Directory Enquiries
When I was in Australia I used to use the payphone to call back home, usually late evening when pissed (phonebox was outside the pub) Being pissed I was also a bit forgetful and had trouble remembering the international dialling code and what digits not to dial. The directory service was one of those speech recognition things. The conversation went thus:

Machine: please state the name and suburb (something like that)
Me: Hippopotamus, England
Machine: Y'what cobber?
Me: Hippopotamus, England
Machine: Sorry mate, I can't understand your silly English accent. I'll put you through to Bruce.

I got put through to a real person and the conversation went something like this:

Operator: Hi, you're through to Bruce. I understand you're after a number for a Hippopotamus in England? (he sniggered a bit)
Me: Nope, not really.
Operator: I thought not. You don't get hippos in England. You get badgers though don't you?
*****brief chat about badgers follows here********
Operator: So to get back on track, what is the number you are after?
Me: Just the dialling code please
Operator: It's 0044 (is that right? I forget now).
Me: Thanks mate
Operator: No, thank you - that brightened up my evening.

I hangup, insert $2.00 (which lasts a suprising amount of time), call home and mumble hello to the folks.

Fast foward 1 week and repeat. I got the same operator. He remembered the call, was quite amused, and was most helpful once again.
( SpikeyPickle wishes he was mabazaritchie, Wed 9 Sep 2009, 16:51, 7 replies)

001144
Though your way is better.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Wed 9 Sep 2009, 16:55, closed)

Er, not quite...
Technically, the UK country code is +44.
The 0011 part is the code to dial out of Australia, irregardless of the country you are calling.

So, to call the UK from Australia you would dial "001144 [UK phone number less leading zero]".
But, to call the UK from another country it would be something else of the form "[other country's exit code] 44 [UK phone number less leading zero]" and, indeed, in certain countries the exit code also varies depending on the network that you're using.
(Pope Jamiroquai III, Thu 10 Sep 2009, 0:57, closed)

Furthermore...
Sorry to be pedantic, just that this is a subject that seems to cause a lot of people a lot of confusion, so I figured I'd chip in in case anyone reading this inadvertently memorised something that caused them problems later on.
(Pope Jamiroquai III, Thu 10 Sep 2009, 0:59, closed)

Yep...
...001144 is correct.

People who mistakenly dial 0001144 are a little surprised when they get asked which emergency service they require. The extra zero takes them straight through to triple-zero - the Oz equivalent of 999 / 911...
(emadex thinks the world will end on, Wed 9 Sep 2009, 16:58, closed)

Still too many digits!
They confuse my little mind
( SpikeyPickle wishes he was mabazaritchie, Wed 9 Sep 2009, 17:03, closed)

Better not visit Norfolk then
if I were you.
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Wed 9 Sep 2009, 20:57, closed)

I have lived in Australia ...
for more years than I care to confess to.

But I have only once met a man called Bruce and a woman called Sheila. They were an elderly married couple visiting from Aberdeen.
(Que?, Thu 10 Sep 2009, 4:36, closed)