5 digit phone numbers & form validation

[original PM]

Yeah - someone tried to get us to restrict phone numbers to minimum of 11

told them to go away as the minimum is ten

in fact we have used

must be 10 or more numerical characters and being with a zero for a landline

not had any problems with that in the 7 or so years it has been in place....

[OwlHoot]

Exactly. It's 01234 12345. And if I ever have to enter it in a required field I invariably get problems.

Dunno if they're still available, but one used to be able to get "virtual phone numbers" (I think they were called) which could be mapped to a landline or mobile number, to where incoming calls would be automatically redirected. I think for outgoing calls, the virtual number would show up as the caller number. They were about a couple of quid a month, as I recall, with no extra charge for redirections.

So although that is an extra payment, they do have certain advantages such as concealing landline numbers (which in rural areas give a pretty good idea of location) and, of course, allowing the end number to be changed. And I'd guess they have a valid 01234 567 890 pattern.

My bugbear is brain-dead payment systems such as Vodafone's that want a house number. If you don't have a house number you have to key "0", BUT you can't do this immediately, or else the menu system sends you back to some other option! You have to pause several seconds and wait until the stupid thing asks again, and adds "If your house doesn't have a number, enter zero"