How an International Call Forwarding Number Can Benefit US-based Business Professionals
As a US-based business professional, you likely spend most of your time doing business with other US-based business owners, customers, and partners. Your standard toll free and local phone numbers work fine, allowing you to speak with people from coast-to-coast with minimal costs. However, today’s business world has become increasingly global – and US-based toll free numbers do not work for international callers who need to speak with you. While you could publish your main local phone number, callers from around the world may be uncomfortable dialing it.
Cost concerns and the fact that your number looks odd compared to the phone numbers that they’re accustomed to seeing in their own countries are major obstacles. Fortunately, international call forwarding is a viable and affordable solution to this problem.
International call forwarding works much like an 800 number. 800 numbers essentially forward calls from callers across the United States to your “ring to” number. Callers do not incur costs when they dial toll free numbers; the 800 number’s account holder pays the associated costs and fees.
With international call forwarding, you order a toll free (in a country you require) phone number that is specific to the country where your callers are located. Once you have an international call forwarding number, you then assign a ring-to number to it. Once set up, callers dial a phone number that’s local to their country and the phone rings in the United States at the number you’ve designated.
Why go through the trouble of setting up an international call forwarding number for callers in a different country? For starters, you can expand your service area to include other countries. An international call forwarding number is a low-cost way to establish a local presence in countries outside of the United States. For example, if you want to sell products to customers in Spain, you could advertise your Spanish international call forwarding number throughout Spain. Locals would assume that they’re calling an office in Spain.
International call forwarding numbers are also extremely portable. If you travel frequently and would like to receive phone calls while you’re traveling, you could change the ring-to number of your international call forwarding numbers to ring-to a phone at your current location.
Other useful features include time-of-day routing and local ring tones. Time-of-day routing allows you to change the destination number based on the time the call comes in while local ring tones add to the “local” flavor of the call.
