In just thirty seconds or less, you could be making calls to clients, callers, and loved ones in any Colombian city. And if you use the right provider, you can do so without getting a huge bill at the end of the month.
This guide will show you how to call Colombia from the US in just four steps. We’ll also explore major time zone differences, average calling costs, and simple ways to slash your rates with the help of VoIP.
How to call a Colombian landline number from the US
Dialing codes for Colombian landline numbers have four components:
- Exit code
- Country code
- Area code
- Local number
Let’s explore each of these in detail.
1. The exit code
Every international call starts with an exit code. If you’re calling on a mobile phone or VoIP, you can just press plus (+) in front of the string of numbers instead of the exit code. If you’re on an older device such as a landline in the US, the exit code will be 011.
2. The country code
Country codes allow phone carriers to route your international call to the correct region of the world. The Colombia country code is 57.
3. The area code
Colombia’s area codes are dependent on device type. Landline phones use geographic area codes and are just one digit long. The one-digit area codes make them easy to tell apart from mobile numbers (more on that later).
Some of the most popular Colombian city codes are:
| City | Area Codes |
|---|---|
| Armenia | 6 |
| Barranquilla | 5 |
| Bogota | 1 |
| Bucaramanga | 7 |
| Cali | 2 |
| Cartagena | 5 |
| Manizales | 6 |
| Medellin | 4 |
| Palmira | 2 |
| Pereira | 6 |
| Santa Marta | 5 |
A full list of Colombian geographic area codes can be found at CountryCode.org.
4. The phone number
The last step is to enter the actual telephone number of your contact.
When finished, your dialing format will look similar to this:
+ (exit code) 57 (country code) 5 (landline area code) 1234567 (landline number)
This completes your string of numbers. Now you can reach phone lines in Colombia in thirty seconds or less!
How to call a Colombian mobile number from the US
Now that you know how to call Colombian landline phones, we can take a closer look at calling clients on a mobile device. Hint: it’s just as easy as before, with one little twist.
Let’s get started.
1. Enter your exit code
Tap the plus symbol (+) or type 011 to immediately enter the US exit code into your phone.
2. Dial the country code
As mentioned above, the Colombia country code is 57.
3. Add your contact’s area code
Area codes for Colombian mobile numbers are carrier-specific and not dependent on location. These are typically three digits long, although the exact numbers vary depending on the provider. Since these access codes aren’t geographic, you’ll need to ask contacts directly for this information.
There’s a rule of thumb that might help. Since Claro (Comcel), Tigo, and Movistar hosts nearly all phones in Colombia, the area codes you’re most likely to dial are:
- 310
- 311
- 312
- 315
- 316
Remember: this is just a guideline. You should still verify the mobile area code of your contact before making any calls.
4. Punch in the cell phone number
Then enter the rest of your contact’s phone number to complete the sequence.
Your phone screen will look similar to this:
+ (exit code) 57 (country code) 310 (example area code) 1234567 (seven-digit mobile number)
That’s all you need to do to call mobile phones in Colombia.
How to factor time zone differences when calling Colombia from the USA
The country of Colombia only follows one time zone — but if you’re calling from the US, that won’t make your scheduling process any less complicated.
Colombia’s time zone falls under UTC-5, meaning the country is five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. And while the US follows daylight saving time rules, Colombia does not. This could easily complicate your call times and make it difficult to book meetings that work on everyone’s schedule. ⏰
Thankfully, a little pre-planning will prevent the vast majority of these awkward situations. If you’re calling Colombia during daylight savings time, your time differences will be the following:
- Eastern Daylight Time (EDT): You are 1 hour ahead of callers on Colombia time. Phone calls at 12 PM will reach Colombia at 11 AM.
- Central Daylight Time (CDT): During daylight savings, Central time is the same as Colombia time. Phone calls at 12 PM will reach Colombia at 12 PM.
- Mountain Daylight Time (MDT): You are 1 hour behind callers on Colombia time. Phone calls at 12 PM will reach Colombia at 1 PM.
- Pacific Daylight Time (PDT): You are 2 hours behind callers on Colombia time. Phone calls at 12 PM will reach Colombia at 2 PM.
- Alaskan Daylight Time (AKDT): You are 3 hours behind callers on Colombia time. Phone calls at 12 PM will reach Colombia at 3 PM.
- Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (HST): You are 5 hours behind callers on Colombia time. Phone calls at 12 PM will reach Colombia at 5 PM.
It’s a good idea to double-check your unique time zone differences before setting up any international calls using tools like World Time Buddy.
How much does it cost to call Colombia from the US?
Calling rates for phone calls to Colombia will depend on your carrier. Traditional services can charge upwards of $1 or $3 per minute, which is a maximum of $180 per hour. If you plan to make lots of international calls to a variety of countries, this could be prohibitively expensive.
Legacy VoIP providers aren’t much better. Many of them require calling cards to reach non-VoIP numbers, then force you to reload used minutes as you go. If you run out of time by accident, don’t be surprised if your call gets canceled in the middle of a conversation.
It will always cost some amount of money to reach phone lines in Colombia. But the price you pay doesn’t have to be frighteningly high. If you partner with OpenPhone, you could be paying just pennies per minute to reach international contacts in seconds.
Here’s how.
How to call Colombia from US for less
OpenPhone is a VoIP service that allows you to make calls to Colombia and other international callers over WiFi.
With OpenPhone, calling the Gateway of South America is fast, easy, and cost-effective. And whether you’re a brand-new startup or an established brand, we make it easy to reach Colombian contacts by enabling international calls in your admin dashboard. You could pay as little as $0.05 per minute for phone calls, or just $0.10 per SMS or MMS.
But great international rates is just one reason why thousands of businesses love OpenPhone. Since the very beginning, we’ve worked hard to source the integrations and advanced features you need to build better relationships with your customers.
We offer:
- Free calls and texts to the US and Canada for just $15 per month per user from anywhere
- International call rates show you exactly how much you’ll pay per minute, which helps you plan for expenses well in advance
- Access to unlimited toll-free numbers, team numbers, and local numbers, which you can assign to different team members, departments, or office locations
- Software that works with the devices you’re already using, like tablets, cell phones, desktops, and more 📱
- Free number porting for your preexisting business lines, so there’s never any confusion for callers while you’re switching over
- Access to call routing and voicemail transcriptions on our Starter plan (you don’t need to upgrade or pay for add-ons until you’re ready)
- Third-party integrations that plug your phone number into the tools you’re already using, like Gong, Zapier, Slack, and HubSpot
Try OpenPhone free for seven days and start calling your contacts in Colombia today.
Check out other guides to calling internationally:
How to call Mexico from the US
How to call Spain from the US
