Improve Your Bahrain Consulting Business with Virtual Call Forwarding Numbers

Toll free numbers, in general, add credibility to any business. Thus, getting a Bahrain toll free number further cements your reputation.

Bahrain Sunset IndustrialDo you offer business consulting services to clients located in Bahrain?

Virtual call forwarding numbers are a great way to improve communications – and your business as a whole.

Why Use Bahrain Virtual Phone Numbers?

As you know, there are many ways to deliver consulting services. If you’re located outside of Bahrain with clients inside the country, options include: in-person (which requires traveling to Bahrain and incurring associated travel costs), videoconferencing (which requires both parties to have videoconferencing equipment), Skype (which requires Skype accounts and webcams), and phone calls (which requires international phone calls).

Each of the above options has its downsides which tend to fall into two categories: expensive or equipment required. Using Bahrain virtual call forwarding is an alternative that immediately puts your clients at ease.

Here’s how it works:

  • Get a Bahrain virtual phone number – You can either get a toll free number for Bahrain or a local one with the 973 area code. Either way, your clients will view this virtual phone number as being local because it is local to their country.
  • Set up your ring to number – Because it’s a “virtual” phone number, your Bahrain call forwarding number can ring to any phone number in the world that you designate as its ring to number. This can be your office phone number in Los Angeles, California, your hotel room phone number in Bali, your personal mobile phone, or any other phone you may use. You can even change your ring to number as needed.
  • Give your Bahrain virtual call forwarding phone number to your clients – Whether you’re prospecting for customers, scheduling consultations, or leaving a message asking for a returned phone call, give out your Bahrain virtual phone number.

How Bahrain Virtual Phone Numbers Enhance Your Credibility

As global as the business world has become, there’s still an aversion to dialing international phone numbers. In some cases, there’s a legitimate concern about the potential cost of placing an international call. In others, there’s uncertainty about how to make the call because international phone numbers look different from domestic ones. In others, there may even be a preference for working with someone local.

By getting a Bahrain virtual call forwarding number, you’ll circumvent all of these concerns. Your clients will be likely to perceive you as being serious about serving the Bahrain market. After all, if you’ve gone through the trouble of establishing a Bahrain presence, you won’t be “here today, gone tomorrow.”

Toll free numbers, in general, add credibility to any business. Thus, getting a Bahrain toll free number further cements your reputation.

With Bahrain virtual call forwarding, you can build a communications channel that works for all of your clients while also adding credibility to your business.

How have you used virtual call forwarding in your business?

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See details about international virtual numbers

Uses for Uzbekistan Virtual Phone Numbers

Use automatic call recording to evaluate the performance of your staff, record contract negotiations, record customer complaints, and more.

Samarkand Registan Square Uzbekistan Wondering how you can use Uzbekistan virtual phone numbers to improve your business relationships with others?

Below are a few use cases for virtual numbers in Uzbekistan.

Facilitating cross-border relationships — The landlocked Republic of Uzbekistan is surrounded by five countries (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan), making the use of Uzbekistan virtual phone numbers an essential tool for any local businessperson doing business with the country’s neighbors.

  • By establishing virtual phone numbers for each of these countries, you can more easily receive customer inquiries, business calls, and other calls from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. Your Uzbekistan virtual phone numbers would look like local numbers to your international callers. However, they would actually ring to your office in Uzbekistan.
  • Creating a sophisticated “PBX” phone system — Our virtual phone number plans include sophisticated features such as advanced interactive voice response, customized greeting, local ringtones, select country forwarding, voicemail, sequential call forwarding, and more. You can set up your Uzbekistan virtual phone numbers to best meet your business needs — and have the flexibility to take your entire PBX with you as your needs change. There’s no hardware to buy, yet you get many of the same advanced features.
  • Keeping a voice record of your interactions — An optional call recording feature is available with Uzbekistan virtual phone numbers. With this feature enabled, you can set up your virtual phone number to automatically record all incoming calls (or a percentage of them). With automatic call recording, you don’t have to remember to record your calls. Use automatic call recording to evaluate the performance of your staff, record contract negotiations, record customer complaints, and more. Because laws vary from one government to the next, you may want to research the legal requirements for recording incoming calls with the countries involved. In general, it is considered a good practice to disclose call recording and its intended purpose. This can be done via your virtual phone number’s custom greeting feature.
  • Setting up an Uzbekistan presence — If you operate a business outside of Uzbekistan, virtual phone numbers can be used to receive calls from people within the country. For example, let’s say that your main office is in Australia but you are selling goods and services to customers in Uzbekistan. With an Uzbekistan virtual number, your customers can dial a toll free number for Uzbekistan yet reach your team in Australia — all without having to dial international country codes or worry about the cost of the call. Having a toll free Uzbekistan virtual number makes your business appear as though it is operating inside the country. This is a fantastic way to serve a market without having to invest in office space, local staff, and extensive travel.

These are a few examples of how you could use Uzbekistan virtual phone numbers. We’d love to hear more ideas.

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Virgin Island (British) Conference Calling and Remote Call Forwarding Tips

Using a British Virgin Islands call forwarding number in this manner allows you to take advantage of your existing staff and facilities back home and keep your costs down.

British Virgin Islands CollaborationAccording to the Government of the British Virgin Islands, if you intend to do business in the British Virgin Islands, you’ll need a trade license.

If you are an individual from outside the territory – even if you are a British citizen – and intend to work there, you’ll need a work permit.

Once you’ve established your business and fulfilled all of the obligatory business filing details, you’ll need a convenient means of communicating with your colleagues, partners, customers, and other individuals around the world.

Both international conferencing calling and international call forwarding in the Virgin Islands can help. Use the tips below to communicate with international business associates from the British Virgin Islands.

1. Make calling your BVI business easy with virtual phone numbers – As savvy as your business contacts may be, they may have an aversion to calling foreign phone numbers. First, there’s the cost concern.

People who have never called the British Virgin Islands will wonder how much it will cost to call you. Some will overestimate the cost of the call and avoid dialing altogether.

Even if money were not an issue, the phone number will look different to overseas callers. Those who rarely make international phone calls to the British Virgin Islands, or anywhere else for that matter, may not understand the appropriate procedure for dialing out of their countries.

British Virgin Island virtual phone numbers solve these problems. For example, if most of your contacts are in the UK, you could get a UK virtual number and set it up so that it rings to your British Virgin Islands office.

To your British contacts, your British Virgin Island virtual phone number looks and acts like any other UK phone number. Calling you is as easy as calling a local business.

2. Be mindful of time differences – Chairing a British Virgin Islands conference call is a great way to bring together a geographically diverse team into a group phone call. However, with participants located in various time zones, you’ll need to be mindful of these time differences when scheduling a conference call.

For example, since there’s a five-hour difference between the British Virgin Islands and London, you may want to schedule a conference call with your UK team to take place at 10 a.m. BVI time, which would be 3 p.m. their time.

3. Leverage existing resources – If you’ve built a qualified staff of customer service representatives at your home office, it often makes more sense to use remote call forwarding numbers in your new market than it does to establish physical numbers and staff a call center.

For example, you could establish a local British Virgin Island call forwarding number for your island business and route those calls to your main office in London. Using a British Virgin Islands call forwarding number in this manner allows you to take advantage of your existing staff and facilities back home and keep your costs down.

Do you have any communications tips for those doing business in the British Virgin Islands?

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Tips for Doing Business in the Bahamas with Toll Free Virtual Phone Numbers

For instance, if you have a call center in Florida that handles your Bahamas phone calls and a hurricane forces it to shut down for a few days, you could quickly and easily change the ring to number to your call center in another region of the world.

Bahamas FlagThinking of exporting to the Bahamas or even setting up shop on the island nation?

There’s a lot to do including (but not limited to):  researching your market, getting a business visa, registering your business, and ordering virtual Bahamas phone numbers.

Assuming you’ve done all the legwork and have decided that it makes sense to establish a business presence in the Bahamas, you’ll want to order virtual phone numbers so that your customers and business partners can easily contact you without concerns about dialing internationally.

Why Get Virtual Toll Free Bahamas Phone Numbers

Why order virtual Bahamas phone numbers when you could simply use your existing toll free phone number? While the Bahamas has a thoroughly modern and fully automatic telecommunications system, toll free numbers are not international.

In other words, if you have a toll free number in the United Kingdom, callers from the Bahamas will not be able to use it. What you actually need is a Bahamas toll free virtual number that is set up to ring to the phone of your choice anywhere else in the world.

A toll free virtual Bahamas number will also give your company a local appearance. It will look just like any other toll free number for the Bahamas, complete with the same dialing conventions. There are no international country codes or exit codes to dial, and no confusion on the part of your callers.

Virtual toll free numbers for the Bahamas can be changed on the fly so that they ring to any phone you designate.

For example, if you have a call center in Florida that handles your Bahamas phone calls and a hurricane forces it to shut down for a few days, you could quickly and easily change the ring to number to your call center in another region of the world.

Are your operations on a smaller scale? Even if you run a one-person shop, you could benefit from a virtual Bahamas call forwarding phone number. For example, you could set it up to ring to your home office or mobile phone.

If you travel frequently but need to be able to accept calls from the Bahamas seamlessly, you could change the ring to number so that it rings to your hotel room or temporary mobile phone number when you arrive at a new destination.

Many nations are encouraging businesses to export to the Bahamas, including the United States. Not only that, the Bahamas government offers some enticing incentives that may apply. With its stable democratic environment, proximity to the United States, and variety of market opportunities, exporting to the Bahamas may make sense for your business.

If it does, give yourself an advantage by establishing a virtual toll free number as soon as possible. They’re affordable and readily available. Plus, you can establish a Bahamas toll free virtual number without a long-term contract, making it ideal for testing the waters.

Have you ever used a virtual toll free number in the Bahamas or in another country?

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Virtual Number Australia

a virtual number for your Australia calls will save you a ton of money — and your customers won’t know that they’re calling another country.

Sydney, Australia Skyline HarbourNeed to help customers in Australia but hesitate to establish a branch office down under?

Whether you export products to Australia, offer consulting services to Australian businesses, or are thinking about entering the Australian marketplace for the first time, you could quickly establish a business presence with a virtual number. Australia toll free and local virtual numbers are available.

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”350px” height=”” background_color=”#f2e989″ border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]In addition to ordering city-specific virtual numbers, you could also order a toll free virtual number and forward any calls from that phone number to your call center or office phone located anywhere in the world.[/dropshadowbox]

What is a Virtual Number (Australia)?

A virtual number is a remote call forwarding number that is not tied to a physical location. In the case of Australia, you could get a virtual number for Sydney complete with its local area code of 28, and set it up so that any calls made to your Australian virtual phone number would be call forwarded to the phone number of your choice.

Local virtual numbers for Australia are available for dozens of communities throughout the country including Sydney, Perth, Cape River, Liverpool, Adelaide, Sunbury, Swan Hill, and Wagga Wagga to name a few.

Use Cases for a Virtual Number in Australia

Perhaps the best way to see the value of an Australian virtual phone number is by seeing how others have used their virtual phone numbers. Below are a few use cases to inspire you:

  • Set up an Australian call center in the United States — In this example, you have an established call center in the United States and need to set one up in Australia as well. As you know, building, equipping, and staffing a call center is expensive. Instead of going to the trouble of doing all that, get a local virtual number for Australia, hire a few Australian CSRs, and route your Australian calls directly to your Australian CSRs desks in your US call center.
  • Set up an Australian tech support line based in India — This scenario is nearly identical to the call center scenario, only it involves technical support calls to your tech support center in India. Again, a virtual number for your Australia calls will save you a ton of money — and your customers won’t know that they’re calling another country.
  • Set up a personal Australian virtual phone number and forward it to your personal cell phone — In this case, you might have family, friends, or colleagues in Australia who need to call you on your personal cell phone. However, you want to save them the trouble and cost of an international phone call. By getting a virtual Australian phone number and routing it to your personal cell phone, you can make their lives easier and be easy to reach no matter where in the world you may be.

How have you used a virtual phone number for Australia or any other country? We love the creative uses our customers have shared with us and would love to hear your ideas. Connect with us on Facebook.

View virtual phone number details here

Will Your North American 1-800 Number Work in Australia?

Overcome potential barriers to trust (such as foreign phone numbers) by getting your own local call forwarding numbers for Australia.

Will Your North American 1-800 Number Work in AustraliaSetting up a local presence in Australia is attractive to North American businesses of all sizes for a variety of reasons.

According to Export.gov, Australia has very few barriers to entry, a straightforward business culture, and a familiar legal and corporate framework.

Not only that, Australia is an English-speaking nation, making it a comfortable fit for many US and Canadian business professionals.

When you visit Australia as part of your market research, you may notice that Australian toll free numbers look surprisingly similar to those in North America. This, too, makes Australia seem like a good fit for your business.

However, this doesn’t mean that your North American 1-800 number will work in Australia. For starters, there are fewer digits in Australia toll free numbers. Plus, North American toll free numbers only work in North America.

Solving the Problem with an Australia Toll Free Number that Rings in North America

Don’t let the fact that your existing toll free number won’t work in Australia stop you from what could otherwise be the perfect match. If you intend to do business in Australia, the best, and easiest, solution is to get an Australian toll free call forwarding number. This number will conform to Australia’s toll free system and dialing conventions, yet it will be call forwarded to the phone number of your choice.

For example, let’s say you have a call center in Kansas City, Missouri where all of your customer service calls are handled. While you could build a call center in Sydney, Australia, doing so would be costly, difficult to manage, and time-consuming.

In contrast, with an Australia toll free call forwarding number, you could be up and running in a matter of minutes. Simply publish this number on your Australian website and local marketing materials and set up call forwarding so that all incoming calls from Australia are routed to your existing call center in Kansas City. Depending on the expected call volume, you may not even need to hire additional CSRs. You certainly wouldn’t need to search for bilingual employees because of the common language between the two countries.

Additional Use Cases for an Australian Call Forwarding Number

Toll free call forwarding numbers aren’t your only option, either. You could also order local call forwarding numbers for various cities in Australia such as Bairnsdale, Hobart, New Castle, or Perth.

  • Set up a “local” office (without the actual office) — By printing your local numbers for various cities in Australia on your business cards and marketing materials, you can make it look as though you have local offices throughout the country.
  • Build trust with local partners — Overcome potential barriers to trust (such as foreign phone numbers) by getting your own local call forwarding numbers for Australia.
  • Make it easy for local partners to reach you — Your local partners might not mind the expense of international calls, but they may be unfamiliar with the process. Make it easy by providing local or toll free Australia call forwarding numbers.

Australia could be a fantastic match for your North American business, but you’ll need call forwarding numbers e.g. virtual number that divert Australia calls back to the U.S.

How will you use your Australian call forwarding service?

Please share your usage ideas in the comments section below.

International Event Planning with Global Conference Calls and Virtual Phone Numbers

Let’s say that you will be planning upcoming trade shows taking place in Toronto, Canada; New York, New York; and Berlin, Germany.

Tasked with organizing an international event such as a conference or trade show? If so, you’ll likely need to coordinate with speakers, exhibitors, sponsors, and participants from around the world.

While project and task management tools will help you keep track of everything that needs to be done, you’ll need a reliable, convenient, and affordable communications method for making dozens of international and group calls.

Consider signing up for a pay-as-you-go international conferencing plan and getting international virtual phone numbers. Here’s how each can help you organize your next event.

Using Global Conference Calls for Event Planning

Let’s say that you will be planning upcoming trade shows taking place in Toronto, Canada; New York, New York; and Berlin, Germany. For each venue, you’ll need to hold conference calls with caterers, facilities managers, stage managers, public relations professionals, and other people both locally and within your own home country.

Holding a traditional conference call proves difficult because many participants can’t dial your country’s toll free number and may balk at dialing direct due to concerns about the potential cost.

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”300px” height=”” background_color=”#f6e68a” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]By using a pay-as-you-go global conferencing plan, you can hold international group calls as needed as well as issue local phone numbers for Toronto, New York City, and Berlin.[/dropshadowbox]

Everyone dials a local number, yet they’re connected to your global conference call. It’s that easy, and by using a pay-as-you-go global conferencing plan for your event planning calls, you pay only for the minutes you use. Once you no longer have a need for international conference calls, you can stop using the service with no worries about monthly fees or early termination penalties.

Using Virtual Phone Numbers for Event Planning

Many of your calls will be one-to-one, making it smart to also get virtual phone numbers for your contacts to call you. In this example, you could get a virtual phone number for Toronto, Canada; another virtual number for New York City; and another one for Berlin, Germany.

  • Create a convenient method for your contacts to reach you — Use these numbers to interact with local vendors, facilities managers, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, PR personnel, and others involved in planning or participating in your event.
  • Give prospective attendees a local number to call — Publish virtual phone numbers on your website and other marketing materials to give your international attendees a local means of contacting you, the event organizer. While you may be physically located in another country, participants from Canada, USA, and Germany will be able to call you using a local virtual number for the country they are in.
  • Use your virtual numbers to make low-cost international calls — Since you can change the ring to number of a virtual phone number to any phone, you could use your virtual phone number to make cheap international long distance phone calls. For example, while in Germany, you could change the ring to number of your Germany virtual number to your office in Singapore. Instead of risking your hotel’s service, simply dial a local number and take advantage of the low per minute rates from your international virtual phone number service.

These are but a few use cases for both global conference calls and virtual numbers.

We’d love to hear how you’ve put these services to work for you.

 

International Conferencing and Communication Tools for African Startups

It’s an exciting time to be an African entrepreneur. Extend your reach with international conference calling, mobile international conferencing solutions, and international virtual numbers

Africa is a hotbed for entrepreneurs right now. Last year, Tony Elumelu, an economist, philanthropist, and advocate for entrepreneurship, declared 2015 the year of the African entrepreneur. In a recent commencement address, Elumelu said, “All they need is a business idea and the commitment to succeed.” That’s the simplified version, but the climate is ripe throughout Africa for startups and entrepreneurs to succeed.

While ideas and commitment are essential ingredients, mobile technology has played a prominent role in facilitating entrepreneurship in Africa — and it will continue to do so now and in the future. Below are some of the most important international conferencing and communication tools for African entrepreneurs and startups:

International Conference Calls

Africa is a complex continent with 54 member states of the United Nations from Algeria to Zimbabwe. While many African entrepreneurs may start local businesses, others may interact with customers, business partners, mentors, and suppliers throughout the continent — or around the world for that matter. International conference calls in Africa allow participants to connect to a group phone call by dialing either a local or toll free number specific to the country that they are in.

For example, an African entrepreneur in Ghana could host an international conference call with participants located in Nigeria, Guinea, and Liberia. Instead of requiring each to dial a Ghana phone number, the entrepreneur would issue local or toll free phone numbers for Nigeria, Guinea, and Liberia — making it easy and affordable for all participants to call. If that same international conference call has participants located in the United States, Spain, China, and elsewhere around the globe, the host of the call could issue additional local or toll free numbers specific to those countries.

Mobile International Conferencing

As important and convenient as international conference calls are to African entrepreneurs, mobile international conferencing tools are even more important.

Last year, according to StatCounter, mobile Internet usage soared by 67 percent around the world with mobile usage having overtaken desktop usage Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Mobile Internet usage in Africa is certainly helping to fuel entrepreneurship throughout the continent.

For entrepreneurs hosting conference calls, it’s more likely than not that their go-to device is a smartphone rather than a desktop. Thus, international conferencing services catering to this market need to make it easy to schedule, coordinate, and manage international conference calls via mobile apps and mobile-friendly sites.

International Virtual Numbers

Finally, African entrepreneurs can benefit from international virtual phone numbers. While an entrepreneur may be physically operating from Ghana, for instance, he or she could also set up local phone numbers in other countries throughout Africa. Callers from Nigeria would dial a Nigerian phone number, but the call would be forwarded to the Ghana business.

International virtual numbers can be used for convenience — to make it easier for international callers to reach your business — or to create a local presence in locations outside the country.

It’s an exciting time to be an African entrepreneur. Extend your reach with international conference calling, mobile international conferencing solutions, and international virtual numbers — each of which can save you money as well as give you access to superior telecommunications networks than may be available to you locally.

How have you been using international conferencing or virtual phone numbers in Africa?

Share your ideas in the comments section below.

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Global Virtual Numbers

Global Conferencing

Sources:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201505121744.html

http://answersafrica.com/how-many-countries-are-in-africa.html

http://gs.statcounter.com/press/mobile-internet-usage-soars-by-67-perc

Calls that connect you globally

The combination of technology, low costs, ease of use, and quality has contributed to doing business internationally a reality.

Calls that connect you globallyBusinesses are connected like never before thanks to communications innovations such as  global conference calling and virtual phone number technology. Not only is this real and happening, costs are remarkably low.

Now, people can communicate with others around the world while keeping travel to a minimum and without huge phone bills by using global conference calls and virtual numbers for quickly creating a presence in another country.

Best of all, line quality has kept up with the technologies. The combination of technology, low costs, ease of use, and quality has contributed to doing business internationally a reality. While email and traditional long distance phone calls have their place with international collaboration, virtual numbers and group overseas calls have become essential.

Rather than connecting two individuals from opposite ends of the earth, a global conference call brings together an entire international dispersed team. Global Conference calls allow for cost-effective group communications and interactions. Because everyone can speak to one another and hear and understand voice inflection and tone, communication is far more effective than exchanging group email messages.

Overseas Call forwarding is an amazing way to set up shop in the communities that you want to serve, either locally or internationally, without having to go through the hassles and the expense of setting up a physical location.

View details about global conferencing here

and international virtual numbers here

Call forwarding lighten your load

Mobile call forwarding is the ability to take your existing mobile phone number and redirect the calls to another telephone number.

As the popularity of mobile phones has grown, more and more people are eliminating their land lines and exclusively use their cell phones. Many smaller companies even advertise a cellular number as their businesses main contact.

While the use of mobile phones is increasing within the business community, the need for mobile call forwarding has increased also. Mobile call forwarding is the ability to take your existing mobile phone number and redirect the calls to another telephone number. Companies are often in need of call forwarding in order to have their mobile phones answered when they are not in the office.

When you travel, you can then set up the cell phone to call forward to a virtual number.  The virtual number then redirects calls to any other number you chose, in any country, which could be a disposable cell phone that you purchase inside another country, your international branch office phone, your hotel room phone, or any other phone you may have access to.

In order for this to work, your cell phone in your home country must support call forwarding. Once set up, your contacts back home can dial your cell phone number as usual and reach you.

We welcome any posts if you have a story regarding personal experience using call forwarding virtual numbers with your own business use.

View details about Global Call Forwarding

 

6 Tips for Setting Up an International Toll Free or Local Virtual Number

Whether setting up shop in an overseas country, traveling abroad, or making it easier for your international contacts to reach you, setting up an international virtual number is an excellent communications choice. Use the tips below to get the most out of this affordable communications method.

1 Choose a reliable call divert service that supports the countries involved.

Some international call forwarding companies use VoIP technology to keep costs as low as possible. However, sound quality and reliability remain concerns. Choose an international virtual number service provider who uses traditional phone networks rather than Internet technology to divert your calls. Not only will you be happier with the sound quality, you’ll likely find that rates are competitive. Naturally, you’ll need to focus on a service provider that also supports each of the countries involved.

2 Set up local ring tones.

Not all service providers offer local ring tones. If yours does, make sure to set it up. This will generate tones to your local callers that sound just like the tones they are accustomed to hearing when dialing other phone numbers.

3 Choose a pay-as-you-go plan

especially if your need for international call forwarding is expected to be relatively short. Paying as you go ensures that you aren’t stuck with monthly payments or expensive early termination penalties.
within their countries. Without this feature, the tones they hear could be disorienting.

4 Learn how to quickly change your ring to number

Whether via an online portal or your phone’s keypad, you’ll get much more out of your international virtual number if you know how to quickly and easily change its ring to number. For example, many people use their international virtual number to make cheap international long distance calls by changing the ring to number so that it rings to their desired recipient’s phone. Once the call is over, they then reset the ring to number.

5 Use time of day routing

This feature becomes quite important when significant time differences are involved. By using time of day routing, you can control which phone rings and when based on the time of day the call is placed.

6 Set up a greeting and voicemail

Did you know that an international virtual number can serve as an auto attendant (if such a feature is provided in your plan)? If your plan offers auto attendant features, set it up so that your callers are automatically greeted and prompted to select from several predetermined options.

Get the most out of your international virtual number by using these tips. Don’t have an international virtual number yet?

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The Ultimate in Phone Portability – a Virtual Phone Number

Ensure your callers can reach you regardless of where you are or which physical phone you currently have access to.

Not too long ago, moving to a new home or office location meant abandoning your old phone number and getting a new one. Not only was getting a new phone number a hassle for you, it was also a hassle for all of your contacts who needed to change their records and automatic dialers. Businesses could convert their old main numbers to call forwarding numbers but tended to phase those out over time.

For residential users, VoIP and telephone number portability eventually arrived, opening the doors to taking your old phone number with you. Those options still exist, but a new option has emerged offering the ultimate in phone portability: the virtual phone.

Why Order a Virtual Phone?

A virtual phone is one that essentially resides in the so-called cloud. When you order a virtual phone, you are issued a phone number which you can then assign to ring to any other phone number in existence. Because you can change your virtual phone’s ring to number at will, you can take your virtual phone with you wherever you go. The possibilities are unlimited.

For example, you could use your virtual phone to:

  • Route calls to your mobile phone
  • Route calls to your home’s landline
  • Route calls to a hotel room phone when traveling
  • Route calls to your main office
  • Route calls to a back office line
  • Route calls to a temporary workspace phone
  • Route calls to a colleague’s phone
  • Make cheap international long distance calls by changing the ring to number
  • Route calls to a disposable cell phone when visiting another country
  • Use the virtual phone number’s calling features to create a virtual PBX system
  • Ensure your callers can reach you regardless of where you are or which physical phone you currently have access to

Where to Get a Virtual Phone

Due to its virtual nature, you’re not buying a physical phone per se but rather a call divert service that routes incoming calls to a designated phone number. aitelephone.com offers an affordable virtual phone service suitable for domestic and international call forwarding. Simply select an international virtual number that makes the most sense for you and sign up for a pay-as-you-go virtual phone plan.

Once established and configured, give your new virtual phone number to your contacts and let them know that they can use this number to reach you no matter where you may be. From there, you can use the online account management tool to change your ring to number as needed and change any personal preferences you wish.

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Conducting Business on the Go with a Virtual Phone

Rather than giving clients your Los Angeles office number or your LA mobile phone number, you could get a virtual number for New York and another one for Barcelona.

If you frequently conduct business on the go, a virtual phone is a must. Sure, you could give out your mobile phone number and hope your phone works overseas, but why would you want to do that? Do you really want customers, prospects, business partners, and colleagues to have your personal mobile phone number? Can you be sure that they’ll respect its sanctity once you return and can be reached via your office phone number? A virtual phone is the answer.

What is a Virtual Phone?

It’s not the phone itself per se, but rather the number. A virtual phone number is extremely portable. It is not tied to a single device or physical phone jack. Though your virtual phone number will have its own country and area code, you do not actually need to reside in a specific geographic area in order to get a local virtual phone number. It is truly virtual.

For example, let’s say that you have a home office in Los Angeles but frequently help clients in New York and Barcelona. You also frequently travel to New York and Spain on business. Rather than giving clients your Los Angeles office number or your LA mobile phone number, you could get a virtual number for New York and another one for Barcelona. Once you get these numbers, you’d then log into your virtual phone account online and configure them to ring to your designated phone. When working from home, the ring to number would be your home office phone. When traveling, you can easily change it to your mobile phone, hotel room phone, temporary office space phone, or a disposal cell phone obtained in Spain.

Advantages of a Virtual Phone Number

With a virtual phone number, you can be reached far and wide —whenever and wherever you want to receive phone calls. At the same time, if you don’t want to be reached, you can program your virtual phone to route your calls elsewhere such as to voicemail, a call center / answering service, or to your assistant.

Features such as time of day routing, voicemail, and auto attendant are particularly useful. For example, you may want calls to ring to your mobile phone during local business hours and then ring to your voicemail after hours. Depending on your virtual phone service, you may even be able to receive voicemail messages as transcribed text via email. If you plan on being unreachable for an extended time period, you could set up your auto attendant to inform callers that you are unreachable and then give them options to either leave a voicemail message or speak with your assistant.

Because your virtual phone number can follow you wherever you go, there’s no need to give up your personal mobile phone number. Imagine being able to attend your child’s baseball game or dance recital without being interrupted by clients who don’t realize that you’re enjoying some quality time with your family. Should you feel the need to be reachable, simply route your virtual phone number to your mobile phone and take calls as needed. The choice is yours.

You can also use your virtual phone number to make cheap international phone calls. Remember, with a virtual phone number, you can designate any number as the ring to number. Need to call an important client in Barcelona from LA? No problem, simply change your Barcelona virtual phone number to the client’s phone number temporarily. Dial your virtual phone number which will now ring to your client’s phone. Discuss your business while enjoying your service providers low per minute rates for international calls and then end the call. Finally, switch the ring to number back and receive virtual phone calls once again.

Being in full control over your availability is empowering; it’s good for you as well as for your contacts. Order a virtual phone number today.

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Successful Virtual Number Strategies

There’s no need to rent office space or hire a local representative. Instead, international call divert routes those calls to your existing office staff in your home country.

Using an international virtual phone number is a fantastic way to create a local business presence in countries where you do business.

It eliminates cost concerns and looks familiar. Your customers will feel more confident dialing a familiar looking phone number than they would feel if presented with an overseas phone number.

They may also feel more confident in your abilities to serve them because you don’t appear to be located on the other side of the Earth.

In addition to appearing local and eliminating cost concerns, an international virtual phone number can save you a great deal of money. There’s no need to rent office space or hire a local representative. Instead, international call divert routes those calls to your existing office staff in your home country.

Finally, international virtual phone numbers are extremely portable. You can set them up to ring to any phone, at any time.

For example, if you decide to travel to Dublin to meet with your clients in person, you could change your Dublin international virtual phone number’s ring to number to a temporary mobile phone that you buy once you arrive in Dublin.

Your clients could then reach you using the same phone number. Likewise, should your main call center need to go offline due to a natural disaster, you can use international call forwarding to route your international phone calls to a secondary call center located elsewhere.

Should you get an international virtual phone number? If you conduct business overseas, the answer is yes.

Call Divert Service Basics

Do you want to provide better service to your customers or remain readily accessible no matter where in the world you may happen to be? If so, using a call divert service is an excellent idea.

Here’s what you need to know to get started:

  • Start with a reliable call divert service provider – You will need a service provider who: supports the countries involved, offers robust virtual phone services, provides high quality connections, and offers good rates. If you intend to use your call divert service to divert international calls, you will need an international call divert service provider that supports those countries. If not, a domestic service should be fine. It’s also important to choose a service provider that uses a high quality telecommunications network to route your calls rather than substandard VoIP routing. Make sure your call divert service provider offers the features that matter to you as well such as time of day routing, local ring tones, or auto attendant. Look for flexible service plans such as pay as you go plans with no contracts, no minimums, and no early termination fees.
  • Configure your call divert service – Once you’ve ordered your call divert service plan, it’s time to configure it. The first task is to designate its primary ring to number. Remember, you can change this number at any time. Next, set up your voicemail greeting and any other features you intend to use.
  • Explore your international call divert features – Most call divert services include some sort of Web or phone-based interface, or both. Familiarize yourself with these tools so that you are completely comfortable using it. Learn how to change your ring to number on the fly so that you can get the most flexibility out of your service as possible. You may want to bookmark your online call divert dashboard or memorize the phone-based call forwarding commands.
  • Publish your virtual phone number – Now that you have your call divert service plan and are comfortable working with your new virtual phone number, start sharing your number with others. If you ordered the number as a means for your office staff to find you, let them know they should use this number to reach you until further notice. On the other hand, if you ordered your call divert service as part of a marketing initiative, start publishing that number. Add it to your website, Facebook page, advertisements, and so on.

With a pay as you go call divert service, you can continue using your virtual phone number for as long as you deem necessary. Some call divert users keep their numbers indefinitely while others use them to track a single advertising campaign. By choosing a pay as you go service, the choice is up to you.

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Should You Get an International Virtual Number?

Let’s say that you advise technology startups in Silicon Valley. It makes sense to have an office in Palo Alto, and you do. However, you’ve noticed that a lot of your clients have moved to Dublin, Ireland.

If you do business internationally, getting an international virtual phone number (or several of them) may make sense.

International Virtual NumberWith an international virtual phone number, you can create a “local” presence in a designated country without having to actually establish a physical office there.

The international number looks like any other local number to your overseas customers and partners, but it rings to your designed phone located in another country.

Who Needs an International Virtual Number?

For example, let’s say that you advise technology startups in Silicon Valley. It makes sense to have an office in Palo Alto, and you do. However, you’ve noticed that a lot of  your clients have moved to Dublin, Ireland.

They still have strong ties to Silicon Valley, and you don’t want to lose business simply because of geographic differences. At the same time, opening a second office in Dublin is cost prohibitive.

Your clients want to speak with you regularly, but they hesitate to do so due to fears about international long distance costs. The answer: an international virtual phone number.

In this example, you’d need to order a Dublin virtual phone number and designate your Palo Alto office phone as its “ring to” number.

Whenever a Dublin-based client needs to call you, he or she would dial a local number for Dublin. The call would then be forwarded to your office in Silicon Valley where you can advise your client just as you would have done had your client stayed in the area.

That’s just one of any number of possible scenarios where a business could benefit from an international virtual phone number.

On a larger scale, you could have multiple international virtual phone numbers for any number of countries where your business has a presence.

In order to handle all of these calls, you could route them to a single call center staffed with agents who speak the languages involved. To ensure that the right agents handle each call, set up call routing based on country code.

For example, all calls originating in Portugal and Brazil could be routed to agents who speak Portuguese while calls from Germany would go to agents who speak German.

Advantages of Using an International Virtual Number  

Using an international virtual phone number is a fantastic way to create a local business presence in countries where you do business. It eliminates cost concerns and looks familiar.

Your customers will feel more confident dialing a familiar looking phone number than they would feel if presented with an overseas phone number. They may also feel more confident in your abilities to serve them because you don’t appear to be located on the other side of the Earth.

In addition to appearing local and eliminating cost concerns, an international virtual phone number can save you a great deal of money.

There’s no need to rent office space or hire a local representative. Instead, international call divert routes those calls to your existing office staff in your home country.

Finally, international virtual phone numbers are extremely portable. You can set them up to ring to any phone, at any time. For example, if you decide to travel to Dublin to meet with your clients in person, you could change your Dublin international virtual phone number’s ring to number to a temporary mobile phone that you buy once you arrive in Dublin. Your clients could then reach you using the same phone number.

Likewise, should your main call center need to go offline due to a natural disaster, you can use international call forwarding to route your international phone calls to a secondary call center located elsewhere.

Should you get an international virtual phone number? If you conduct business overseas, the answer is yes.

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Stay in Touch While in another country with International Call Forwarding

In addition to booking flights, lodging, and various tours, make sure to add planning your communications to the list.

Stay in Touch with International Call ForwardingSummer will be here soon, making it important to begin planning your vacation. In addition to booking flights, lodging, and various tours, make sure to add planning your communications to the list.

After all, your cell phone may not work as expected when traveling overseas and high international calling costs could catch you off guard. Even if your cell phone does work, you could be subject to outrageous per minute international roaming fees.

By the time your bill arrives, it will be too late. Avoid this potentially costly problem altogether and stay in touch at the same time by using an international call forwarding service to divert your calls and lock in some of the most competitive rates in the world.

How to Make Low Cost International Calls When Vacationing or on assignment Overseas

First, you’ll need a means of calling your family, friends, business partners, and other parties back home. As mentioned earlier, your cell phone may not work overseas. Thus, you may want to buy a disposable cell phone locally once you arrive. However,  while a local cell phone will be useful for making and receiving local calls, on its own it doesn’t solve the challenge of low-cost calls home. You’ll need an international call forwarding number to do that.

For example, if you are traveling to Paris, France and need to call your office in the United States while you’re on vacation, order an international call forwarding number that’s local to Paris, France and then set up the “ring to” number so that it rings to your US office.

Whenever you need to call your office in the United States, simply dial the French call forwarding number on your cell phone. This call will be treated as a local call by the mobile phone carrier. You will be billed separately by the international call forwarding service at its low per minute rates.

If you don’t feel the need for a mobile phone, you can use this same strategy to avoid excessive international dialing costs imposed by French hotels. Again, order an international call forwarding number local to Paris, France and set the ring to number to the international phone line of your choice.

You can change the ring to number as often as you’d like. From your hotel’s perspective, these calls will be treated as Paris-to-Paris local calls. Thus, you’ll bypass the hotel’s international long distance charges.

How to Receive Low Cost International Calls When Overseas

What about your contacts back home? How will they get in touch with you? Whether you want to ensure that your immediate family can reach you no matter where you go or you have an international business deal that requires you to be on call, setting up a global call forwarding number will do the trick.

In this case, you’ll create a global call forwarding number that’s local or toll free for your contacts back in the United States. Give them this number and let them know that it can be used to reach you while you’re on vacation. You’ll need to set the ring to number so that it rings to your hotel room or disposable cell phone at each destination.

Though setting up multiple international call forwarding numbers and managing their ring to numbers does take a bit of work, it can slash your international communications costs dramatically.

If you need to stay in touch while traveling overseas, international call forwarding is an affordable way to do it. Best of all, month-to-month, pay-as-you-go plans are available with no long term contracts or early termination penalties.

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3 International Call Forwarding Tips for Budget Conscious Businesses

For example, if your main office is located in Barcelona, Spain and you will be spending a week in Beijing, China, you could order an international call forwarding number local to Beijing and configure its ring to number to ring to your office in Barcelona.

3 International Call Forwarding Tips for Budget Conscious BusinessesWhether you’re an entrepreneur on a budget or an executive tasked with reigning in costs, international call forwarding can play a role in your business plans.

Global call forwarding numbers are readily available for hundreds of countries around the world, and you can use them in a variety of cost-effective ways.

Here are three tips for using  international call forwarding to trim costs and stay in touch.

1. Creating an international presence around the globe. Whether your main office is located in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Australia, or Africa, you can help customers and business partners connect with you by ordering local toll free phone numbers for the countries of your choice and then forwarding those calls to your main office. These international call forwarding numbers give your business the appearance of having a local office; however, you do not need to operate a physical office. Instead, your staff answers the phone at your main office or at a call center located elsewhere. Time-of-day routing, local ringtones, and other features can be used to enhance the experience.

2. Making low-cost international phone calls while traveling. In addition to using international call forwarding numbers to route global calls to a central location, many business professionals order personal call forwarding numbers to use to make low-cost international phone calls while traveling. For example, if your main office is located in Barcelona, Spain and you will be spending a week in Beijing, China, you could order an international call forwarding number local to Beijing and configure its ring to number to ring to your office in Barcelona. Whenever you need to reach your office while in Beijing, you’d simply dial a local number (thus avoiding high international long distance costs and hotel surcharges) and be billed according to the rates offered by your international call forwarding service provider.

3. Remaining available while traveling. Unless you have a pricey global satellite phone, traveling from one country to the next usually means that your mobile phone may or may not work due to cellular network differences. Even if your mobile phone does work in a foreign country, international roaming charges may make communications cost-prohibitive.

While you could let everyone know your hotel phone numbers, this is an impractical solution that requires a great deal of coordination. Plus, you won’t be at your hotel room the entire time. A better option is to order an international call forwarding number in advance, give that number to anyone who will need to call you while you’re gone, and then set it up to ring to voicemail temporarily. Once you arrive at your destination, purchase a no-contract cell phone and then re-configure your international call forwarding number so that it rings to your new cell phone. Repeat as needed as you travel from one country to the next.

International call forwarding is a low-cost solution to several business challenges. Whether you need a temporary phone number in a foreign country or want to build an international presence for your business, affordable global call forwarding plans are available on a month-to-month basis with no long term contracts or early termination penalties.

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What You May Not Know About International Call Forwarding

For example, if the person who usually handles all incoming calls from Italy calls in sick, you could change the ring to number for your Italian call forwarding number to ring to another qualified, Italian-speaking person in your company.

What You May Not Know About International Call ForwardingThink that all there is to using an international call forwarding number is getting the number and then setting its “ring to” number? Think again. Yes, setting up an international call forwarding number can be as simple as that.

However, to squeeze the most value out of your global phone number, you may want to learn more about international call forwarding and the numerous features available to you.

Make an Impact with International Call Forwarding

Getting a global call forwarding number could immediately transform your local business into one with international appeal. For example, if you’ve recently begun selling products in Brazil, listing a toll free Brazilian number on your product packaging would reassure consumers that your business is readily accessible. In contrast, listing a number for a company located in North America, Europe, or Asia may cause Brazilian consumers to reconsider their purchase.

Sound Local with Local Ring Tones

Did you know that the sound of a ringing telephone varies from region to region? A caller may hear a different ring tone when dialing London than when calling Hong Kong. For those who frequently call specific countries, a mismatch between ring tones could be jarring. Avoid confusing callers by using local ring tones whenever possible.

Handle Global Phone Calls Night and Day with an Auto Attendant

One of the biggest potential problems with issuing an international call forwarding number and answering it on the other side of the world has to do with time zone differences. Fortunately, this problem can be handled by an auto attendant. For example, you can set up your global call forwarding number so that it rings to different phone numbers (such as various call centers located around the world) based on the time of day a call comes in. You could also roll calls to voicemail at a specific time.

Create a Virtual PBX with an International Call Forwarding Number

You can take call routing even further by configuring your international call forwarding number so that it serves as a virtual PBX system. For example, you could set up your call forwarding number to greet callers with a recorded greeting. From there, the auto attendant could instruct callers to push specific buttons on their keypads in order to: speak with a customer service representative, reach technical support, get directions to your office, leave a message, or anything else.

Never Miss a Call with Simultaneous Ringing

What happens if ten people call your international call forwarding number at the same time? One option is to set up simultaneous call forwarding to multiple phone numbers at the same time.

Eliminate Your Fax Machine

Tired of paying for an extra phone line for a fax machine that rarely gets used? Your global call forwarding number can accept faxes. Any incoming fax will be converted to a PDF or image document and then emailed to the email address of your choice.

Month-to-Month International Call Forwarding

International call forwarding numbers can be ordered and used on a month-to-month basis with no long term contracts. If you need a temporary or long-term call forwarding solution, these plans provide fantastic features, low rates, and the flexibility your business needs.

Change Your Ring To Number On the Fly

It’s possible to change your ring to number quickly and easily, and as often as you’d like. For example, if the person who usually handles all incoming calls from Italy calls in sick, you could change the ring to number for your Italian call forwarding number to ring to another qualified, Italian-speaking person in your company.

These are but a few of the many ways you can use international call forwarding numbers. Don’t just “set it and forget it,” take advantage of your global call forwarding plan’s advanced features.

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International Call Forwarding – A Frugal Tool for International Calls

You will be billed by the global call forwarding service provider for the call forwarding service at its low per minute rates.

International Call Forwarding - A Frugal Tool for International CallsYour college student just announced that she’s been accepted at a prestigious international university.

Though everyone’s excited, you may wonder how you’ll stay in touch or be concerned about the cost of international phone calls.

International call forwarding is a frugal option for international college students and their parents.

Low Cost Ireland to US Phone Calls

Let’s use Ireland and the United States as an example. If your college student will be attending a semester in Ireland, she’ll need an inexpensive way to call her family and friends in the United States. Likewise, you’ll need a cheap way to call her in Ireland.

Start by ordering an international call forwarding number that is local to the city in Ireland where her university is located. Set the “ring to” number to your home phone number. When in Ireland, she will dial a local Irish phone number whenever she wants to call home. The phone will ring at your house in the United States. In Ireland, that call will be treated as any other local phone call. Her local phone carrier will not impose international long distance charges because it is essentially a local call. You will be billed by the global call forwarding service provider for the call forwarding service at its low per minute rates.

Low Cost US to Ireland Phone Calls

Next, set up an international call forwarding number that’s local to your family in the United States. For example, if you live in San Diego, get a local San Diego phone number in your local calling area. Set up this number’s ring to number to your daughter’s dorm room number back in Ireland. Since you’ll dial a local San Diego phone number each time, your phone company will treat it as any other local call. Again, your international call forwarding service provider will bill you its low-cost international call forwarding rates.

Depending on how generous you want to be, you could share this local phone number with your college student’s friends who remain in the area. Keep in mind, however, that you will be billed for any calls others make using your call forwarding number.

Using a global call forwarding service while your college student is studying abroad is a fantastic way to keep your communications costs low during the school year. Month-to-month plans and low international call forwarding rates make global call forwarding a fantastic, frugal choice.

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Virtual Business Tools: How International Call Forwarding Can Help

Whether you need to be available for calls from important clients or your family members back home, an international call forwarding number makes reaching you a simple matter with no additional work or international long distance expenses for your callers.

Did you know that a single phone number can partially automate your business?

Getting an international call forwarding number is like having a virtual secretary who can track you down no matter where in the world you may be.

Not only can your global virtual phone number ensure that you can be found, the right international call forwarding service can also deliver a fantastic user experience to your callers.

How a Virtual International Phone Number Can Find You

An international call forwarding number is a virtual phone number that is local to a given country. It does not have a physical location connected to it. Instead, it can be configured to ring to any phone that you designate. For example, you could get a virtual phone number for Ontario, Canada and set it up to ring to your main office, your mobile phone, your home office, or any other phone number you choose – at any time.

You can also set your virtual number to ring to ALL of your designated ring to numbers at once or to ring them sequentially until you pick up. Having a number follow you around is ideal for business professionals who frequently work at different locations. It also allows you to reduce your reliance on your cell phone for business calls when sitting behind a desk. Thus, you can conserve your mobile phone’s minutes. A virtual number also allows you to receive mobile phone calls when necessary while simultaneously keeping your mobile phone number private.

What happens when you need to leave the country? Your international call forwarding number can find follow you. Simply change the ring to number to your overseas contact number such as the phone in your hotel room or temporary office space. Your colleagues back in Canada would call you as they always do by dialing the same phone number. Meanwhile, you would receive the call in a different country. Callers may not even realize that you’re not in your Ontario office!

Virtual Number Benefits to Callers

This brings up another important point about international call forwarding: your callers’ experience. Whether you need to be available for calls from important clients or your family members back home, an international call forwarding number makes reaching you a simple matter with no additional work or international long distance expenses for your callers. They simply call you as they normally do using the same local or toll free number.

On your end, you can configure your virtual number in a variety of ways to enhance the caller’s experience. For example, if you’ve traveled out of the country and into a different time zone, you might want to set up time of day routing so that calls are routed to voicemail while you sleep.

Creating a Virtual PBX

Whether traveling abroad or setting up your main office, you may want to create a virtual PBX with your international call forwarding number. Advanced auto attendant features allow you to greet callers and prompt them to make specific choices such as “press 1 for sales; 2 for service.”

A single international call forwarding number can serve a variety of purposes and partially automate your business. Use a virtual number to receive calls no matter where you may happen to be, to ensure a consistent caller experience, and project a professional image.

Best of all, international call forwarding plans are affordable and available on a month-to-month basis – and hundreds of countries are supported.

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