Using the telephone might work a little differently in Italy than in your home country. Make sure you have the correct prefixes before calling, or else the call might not go through.
When you make a landline call within Italy, all you have to do is dial the city code and then the number. No matter where you are calling from, you always use the city code (even from within the same city).
You can look up city codes for all of Italy using http://www.prefissi-telefonici.it ,but some of the most popular Italian city codes are:
For example, to call a residence in Rome from Naples, you would dial 06 + xx xx xx. If you're in Rome and call your neighbour's home in Rome, the calling format would be the same.
There are many premium rate numbers associated with special services in Italy – and calls to these numbers can get extremely expensive if you don't know what you're doing. Most prefixes have a maximum price fixed by the Communication Authority, but lines with the prefixes 144, 166 and 899 (three of the most commonly-used numbers) can charge whatever they want – so be aware when calling them!
Some of the most common prefixes are:
144, 166: (adult content numbers, which can be disabled)
892, 894: overpriced services with specific charges
895, 899, 0088: satellite services
43: social information services
0878: polls run via telephone
44, 46: mass call services
47, 48, 49: entertainment services and sale product services
Other premium-rate services include directory enquiries, weather forecasts, technical support services, and competitions and voting (especially in connection with popular television shows).
Television networks are very deceptive because they usually charge you for voting for premium television programs using two prefixes: 0369 and 0769. These prefixes have an intercity charge in addition to an urban charge and a variable subcharge.
Diplomatic services also charge premium rates for calls from the general public.