Calling a Local Philippine Landline Number via Skype

Image from Skype.com

Here’s a little trick I’ve learned in Skype. It’s nowhere found on the FAQ and even a customer support is unable to figure out what to do about it – calling a local Philippine landline number via Skype. I’m sure there are some people who already know how to do this, but since I didn’t know how it works at first, it was a headache until I figured out how it’s done.

But what was I calling? It was Union Bank in relation to my EON VISA debit card as I’ve linked and quoted in the previous articles. (EON, UnionBank, and Globe Refill Card Drama, Busy Day Today – Bank, Mall, Hospital and More) I needed assistance for the EON card and I got to speak with Union Bank’s over the phone support numerous times for password issues and more as per this post Union Bank over the Phone Customer Service Assistance.

I was calling 841-8600 which is Union Bank’s local phone number. It would have been easier if the toll free number worked but it didn’t. You can actually call toll free numbers in Skype for free. As for international and local mobile and land based phones, there is a corresponding fee. The rates vary from country to country and I wasn’t really interested to know. In case you are, you can check out all rates information including new monthly subscription plans through Skype’s website.

I did mention that I contacted Skype for support. It was only through chat online. The agent apparently did not know how calling a landline phone number in the Philippines work so he had me on hold a few times. He finally got it right but I already had it figured out before he did.

It’s easy to call a mobile phone since the local country code is already on default. The country code for the Philippines is +63 by the way. The national direct dial code for Manila on the other hand is 02 since Union Bank’s phone number is obviously a Metro Manila number.

So I dialled the phone number as it is, with the country code already set and it didn’t work. I used 02 after the country code and it still didn’t work. Guess what worked? It’s simply 2 after the country code. The other line is already ringing and so I concluded the conversation with the Skype agent. There was a survey afterwards of which I answered with positive notes. 

So once again, to call a local landline phone number in the Philippines via Skype, the correct dialling pattern is the default country code (no need to enter it since it’s already a preset value), followed by the area code (don’t use 02 for Manila but just 2), and the phone number.