Let customers call a phone number by scanning one QR code.
A phone QR code prepares a call to the number encoded in the QR code. Use an international number format when the code may be scanned by people from different countries.
tel:+19057654321
It opens the dialer with your number already typed in. The person still taps the call button — no call starts on its own.
Yes, start with a plus and the country code. A code printed with +1 905... keeps working for someone scanning it from another country.
No. The code only types the number; the call itself goes through the person's carrier at their normal rate, with no service in between.
A tel: payload is tiny, so phone codes are the sparsest and most forgiving type. Spaces in the number are stripped before encoding, which keeps the pattern light and avoids the formatting differences between countries.
Both iOS and Android open the dialer with the number filled in and wait for a deliberate tap; neither places the call on its own. Tablets without a SIM may offer a calling app instead, and desktop browsers usually hand tel: links to a softphone if one is installed.
Because the pattern is sparse, phone codes stay readable at small sizes and tolerate window glass and vehicle vinyl better than dense types. Even so, keep the printed width at or above the scan distance in centimetres.