Very useful information especially for those who are unfamiliar with dialing rules in Russia. If you want to make an international call from the Russian Federation the instructions are fairly simple, yet it's worth learning about some key differences. For example, Russian land lines do not use tone dialing. Makes it somewhat different from what you might be used to in the US, Canada, and many other countries. The pulse dialing especially comes into play when considering that the phone cards require tone dialing. Do not worry, you can still use our phone cards in Russia, simply read the easy instructions.
The land lines (all the phones except mobile) in Russia do not use tone dialing! In order to use the phone cards in Russia you must use a phone capable of switching from pulse to tone dialing.
Touch tone key pad phones used in Russia will work, since they can work both in pulse and tone dialing modes.
Rotary phone will not work, however, since you need touch tones to send your phone card access codes.
How to dial from Russia
We are going to look at dialing an international number from Russia when using a phone card, since this a phone card site, and our phone cards are the cheapest way to call from Russia.
If you are interested in how to make an overseas call from Russia without using a calling card, the instructions are simple: pick up the phone, dial 8-10-Country Code-Area Code-Number. Be prepared to billed 10 to 20 times more than what it would cost you if you used a phone card.
- Dial the access number for your phone card with access in Russia while in regular, pulse dial mode.
- Switch to tone dialing by pressing the * (star) button on the phone after your call has been connected with phone card service and your are requested to enter your PIN.
- Enter all the required info in this tone mode (PIN, password, the number you wish to call).
- Hang up the phone when you are done with your call. It will automatically revert to the default pulse dial.
Differences between tone and pulse dialing
Tone dialing. The technical name used for tone dialing is dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling. DTMF is used for telecommunication signaling over analog telephone lines in the voice-frequency band between telephone handsets and other communications devices and the switching center. For our purposes we do not need to go into any technical detail.
Simply put, with tone dialing each button you press on your keypad sends a tone corresponding to the key you press. Thus a phone number you dial is a sequence of tones sent over a telephone line.
Pulse dialing. Pulse dialing goes back to rotary phones. The pulses are generated through the making and breaking of the telephone connection (akin to flicking a light switch on and off); the audible clicks are a side effect of this. Each digit in the number is represented by a different number of rapid clicks. In most countries one click is used for the digit 1, two clicks for 2, and so on, with ten clicks for the digit 0.
Once again, simply put, with pulse dialing when you rotate a rotary dial, it sets off a number of interrupted electrical pulses corresponding to a digit you select on a dial.
Pulse dialing is a much older system going back to the early 1900s that has been in a phased out stage in the US since the 1970s.