RFC 3966: The tel URI for Telephone Numbers

Publisher

IETF / RFC Editor

URL

https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc3966

Published

2004-12-01

Updated

unknown

Accessed

2026-09-23

HTTP status

200

License

IETF Trust Legal Provisions (BCP 78); no-redistribution; short excerpts and locators only

Source notes citing this source

• RFC 3966 identifies global tel URI numbers by a leading '+' and requires them to follow E.164. Numbers must use the global form unless they cannot be represented that way. in context
• RFC 3966 local numbers, such as PBX extensions, are unique only within a context and must carry a phone-context parameter that identifies the scope where they are valid. in context
• Under RFC 3966, visual separators such as hyphens and parentheses are for readability only and are ignored when comparing URIs or placing calls. in context

Cite this source record

APA

WarmTransfer. (2004, December 1). RFC 3966: The tel URI for Telephone Numbers. WarmTransfer. https://warmtransfer.net/knowledge/sources/rfc-3966-tel-uri

BibTeX

@misc{warmtransfer-rfc-3966-tel-uri,
  title  = {RFC 3966: The tel URI for Telephone Numbers},
  author = {{WarmTransfer}},
  year   = {2004},
  url    = {https://warmtransfer.net/knowledge/sources/rfc-3966-tel-uri},
  note   = {IETF / RFC Editor, accessed 2026-09-23}
}