended it:

• Locality — "we're in your neighborhood", or at least "in your area".
• Longevity — geographic numbers have been familiar to people for decades, and are sometimes seen as the numbers of an established office.
• An office, not a mobile — nine digits are immediately recognized as an "office line" and not a private number.

Some people attach great importance to this and some don't. In most cases, what really matters is that customers already know the number — so a long-established number is worth much more than any prefix.

And there's another side: a caller who sees a number with a city prefix on the display tends to answer, because they assume it's a local and relevant call. It isn't guaranteed, but organizations that call customers a lot notice this.

A geographic number in the cloud

In the past a 02 number had to be connected to a physical line in Jerusalem. Today, when the number is connected to a cloud PBX, it isn't tied to a line or a building. The call reaches the phone network, from there the provider, and from there the PBX — and from it to any extension, anywhere.

That is: the number is "geographic" in the sense of the prefix, but not in the sense of the physical location of the phones. A business's 03 number in Bnei Brak can ring with an employee at her home in Modiin Illit, or at a branch in Safed.

It also means that when the office moves, you usually don't have to change the number, when the number is connected to the PBX and not to a physical line. When moving to a completely different area, it's worth checking in advance whether there's any restriction on the number.

There's also a practical side in terms of continuity: when the office is closed because of an outage, renovation or weather, the number keeps working. You can forward it to employees at home, to a mobile or to voicemail — without going to the building.

Geographic vs. non-geographic numbers

A more detailed comparison is in 072–077 prefixes.

Keeping your old number: porting

The most common reason to keep a geographic number is simple: it already exists. It is printed on letters, on signs, in parents' phone books and in the memory of longtime customers. Replacing it means losing some of your calls.

With number porting, the number moves from the previous phone company to the cloud PBX provider and stays exactly the same number. From the moment the port is complete, calls to it reach the PBX.

1. Check whose name the number is registered under. The name has to match the porting request.
2. Prepare the PBX ahead of time: extensions, menu, time-based routing.
3. Schedule a date, preferably at a quiet day and time.
4. After the port, make test calls from a mobile phone, from another line and from abroad.
5. Only once everything works, cancel the old service that was not ported.

Good to know: during the port itself there may be a short interruption in incoming calls while the network updates where the number belongs. So choose a time for the port when fewer people call, and tell your staff in advance.

Several geographic numbers for one organization

An organization can hold several geographic numbers, even from different areas. This is especially useful for an organization with branches:

• A number for each branch — 02 for the Jerusalem branch, 03 for the Bnei Brak branch, 04 for the Tzfat branch. Each number leads to the extensions of that branch, but all of them are on the same PBX.
• A main number and direct numbers — one number for everyone, and separate numbers for departments or people. See DID — a direct number.
• A fax number — often an old geographic number that everyone knows as "the office fax."

The advantage of one PBX with several numbers: transferring a call from branch to branch is an internal transfer, and all calls appear in the same log.

And the other way around: a small organization doesn't have to have several numbers. One main number with a good IVR menu can replace three separate lines, and it is easier to publish and remember a single number.

What the customer sees when you call

When you call out, the customer sees the caller ID set for the extension. In an organization with several numbers, it's worth deciding in advance:

• Do all extensions show the main number?
• Does each branch show its own local number?
• Do some employees show their own direct number?

The guiding rule: the customer will call back the number they see. If you want them to call back the office, show the main number. If you want them to call back a specific person, show that person's direct number.

Important: you can only show a number that belongs to your organization. Someone else's number should not appear as caller ID, and carriers usually block it.

Dialing a geographic number correctly

• From within Israel — always with the full area code: 02-XXX-XXXX. On a cloud PBX, a number without an area code may not reach its destination.
• From abroad — drop the zero and add 972: 972-2-XXX-XXXX.
• In advertising — it's best to write it in groups, with the area code, and consider adding the international format too if you have an audience abroad.
• On a business card — exactly the same number as on the website and in your email signature, so there are no different versions.

A common mistake: writing "972-02" in advertising for people abroad. The zero of the area code is dropped when dialing from abroad.

And when saving contacts on a mobile phone, it's best to save the number in international format, with +972. That way it works both when dialing from abroad and in Israel.

An example from the field

The bookstore chain "Otzar HaSefer" (a made-up name) operates in three cities. Each store had an old geographic number — 02, 03 and 08 — that appears on the sign and on the bags. When moving to a cloud PBX, the three numbers were ported, and each one leads to its own store.

When one store is closed at noon, calls to it go to another store, according to time-based routing. Customers keep dialing the local number they know, and don't know that behind it is one PBX for all three stores.

And the savings: instead of three separate lines and three small PBXs, there is one system to manage, with one call log and one place to change opening hours before a holiday.

How it used to be: the neighborhood exchange

To understand why numbers are built this way, it helps to go back a few decades. Every city had an exchange run by the phone company, and larger cities had several. Each exchange received a range of numbers, and sometimes you could guess from the first digits after the area code which neighborhood the line was in.

Copper wires ran from the exchange to every home and every office. Someone who moved to a different neighborhood sometimes got a new number, because their line was now connected to a different exchange.

Since then, networks have moved to digital technology, porting became possible, and the link between the digits and the building has weakened greatly. But the area code remained, and with it the feeling that a 02 number "belongs to Jerusalem."

Common mistakes with geographic numbers

• Dialing without an area code — on an old home phone this worked within the city. On a cloud PBX you need the full number.
• Canceling the old line before the port is complete — may cause the number to be lost. Port first, cancel after.
• Forgetting the fax number — the fax number is often a separate geographic number, and it needs to be ported too.
• Forgetting an alarm or a credit card terminal — devices connected to the old line need planning before the port.
• Wrong outgoing number — after the move, the extensions show a different number from the one customers know. Check with a test call to a mobile phone.