Phone Number Columns in a Database

Question

In the last 3 companies I\'ve worked at, the phone number columns are of type varchar(n). The reason being that they might want to store extensions (ext. 333). But in every

Answer 1

Good stuff! It seems that the main point is that the formatting of the phone number is not actually part of the data but is instead an aspect of the source country. Still, by keeping the extension part of the number as is, one might be breaking the model of separating the formatting from the data. I doubt that all countries use the same syntax/format to describe an extension. Additionally, if integrating with a phone system is a (possible) requirement, then it might be better to store the extension separately and build the message as it is expected. But Mark also makes a good point that if you are consistent, then it probably won't matter how you store it since you can query and process it consistently as well.

Thank you Eric for the link to the other question.