Benefits of International Call Forwarding Services for Businesses

Is your business looking to expand to overseas markets? If so, the easiest way to reach potential customers is by contacting them by phone. However, you will probably find that there are a number of obstacles to just simply reach customers by calling them, including:

• Restrictions by foreign service providers
• Long-distance fees
• Localization efforts

Luckily, advancements in cloud computing (in particular, “Voice over Internet Protocol”/VOIP) have made it possible to get in touch with a broader range of customers located anywhere in the world and comply with obstacles that restrict less savvy methods. Thanks to virtual phone numbers, which are a product of VoIP technology, calls can be routed instantaneously around the world to meet customers on their own terms. Let’s explore how businesses can benefit from international call forwarding services.

Restrictions by Foreign Service Providers

Because foreign customers will typically have telecommunications service providers corresponding to each country, those service providers ensure that their customers are offered some protections and restrictions regarding foreign business entities. This includes blocking calls that appear to originate from outside of the country’s borders. Similarly, for one of their customers to reach a foreign business, these service providers typically charge long-distance fees to their customers for the “privilege” of making calls outside of the service network.

However, with international call forwarding, this obstacle is hurdled. First, virtual phone numbers are available in nearly every country and region in the world. Because of their aforementioned routing capabilities, callers aren’t charged long distance fees nor are they blocked from dialing outside of their network. For businesses, this is an invaluable tool to reach new customers that would be otherwise unreachable. Furthermore, your business can offer toll free numbers (known as “International Toll Free Service numbers” or ITFS numbers) that can allow foreign customers to reach your business with all of the toll free benefits that would “normally” occur.

Localization

Businesses sink or swim on their ability to blend into a country or region’s particular way of life and business. In short, this is the definition of localization. Because appearances are critical for this process, businesses need to be aware of how well their localization efforts are accepted.

There’s also the subconscious trust that comes with a business that operates within a country’s borders. Call forwarding offers a solution for outbound calling, where a virtual phone number matches the look and functionality of phone numbers that international customers are familiar with. And as mentioned before, toll free numbers also appear on a recipient’s caller ID as a toll free number that international customers are familiar with — not a string of digits and letters that can ward off potential customers.

Communicate More Effectively with the Right Tools

So what does this mean for businesses looking to strengthen their localization efforts? By using the call forwarding capabilities of virtual phone numbers, you can ensure that your business reaches new international markets and blends into the competition, especially considering the functionality of virtual phone numbers is identical to local area phone numbers.

Because the world is shifting towards automation when it comes to interacting with most business decisions, “virtual locations” and “virtual offices” are becoming the norm in the localization process. While some businesses may only make efforts to have a domain name of their corporate website match the country (ex. .co.uk for businesses seeking a presence in the United Kingdom), it’s helpful to incorporate telecommunications solutions that appeal to preferences of the modern world, which predominantly relies on Internet-based communication.

As you can see, international call forwarding via virtual phone numbers is an invaluable tool for your business’s global expansion efforts, whether it is to hurdle restrictions or to blend into a new market. On a final note, virtual phone numbers with call forwarding are able to be augmented with a number of valuable add-ons (available from service providers like Global Call Forward, for example) including “call recording,” “simultaneous ringing,” and many more.

by Tom Senkus

Author’s Bio: Tom Senkus is a freelance writer and business owner that understands the great advances in the telecommunications industry, thanks particularly to VoIP technology. For more information about his list of services and published work, visit www.tomsenkuswriter.com