Converting Phone Numbers

We have all seen the ads on TV: "Call 1-800-GET THIS for your set of super-sharp knives." You may be faced with the need to convert phone numbers from the text version (as shown on the ads) to the numbers represented by that text. The following macro, DoPhone, will perform the conversion magic for you:

Sub DoPhone()
    Dim rngSrc As Range
    Dim lMax As Long, lCtr As Long
    Dim J As Integer
    Dim Phone As String, Digit As String

    Set rngSrc = ActiveSheet.Range(ActiveWindow.Selection.Address)
    lMax = rngSrc.Cells.Count

    For lCtr = 1 To lMax
        If Not rngSrc.Cells(lCtr).HasFormula Then
            Phone = rngSrc.Cells(lCtr).Value
            For J = 1 To Len(Phone)
                Digit = Ucase(Mid(Phone, J, 1))
                Select Case Digit
                    Case "A" To "P"
                        Digit = Chr((Asc(Digit) + 1) \ 3 + 28)
                    Case "Q"
                        Digit = "7"     'May want to change
                    Case "R" To "Y"
                        Digit = Chr(Asc(Digit) \ 3 + 28)
                    Case "Z"
                        Digit = "9"     'May want to change
                End Select
                Mid(Phone, J, 1) = Digit
            Next J
            rngSrc.Cells(lCtr).Value = Phone
        End If
    Next lCtr
End Sub

The DoPhone procedure tries to convert the information in any cell that does not contain a formula. All you need to do is select the cell (or cells) you want to convert, and then run the procedure. The result is that any text in the cells are converted to their digit equivalents on a phone. Thus, 598-Tips becomes 598-8477.

You should note one small peculiarity of DoPhone, and you may want to change it. Some phones recognize the letters Q and Z as the digits 7 and 9, respectively. Others simply leave these digits out, or they are converted to 0. DoPhone, as written here, converts these letters to 7 and 9. You can change the appropriate places in the Select Case structure, as desired, so they are changed to numbers according to your needs. (The appropriate places are commented in the listing.)

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2269) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Converting Phone Numbers.