What Is the Difference Between a 072/077 Number and a 02/03 Number?

Setting

A landline phone number in Israel starts with a prefix. In the older prefixes (02, 03, 04, 08 and 09) the digit after the zero indicates a region of the country. These are geographic numbers.

The prefixes 072, 073, 074, 076 and 077 were added later, when new telephony companies and internet-based phone services came in. They don't indicate a region: a 077 number can ring in an office in Jerusalem, at a home in Bnei Brak or on a cloud PBX. That is why they are sometimes called "non-geographic prefixes," and in market language, "VoIP numbers."

The name "VoIP number" is a bit misleading. Today many geographic numbers also actually run over the internet, and a 07X number can also be connected to a regular line. The prefix tells you which "numbering family" the number belongs to, not necessarily which technology it runs on.

The prefixes are allocated by the Ministry of Communications, which assigns number ranges to the telephony companies. The customer receives a number from within their provider's range, and when they port it, the number goes with them.

What the number looks like

The first difference you notice is the length:

In other words, a 07X number looks like a mobile number in length, but it is a landline number. Someone who sees it on the display doesn't always know right away whether it's a home, an office or a PBX.

When dialing from abroad, as with any Israeli number, you drop the zero and add the country code 972: for example 972-77-XXX-XXXX.

When advertising, it's best to write the number in groups, for example 077-123-4567, and not as one run of digits. That makes it easier to read and reduces typing mistakes.

Comparison: what is similar and what is different

The bottom line: technically, the two families do the same job. Choosing between them is mostly a matter of image, location and what you already have.

And in any case, if you have doubts about a particular number, check before you print it on business cards and signs. Replacing a number after it already appears everywhere is much harder than choosing correctly from the start.

When a 07X number fits

• An organization with no fixed location — a nonprofit whose volunteers work from home, or a business that is moving.
• A nationwide organization — when the customers are all over the country and there is no reason to emphasize one city.
• An additional line — a number for a campaign, a gemach, a registration line or a phone class, which doesn't need to be tied to an office.
• When no geographic number is available in the area — sometimes it's easier to get a convenient 07X number.
• A number that moves with you — if you move from Bnei Brak to Beit Shemesh, a 077 number won't "tell" anyone that you moved.

Another advantage: non-geographic numbers sometimes allow a wider choice of convenient sequences, because they aren't limited to the range of a single city. Someone looking for an easy-to-remember number can find options there. See Golden Number.

When a geographic number is better

• A local business — a store, a clinic or a synagogue whose customers are from the neighborhood. A familiar city prefix conveys "we're right here."
• An established number — if you have a 02 number that everyone has known for twenty years, there is no reason to replace it. Port it to the cloud, and it stays.
• An older audience — some people are used to nine-digit landline numbers, and recognize them immediately as an "office."
• A number that's easy to remember — a number one digit shorter is easier to remember and to type.

There is no "right" and "wrong" here. Many organizations keep both families: an established geographic number as the main one, and 07X numbers for additional lines.

One more consideration: an organization that deals with long-established institutions, such as a city hall or a school, will sometimes feel that a number with the city prefix is received more naturally there. It's not a rule, but it's worth paying attention to your audience.

What the prefix doesn't tell you

There are several common assumptions about 07X numbers that aren't always true:

• "It must be a temporary number" — No. A 07X number can be an organization's permanent number for years.
• "It doesn't work when there's no internet" — That depends on how it's connected, not on the prefix. Even a 03 number connected to a cloud PBX depends on the phones' connection.
• "It's lower quality" — Call quality depends on the network and the equipment, not on the digits of the number.
• "It shows where I am" — Actually, no. That is exactly the difference from a geographic number.
• "A geographic number has to be in its own area" — The number belongs to an area, but when it's connected to a cloud PBX, calls to it can ring at any extension, even outside that city.

Porting and transfer

Both 07X numbers and geographic numbers can be ported between providers. That is, if you have a 077 number with one provider and you move to a cloud PBX, the number can move with you. See Number Porting.

What isn't possible is "changing the prefix" of an existing number. A 077 number stays 077. Someone who wants to move to a geographic number needs a new number, and has to let customers know about it. During the transition period you can keep both and direct the old one to the same place.

Before porting, it's worth checking in whose name the number is registered, and that there is no open commitment with the previous provider that would delay the process.

And if you decide to replace a number, it's worth leaving the old one active for a while and playing a short message on it with the new number, or transferring its calls directly. That way no customer gets lost.

How it looks on the customer's display

When the organization calls out, the customer sees the caller ID that was set for the extension. If it's a 077 number, they will see 077. If you want the customer to see the established geographic number, you set it as the outgoing number — provided that it belongs to the organization.

Several numbers can live together on one PBX. One department can place calls with a 03 number, and another department with the 077 number of a dedicated line. That way the customer knows where the call came from, and can call back to the same line.

Remember that the number the customer sees is also the number they will call back. If you place calls from a number that isn't routed anywhere for incoming calls, the customer who calls back will be stuck.

An example from the field

The nonprofit "Chasdei Moshe" (a fictitious name) operates from several volunteers' apartments, with no fixed office. It received a main 077 number on a cloud PBX, and calls to it reach an IVR menu and from there the volunteers' extensions, in whatever city they live in.

By contrast, the neighborhood synagogue "Ohel Yitzchak" (a fictitious name) kept its long-established 02 number, which appears on every bulletin board in the neighborhood. It was ported to a cloud PBX, and the worshippers keep dialing it as always. Both organizations have the same PBX and the same capabilities — only the numbers are different.

The prefix map in brief

The boundaries between the geographic areas aren't always sharp, and in cities at the edge of an area you can find more than one prefix. More details at Geographic Number.

A number for every purpose

On a cloud PBX, an additional number is not an additional physical line. It is simply another "door" that leads to the place you chose. That is why many organizations use 07X numbers as a working tool:

• A seasonal registration line — for the registration period of a yeshiva or a day camp, with its own menu.
• A campaign line — to know how many calls came from a particular ad.
• A phone class line — a number that leads straight to a conference room or to a recording.
• A suppliers line — so they don't get mixed up with customer calls.

When the season ends, you can forward the number to the main number instead of canceling it — that way someone dialing from an old ad doesn't get stuck.

Before you choose: a list of questions

1. Who calls you? One neighborhood, one city, or the whole country?
2. Do you already have a well-known number? If so, it is almost always better to port it than to replace it.
3. Will you move in the coming years? If so, a non-geographic number saves you an explanation.
4. How many lines do you need? Main, fax, registration line, a gemach line — each can have its own number.
5. What will appear on the ads? A shorter number is easier to remember and to type.
6. What will appear on the display when you call out? It should be the number you want people to call back.

Six questions, and almost always the answer becomes clear on its own.