In telephony

Telephony

In telecommunications, telephony encompasses the general use of equipment to provide communication over distances, specifically by connecting telephones to each other....

, the term local call has the following meanings:

1. Any call
   Telephone call
   A telephone call is a connection over a telephone network between the calling party and the called party.-Information transmission:A telephone call may carry ordinary voice transmission using a telephone, data transmission when the calling party and called party are using modems, or facsimile...
   
    using a single switching center; that is, not traveling to another telephone network;
2. A call made within a local calling area as defined by the local exchange carrier
   Local exchange carrier
   Local Exchange Carrier is a regulatory term in telecommunications for the local telephone company.In the United States, wireline telephone companies are divided into two large categories: long distance and local...
   
   ;
3. Any call for which an additional charge, i.e., toll charge, is not billed to the calling or called party, or (depending on the country) for which this charge is reduced because it is a short-distance call (e.g. within a town or local metropolitan area
   Metropolitan area
   The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
   
   ).

Typically, local calls have shorter numbers than long distance call

Long Distance Call

"Long Distance Call" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:A boy communicates with his father's European-immigrant mother, who had recently died, using a toy telephone that she gave him on his birthday before her passing. The boy, Billy, runs out in...

s, as the area code may not be required. However, this is not true in parts of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 that are subject to overlay plan

Overlay plan

In telephony, especially in North America, an overlay plan is the practice of introducing a new area code by applying it onto a geographic area that is already occupied by one or more existing area codes, resulting in two area codes serving the same area.- Methodology :Prior to the introduction of...

s or many countries in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 that require closed dialing plans.

Toll free (e.g. "800" numbers in the United States) are not necessarily local calls; despite being free to the caller, any charge due for the distance of the connection is charged to the called party.

Commercial users who make or accept many long distance calls to or from a particular distant place may make them as local calls by use of foreign exchange service

Foreign exchange service (telecommunications)

In telecommunication, foreign exchange service is a network-provided service in which a telephone in a given exchange area is connected, via a private line, to a central office in another foreign exchange, rather than the local exchange area where the device is located.To call originators, it...

. Such an "FX" line also allows people in the distant place to call by using a telephone number local to them.