How to call a 1-800 number with letters

How do you dial a phone number with letters?

Find each letter on your phone's keypad and press the digit it sits on. Standard phone keypads follow the ITU-T E.161 layout: 2 ABC, 3 DEF, 4 GHI, 5 JKL, 6 MNO, 7 PQRS, 8 TUV, 9 WXYZ ^[1]. Keep the digits as they are, start with 1 inside the US, and stop after ten digits.

1. Write down the number exactly as printed, for example 1-800-FLOWERS.
2. Keep the 1 and the 800 (or 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, 833) as they are.
3. Replace each letter with its keypad digit: F is 3, L is 5, O is 6, and so on.
4. Count: after the 1 you need exactly ten digits ^[3]. Drop any letters beyond that.
5. Dial the result: 1 800 356 9377.

Or type the number into the converter below. It shows the digits, the ten-digit number to dial and any letters it dropped.

Which number is each letter on a phone keypad?

Each digit from 2 to 9 carries three or four letters. 7 and 9 carry four (PQRS and WXYZ); the rest carry three. 1 and 0 carry no letters. This is the layout in ITU-T E.161, the international standard for telephone keypads ^[1].

A quick way to remember it: the alphabet runs in order from 2 to 9, three letters per key, with the extra letters on 7 (S) and 9 (Z). If you know that A is on 2 and S is on 7, you can work out the rest.

Worked example: what number is 1-800-FLOWERS?

1-800-FLOWERS is 1-800-356-9377. Under the E.161 layout F is 3, L is 5, O is 6, W is 9, E is 3, R is 7 and S is 7 ^[2]. Seven letters give the seven digits after 800, so the whole number has exactly ten digits after the 1 and nothing is left over.

What if a number has more than seven letters?

Dial only the first seven letters after the 800 code. A US number is ten digits in total: a three-digit code and a seven-digit number ^[3]. Companies sometimes print a longer word because it reads better. Any letter past the seventh is decoration. The call is placed with the first ten digits after the 1.

Somos itself prints 844-HEY-SOMOS as 844-439-7666, dropping the last S. The GARDENING row only shows the method; I did not check whether that number is in use or who holds it. Before you call a real company, copy the number from its own website or your bill. If a site prints both the letters and the digits, trust the digits.

What happens if you keep pressing keys after the tenth digit? I found no official rule on it. Once the call has connected, extra key presses can reach a phone menu as a choice. To avoid that, stop at ten digits.

How do you type letters on an iPhone or Android phone?

You do not type letters at all. Open the Phone app's keypad, look at the small letters under each digit, and press the digit. The dial pad on iPhone and Android shows letters under the digits in the E.161 layout ^[1]. Most dial pads have no letter mode, so converting in your head or with the converter above is the fastest way.

• Saving the number. Save it in contacts as digits, for example +1 800 356 9377, and put the letter version in the name field. A saved number with + dials correctly from any country, though the line itself may refuse foreign callers.
• Tapping a link. If a website shows a tappable tel: link, the digits are already converted. Check that the code (800, 888 and so on) matches what is printed.
• Typing on a computer. For calls from a browser, type the digits, not the letters. Some calling apps reject letters. See calling toll-free numbers online.

What are the common mistakes with letter numbers?

The usual errors are mixing up the letter O with zero, the letter I with one, and forgetting that 7 and 9 have four letters. The letter O is on 6 and the letter I is on 4 ^[1]. Zero and one carry no letters at all. A printed "1-800-G0-H0ME" with zeros and "1-800-GO-HOME" with letters are different numbers.

• O vs 0. O is 6. 0 is 0. Look closely at the font.
• I vs 1, L vs 1. I is 4, L is 5. A thin 1 can look like either.
• Q and Z. Q is on 7 and Z is on 9 in the current layout ^[1].
• Wrong code. 1-888-FLOWERS is not 1-800-FLOWERS. The seven toll-free codes are not interchangeable and usually belong to different companies ^[6].
• Dropping the 1. Inside the US, landlines usually need the leading 1. From abroad, the 1 is the country code and must stay.

A number one letter or one code away can belong to anyone, including a scammer. If a caller tells you to call back on a letter number, find the company's number yourself on its official site ^[7].

How should you write a 1-800 number with letters?

Write the digits next to the letters, and use the +1 format if anyone abroad might read it. A good printed form is 1-800-FLOWERS (1-800-356-9377). The letters help people remember; the digits stop mistakes with O and 0 or I and 1. The +1 version, +1 800 356 9377, dials correctly from any mobile in any country, because + stands for the exit code and 1 is the country code shared by the US and Canada ^[8].

Whichever form you use, keep all ten digits after the 1 ^[3]. A number with nine or eleven digits will not reach the right line, and a reader cannot guess which digit is missing.

How do you dial a vanity 1-800 number from outside the US?

Convert the letters to digits first, then dial your country's exit code, 1, and the ten digits. On a mobile you can type + instead of the exit code. The letters change nothing about the route: a vanity number is still a normal toll-free number ^[5]. And like any toll-free number, it may not connect from abroad or may be billed as an international call ^[9].

If the call fails, look for the company's regular number for overseas callers on its website. The ranking above lists other ways to reach a US toll-free line, with their costs and limits. The full guide is how to call a 1-800 number from abroad. None of these options is for emergencies: use a local phone and the local emergency number.

What is a vanity number, and how do companies get one?

A vanity number is a toll-free number whose digits also spell a word or name. Somos defines it that way and uses its own 844-HEY-SOMOS (844-439-7666) as the example ^[5]. Technically it is an ordinary toll-free number. The letters are a marketing layer; the network only sees digits.

A company gets one the same way as any toll-free number: through a RespOrg, first come, first served ^[4]. The FCC opens a new code only when free numbers run low ^[10], so newer codes like 844 and 833 have more words left. When 833 opened, more than 17,000 numbers that several companies wanted were auctioned, on 17 Dec 2019 ^[11].

A company can keep its vanity number when it changes phone provider, thanks to toll-free portability ^[12]. That is how a letter number can stay the same for decades. For more on who runs toll-free numbers, see what is a toll-free number. For the list of codes, see toll-free prefixes.

How does the converter on this page work?

The converter replaces each letter with its E.161 keypad digit ^[1], keeps the digits you typed, and ignores spaces, dashes and brackets. It runs only in your browser. What you type is not sent anywhere or stored, as the privacy page explains.

It does not look up who owns a number, and it cannot tell you whether a line accepts your call. For dialing help with any toll-free number, start at how to call a toll-free number. If a number does not connect, the toll-free not working guide lists the usual reasons.