database - Is it better to store telephone numbers in some canonical format or "as entered"?

Question

Storing a telehone number in some kind of canonical format has several advantages from a programmers point of view, but it might confuse the user, if suddenly his entered numbers look a lot different.

What's the way to go?

Answer 1

Store it however you prefer, but turn it into human readable format before you show it to the user. And please don't force your users to enter phone numbers in a format of your choosing, let them just type it in however they like.

That's how I do it.