Published: Sept 13, 2021
Colombia’s Communication Regulation Commission (CRC) will be standardizing on a new 10-digit number format (excluding the +57 country code for Colombia) for all local phone numbers. Previously, Colombia’s local numbers were 8 digits, excluding Colombia’s country code of +57. You can find more information about this regulation in the lower section of this announcement, as well as on the CRC website (in Spanish).
When will the change happen?
The new 10-digit local numbering plan went into effect on September 1, 2021. As of this notice, you should already see the new 10-digit version of your 8-digit numbers, which have been duplicated along with their configuration settings. In order to begin using these numbers, you must first download the latest version of Talkdesk Callbar®, released on September 6, 2021.
To facilitate the transition and ensure no interruption to service:
- You can continue to use the previous +57 + 8-digit numbers, as well as +57 + the new 10-digit numbers, until November 30, 2021, at 11:59 pm COT.
- On December 1, 2021, at 12:00 am COT, the end users of the previous 8-digit numbers will be unreachable, except for inbound international calls.
- Calls from outside of Colombia to Colombian local numbers will continue to connect whether the caller uses # international operator +57 + 8-digit number or # international operator +57 + 10-digit number through January 31, 2022, at 11:59 pm COT.
- On February 1, 2022, at 12:00 am COT, the end users of all Colombian local phone numbers will be unreachable. From this date, the previous version of your Colombian local phone number will either play a message informing the caller to use +57 + 10-digit phone number or ring fast busy; only the +57 + 10-digit version will work from this point forward.
- Talkdesk will remove the previous version of your Colombian local phone number from your account within 72 hours after these numbers stop working.
What do you need to do?
Before November 30, 2021, you will need to:
1. Update to the latest version of Callbar (Mac | Windows), released on September 6.
Note: Until you update to the latest version, you will not be able to use the new 10-digit version of the local numbers.
2. Confirm that your newly created 10-digit phone numbers have the same routing settings, and are assigned to the same Studio flows as the previous 8-digit version.
3. If you have Colombian National Numbers that are impacted, and which were not purchased through Talkdesk, expect direct communication from your carrier regarding this change. Once you have a 10-digit version of your existing Colombian numbers, please contact Talkdesk Support to have them configured appropriately.
How will this impact my account billing?
The Talkdesk team has updated the pricing that is applied to your 8-digit numbers, and any duplicate charge from the creation of the new 10-digit number will be refunded to your account automatically. The usage charges for inbound and outbound calls to and from these new number prefixes will remain the same.
If you notice any discrepancies or issues with this account credit, please contact Talkdesk Support.
More Information About this Change
New Prefixes for Colombian Local Numbers
Every Colombian local phone number will start with “60” at the beginning (or +5760 when including the country code). For example, if your number is currently 5555555 located in Bogotá D.C, it will become 6015555555, or +576015555555 if you include the country code. The third digit will remain the number for the region where it belongs. Here is an overview of each prefix by region:
How to make calls in Colombia?
Beginning on September 1, 2021, if you want to make outbound calls to Colombian local phone numbers, or make calls from Colombian local phone numbers on your Talkdesk account to another Colombian number, this will be the new process:
Colombian Local to Colombian Local (Same Region)
For calls from Colombian local phone numbers to Colombian local numbers, you must use the country code (+57) + the new 10-digit number. For example:
- Old 8-digit format: +5715555555
- New 10-digit format: +576015555555
Colombian Local to Colombian Local (Different Region)
For calls from Colombian local phone numbers to Colombian local numbers in a different region, you must use only the country code (+57) + the new 10-digit number. For example, to call a local number in Cali region from another region:
- Old 10-digit format: +570524123456
- New 10-digit format: +576024123456
Colombian Mobile to Colombian Local
For calls between Colombian mobile phone numbers and Colombian local numbers, you must use only the country code (+57) + the 10-digit number (without using the preview prefix: “03”). For example, to call a mobile number from a local number:
- Old 12-digit format: +57033001234567
- New 10-digit format: +573001234567
Colombian Mobile to Colombian Mobile
For calls between Colombian mobile phone numbers, you must use the country code (+57) + the 10-digit mobile number you currently use. These calls won’t change.
International to Colombian Mobile/Local
For calls from international phone numbers to Colombian local and mobile numbers, you must use # international operator + country code (57) + 10-digit number. Outbound international calls from Colombian numbers will not be affected.