In article , Graham J
writes
Does leaving out the 020 actually work reliably when you aren't using a BT
line or are redirecting calls via another provider?

It's an Ofcom requirement that you can leave out the area code when
dialling within the same code. [Note that mobile codes like 07973 are
not "area codes" for this reason.] So from any 020 line it is possible
to dial all other 020 numbers without the code.

This applies equally in 023 and 028, where not all intra-code calls are
local.

On a sort of related subject, at one London based company I worked for we
were moving to a brand new office and so having a new PABX installed. The
IT Manager hit on the idea of having the code for the outside line be "0"
[...]

That's how the PBX at Demon worked for many years; you dialled an
internal number or an external one without having to think.

With a bit of special handling for external numbers not
beginning with "0"

IIRC, our usual practice was to dial 141 in front of these (since that
was recognised and also escaped out to an external line, just like 0).

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