An apparatus and method is provided for placing a phone call when dialing out of the caller's local area. A database resident in a telephone connection mechanism contains the access codes required to place the out-of-local area call. A user input device is utilized by the calling party to retrieve the out-of-area access codes for the called party's telephone from the database. The user input device is also utilized by the calling party to input the called party's local telephone number into the telephone connection mechanism. The telephone connection mechanism automatically combines the local calling number input by the user with the out-of-area access codes retrieved from the database. The telephone connection mechanism then transmits a telephone connection request by utilizing the combined local telephone number and the out-of-area access codes. The present invention also verifies out-of-area access codes that are directly input by the calling party to ensure their accuracy and corrects any incorrect access codes input by the caller.