After spending three years in Saudi Arabia, I can say that most 800 numbers are
reachable if you use AT&T long distance access numbers from the country you are
calling.

Not all numbers can be reached.  I have made calls to 800 numbers from Korea,
Philippines, Saudi Arabia, UAE (United Arab Emirates), Bahrain, England,
Germany, and France.    It is kind of weird for some numbers.  The 800 number
for my bank in California is reachable from Riyadh Saudi Arabia, but not from
UAE.   I spoke with the AT&T operator and she indicated it is just blocked from
UAE.  Don't know why, but it is.

One thing to remember, you pay regular price for the call to any 800 number
using this method.  Unless the 800 number does not require you to enter your
calling card number.  In this case, the call is free.  Rare but there are some
cases which it works.

Both MCI and Sprint have less access (have more 800 numbers blocked).   I can
tell you why.  In fact, Sprint charges double the price to reach 800 numbers
over the non-800 numbers from Saudi Arabia.   Not sure about the rest of the
US.

You can also use a callback service like KALLBACK.  With the KALLBACK service
you can reach any 800 number that can be from Seattle Washington.   And you pay
only the price to get to the US.  It is the cheapest way to access 800 numbers
from outside the US.

Art H Bahrs wrote:

> Hi Denys :)
>     I have tried 800 numbers from Mexico, Panama and Japan ... some worked,
> some didn't.... depended on if the company had set them up to allow dialing
> from outside the US.
>
>    The phone companies set up the numbers for their customers based on what
> the customer wants.  Some 800 numbers can't be used outside of specific
> states while others are CONUS only and still others are world wide :)
>
> Art "always prefer to use an 800 number :)  what can I say... I'm cheap!
> hehehe" Bahrs
>
> I have never tried to call an 800 number from outside North America.  I
> suspect it might work, but I wouldn't bet on it without trying.  Sjoerd is
> in the Netherlands.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Denys. . .
>
> Denys Beauchemin
> HICOMP America, Inc.
> (800) 323-8863  (281) 288-7438         Fax: (281) 355-6879
> denys at hicomp.com                             www.hicomp.com



--
Jim Alexander   Longs Drug Stores
Sr. Systems Programmer  925-210-6901
The opinions expressed are Mine and not Longs Drugs