A typical scene in Hong Kong's Sham Shui Po district: walls covered with lists of "lucky" phone numbers for sale, each priced according to their auspicious digit combinations

After covering area codes in NYC and LA, I wanted to explore something truly unique in the world of telecommunications: Hong Kong's phone number market. While other cultures might value certain numbers for practical or sentimental reasons, Hong Kong takes it to another level entirely. In this former British colony phone numbers aren't just contact points - they're valuable assets that can sell for more than a year's rent, driven by deep-rooted cultural beliefs about numerical fortune.

It's amazing to think that it's been over a decade since we first released our beta phone system in 2012. Back then it required Adobe Flash and was free for everyone, unfortunately those days are gone. (original users were grandfathered into the new system free for life though).

The phone system has also come a long way since the last major update in 2021. This latest release represents the most significant changes we've implemented since that time.

The biggest change is probably the phone system app - and while I could list out all the features, what interests me more is how it changes the way we think about business phone systems.

We kicked off our "Inside Scoop" series with NYC, so it's only fitting we now jet across the coast to dive into Los Angeles, the most iconic city on the West Coast. 🏝️🌞 🌊

So just in case you weren't aware, tomorrow (June 13) is Ottawa, Canada's 613 Day! It turns out that celebrating a city's area code, similar to Atlanta's 404 Day, is quite a trend across North America. As a company that sells local phone numbers, we're certainly not complaining.

Global Calling Made Simple​

Our cloud phone system has always empowered you to make global calls while displaying your FlyNumber as the outgoing caller ID. This powerful feature ensures you maintain a local presence, regardless of your physical location or the device you're using.

Now, we're excited to announce a significant update: you can make these same calls at substantially reduced rates, often up to 10X cheaper than before.

So much going on as far as AI so I thought it would be fun to just plop all my thoughts in a blog post.

This article was written by a human with AI help to spruce it up.

The Unique American Fascination with Area Codes​

So after being involved with phone numbers from cities all across the globe for well over a decade I got to thinking - isn't it interesting how us Americans have a specific culture thing for area codes?

The Origins of Area Code Pride​

One under-riding theory is that once populations in US cities started to boom, devices needed phone numbers (phones, modems, fax machines etc), which in turn caused new area codes to be introduced. Those with the "original" area code held on to it, perhaps as a sense of local pride. I know that having a 212 NYC number is still very sought after, even though incoming/outgoing from a 212 is no different than a NYC 347 or 646 , one is $2.95 a month and the other $29.95 a month - humans are interesting.

We touched on this topic a couple years ago however we see a slight increase in "anonymous caller ID connectivity issues" so thought to re-vist in a quick post here.

One of the ways you can use your FlyNumber is to forward the FlyNumber to a regular phone number. Any regular phone number in the world. When this happens the call is routed via what’s called the PSTN network, which is basically the network involved in connecting phone calls to and from regular phone numbers.

Note: We have since added documentation, check out the phone system docs on setting up an app for the easiest way to get started.

You have a phone number, now you want to use it. Here we'll discuss getting incoming /outgoing calls on your smartphone with a virtual number (sometimes called a VOIP or DID number).

It's the nature of the business to release a phone number back to a "pool" for others to buy/lease after they're no longer being paid for.

-Nader Jaber, Founder of FlyNumber

Nowadays our phone numbers have become more than just a string of digits. They are our identifiers, gatekeepers, and connectors in a world increasingly reliant on digital communication. But what happens when that crucial link suddenly disappears? You dial your number, and there's no ring, no voicemail, just the unsettling silence of a number that's no longer yours.[^1]